Musketeer

Musketeer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy Infantry Ranged Infantry Gunpowder Infantry Musket Infantry
Civilization	See description
Age	Commerce Age
Abilities	Build Forts (Russians, with the "National Redoubt" Home City Card)
Training
Trained at	Barracks Blockhouse (Russians, in groups of 5) Fort Galleon
Food	75
Coin	25
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Resists	20% vs. Melee
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	16
Population	1
XP train bounty	10
XP bounty	10
Melee attack
Damage	13
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Cavalry ×2.25 vs. Shock Infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	23
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	20
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Heavy ranged infantry. Armed with a bayonet to beat cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The Musketeer is a ranged heavy gunpowder infantry in Age of Empires III that can be trained at Barracks, Forts, and Galleons. It is armed with a smoothbore musket to fight other infantry at range and a bayonet to fight cavalry in melee combat.

Musketeers are available to the British, French, Italians, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish.

Overview

Musketeers are ranged heavy infantry that are especially effective against cavalry in melee due to a damage multiplier. They are vulnerable to artillery and Skirmishers.

Musketeers are stronger in melee combat due to the attack speed of melee attacks, also with thanks to their high hit points and good melee resistance. This is particularly improved with Socket Bayonet. However, this is not always practical as Musketeers are slow, and the opponent may simply decide to make their units run away.

Musketeers' range attack is relatively strong, and due to the firearm animation it is possible to hit and run. However, it is short ranged compared to other ranged infantry and fires at the default rate of 3.0s, which is slower compared to certain archer units such as the Longbowman. They also have a decent siege attack, which makes them one of the most versatile units in the Commerce Age. While they are more expensive than archaic units, Musketeers are simple to mass produce due to their low coin cost and are cheaper than more specialised units such as Skirmishers or the Halberdier. Therefore, they can be powerful generally, especially in vast quantities.

In The WarChiefs, Spanish Musketeers become the most damaging, thanks to the Unction effect.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect	Civ.
	Veteran Musketeers	200 wood 200 coin	Upgrade Musketeers to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)
	Guard Musketeers	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrade Musketeers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Musketeers
	Redcoats	1,000 wood 1,000 coin	Upgrade Musketeers to Redcoats (Guard Musketeers with +10% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Musketeers
	Legionarios		Upgrade Musketeers to Legionarios (Guard Musketeers with +10% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Musketeers
	Imperial Musketeers	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrade Musketeers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Musketeers
	Imperial Redcoats		Upgrade Redcoats to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Redcoats
	Imperial Legionarios		Upgrade Legionarios to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Legionarios

Civilization differences

• As seen above, British and Portuguese can upgrade Musketeers to Royal Guard and Imperial Guard.
• The Dutch cannot train Musketeers but can ship 30 Guard Musketeers through Blue Guards.
• The Russians train Musketeers in groups of five at the Blockhouse for 75% of the price but with 20% less hit points and attack.
• John Black's Mercenaries can only upgrade Musketeers up to Guard.
• United States in Act III can upgrade their Musketeers to Royal Guard (Redcoats) and Imperial Guard.
• Asian civilizations can get Musketeers by allying with British, Dutch, and Portuguese at the Consulate, which provides armies and technologies that includes Musketeers (named Redcoat for the British, Blue Guard for the Dutch, Legionario for the Portuguese) listed below. These Musketeers start with +10% hit points and attack than their regular counterpart, and are automatically upgraded in every Age starting from the Fortress Age (see here for the exact values).
  • British (Chinese and Indians): British Expeditionary Company (6 Musketeers) and British Expeditionary Force (8 Musketeers)
  • Dutch (Japanese, requires a level 40 Home City): Dutch Expeditionary Company (6 Musketeers), Dutch Expeditionary Force (6 Musketeers), and Dutch Brigade (28 Musketeers)
  • Portuguese (Indians and Japanese): Portuguese Expeditionary Army (13 Musketeers)
• The Incas can get Musketeers through the "Tupac Rebellion" Home City Card, which turns Plumed Spearmen into Guard Musketeers.
• The Hausa can ship 17 Musketeers (named Redcoats) through British Army, given by allying with the British to advance into the Imperial Age.
• The Mexicans can ship 9 Musketeers (named Spanish Musketeers) through the "Criollos" card, which also allows them to be trained at Forts.

