Mounted Rifleman

Mounted Rifleman
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Counter-Skirmisher Gunpowder cavalry Ranged cavalry Ranged heavy cavalry Rifle Infantry Mercenary
Age	Industrial Age
Training
Trained at	Tavern (Europeans) Monastery (Asians) Saloon (Americans) Palace (Africans)
Coin	400
Training time	65 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	560
Resists	20% vs. Ranged
Speed	6.0
Line of Sight	20
Population	4
XP train bounty	40
XP bounty	40
Melee attack
Damage	45 30 (Trample mode)
Multipliers	×2.0 vs. Light infantry ×1.34 vs. Heavy infantry ×0.5 vs. Pikeman ×0.67 vs. Cavalry ×0.4 vs. Shock Infantry
Area of Effect	3 (Trample mode)
Rate of Fire	1.5 3.0 (Trample mode)
Ranged attack
Damage	70
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	15
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	25
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Long ranged heavy cavalry mercenary. Strong against Infantry, specially Skirmishers. Countered by other cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Mounted Rifleman is a mercenary gunpowder heavy cavalry unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean.

Overview

The Mounted Rifleman is a heavy ranged cavalry with high hit points, attack, and coin cost. It has more range than other heavy ranged cavalry units, but less speed, and takes more population space.

Like other heavy cavalry units, Mounted Riflemen have ranged resistance, and since they are counter-skirmishers, their attack deals additional damage against light infantry (like Skirmishers or foot archers). This also makes Mounted Riflemen particularly strong against these units due to not being tagged as light cavalry, which means they do not receive extra damage from light infantry, but in contrast, they have a reduced attack multiplier against heavy infantry like Musketeers. Additionally, they are effective against artillery due to their high attack, especially in melee combat, as artillery is vulnerable against hand cavalry. However, they are vulnerable against heavy melee infantry (like the Pikeman) due to their negative multiplier, and light cavalry, which counters heavy cavalry. Also, hand cavalry and Shock Infantry units can take them down, due to their lack of melee resistance and having negative multipliers against these units.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Light infantry, heavy infantry, artillery
Weak vs.	Cavalry, Shock Infantry, Pikemen
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Horsemanship (+10%; Lakota only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+10%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Counter Infantry Rifling (+1.0× multiplier vs. light infantry) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Pillage (+25% siege attack) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Smokeless Powder (+10%) Somali Jile Daggers (-35% melee attack ROF) Wind Horses (-10% ROF) Yoga (+5%) Kalthoff Repeaters (+0.1× multiplier vs. light infantry)
Armor	Pancerni (+0.1) Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% melee resistance)
Range	Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
Speed	Horse Secrets (+10%; Haudenosaunee only) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Mass Cavalry (-35%) Terror Charge (-20%; Indians only) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Quechuan Diet (-10%) Philhellenism (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Blue Nile Ties (-15%; Ethiopians only) Yemeni Relations (exchanges cost for 50% coin, 50% influence; Ethiopians only) Philhellenism (-10%)
Other	Multinationalism (ships 8 random European mercenaries)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only)

The Haudenosaunee and Lakota can obtain Mounted Riflemen as one of the 8 random mercenary units after researching Multinationalism.

Home City Cards

Click for a list of cards related to the Mounted Rifleman

• Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack		10
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack		10
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +5% speed and train time -35%		N/A
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%		10

The Cavalry Combat card is available to Dutch, Italians, Lakota, Mexicans, Ottomans, Russians and Spanish.

The Cavalry Damage card is available to Haudenosaunee (in the Fortress Age) and Lakota.

The Liberation March card is available to Mexicans and Spanish

The Riding School card is not available to Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.

All civilizations can obtain Mounted Riflemen as one of the 8 random mercenary units after researching Multinationalism.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; Hero respawn time -15%

Chinese

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

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Loyal Warriors	Native warriors, mercenaries, and outlaws cost -15% (also affects shipments)
British Firearms	Ships 6 Harquebusiers; Ranged Heavy Cavalry get +5% attack; costs 1,000 influence

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +15% attack		10
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry get +10% speed +4 Uhlans		25
Improved Mercenaries	Mercenaries get +20% hit points and attack +3 Uhlans		10

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points		10

The Haudenosaunee can obtain Mounted Riflemen as one of the 8 random mercenary units after researching Multinationalism.

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Sahelian Kingdoms	Native warriors get +15% hit points and attack; Mercenaries and Outlaws get +10% hit points and attack

Incas

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	All land military units get +10% speed

The Incas can obtain Mounted Riflemen as one of the 8 random mercenary units after researching Multinationalism.

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Italians

Card	Description	Age
Schiavoni Swords	All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack
French Company	Ships 7 Mounted Riflemen and 8 Fusiliers; costs 1,000 food, 1,000 wood, and 1,000 coin

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Bakufu	Daimyo and Shogun Tokugawa get +10% speed, +20 LOS and train units 15% faster; Banner army train time -10%; Land military unit train time -20%		25

Lakota

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Morning Star	Temporarily reveals all enemies and treasures. Axe Riders can now loot treasures for double the resources or XP. Hand cavalry get an additional ×2.0 multiplier against Treasure Guardians		25
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry costs -10%		10

The Lakota can obtain Mounted Riflemen as one of the 8 random mercenary units after researching Multinationalism.

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Center owned by the player; increases all unit hit points by 2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Plan of Casa Mata	[Plan] Turns all Dragoons into Chinacos; melee cavalry get +5% speed; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Plan of Miramare	[Plan] Turns all Salteadores into Voltigeur Skirmishers; Rifle Infantry get +2 LOS and range; costs 1,000 food, 1,000 wood.
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings have their work rate increased by 400% and units have their speed increased by 10%

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and Shock Infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS		1

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 LOS		10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Attack	Melee infantry and cavalry get +15% attack, except mercenaries which get +8%
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Melee infantry and cavalry get +15% hit points, except mercenaries which get +8%
TEAM Ranged Cavalry Combat	Ranged cavalry and Eagle Runner Knights get +5% speed and +1 LOS and range
German Mercenary Contracts	Mercenaries get +25% hit points and attack; Jaegers and Landsknechts can be trained at Barracks and Galleons; Black Riders can be trained at Stables and Galleons

United States

Card	Description	Age
Continental Rangers	Rifle Infantry get +15% hit points and attack

In-game dialogue

The Mounted Rifleman speaks French using the French Skirmisher's dialogue files.

Trivia

• The Mounted Rifleman is based on the Chasseurs, a name given to certain French and Belgian regiments. They were formed of light infantry (Chasseurs à pied) or light cavalry (Chasseurs à cheval). However, the Mounted Rifleman is classified as heavy cavalry.
• The Mounted Rifleman is tagged as Rifle Infantry, despite not being an actual infantry unit. This is probably for balance reasons, as counter-skirmishers are also classified as rifle infantry.

History

“

The French Chasseurs – ‘Hunters’ – were experimental regiments, usually mounted, that were equipped in the aftermath of the French Revolution and swiftly became favorites of Napoleon Bonaparte. They saw distinguished action during the Napoleonic Wars, whether as the personal guard of the emperor, or in decisive maneuvers in combat, but suffered significantly from attrition as the conflict wore on. After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815, these regiments ceased to exist.

”

Gallery

Mounted Rifleman image from the Compendium section

An in-game Mounted Rifleman