The Manchu is the mercenary version of the Cavalry Archer. It has a high rate of fire and an impressive amount of hit points. It also has a very high melee armor and base damage. All these factors combined make it an extremely effective counter to cavalry, without having to worry about micro-managing them or kiting. Unlike nearly every other mercenary, it takes the same amount of population space as its base unit; this allows it to be used even in the latest stages of the games without sacrificing military size, should it be available at the Saloon/Monastery.
This unit is of particular interest to the Chinese civilization. As China is unable to mass produce anti-cavalry, and the units it can mass are fairly weak, the Manchu (if available at the Monastery) can be trained to fill this usual hole in their composition, without sacrificing population space or draining limited wood supplies.
Outlaws and mercenaries get +15% hit points and attack (also upgrades Filibusters to Veteran for Baja California; costs 750 coin for Baja California, Hungary, and Revolutionary Mexicans)
N/A
"Cavalry Damage" is available to British, Haudenosaunee, and Lakota.
"Cavalry Hitpoints" is available to British and Haudenosaunee.
"Cavalry Combat" is available to British, Dutch, French, Italians, Lakota, Mexicans, Ottomans, Russians, and Spanish.
"Liberation March" is available to the Mexicans and Spanish.
"Riding School" is available to Europeans (except the Maltese and Spanish) and Indians.
"Hire Manchurian Cavalry Archers" is available to the Chinese, Ottomans, and Russians.
Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 Line of Sight and train units 15% faster; land military unit train time -20%; Banner army train time -10%
Ships 13 random mercenaries; up to 3 random mercenaries available at Saloon; costs 3,500 coin
Indiana Mobilization
Ships 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; unit train time (except Heavy Cannons), technology research time, and age-up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Ships 9 Hussars; hand cavalry get +15% hit points and attack, and +5% speed; cavalry train time -10%
"Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.
"Hamilton's Own" is available upon selecting the New York Federal State.
"Seminole Ponies" is available upon selecting the Florida Federal State.
In-game dialogue[]
Unlike other units native to China, the Manchu speaks their own Manchu language (Manju Gisun),[1] an endangered language of Tungusic origin native to Manchuria and one of the official languages of the Qing dynasty.
Select 1Je? (ᠵᡝ) - Yes?
Select 2Cooha belheme jurambi. (ᠴᠣᠣᡥᠠ ᠪᡝᠯᡥᡝᠮᡝ ᠵᡠᡵᠠᠮᠪᡳ) - Troop(s) ready to set out.
Select 3Temgetu selgiyen? (ᡨᡝᠮᡤᡝᡨᡠ ᠰᡝᠯᡤᡳᠶᡝᠨ) - Official order(s)?
Move 1Je (ᠵᡝ) - Yes
Move 2Je (ᠵᡝ) - Yes
Move 3Bi uthai genembi (ᠪᡳ ᡠᡨᡥᠠᡳ ᡤᡝᠨᡝᠮᠪᡳ) - I immediately go
Attack 1Bire! (ᠪᡳᡵᡝ) - Charge!
Attack 2Wa! (ᠸᠠ) - Kill!
Attack 3Je! (ᠵᡝ) - Yes!
History[]
“
The Manchu people overthrew the Ming dynasty in the middle of the seventeenth century. They established the Ch'ing dynasty and tried to remain separate from the general populace of China. They had been a nomadic people once, riding and fighting from horseback, and tending crops and herds. The Ch'ing dynasty ruled China for about 300 years.
Manchurian soldiers and warriors fought with recurve bows, swords, lances, halberds, and even their bare hands. They wore heavy robes that hung to the knee, allowing free movement on foot and horseback.
”
—In-game history section
Trivia[]
The Manchu's history portrait mistakenly shows a Cavalry Archer.
The In-game history section mistakenly refers to Manchus as nomadic, but Manchus in real life were sedentary farmers who lived in villages and cities in the forests and were not steppe nomads, unlike the Mongols. The in-game history even contradicts itself by later saying they tended crops which nomads did not do.
The misconception of Manchus being nomadic is primarily because the Manchus (and their ancestors in the Age of Empires II timeframe, the Jurchens) had a horse culture and clan structure similar to the Mongols (even adapting the "khan" title for their leaders).
The Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty which fell in 1912 also lasted 268 years in northeastern China where the northern Ming fell in 1644, and less than that in all of China since the Southern Ming still lasted until 1683.