Revolutionary

• (Definitive Edition) Gran Colombia have Independence Guards in place of Revolutionaries, which are Musketeers with 10% more hit points and attack but 20% less speed. Revolting to Gran Colombia as the Germans also allows the player to train and upgrade Musketeers (as Independence Guards).

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, infantry
Weak vs.	Skirmishers, archers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%; British only) Corselet (+25%; Spanish only) Grand Encampment (+25%; campaign United States only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Socket Bayonet (+20% melee attack) Paper Cartridge (+15%) Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%; vanilla Age of Empires III only) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Armor	Hualcana (+10% resistance; Incas only) Somali Oryx Hide Shields (additional 10% melee/ranged resistance)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-25%) Akan Fontomfrom (-20%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Blue Guards (ships 30 Guard Musketeers; Dutch only) Westernization (grants Veteran upgrade; Russians only) Petrine Reforms (grants Guard upgrade; Russians only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) British Army (ships 17 Redcoat Musketeers; Hausa only)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed; British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only) Corselet (-15% speed; Spanish only) Grand Encampment (-25% speed; campaign United States only)

Home City Cards

• Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
• Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times

British

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Musketeer/Grenadier Damage	Musketeers and Grenadiers get +15% attack		10
TEAM Musketeer/Grenadier Hitpoints	Musket Infantry and Grenade Trooper gets +15% hit points		10
Musketeer/Grenadier Combat	Musketeers and Grenadiers get +15% hit points and attack		25

Dutch

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

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coffee Consumption	Ranged Infantry get +5% speed

Europeans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
6 Musketeers	Ships 6 Musketeers		1
8 Musketeers	Ships 8 Musketeers		1
14 Musketeers	Ships 14 Musketeers		10
9 Musketeers	Ships 9 Musketeers		10
16 Musketeers	Ships 16 Musketeers		25
Fencing School	Infantry train time -40%		10

• "6 Musketeers", "8 Musketeers", "14 Musketeers", and "9 Musketeers" are available to British and Portuguese.
• "16 Musketeers" is available to British, Portuguese, and Russians (at a level 1 Home City).

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack	Ranged Infantry get +15% attack		10

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 LOS		10

Incas

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Infantry and civilian units get +5% speed; +1 Chasqui
Tupac Rebellion	Turns Villagers into Revolutionaries, Plumed Spearmen into Guard Musketeers, Chimu Runners into Veteran Hussars, Jungle Bowmen into Guard Skirmishers, Bolas Warriors into Veteran Dragoons, Huaracas into Guard Grenadiers, and Macemen into Light Cannons; costs 2,000 food, 2,000 wood, 2,000 coin

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Italians

Card	Description	Age
6 Musketeers	Ships 6 Musketeers
8 Musketeers	Ships 8 Musketeers
9 Musketeers	Ships 9 Musketeers
Red Shirts	Musketeers, Bersaglieri, Papal Zouaves, and Schiavoni get +15% damage attack
Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points
Schiavoni Swords	All cavalry and infantry get +15% hand attack

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
10 Musketeers	Ships 10 Musketeers		10
TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints	Gunpowder Infantry get +15% hit points		10
Gunpowder Infantry Attack	Musketeers and Cassadores get +15% attack		10
Gunpowder Infantry Combat	Musketeers and Cassadores get +15% hit points and attack		25

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Ransack	Infantry get +50% siege attack		25
11 Musketeers	Ships 11 Musketeers		1
Dueling School	Infantry train time -25%; Banner army train time -12%		25
National Redoubt	Musketeers can build Forts and get +10% hit points and attack		40

Spanish

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

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Heavy Infantry Hitpoints	Heavy Infantry get +15% hit points

Outlaw Musketeer

Outlaw Musketeer
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy Infantry Ranged Infantry Gunpowder Infantry Treasure Guardian
Civilization	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	450
Resists	20% vs. Melee
Speed	7.0
Line of Sight	14
XP bounty	35
Melee attack
Damage	20
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Cavalry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	30
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	40
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

The Outlaw Musketeer is a treasure guardian variant of the Musketeer which only appears in the campaign. It is one of the few Treasure Guardians with a damage multiplier against specific unit types. Overall, the Outlaw Musketeer is better than the normal Musketeers.

