Skirmisher (Age of Empires III)

“Skirmisher with low hitpoints, but a long-ranged attack. Good against infantry.”

—In-game description

The Skirmisher is a ranged gunpowder infantry in Age of Empires III that can be trained at Barracks, Fort, and Galleon/Fluyt once the Fortress Age is reached.

Skirmishers are available to European civilizations except British, Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign), Ottomans, Portuguese (who have Cassadores instead), and Russians (who have Strelets instead).

Overview Edit

Skirmishers are strong at countering and defeating heavy infantry and light cavalry with their long-ranged attack, but highly vulnerable to cavalry and artillery due to their low hit points and a weak melee attack.

Spanish Unction-boosted Skirmishers will inflict 54.675 damage before multipliers with all attack upgrades that do not require an ally, or minor native upgrade.

Strategy Edit

On maps featuring the Cherokee or Klamath, it is possible for civilizations lacking Skirmisher-type units to gain them in the Colonial Age. The Cherokee Rifleman and Klamath Rifleman are comparable to Fortress Age skirmishers but with much higher hitpoints. Cherokee Riflemen get a +20% speed upgrade (applies to native warriors), Klamath Riflemen have +25% damage (applies only to their rifles).

Upgrades Edit

The Skirmisher is automatically upgraded to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack) at the Fortress Age.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect	Civ.
	Guard Skirmishers	600 wood, 600 coin	Upgrades Skirmishers to Guard (+30% hit points and attack)	Dutch Spanish
	Voltigeurs	1,000 wood, 1,000 coin	Upgrades Skirmishers to Voltigeurs (Guard Skirmishers with +10% hit points and attack)	French
	Prussian Needle Gun		Upgrades Skirmishers to Needle Gunners (Guard Skirmishers with +10% hit points and attack)	Germans
	Imperial Skirmishers	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Skirmishers to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Skirmisher	Dutch Spanish
	Imperial Voltigeurs		Upgrades Voltigeurs to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Voltigeurs	French
	Imperial Needle Guns		Upgrades Needle Gunners to Imperial Needlers (+50% hit points and attack); requires Prussian Needle Gun	Germans

Civilization differences Edit

• As seen above, French and Germans can upgrade Skirmishers to Royal Guard and Imperial Guard levels.
• While the British cannot train Skirmishers, they can ship 26 Guard Skirmishers through Roger's Rangers.
• Dutch Skirmishers can be trained in the Colonial Age.
• John Black's Mercenaries can only upgrade Skirmishers to the Guard level.
• United States can upgrade Skirmishers to the Imperial level.
• Chinese and Indians can get Skirmishers by allying with British and Germans at the Consulate, which provides armies and shipments that includes Skirmishers (named Roger's Ranger for the British, Prussian Needle Gun for the Germans) listed below. These Skirmishers 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 Brigade (16 Skirmishers)
  • Germans (Chinese, requires a level 40 Home City): German Expeditionary Force (6 Skirmishers), German Expeditionary Army (11 Skirmishers), and German Brigade (15 Skirmishers)

Further statistics Edit

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Heavy infantry, light cavalry, Eagle Runner Knights
Weak vs.	Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Flint Lock (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Grand Encampment (+25%, United States only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Counter Infantry Rifling (+1.0x multiplier vs. heavy infantry) Paper Cartridge (+15%) Iroquois Lacrosse (+10%, vanilla Age of Empires III only) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack) Clenched Fist (+30% melee attack)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Train cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Other	Roger's Rangers (ships 26 Guard Skirmishers, British only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only) Grand Encampment (-25% speed, United States only)

Home City Cards Edit

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch Edit Card Description Age HC level Infantry Attack Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% attack 10 TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry gets +15% hit points 10 Infantry Combat Pikemen, Skirmishers, and Halberdiers get +15% hit points and attack 25 Europeans Edit Card Description Age HC level 7 Skirmishers Ships 7 Skirmishers (also +3 Uhlans for the Germans) 1 9 Skirmishers Ships 9 Skirmishers (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans) 1 8 Skirmishers Ships 8 Skirmishers (also +3 Uhlans for the Germans) 10 12 Skirmishers Ships 12 Skirmishers (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans) 10 14 Skirmishers Ships 14 Skirmishers (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans) 25 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 The 7 Skirmishers, 9 Skirmishers, and 8 Skirmishers cards are not available to the Spanish. The 12 Skirmishers card is not available to Dutch and Spanish. The 14 Skirmishers card is not available to Germans and Spanish. French Edit Card Description Age HC level Long-range Infantry Hitpoints Crossbowmen and Skirmishers get +15% hit points 10 TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry gets +15% attack 10 TEAM Early Skirmishers Skirmishers, Cassadores, Forest Prowlers, Wakina Rifles, and Black Flag Army can be trained in the Colonial Age; Longbowman, Strelet, Macehualtin, Gurkha, and Yumi Archer train time -20% 25 Germans Edit Card Description Age HC level Long-range Infantry Hitpoints Crossbowmen and Skirmishers get +15% hit points +4 Uhlans 1 Indians Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry gets +8 LOS 10 Japanese Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Portuguese Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints Gunpowder infantry gets +15% hit points 10 Russians Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Trivia Edit

