"Fast cavalry good at raiding villagers or buildings."—In-game description
The Oprichnik is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Russians and can be trained at Stable, Fort, and Galleon once the Fortress Age is reached.
Overview 
Edit
Oprichniks are heavy cavalry units unsuited for fighting but good at raiding. They do not possess the hit points or damage that other cavalry like the Hussar have. However, they have the highest siege damage out of every non-elephant cavalry unit in-game and enjoy a large damage multiplier against Villagers and a minor one against artillery units. However, using Oprichniks to fight artillery might be ineffective if it's defended by heavy infantry, leaving Oprichniks mainly used for raiding undefended Villagers and buildings. A fully upgraded Imperial Oprichnik can take out settlers in 2-3 hits.
Due to their unconventional damage, Oprichniks should avoid fighting in hand-to-hand combat, as they will surely be killed. Ranged cavalry is also an issue because its multiplier against heavy cavalry.
Upgrades Edit
The Oprichnik starts at Veteran, but gets no extra hit points and attack.
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Guard Oprichniks
| 600 wood, 600 coin | Upgrades Oprichniks to Guard (+30% hit points and attack) |
 |  Imperial Oprichniks
| 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades Oprichniks to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Oprichniks |
Further statistics Edit
As Oprichniks are unique to the Russians, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Villagers, artillery, buildings, Siege unit |
| Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light infantry, cavalry |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Pillage (+25% siege attack) Yoga (+5%)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2)
|
| Speed |  Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Creation speed |  Mass Cavalry (-50%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
|
| Train cost |  Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
|
| Other |  Westernization (grants Veteran upgrade) Petrine Reforms (grants Guard upgrade) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As Oprichniks are unique to the Russians, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Oprichnik | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team French
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners gets +15% attack |  | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry gets +15% attack | | 10 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Boyars
| Strelets, Cossacks, and Oprichniks get +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
 Cavalry Combat
| Cavalry gets +15% hit points and attack |  | 10 |
 TEAM Cavalry Scouts
| Cavalry and light infantry gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS |  | 1 |
 5 Oprichniks
| Ships 5 Oprichniks | | 1 |
 6 Oprichniks
| Ships 6 Oprichniks | | 10 |
 9 Oprichniks
| Ships 9 Oprichniks | | 10 |
 12 Oprichniks
| Ships 12 Oprichniks | | 40 |
 Riding School
| Cavalry train time -40% | | 10 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
History Edit
"Oprichniks were the police and soldiers of Oprichnina, a royal domain created by Ivan the Terrible. Tsar Ivan used his Oprichniks to crush any hereditary opposition to his rule. These soldiers carried out their Tsar's will with unflinching loyalty and were brutal and ferocious thugs.
The Tsar's goals were not especially original, but Ivan the Terrible and his Oprichniks operated on an unprecedented scale. One attack on the city of Novgorod took the lives of at least 3,000 people. They were slaughtered over the course of a week. Some accounts put the death toll as high as 60,000 people.
The Oprichniks promoted a fierce appearance, wearing all black uniforms and riding black horses. The Oprichnik seal bore a dog, symbolizing their loyalty to the Tsar and their tenacity in fighting for the Tsar, and a broom, to represent sweeping away the Tsar's enemeies."—In-game history section
Gallery Edit
