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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For other uses, see Howdah.

High-hitpoints ranged Elephant cavalry effective against cavalry and artillery.
—In-game description

The Howdah is a ranged light ranged cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Indians and can be trained at Caravanserai and Galleon, as well as the Agra Fort wonder once it is upgraded to Delhi Gate, once the Fortress Age is reached. It is the strongest ranged cavalry unit in the game.

The Ethiopians can train them through the Indian alliance age-up.

Overview[]

Howdahs are elephants that carry a howdah - which gave the units its name - on their backs, with a gunner in the howdah. The man in the howdah uses his gun to shoot at units at a fairly good range and with a high attack, making it the most powerful ranged cavalry in the game. However, it costs a lot of resources and population, which is its main disadvantage. They are similar to German War Wagons, but have a ranged resistance.

Note: Elephant population can be decreased by a single point through use of the Professional Handlers Home City Card.

Howdah pack the toughness of a War Elephant with an extremely powerful ranged attack able to kill most units in only one or a few shots. Howdah has a large amount of hit points, and a huge ranged attack. They can kill any hand cavalry unit in only a few shots, and are incredibly durable, but they are very slow for ranged cavalry units, and are hard to micromanage, balancing out their incredible military power. The Howdah is an excellent counter to Hand Cavalry and artillery, and does well against most units, although they should stay out of melee combat with Heavy Infantry, and should usually stay away from ranged infantry altogether. The Howdah also has a quite high siege attack for a ranged Cavalry unit, and a group of them can do a fairly good job of taking out buildings, but this is offset by their huge cost and population usage.

Howdahs can be overwhelmed by cavalry if they are not properly micromanaged; however, they do have one unique attribute shared with only the Yojimbo: a splash damage when set into melee mode. If Howdahs become surrounded by cavalry, activating melee mode allows them to attack multiple units simultaneously and increases the rate of fire. Coupled with their high damage and multipliers, this allows them to defeat large numbers of cavalry, similar to Doppelsoldners or Ronin. This splash damage can also be effective against infantry, artillery, or Villagers, but it is usually better to attack at range.

Compared to Zamburaks, Howdahs have a few distinct advantages. Firstly, they have vastly superior range, allowing them to target units from a safer distance. As the Indians lack Ranged Cavalry Caracole, they cannot even bring Zamburaks up to the standard 14 range of Dragoons. Furthermore, Zamburaks are incredibly frail, and are unable to withstand artillery fire. A few Heavy Cannons will easily clear up Zamburaks, whereas Howdah can withstand an incredible amount of damage. Finally, Howdahs train much quicker, by stacking Riding School, Tame Elephants and Terror Charge. This is of course compounded when pure firepower is taken into consideration; 5 Zamburaks take longer to train than 5 Howdahs, and 5 Howdahs are considerably more powerful.

Howdahs can also make a strong counter to artillery. Siege Elephants have a range advantage, and do siege damage, making them very effective, but have several shortcomings that Howdahs do not. One primary weakness of Siege Elephants is that Culverins, ranged cavalry, Skirmishers, and heavy cavalry (especially Meteor Hammers and Kanya Horsemen due to multipliers) all make effective counters to Siege Elephants; Howdah are only really hard countered by Skirmishers or extremely powerful heavy infantry. Other concerns are cost, and Siege Elephants having a very poor attack vs most units. In this way, Howdahs can prove a more well-rounded counter to artillery in situations where Siege Elephants are unable to be effective.

While the Howdah is light cavalry, it does not benefit from the "TEAM House of Aviz" card, which reduces the train time of Commerce Age light cavalry and enables Fortress Age light cavalry to be trained in the Commerce Age.

Mansabdar Howdah[]

Inspires all nearby Howdahs. High hitpoints ranged elephant cavalry effective against cavalry and artillery.
—In-game description

The Mansabdar Howdah is a stronger version of the Howdah that can be trained from the Charminar Gate wonder or shipped from the Home City as part of the Howdah Regiment. As a Mansabdar unit, the Mansabdar Howdah has twice the hit points of a Howdah and Imperial Service that increases the hit points and damage of nearby Howdahs, but are two times more expensive.

Special ability[]

  • Imperial Service (passive): The Mansabdar Howdah increases the hit points and damage of Howdahs in a radius of 24 around them by 10%.

