“ | Quick-training, Minuteman who quickly loses hitpoints, becoming less effective over time. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Minuteman is a ranged infantry unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. It is the United States equivalent of the Militiaman that can be recruited from Outposts and Forts as well as Town Centers through a special version of Levy/Conscription that can be used repeatedly but with a long global cooldown of 160 seconds that is shared across all buildings which has it.
Unlike the Militiaman, Minutemen hit point degeneration will stop when they have 50% hit points remaining once the Commerce Age is reached.
The Mexicans can call them through the Industrial Age Texan revolution.
Overview[]
Like Militiaman, Minutemen are very useful in temporary battles or to react quickly to an immediate crisis, especially from the Commerce Age onwards where they will only lose up to half their hit points through their hit point degeneration. Minutemen are still weak against villagers, however.
As Minutemen can also be levied/conscripted from Outposts and Forts, they are a good tool for quickly defending a settlement. They are also effective in large infantry armies due to their good attack and being protected by the numbers around them.
By the Industrial Age, it is possible to have up to twenty Minutemen included in an army for low cost. But the fact that Minutemen 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.
Minutemen do not lose hit points while garrisoned in ships.
Upgrades[]
The Minuteman is automatically upgraded in the Industrial Age and in the Imperial Age.
- Guard Minuteman (+30% hit points and attack)
- Imperial Minuteman (+50% hit points and attack)
Marine[]
“ | Marine. Does not lose health over time, deals more damage against buildings, ships and artillery. | ” |
—In-game description |
With the "United States Marines" Home City Card, Minutemen are upgraded to Marines which removes their hit point degeneration (although they cannot be healed by healers) and makes them highly effective against buildings, ships (in which case they will use a ranged attack with a much longer range against them) and artillery.
Marines are available for Texas through the "Texas Marines" Revolutionary Card. They also feature in the scenario The Burning of USS Philadelphia.
Upgrades[]
The Marine starts at the Veteran level, although this does not increase their hit points and attack, and is automatically upgraded in the Industrial Age and in the Imperial Age.
- Guard Marine (+30% hit points and attack)
- Imperial Marine (+50% hit points and attack)
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Pikemen, siege units |
Weak vs. | Villagers, light infantry, artillery |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%) |
Attack | Armatoloi (+5%) Yoga (+5%) Clenched Fist (+25% hand attack) |
Resistance | Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance) |
Line of Sight | Town Watch (+3) |
Speed | Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%) |
Other | Levy (spawns 6 Minutemen) Conscription (spawns 16 Minutemen) Yoruba Wrestling (-25% hit points degeneration rate, hit points degeneration stops at 25% hit points remaining) |
Home City Cards[]
- Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Minuteman
Some cards are highlighted with: | |
Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
All[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Senegalese Riflemen | Ranged infantry get +10% attack; French and Hausa-only ranged infantry get +15% attack instead |
- "TEAM Senegalese Riflemen" is available to the French and Hausa.
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure | Ships 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villagers, healing units, Envoys, and Disciples get +5% speed |
- "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" does not stack with the Inca "TEAM Inca Bridges" card.
Dutch[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints | Infantry get +10% hit points; Dutch-only infantry get +15% hit points instead |
Ethiopians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Coffee Consumption | Ranged infantry get +5% speed |
Federal Americans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
The Alamo | Ships 16 Minutemen; when destroyed by enemies, your buildings spawn a number of Minutemen equal to 1.5% of their cost rounded up |
- "The Alamo" is available for United States upon selecting the Texas Federal State and Mexicans upon revolting to Texas.
Haudenosaunee[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Scout Infantry | Infantry get +8 Line of Sight |
Inca[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Inca Bridges | Ships 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villagers, healing units, and Envoys get +5% speed |
- "TEAM Inca Bridges" does not stack with the Chinese "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" card.
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack |
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 |
Mexicans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Liberation March | Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time | |
TEAM Mariachi | For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed | |
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 | |
Texas Marines | Upgrades Minutemen into Marines (Minuteman that no longer lose hit points over time, with +1,000% siege attack, +2.0 multiplier against artillery, +3.0 multiplier against ships, and a long-ranged anti-ship attack, +8 Line of Sight, and +14 XP train and kill bounty) |
- "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
- "Texas Marines" is available upon revolting to Texas.
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Spanish Inquisition | Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight |
United States[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
United States Army | The General, Minutemen, and heavy infantry get +15% hit points and attack | |
Long Rifles | State Militia and Minutemen get +4 Line of Sight and range; Sharpshooters available from the Commerce Age | |
United States Marines | Upgrades Minutemen into Marines (Minuteman that no longer lose hit points over time, with +1,000% siege attack, +2.0 multiplier against artillery, +3.0 multiplier against ships, and a long-ranged anti-ship attack, +8 Line of Sight, and +14 XP train and kill bounty) | |
Minutemen Companies | Ships 10 Minutemen; replaces Levy with Conscription | |
Culpeper Minutemen | Levy/Conscription global cooldown -50%; Minutemen hit points degeneration rate -50%; each Town Center spawns 6 Minutemen | |
Annapolis Naval Academy | Ships 1 Sloop with 6 Minutemen; Sloops, Steamers, Frigates, and Ironclads get +10% ranged attack per garrisoned Minutemen (6 max.) |
History[]
“ | Militiamen were recruited from the local population and could be quickly called to arms to defend cities and support professional armies in a case of war. In times of peace they often acted as police force to uphold public order. The level of organization, training and equipment differed greatly and was highly dependent on funds. The Minutemen were American militiamen 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. 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 Minutemen. | ” |
Trivia[]
- The Minuteman reuses the Definitive Edition's history of the Militiaman.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Militiaman – European and Mexican counterpart
- Warrior – Native American counterpart
- Sentry, Irregular – Asian counterparts
- Levied Bowman, Levied Gunner, Levied Spearman – African counterparts