Gurkha

Gurkha
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder unit Rifle Infantry*
Civilization	Indians
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Regeneration*
Training
Trained at	Barracks Agra Fort Galleon
Food	70
Coin	50
Training time	33 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	115
Resists	30% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	24
Population	1
XP train bounty	12
XP bounty	12
Melee attack
Damage	6
Multipliers	×2.0 vs. Heavy infantry, Light cavalry and Eagle Runner Knight ×0.75 vs. Cavalry and Hand Shock Infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	16
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	2-18
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	12
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Nepalese skirmisher that is accurate to a long range. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Gurkha is a ranged gunpowder infantry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Indians and can be trained at Barracks and Galleon, as well as the Agra Fort wonder. It is the Indian equivalent of a Skirmisher.

Gurkhas can also be rescued from certain Treasures on South Asian maps such as Borneo, Deccan, and Indochina.

Overview

Gurkhas are expensive but have a strong attack and long range, that increases with every upgrade for them at the barracks, going up to 21 range. They are strong against infantry but are weak against cavalry. They are stronger than an ordinary Skirmisher and are also available in Commerce Age, meaning that the Indians can have a very powerful anti-infantry support even in the Commerce Age. As such they should be combined with Sepoys or Zamburaks to defeat any cavalry units that get too close while the Gurkhas snipe infantry that pose a threat.

Gurkhas, when combined with the Howdah can host a formidable all-rounder attack force as they provide multipliers against many categories of units in the game.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Disciplined Gurkha	200 wood, 100 coin	Upgrades Gurkhas to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack, +1 LOS and range)
	Honored Gurkha	600 wood, 600 coin	Upgrades Gurkhas to Honored (+30% hit points and attack, +1 LOS and range); requires Disciplined Gurkha
	Exalted Gurkha	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Gurkhas to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack, +1 LOS and range); requires Honored Gurkha

Mansabdar Gurkha

Mansabdar Gurkha
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder infantry Rifle Infantry*
Civilization	Indians
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Regeneration*
Special ability	Imperial Service
Training
Trained at	Charminar Gate
Food	140
Coin	100
Training time	33 seconds
Training limit	1
Statistics
Hit points	230
Resists	30% vs. Ranged
Speed	4
Line of Sight	24
Population	1
XP train bounty	24
XP bounty	24
Melee attack
Damage	6
Multipliers	×2.0 vs. Heavy infantry, Light cavalry and Eagle Runner Knight ×0.75 vs. Cavalry and Hand Shock Infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	17
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	2-18
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	12
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Inspires all nearby Gurkha. Indian skirmisher that is accurate to a long range. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Mansabdar Gurkha is a stronger version of the Gurkha that can be trained from the Charminar Gate wonder. As a Mansabdar unit, the Mansabdar Gurkha has twice the hit points of a Gurkha and Imperial Service that increases the hit points and attack of nearby Gurkhas, but are two times more expensive.

Special ability

Imperial Service (passive): The Mansabdar Gurkha increases the hit points and attack of Gurkhas in a radius of 24 around him by 10%.

Further statistics

As (Mansabdar) Gurkhas are unique to the Indians, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knights
Weak vs.	Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Speed	Quechuan Mountaineering (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As (Mansabdar) Gurkhas are unique to the Indians, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the (Mansabdar) Gurkha

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 TEAM Early Skirmishers Skirmishers, Cassadores, Forest Prowlers, Wakina Rifles, and Black Flag Army can be trained in the Commerce Age; Longbowman, Strelet, Otontin Slinger, Gurkha, and Yumi Archer train time -20% 25 Indians Card Description Age HC level 7 Gurkhas Ships 7 Gurkhas +1 Villager 1 12 Gurkhas Ships 12 Gurkhas +1 Villager 1 8 Gurkhas Ships 8 Gurkhas +1 Villager 10 14 Gurkhas Ships 14 Gurkhas +1 Villager 25 Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager 40 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 British East India Company Sepoys, Gurkhas, and Sowars get +10% hit points and attack +1 Villager 25 Royal Green Jackets Receive Gurkhas with every Consulate shipment; Gurkhas and the Mansabdar Gurkha get a +1.0x multiplier against infantry and heavy infantry 10 Haudenosaunee Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points 10 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• Gurkhas and Mansabdar Gurkhas regenerate hit points.
• The Gurkha's hotkey name is incorrectly labeled as Urumi in the game options.
• Mansabdar Gurkhas cost 2 population.

Definitive Edition

• Gurkhas and Mansabdar Gurkhas cannot regenerate hit points.
• The Gurkha's hotkey name now is correctly labeled as Gurkha in the game options.
• With update 20322, Mansabdar Gurkhas cost 1 population.

The African Royals

• With update 43871, Gurkhas and Mansabdar Gurkhas are tagged as Rifle Infantry.

Trivia

• Although the Gurkha was cited in the UI changes of the update 23511 that it is now tagged as Rifle Infantry, in reality it was only tagged as Rifle Infantry in the game files (along with its Mansabdar version) with update 43871.

History

“

The Gurkhas are a Nepalese ethnic group who originally claimed to be descendents of the northern India Rajputs, but who took their famous name from the small state of Gurkha in Nepal, which they conquered in the early sixteenth century. For 200 years, the Gurkhas expanded eastward, seeking to conquer all of Nepal. They succeeded, and by the mid-eighteenth century, the entire country was theirs and Hinduism was named the state religion. The Gurkhas attempted to invade Tibet but ultimately failed, and as war with the British broke out in India, they found their control waning. They did, however, discover a surprisingly fruitful partnership with the British occupational forces in India. Known for their short, curved sword called a kukri, the Gurkhas served in the armies of India and Great Britain, where more than 200,000 soldiers fought alongside the British in World War I, and in forty battalions in World War II.

”

Gallery

An in-game Gurkha

An in-game Disciplined Gurkha

An in-game Honored/Exalted Gurkha

An in-game Mansabdar Gurkha

The Gurkha's history portrait

A Treasure of a Gurkha imperiled by two Rhinoceroses