Oprichnik

Oprichnik
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Siege unit
Civilization(s)	Russians
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Stable Fort Galleon
Cost	90 Food 60 Coin 2 Population
Train time	45 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	250
Resistance	20% Ranged
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	15
XP kill bounty	15
Siege attack
Damage	64 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	20 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	3.0x Villager 2.0x Siege unit 2.0x Artillery
Trample attack
Damage	13 Hand
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	2.0
Bonus damage	Same as hand attack

“	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

Oprichniks are heavy cavalry units unsuited for general combat, but excel 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

The Oprichnik starts at the Veteran level, but without the increased 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

Consulate Oprichnik

Consulate Oprichnik
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Siege unit Consulate unit
Civilization(s)	Maltese
Age	Fortress Age
Required Home City Card	"Russian Tongue"
Training
Trained at	Fort Commandery
Cost	90 Food 60 Coin 2 Population
Train time	45 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	250
Resistance	20% Ranged
Speed	6.75
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	15
XP kill bounty	15
Siege attack
Damage	64 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	20 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	3.0x Villager 2.0x Siege unit 2.0x Artillery
Trample attack
Damage	13 Hand
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	2.0
Bonus damage	Same as hand attack

“	Fast cavalry good at raiding villagers or buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Consulate Oprichnik is a counterpart of the Oprichnik, which starts with +10% hit points and attack.

Upgrades

The Consulate Oprichnik is automatically upgraded in the Industrial Age and Imperial Age:

• +30% hit points and attack
• +50% hit points and attack

Civilization differences

• The Maltese can get Consulate Oprichniks named Order Oprichniks through the "Russian Tongue" Home City Card, which ships 13 Order Oprichniks and allows them to be trained at Commanderies and Forts. These Order Oprichniks have 16 XP train and kill bounty, 100 food, 65 coin cost and 49.5 seconds train time.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Villagers, artillery, buildings, siege unit
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, light ranged cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Yoga (+5%) Pillage (+25% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Mass Cavalry (-35%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Petrine Reforms (grants Guard upgrade) Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers 7 Oprichniks if The War Minister was chosen for the Russians) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Oprichnik

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Indians

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

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

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
Auberges	Commanderies support 10 population; Order Units get -10% resources cost (rounded to 5, 10, or 15 less resources) and -10% train and kill bounty
Squires	Military buildings train and research work 80% faster, except Forts which train and research work 260% faster
Russian Tongue	Ships 13 Order Oprichniks and 1 Commandery Wagon; Commandery build limit +1; Order Oprichniks can be traned at Commanderies and Forts; costs 1,500 wood

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed

Russians

Card	Description	Age
Boyars	Cavalry Archers, Cossacks, and Oprichniks get +10% hit points and attack
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight
5 Oprichniks	Ships 5 Oprichniks
6 Oprichniks	Ships 6 Oprichniks
9 Oprichniks	Ships 9 Oprichniks
12 Oprichniks	Ships 12 Oprichniks
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%; Oprichnik train time -35% instead
Finnhorses	Hussars, Hakkapelits, Cossacks, Dragoons, Oprichniks, and Cavalry Archers get +15% hit points

• "Finnhorses" is available upon revolting to Finland.

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

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 ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack		10

Indians

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

Japanese

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

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Boyars	Streltsy, Cossacks, and Oprichniks get +15% hit points and attack		25
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack		10
TEAM Cavalry Scouts	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight		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

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Oprichniks have 75 siege damage.
• Trample Mode does not have damage multipliers.

Definitive Edition

• Fixed a bug which makes the Oprichnik's multipliers against artillery and siege units not applied when they are set to Trample Mode.
• With update 20322, Oprichniks have 64 siege damage.

History

“	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 enemies.	”
—In-game history section

Gallery

The Oprichnik's history portrait

Oprichnik concept art

An in-game Oprichnik

An in-game Guard/Imperial Oprichnik

An in-game Oprichnik in the Definitive Edition

An in-game Guard/Imperial Oprichnik in the Definitive Edition