In-game dialogue

Outlaw Musketeer uses the French Musketeer's dialogue files.

Trivia

• The Musketeer has four visual upgrades in total, although the first one is unused.
  • Despite these model textures going unused in the original game, they were updated for the Definitive Edition.
  • The Musketeer is based on generic 16th-17th century European musketeers.
  • The Veteran Musketeer is based on French and Indian War period Compagnies franches de la marine. This was changed to British uniforms of the same era in the Definitive Edition.
  • The Guard/Imperial Musketeer is based on Napoleonic Wars period French fusiliers.
• The Musketeer's unit portrait depicts the Veteran Musketeer model.
• In the beta, the Germans and Dutch could train Musketeers normally in the Barracks; German Musketeers' unused voice files still exist in the Scenario Editor and game files. In contrast, the Russians could not train Musketeers in the beta.
• John Black's Mercenaries, Spanish, and United States are the only civilizations with Musketeers that lack Home City Cards improving them (except "Advanced Arsenal").
• British Royal Guard/Consulate Musketeers are named after the Redcoat soldiers.
• Dutch Consulate Musketeers are named after the Dutch Blue Guards.
  • Before the Definitive Edition, they are named Stadhouder, which refers to Statdholder, a provincial executive officer in the Low Countries, or Netherlands, from the 15th through the 18th century.
• Portuguese Royal Guard/Consulate Musketeers' name refers to the Portuguese Legion.
  • Before the Definitive Edition, they are named Guerreiro, which translates to "Warrior" in Portuguese.

History

“

Musketeers were infantry soldiers who stood in ranks two and three men deep, taking turns firing while other ranks reloaded. Musketeers were drilled and disciplined to stand as close as 80 yards away from an enemy firing at them. Musket balls ranged from about a half inch in diameter to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Until long guns with rifled barrels that could be fired more than once every two minutes were developed, muskets were the ranged weapon of choice for infantry. Muskets had a relatively short range and were wildly inaccurate. Musketeers fought a lot like longbowmen, firing volley after volley in the direction of the enemy with no specific target. The barrage of lead was bound to hit something. A competent musketeer could fire three shots in a minute - four times slower than a longbow and twice as fast as an early rifle.

”

Gallery

An in-game Musketeer

A Guard/Imperial Musketeer

The in-game stats of a Veteran Musketeer

The in-game stats of a Guard Musketeer

The in-game stats of an Imperial Musketeer

Spanish Unction Musketeer affected by Corselet, Ashigaru Musketeer with Daimyo/Shogun auras and ranged damage buff, second Ashigaru image is the hit point buff, Redcoats without the thin red line upgrade and with the upgrade.

Outlaw Musketeer stats

The Musketeer model

The in-game Veteran Musketeer model

Guard/Imperial Musketeer

Guard/Imperial Musketeer side model

Musketeer concept art

Another Musketeer concept art

Redcoat Musketeer concept art

Musketeers original unupgraded design

The updated original unupgraded Musketeers as they appear in the Definitive Edition

See also

• Janissary – Ottoman counterpart
• Ashigaru Musketeer – Japanese counterpart
• Sepoy – Indian counterpart
• Boneguard Musketeer – Circle of Ossus counterpart
• Carolean – Swedish counterpart
• Maigadi – Hausa counterpart
• Regular – United States counterpart
• Soldado – Mexican counterpart
• Sentinel – Maltese counterpart