Marathan Catamaran

Marathan Catamaran
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Ship War ship Fishing boat
Age	Commerce Age
Requires	Trading Post or Tambo on a Holy Site settlement on Borneo, Ceylon, Deccan, Fertile Crescent, Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia
Training
Trained at	Dock (Asians, Europeans, Federal Americans, and Native Americans) Port (Africans)
Cost	100 Wood
Train time	10 seconds
Train limit	20
Statistics
Hit points	220
Resistance	50% Ranged
Speed	8.5
Line of Sight	24
Garrison	20
Ability	Transports land units Gathers from fishes and whales Trains Old Doug the Orangutans, Dacoits, and Thuggees (only if close to shore)
Train XP	10
Kill XP	10
Ranged attack
Damage	16 Ranged
Range	20
Rate of Fire	2.0
Siege attack
Damage	40 Siege
Range	20
Rate of Fire	2.0

“	Native boat that can attack or transport units.	”
—In-game description

The Marathan Catamaran is a small ship in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It is available after building a Trading Post on a Holy Site settlement on Borneo, Ceylon, Deccan, Fertile Crescent, Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia maps.

Overview

The Indians can also receive Marathan Catamaran from shipments on water maps with Dacoits or Thuggees garrisoned. Players usually use it to collect Treasures at sea. It can carry a fair amount of units, including artillery. It can attack, fish (though it is as inefficient as Canoes), transport units and train Old Doug the Orangutans, and Dacoits and Thuggees if they are available at Tavern/Monastery.

Catamarans have weak firepower against ground units and other ships, but they fire from a good distance when compared to Musketeers for instance. Their range is the same as that of a Skirmisher, allowing them to outrange most military ground units when they are near the sea. A group of them can be used to support other war ships, as they cost no population slot, and they can also be used as a distraction for enemy ships or coast defenses. It should be noted, though, that they have low hit points and get easily destroyed by other ships. Their siege damage, though, is nearly half that of an upgraded Caravel and they perform well for their cost against buildings, especially Docks.

Because they are somewhat cheap compared to regular ships and fire from long range, they can be used to harass enemy units that are too close to the coast, especially villagers, forcing them to flee or send ships to down the Catamarans, distracting the enemy either way.

Strategy

Both Water Ceremony and War Ceremony boost ranged warships. The former requires a card, the latter does not. Ranged attack can be boosted as high as 36, 91 siege damage and 588 hit points with the former ceremony and all upgrades. 32 ranged attack, 58 siege damage and 275 hit points with only the latter ceremony and upgrades; depending on whether the player wishes to send a card or not.

Units

The Marathan Catamaran must be close to the shore to train the units, and will also be unable to move and attack while doing so.

Age	Unit	Cost	Pop.	Limit
	Old Doug the Orangutan	200 food	–	5
	Marathan Dacoit	90 coin	5	∞
	Marathan Thuggee	150 coin	6

Bandit Catamaran

Bandit Catamaran
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals
Type	Ship War ship Fishing boat
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Dock (Asians, Europeans, Federal Americans, and Native Americans) Port (Africans)
Cost	100 Wood
Train time	10 seconds
Train limit	10
Statistics
Hit points	300
Resistance	50% Hand 50% Ranged
Speed	8.0
Line of Sight	24
Garrison	20
Ability	Transports land units Gathers from fishes and whales Trains Pambuu the Tame Warthogs and Aiz the Tame Elephants (only if close to shore)
Train XP	10
Kill XP	10
Ranged attack
Damage	16 Ranged
Range	22
Rate of Fire	3.0
Bonus damage	×10.0 vs. Treasure guardian ×0.5 vs. Villager
Siege attack
Damage	20 Siege
Range	16
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	×5.0 vs. Treasure guardian ×0.5 vs. Trading Post, Ship, Dock, and Port

“	Bandit boat that can attack or transport units.	”
—Bandit Catamaran in-game description

The Bandit Catamaran is an African variant of the Marathan Catamaran in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - The African Royals trainable by default on Horn and Swahili Coast maps, and is only available on them. It also differs from the Marathan Catamaran in its statistics and the units that it can train.

Units

The Bandit Catamaran must be close to the shore to train the units, and will also be unable to move and attack while doing so.

