| 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 cavalry, but vulnerable to Skirmishers. It is similar to the Pikeman in terms of its purpose and function. However, it is more versatile, dealing more damage to non-cavalry units, has more health and damage, and can be upgraded to Guard and Imperial level, but has less speed and siege damage when accounted for cost. Halberdiers have extremely high attack and hit points for an infantry unit, but are slow, and thus unable to catch up to almost anything to get into melee. This makes them much better at defensive purposes than as a primary offensive unit. The Dutch are somewhat able to overcome this weakness by combining Military Reforms and Military Drummers for a total of 5.2 speed. Training 5-10 Halberdiers and placing them behind artillery to guard from cavalry flanks is an extremely cost-effective way to defend cannons. Unlike Musketeers, they will automatically block and melee down cavalry, and can go into cover mode, which greatly increases their durability.
Additionally, Halberdiers are able to beat almost any melee infantry that gets into combat with them (with the notable exception of the Jaguar Prowl Knight), making them more versatile than Pikemen.
Upgrades Edit
The Halberdier starts as Veteran, although it does not get extra hit points and attack.
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect | Civ. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  Guard Halberdiers
| 600 wood, 600 coin | Upgrades Halberdiers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack) | French Portuguese Russians |
| Nassau's Linear Tactics
| 1,000 wood, 1,000 coin | Upgrades Halberdiers to Nassau Halberdiers (Guard Halberdiers with +10% hit points and attack) | Dutch | |
 |  Imperial Halberdiers
| 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades Halberdiers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Halberdiers | French Portuguese Russians |
| Imperial Nassauers
| Upgrades Nassau Halberdiers to Imperial Nassauers (+50% hit points and attack); requires Nassau's Linear Tactics | Dutch |
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 for 75% of the price but with 20% less hit points and attack.
- While the Spanish cannot train Halberdiers, they can ship 13 Guard Halberdiers through Quatrefage.
- John Black's Mercenaries can only upgrade Halberdiers to the Guard level.
- The Iroquois can ship up to 31 Halberdiers through the Renegade Dutch Home City Cards.
Further statistics Edit
| 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
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Halberdier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dutch
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 11 Halberdiers
| Ships 11 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 8 Halberdiers
| Ships 8 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 Military Reforms
| Halberdiers get +20% speed, but -0.25x multiplier against infantry |  | 25 |
 Infantry Attack
| Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% attack |  | 10 |
 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints
| Infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
 Infantry Combat
| Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Europeans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 7 Halberdiers
| Ships 7 Halberdiers | | 1 |
 10 Halberdiers
| Ships 10 Halberdiers | | 1 |
 8 Halberdiers
| Ships 8 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 13 Halberdiers
| Ships 13 Halberdiers | | 25 |
 Fencing School
| 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 | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Iroquois Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Infantry Attack
| Infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
 Infantry Hitpoints
| Infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
 Infantry Combat
| Infantry gets +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
 TEAM Scout Infantry
| Infantry gets +8 LOS | | 10 |
 11 Renegade Dutch
| Ships 11 Halberdiers; costs 500 coin | | 1 |
 20 Renegade Dutch
| Ships 20 Halberdiers; costs 1,000 coin | | 10 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 9 Halberdiers
| Ships 9 Halberdiers | | 1 |
 15 Halberdiers
| Ships 15 Halberdiers | | 10 |
 Ransack
| Infantry gets +50% siege attack | | 25 |
 TEAM Dueling School
| Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% | | 25 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Hand Infantry Attack
| Melee infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS |  | 10 |
Trivia Edit
- The Halberdier's function and its availability in the third age is similar to the Hoplite and Phalanx from the original Age of Empires.
- Despite being a weapon of German origin that was also 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