Upgrades[]

Age Upgrade Cost Effect
Disciplined Howdah Automatically Upgrades Howdahs and Mansabdar Howdah to Disciplined (+20% hit points and damage)
Honored Howdah 600 wood
600 coin
Upgrades Howdahs and Mansabdar Howdah to Honored (+30% hit points and damage)
Imperial Age
Imperial Age
Exalted Howdah 1,500 wood
1,500 coin
Upgrades Howdahs and Mansabdar Howdah to Exalted (+50% hit points and damage); requires Honored Howdah

Further statistics[]

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Heavy cavalry, hand shock infantry, artillery
Weak vs. Heavy infantry, light infantry
Improvements
Hit points Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%)
Cree Tanning (+5%)
Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only)
Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack Smokeless Powder (+10%)
Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only)
Yoga (+5%)
Crushing Force (+15% hand attack; Indians only)
Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Resistance Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance)
Speed Apache Endurance (+5%)
Comanche Mustangs (+5%)
Wind Horses (+0.5)
Line of Sight Town Watch (+3)
Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Range Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Cost Good Will Agreements (-15%, -1 population; Ethiopians only)
Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Train time Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%)
Mass Cavalry (-35%)
Terror Charge (-20%; Indians only)
Quechuan Diet (-15%)
Immigrants (-10%)
Shaman Drums (-10%)
Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Ethiopians only)
Other Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards[]

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the (Mansabdar) Howdah
Some cards are highlighted with:
Green TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Blue Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

Ethiopians
Card Description Age
Ignatian Spirituality Unit (except herded animals) hit points +5%, regeneration rate +1.0 (even in combat)
Feudal Armies Unit train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%
Germans
Card Description Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead
  • "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Indians
Card Description Age
Dravidian Martial Arts Unit all melee attack damage +15%; Rajput hand attack damage +20% instead, +1 Hindu Villager
2 Howdahs Delivers 2 Howdahs, +1 Hindu Villager; costs 250 food
Howdah Regiment Delivers 1 Howdah and 1 Mansabdar Howdah, +1 Hindu Villager; costs 350 food
3 Howdahs Delivers 3 Howdahs; costs 600 food
Elephant Combat Elephant hit points and damage +20%, +1 Hindu Villager
Professional Handlers Mahout Lancer, Howdah, and Flail Elephant population cost -1; Siege Elephant population cost -2, +1 Hindu Villager
Tame Elephants Elephant cost and train time -10%, +1 Hindu Villager
Mughal Elephant Armors Mahout Lancer and Howdah hand resistance +10%, Flail Elephant siege resistance +10%, Siege Elephant ranged resistance +10%, +1 Hindu Villager; costs 500 wood, 500 coin
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics Unit hit points and damage +5%
Riding School Cavalry train time -40%; Cuirassier, Oprichnik, and Hakkapelit train time -35% instead; Gatling Camel train time -20% instead, +1 Hindu Villager
Foreign Trading Companies Adds 0.75 to export trickle rate; banner army export cost -15%; Indian unit cost +2.5% (Hindu Villager, Fishing Boat, and Sacred Cow cost +5% instead), +1 Hindu Villager
Grazing Camel (except Gatling Camels) auto gather food 0.05; elephant auto gather wood 0.1; Sacred Cow auto gather coin 0.075, +1 Hindu Villager
Italians
Card Description Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +10%; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry damage +15% instead
  • "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Japanese
Card Description Age
TEAM Sengoku Unit upgrades cost -20%
Lakota
Card Description Age
TEAM Mustangs Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%
Maltese
Card Description Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%
Mexicans
Card Description Age
TEAM Mariachi For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
Russians
Card Description Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions Cavalry and shock infantry hit points +10%, Line of Sight +4
Spanish
Card Description Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Germans
Card Description Age HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack
10
Indians
Card Description Age HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% hand attack; +1 Villager
40
2 Howdahs Ships 2 Howdahs; +1 Villager; costs 250 food
10
Howdah Regiment Ships 1 Howdah and 1 Mansabdar Howdah; +1 Villager; costs 350 food
10
3 Howdahs Ships 3 Howdahs; costs 600 food
10
Elephant Combat Elephants get +15% hit points and damage; +1 Villager
25
Professional Handlers Elephants take -1 population; +1 Villager
10
Tame Elephants Elephants' cost and train time -10%; +1 Villager
10
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and damage
25
Riding School Cavalry train time -40%; +1 Villager
10
Grazing Camels generate 0.05 food/sec.; Brahmins and elephants generate 0.1 wood/sec.; +1 Villager
40
Japanese
Card Description Age HC level
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20%
1
Russians
Card Description Age HC level
TEAM Cavalry Scouts Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight
1
Spanish
Card Description Age HC level
TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 Line of Sight
10

Changelog[]

The Asian Dynasties[]

  • Howdahs have no melee multiplier against Coyote Runners, a ×0.5 melee multiplier against villagers, and a ×2.25 ranged multiplier against Coyote Runners.
  • Mansabdar Howdahs have a ×3.0 multiplier against heavy cavalry, a ×2.75 multiplier against Coyote Runners, a ×2.5 multiplier against artillery, and a ×0.5 multiplier against villagers.
  • Mansabdar Howdahs cost 12 population.

Definitive Edition[]

  • Howdahs have a ×2.2 melee multiplier against hand shock infantry, no melee multiplier against villagers, and a ×2.2 ranged multiplier against hand shock infantry.
  • Mansabdar Howdahs have the same multipliers as the Howdahs, both melee and ranged.
  • With update 20322, Mansabdar Howdahs cost 6 population.

