This article is about the Chinese variant of the unit in Age of Empires III. For other uses of the term, see Pikeman. |
“ | Foot warrior armed with a pike. Good against cavalry and buildings. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Qiang Pikeman is a melee heavy infantry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of Old Han Army and Ming Army. It functions identically to the European Pikeman and the Aztec Puma Spearman.
Overview
Like the European Pikeman and the Aztec Puma Spearman, the Qiang Pikeman is a cheap, Commerce Age heavy infantry unit. It is effective in combat against melee cavalry and, to an extent, light infantry, while also having a decent siege attack. However, it fares poorly against anything else, particularly artillery or light infantry at range. In later ages it mostly becomes obsolete as its role is taken by Changdao Swordsmen and Keshiks. One notable exception for this is the Old Han Reforms card, which doubles the Qiang Pikemen and Chu Ko Nu base hit points, allowing for an effective rush (especially if they were already made earlier, as it also increases their cost).
If the player sends the Old Han Reforms card (which requires a Level 40 Home City), the Qiang Pikeman not only becomes one of the strongest heavy infantry units in the game, but also one of the strongest "siege infantry" units, even though it is not considered as one.
Upgrades
Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Disciplined Qiang Pikeman | 100 wood 50 coin |
Upgrades Qiang Pikemen to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) | |
Honored Qiang Pikeman | 300 wood 300 coin |
Upgrades Qiang Pikemen to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Qiang Pikeman | |
Exalted Qiang Pikeman | 750 wood 750 coin |
Upgrades Qiang Pikemen to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Qiang Pikeman |
Further statistics
As Qiang Pikemen are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Cavalry, light infantry, buildings |
Weak vs. | Skirmishers, archers, artillery |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) |
Attack | Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%) |
Speed | File:Inca Road-building.png Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%) |
Creation speed | Cheyenne Horse Trading (-12%, Ming Army) |
Other | Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) |
Home City Cards
As Qiang Pikemen are unique to the Chinese, 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 Qiang Pikeman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Chinese
Dutch
Indians
Iroquois
Japanese
Russians
Spanish
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Changelog
The Asian Dynasties
- Qiang Pikemen have a x2.25 multiplier against shock infantry.
Definitive Edition
- Qiang Pikemen have a x3.5 multiplier against shock infantry.
Trivia
- "Qiang" (槍) means "spear" in Chinese, referring primarily to the flexible-pole variant. Later, it gradually came to refer to personnel-based light firearms, such as arquebuses, muskets, and handguns; i.e., the way the word "gun" is used in English (excluding the meaning of "light cannon").
- The unit's small base melee attack and reduced bonus against light infantry make it actually weak and ineffective against units such as the Aztec Coyote Runner.
History
“ | The qiang spear is often called the “King of Weapons” because of its ubiquitous role as one of the longest used and most reliable Chinese weapons. Its flexible wax wood shaft varied from 7 feet long (for infantry) to nearly 13 feet (for cavalry). The qiang spear was popularized during the Shang Dynasty (seventeenth century-eleventh century BCE) and was used up until the end of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 CE). In that time, it changed very little. The qiang spear featured a leaf-shaped blade atop a horse-hair tassel. When a spearman made a slashing motion, the tassel created a blur effect that kept the enemy from being able to effectively target and seize the weapon from its wielder. The hair tassel is said to have also served a secondary purpose, to stop the blood on the blade from flowing down onto the wooden shaft, which would leave the wood slippery or sticky and thus make it more difficult to handle. | ” |
Gallery
See also
- Pikeman – European counterpart
- Puma Spearman – Aztec counterpart