Age	Unit	Cost	Limit
	Pambuu the Tame Warthog	150 food	7
	Aiz the Tame Elephant	500 food	2

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ships, buildings close to shore
Weak vs.	Artillery especially Culverins, defensive structures
Improvements
Gather rate	Long Lines (+30%) Gill Nets (+15%) Huron Fish Wedding (+15%) Fasting (+10%) Aztec Chinampa (+5%) Klamath Work Ethos (+5%) Collective Economy (+50% from whales; Asians only) Excessive Taxation (+50% from whales; Europeans only) Excessive Tribute (+50% from whales; Native Americans only) Mountain State Gold Rush (+40% from whales; United States only) Large Scale Farming (+35% from whales; Africans only) Navajo Craftsmanship (+20% from whales) Somali Coinage (+10% from whales)
Hit points	Rawhide Covers (+30%; Haudenosaunee only) Armor Plating (+50%) Heavy Riverboats (+25%; Africans only) Byzantine Legacy (+15%) Cipactli Worship (+10%; Aztecs only) Tar Kilns (+10%)
Attack	Flaming Arrows (+30%; Lakota only) Carronade (+25%) River Skirmishes (+25%; Africans only) Cipactli Worship (+10%; Aztecs only) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Africans only)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) Öresund Customs (generates 0.05 coin/sec.)
Penalties	Pennsylvania Pound (-10% coin gather rate; United States only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Marathan/Bandit Catamaran

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
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Advanced Dock	Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 85% faster; warships' train time -33% (also +1 Villager for the Indians)		10
Fish Market	Fishing boats gather food from fishes 25% faster and coin from whales 20% faster (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		1
Rendering Plant	Fishing boats gather food from fishes 30% faster and coin from whales 25% faster (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		10
Whale Oil	Fishing boats gather coin from whales 30% faster		40
Improved Warships	Warships get +25% hit points and attack (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		10
TEAM Improved Warships	Warships get +10% hit points and attack		10
Naval Gunners	Warships get +20% attack		25
Offshore Support	Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans)		40
European Cannons	Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		25
Admiralty	Dock warship technologies cost and research time -60% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		1

• "Advanced Dock" is not available to Africans.
• "Fish Market" is not available to the Japanese and Portuguese.
• "Rendering Plant" is not available to the Mexicans and Native Americans.
• "Whale Oil" is available to the Japanese, Portuguese, Swedes, and United States.
• "Improved Warships" is not available to the Chinese, Lakota, and United States.
• "TEAM Improved Warships" is available to the Chinese and Maltese.
• "Naval Gunners" is available to the British, French, Italians, Maltese, Russians, Swedes, and United States.
• "Offshore Support" is available to the Aztecs, Germans, Inca, Maltese, and Ottomans.
• "European Cannons" is not available to Europeans and Native Americans.
• "Admiralty" is not available to Africans and Native Americans.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Advanced Port	Ports get +100% attack and heal ships 100% faster; warships' train time -33%
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%

Aztecs

Card	Description	Age
Artificial Islands	Warships cost -35% wood

British

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Whale Oil	Fishing boats gather coin from whales 15% faster

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%		10

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Roof of Africa	Villagers and fishing boats gather food 25% faster
Fazogli Gold	Villagers and fishing boats gather coin 20% faster
Land of the Sea	Warships get +35% attack for each garrisoned Ras

Europeans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Economic Theory	Villagers and fishing boats gather 10% faster		40
Lantakas	Artillery, buildings, and ships get +15% attack		N/A

• "Economic Theory" is not available to the British, Dutch, Spanish, and Swedes.
• "Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
Wampum	Training units and constructing buildings grants +35% XP

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Salt Ponds	Villagers gather food from herded and hunted animals 20% faster; fishing boats gather food from fisheses and coin from whales 20% faster

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25
Bombay Marine	Ships' train time -30% and train bounty +30%; +1 Hindu Villager		1
Recruit Maratha + 10 Dacoit	Ships 3 Marathan Catamarans with 10 Dacoits in it; +1 Hindu Villager; costs 500 coin		1
Recruit Maratha + 6 Thuggee	Ships 3 Marathan Catamarans with 6 Thuggees in it; +1 Hindu Villager; costs 500 coin		10
TEAM Recruit Maratha + 10 Thuggee	Ships 4 Marathan Catamarans with 10 Thuggees in it; costs 1,000 coin		25