• French Royal Guard Skirmishers are named after the Voltigeurs.
• German Royal Guard and Consulate Skirmishers are named after the Dreyse needle gun they use.

History Edit

“Skirmishers were lightly armed and armored riflemen who used their speed to move quickly about the battlefield and perform a number of military roles. They defended flanks, helped artillerymen with cannon, dragged wounded soldiers off of the battlefield, and performed hit-and-run attacks on advancing enemy armies. Napoleonic-era skirmishers were effective against rigid ranks of musketeers because the fire of musketeers was less effective on the loose, informal skirmisher lines.

Many skirmishers in the nineteenth century were armed with rifles; the range and accuracy of these weapons made skirmishers dangerous enemies. Early rifles could only be fired once every minute or two, though later breechloading and repeating models could fire much more rapidly. One model fired so fast, a commander ordered his men to focus their fire on a single enemy skirmisher so that they could recover his rifle to examine it.”

Gallery Edit

An in-game (Veteran) Skirmisher

A Guard/Imperial Skirmisher

In-game stats of a Veteran Skirmisher

In-game stats of a French Voltigeur

Skirmisher Concept Art.

Veteran Skirmisher Model.

Guard/ Imperial Skirmisher Model.

Add a photo to this gallery

See alsoEdit

• Cassador – Portuguese counterpart
• Forest Prowler – Iroquois counterpart
• Wakina Rifle – Sioux counterpart
• Arquebusier – Chinese counterpart
• Gurkha – Indian counterpart

Military units in Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III
General	Explorer · Pikeman · Musketeer · Crossbowman · Skirmisher · Minuteman · Halberdier · Grenadier · Hussar · Dragoon · Cavalry Archer · Falconet · Culverin · Mortar · Heavy Cannon · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor · Horse Artillery* · Petard* · Spy*
British	Longbowman · Rocket
Dutch	Ruyter · Fluyt
French	Cuirassier
Germans	Doppelsoldner · Uhlan · War Wagon
Ottomans	Janissary · Abus Gun · Great Bombard · Galley · Spahi
Portuguese	Cassador · Organ Gun
Russians	Strelet · Cossack · Oprichnik
Spanish	Rodelero · Lancer
The WarChiefs
Aztecs	Aztec War Chief · Warrior · Coyote Runner · Macehualtin · Puma Spearman · Arrow Knight · Eagle Runner Knight · Jaguar Prowl Knight · Warrior Priest · Skull Knight · Canoe · War Canoe · Tlaloc Canoe
Iroquois	Iroquois War Chief · Warrior · Aenna · Tomahawk · Forest Prowler · Kanya Horseman · Musket Rider · Ram · Mantlet · Light Cannon · Canoe · War Canoe
Sioux	Sioux War Chief · Warrior · Cetan Bow · War Club · Wakina Rifle · Axe Rider · Bow Rider · Rifle Rider · Tashunke Prowler · Dog Soldier · Canoe · War Canoe
Revolution	Colonial Militia · Gatling Gun · Ironclad
The Asian Dynasties
Chinese	Shaolin Master · Disciple · Sentry · Irregular · Chu Ko Nu · Qiang Pikeman · Changdao Swordsman · Arquebusier · Steppe Rider · Keshik · Iron Flail · Meteor Hammer · Flamethrower · Hand Mortar · Flying Crow · Fire Junk · War Junk · Fuchuan · Monitor
Indians	Brahmin · Sentry · Irregular · Rajput · Sepoy · Gurkha · Urumi · Sowar · Zamburak · Mahout Lancer · Howdah · Flail Elephant · Siege Elephant · Caravel · Galleon · Frigate · Monitor
Japanese	Ikko-Ikki · Sentry · Irregular · Samurai · Ashigaru Musketeer · Yumi Archer · Naginata Rider · Yabusame · Flaming Arrow · Morutaru · Daimyo · Yamabushi · Shinobi · Fune · Atakabune · Tekkousen · Monitor
* added in The WarChiefs
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