| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the similar unit in other games of the series, see Halberdier. |
"Slow, heavy infantry with a large attack."
—In-game description
The Halberdier is a melee heavy infantry in Age of Empires III that can be trained at Barracks, Fort, and Galleon/Fluyt once the Fortress Age is reached.
Halberdiers are available to Dutch, French, John Black's Mercenaries (Act II: Ice campaign), Portuguese, and Russians.
Overview 
Edit
The Halberdier is a powerful hand infantry unit, good against almost everything, but slow in movement. They are similar to the Pikeman in terms of its purpose and function. However, they have more health, deal more damage to cavalry and buildings, and can also be upgraded to Imperial status. They are a superior replacement to the Pikeman once the Fortress Age is reached. They are the melee version of the Musketeer, good against both cavalry and infantry.
Upgrades Edit
Even though the Halberdier is automatically upgraded to Veteran at the Fortress Age, it does not get extra hit points and attack from this.
| Age | Improvement | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  | 600 wood, 600 coin | Upgrades Halberdiers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack) |
 |  | 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades Halberdiers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Halberdiers |
Dutch Edit
| Age | Improvement | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| | 1,000 wood, 1,000 coin | Upgrades Halberdiers to Nassau Halberdiers (Guard Halberdiers with +10% hit points and attack) |
| | 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades Nassau Halberdiers to Imperial Nassauers (+50% hit points and attack); requires Nassau's Linear Tactics |
Civilization differences Edit
- As seen above, the Dutch can upgrade Halberdiers to Royal Guard and Imperial Guard levels.
- The Russians train Halberdiers in groups of four at the Blockhouse.
- While the Spanish cannot train Halberdiers, they can ship 13 Guard Halberdiers through Quatrefage.
Further statistics Edit
As the Halberdier can only be trained by Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Russians, only improvements available to them (including the campaign-only John Black's Mercenaries, the Spanish who can ship a limited number of Halberdiers, and native improvements) are listed here.
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Cavalry, light infantry, buildings |
| Weak vs. | Archers, artillery |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Corselet (+25%, Spanish only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%)
|
| Speed |  Military Drummers (+10%) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
|
| Train cost |  Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
|
| Other |  Petrine Reforms (grants Guard upgrade, Russians only) Quatrefage (ships 13 Guard Halberdiers, Spanish only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
| Penalties |  Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Corselet (-15% speed, Spanish only)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As the Halberdier is exclusive to Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Russians, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.
Since Iroquois and Spanish can ship a limited number of Halberdiers but cannot train them otherwise, their cards that affects Halberdiers are included as well.
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Halberdier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dutch
|
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ships 11 Halberdiers |  | 10 |
 | Ships 8 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 | Halberdiers get +20% speed, but -0.25x multiplier against infantry |  | 25 |
 | Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% attack |  | 10 |
 | Infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
 | Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Europeans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ships 7 Halberdiers | | 1 |
 | Ships 10 Halberdiers | | 1 |
 | Ships 8 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 | Ships 13 Halberdiers | | 25 |
 | Infantry train time -40% | | 10 |
- The 7 Halberdiers, 10 Halberdiers, and 8 Halberdiers cards are available to Dutch and Portuguese.
- The 13 Halberdiers card is available to Dutch and Russians (at a level 1 Home City).
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Iroquois Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
 | Infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
 | Infantry gets +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
 | Infantry gets +8 LOS | | 10 |
 | Ships 11 Halberdiers; costs 500 coin | | 1 |
 | Ships 20 Halberdiers; costs 1,000 coin | | 10 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ships 9 Halberdiers | | 1 |
 | Ships 15 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 | Infantry gets +50% siege attack | | 25 |
 | Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% | | 25 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Melee infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
 | All units get +10 LOS |  | 10 |
Trivia Edit
- The Halberdier's function and it's availability in the third age is similar to the Hoplite and Phalanx from the original Age of Empires.
- Despite being a German-origin weapon, and being used by the British and Spanish, none of them use it for balancing reasons.
- Dutch Royal Guard Halberdiers are named after Maurice of Nassau who was the first to utilize linear infantry tactics on a large scale in Europe.
- Contrary to the in-game upgrade, however, the tactic was introduced to Dutch musketeers rather than melee troops.
History Edit
"Riders with lances had better range than halberdiers, so halberdiers often fought alongside Pikemen. The axe blade of a halberd was more than capable of cleaving plate armor, flesh and bone alike, but because the halberdier had to swing the long weapon with both hands, he was virtually defenseless when attacking. This required tight coordination and unwavering resolve within a regiment of halberdiers.
The halberd is essentially a very long-handled axe. It was a six foot staff of stout oak or ash topped by a long, stabbing spear point and a heavy axe blade balanced by a spike. The spear point was used to thrust and stab, the axe blade to cut through a mounted warrior's heavy armor, and the spike opposite the axe blade to push, or pull, riders off balance."
Gallery Edit