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1
TEAM Chonindo	Villagers and fishing boats gather 8% faster from all sources except hunts; Haciendas auto gather 8% faster		40
Fish Market	Fishing boats gather food from fishes 25% faster and coin from whales 20% faster		1
Peacetime Fishing	Warships gather food from fishes and coin from whales 125% faster		25

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Winter Counts	Training units grants +40% XP and constructing buildings grants +20% XP

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points
Speronaras	Ships get +10% speed; Order Galleys and Fishing Boats get +30% speed instead

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
TEAM Rendering Plant	Fishing boats gather 10% faster
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster	Imperial Age

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" and "Michoacán Fishermen" are available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Native Americans

Card	Description	Age
Water Ceremony	Water Ceremony available at the Community Plaza

• "Water Ceremony" is not available to the Lakota.

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Fish Market	Fishing boats gather 10% faster		1

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cold Water Port	Warships cost -15%		10

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight		10

United States

Card	Description	Age
Indiana Mobilization	Ships 1 Carbine Cavalry for every shipment that had been sent by the player, including this one; all units' train time, technology research time, and age-up time -10%; costs 500 wood
Vermont Coppers	Estate technologies are free and researched instantly; villagers and fishing boats gather coin 5% faster; all coin autogather and trickle 5% faster
Connecticut Shipwrights	Artillery train time -25%, buildings' build time -35%, and ships' train time -50%	Imperial Age

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.
• "Vermont Coppers" is available upon selecting the Vermont Federal State.
• "Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Treasure guardian

Bandit Catamaran
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Ship War ship Fishing boat Guardian
Civilization(s)	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	220
Resistance	50% Ranged
Speed	8.5
Line of Sight	24
Kill XP	10
Ranged attack
Damage	16 Ranged
Range	20
Rate of Fire	2.0
Siege attack
Damage	40 Siege
Range	20
Rate of Fire	2.0

There is also the treasure guardian variant of the Marathan Catamaran. It is usually featured in large area of seas surrounding a rather abundant treasure.

In-game dialogue

The Marathan Catamaran uses the Thuggee's dialogues.

Trivia

• As the Catamaran sinks, the Dacoit-like unit steering the vessel tries to jump out of the sinking vessel, only to fall into the sea alongside the vessel.
• African Bandit Catamarans have a black bandit sailing the ship, while Marathan Catamarans have a Dacoit.

History

“

The Maratha were the influential power behind an empire that covered a large region of India in the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries CE. The Maratha aided in bringing about the fall of the powerful Mughal Empire, and later became fierce rivals of the British occupation of India. By the middle of the eighteenth century, their empire, under the ruler Sivaji, extended the kingdom's reach south through the vast Deccan plateau and onto the Indian peninsula. The British Empire was able to greatly reduce the great empire's influence, subduing it completely by 1818. Today, Maratha refers to a member of the Western Indian Marathi-speaking people known for their devotion to Hinduism and their skill as warriors. They are named for their homeland of Maharashtra. The word "catamaran" comes from the Anglicized Tamil words "kattu," or to tie, and "maram," meaning wood, or tree. Comprised of two connected hulls or a single hull with two parallel keels, the catamaran is a watercraft that was developed by natives of Polynesia and first used in the fifth century CE. Its maneuverability proved advantageous for crews braving the waves of the Pacific Ocean, as it could reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour while maintaining its stability. Westerners adopted the catamaran design in the 1870s, when famous American naval engineer Nathanael Herreshoff began building a modified version of the craft. Today, catamarans can range from 12 to 315 feet, depending on their purpose, and are widely used for sport and business.

”

Gallery

The Marathan Catamaran history portrait

An in-game Marathan Catamaran

An Indian home city shipment of six thuggees and two Marathan Catamaran

The "Dacoit" trying to escape the sinking Catamaran

Bandit Catamarans guarding treasure

In-game Marathan Catamaran in the Definitive Edition

Marathan Catamaran image from the Compendium section