History[]

Howdah is the traditional name for a carriage that is strapped across an elephant's back, allowing it to carry human riders, including the "mahout," the beast's human handler. Howdahs often featured grand decoration and were used as processional carriages. Early Mughal rulers preferred travel by elephant because of the impression it made, both during peacetime and at war. Although elephants have been used in warfare for centuries, the Mauryan Empire of ancient India first used the howdah in combat in about 300 BCE. Soon afterwards, elephant howdahs provided safety to many Carthaginian archers and javelineers during the Punic Wars of 264-146 BCE.

In battle, elephants with ornate howdahs acted as standard bearers, visual representations of the army's might. More importantly, they provided a relatively safe location from which ranged units could gain a more expansive view of the battlefield and fire on their enemy from above. From this elevated vantage point, they could choose their targets more effectively.

Gallery[]

Military units in Age of Empires III
Common/shared units
Age of Empires III Explorer · Militiaman · Crossbowman · Pikeman · Musketeer · Grenadier · Halberdier · Skirmisher · Hussar · Dragoon · Cavalry Archer · Falconet · Culverin · Mortar · Heavy Cannon · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor
The WarChiefs Warrior · Spy · Petard · Horse Artillery · Canoe · War Canoe · Ironclad
The Asian Dynasties/ Sentry · / Irregular
Definitive Edition*/ General · Captured Mortar · Sloop · Steamer · Battleship
The African Royals Levied Spearman · Levied Bowman · Levied Gunner · Javelin Rider · Battle Canoe · Cannon Boat
Unique units
British Longbowman · Ranger · Rocket
Dutch Ruyter · Fluyt
French Cuirassier
Germans Doppelsoldner · Landwehr · Uhlan · War Wagon
Ottomans Bashibozuk · Janissary · Azap · Abus Gunner · Humbaraci · Muhbir · Nizam Fusilier · Deli · Sipahi · Great Bombard · Galley
Portuguese Cassador · Ordinance Rifleman · Organ Gun
Russians Strelet · Rekrut · Poruchik · Cossack · Oprichnik
Spanish Rodelero · Lancer
Aztecs Aztec War Chief · Eagle Scout · Otontin Slinger · Puma Spearman · Warrior Priest · Arrow Knight · Jaguar Prowl Knight · Skull Knight · Coyote Runner · Eagle Runner Knight · Tlaloc Canoe
Haudenosaunee Haudenosaunee War Chief · Aenna · Tomahawk · Forest Prowler · Ram · Mantlet · Kanya Horseman · Musket Rider · Light Cannon
Lakota Lakota War Chief · Cetan Bowman · Club Warrior · Wakina Rifle · Axe Rider · Bow Rider · Rifle Rider · Tashunke Prowler · Tokala Soldier
Chinese Shaolin Master · Chu Ko Nu · Qiang Pikeman · Flamethrower · Changdao Swordsman · Arquebusier · Disciple · Steppe Rider · Keshik · Iron Flail · Meteor Hammer · Hand Mortar · Flying Crow · Fire Junk · War Junk · Fuchuan
Indians Brahmin · Rajput · Sepoy · Gurkha · Urumi Swordsman · Sowar · Zamburak · Flail Elephant · Mahout Lancer · Howdah · Siege Elephant
Japanese Sohei Archer · Yumi Archer · Ashigaru Musketeer · Samurai · Yamabushi · Shinobi · Naginata Rider · Yabusame · Daimyo · Shogun Tokugawa · Flaming Arrow · Morutaru · Fune · Atakebune · Tekkousen
Inca Inca War Chief · Jungle Bowman · Plumed Spearman · Bolas Warrior · Huaraca · Maceman · Chasqui · Chimu Runner · Chincha Raft
Swedes Carolean · Hakkapelit · Leather Cannon
United States Minuteman · State Militia · Regular · Gunslinger · Owlhoot · Sharpshooter · Cowboy · Carbine Cavalry · Gatling Gun · Quaker Gun
Ethiopians Ras · Gascenya · Neftenya · Shotel Warrior · Oromo Warrior · Sebastopol Mortar · War Dhow
Hausa Emir · Fulani Archer · Maigadi · Raider · Lifidi Knight · Xebec
Mexicans Padre · Insurgente · Soldado · Salteador · Desperado · Bandido · Chinaco · Cuatrero
Italians Pavisier · Papal Guard · Schiavone · Bersagliere · Papal Zouave · Papal Lancer · Papal Bombard · Leonardo's Tank · Galleass
Maltese Grand Master · Hospitaller · Sentinel · Fire Thrower · Order Galley · Fire Ship
Revolution
Barbary Warrior · Bolivar · Californio · Cetbang Cannon · Corsair Captain · Corsair Marksman · Cruzob Avenger · Cruzob Infantry · Cuerudo · Eclaireur · Filibuster · Gatling Gun · Gaucho · Jagunço · Javanese Spearman · Llanero · Militia Officer · Morochuco · Mounted Granadero · Revolutionary · Revolutionary Sharpshooter · San Martin · Trek Wagon