Militiamen quickly loses hit points over time, which only stops when they have only 1 hit point remaining. Any damage taken after that will kill them, making them almost useless once this occurs; however, Militiamen are quite strong against villagers. Militiamen are also useful in temporary battles or to react quickly to an immediate crisis.
Militiamen are a good tool for quickly defending Town Center. They are also effective in large infantry armies due to their good attack and being protected by the numbers around them. This is especially true of the Portuguese because of their free multiple Town Centers.
Players can essentially create endless armies of Militiamen by having their Explorer continually build Town Centers and deploying Militiamen from them. However, given their health degeneration and the time it takes to build a Town Center (unless a Covered Wagon is assisting), it is not recommended to do so.
By the Industrial Age, it is possible to have up to twenty Militiamen included in an army for low cost. But the fact that Militiamen automatically lose hit points should be kept in mind: they should not attack distant areas, as they arrive at such locations drained of hit points.
In the Definitive Edition, revolting to the United States renames Militiamen to Minutemen, gives access to the "Conscription" Home City Card which makes their Militiamen no longer lose hit points over time, and allows them to be called from Forts.
Minutemen were groups of irregular soldiers who vowed to be ready in a minute's notice to fight against British soldiers leading up to and during the American Revolutionary War. They had no formal training and used their own weapons as arms, relying on hunting skills for marksmanship and guerilla tactics learned from the Native Americans in the recent French and Indian War. These tactics made the farmers and tradesmen who took up arms against the British unpredictable and effective. Monuments stand at the North Bridge in Concord and Battle Green Square in Lexington to commemorate the first fighting of the American Revolution, fighting done by militia and Minutemen.
Thin Red Line (+20%, British only)
Grand Encampment (+25%, United States only)
Cree Tanning (+5%)
Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%, vanilla Age of Empires III only)
Yoga (+5%)
Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Military Drummers (+10%)
Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only)
Incan Road-building (+20%)
Apache Endurance (+5%)
Town Watch (+2)
Levy (spawns 6 Minutemen)
Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only)
