Strelet

Strelet
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Ranged infantry Gunpowder unit Rifle Infantry*
Civilization	Russians
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Blockhouse (in groups of 10) Fort (individually) Galleon (individually)
Food	37.5
Wood	10
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	72
Resists	30% vs. Ranged
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	16
Population	1
XP train bounty	6
XP bounty	6
Melee attack
Damage	4
Multipliers	x2.0 vs. Heavy infantry, Light cavalry and Eagle Runner Knights x0.75 vs. Cavalry and Coyote Runners
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	8
Multipliers	Same as melee
Range	14
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	7
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Weak but cheap skirmisher. Good against infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Strelet is a ranged gunpowder infantry in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Russians and can be trained in blocks of ten at the Blockhouse or individually at Fort and Galleon.

Overview

Strelets are the Russian meat-shield and anti-infantry unit. They are weak, but cheap infantry, making them useful for rushing opponents in the Commerce Age, however, the Strelets are weaker than other infantry units (they are the weakest and cheapest infantry). The player can get the original cost if Strelets are trained from Forts or Galleons. Strelets are cost-effective, and even more after using cards that upgrade them.

Strelets maintain effectiveness through all ages in the game when properly upgraded with the "Boyars" and "Strelet Combat" Home City Cards. They can be further upgraded at the Arsenal with Counter Infantry Rifling, and even further with the use of Advanced Arsenal. They combine well with Cavalry Archers, which are effective against both cavalry and artillery, essentially covering one another's weaknesses. Massing Strelets is easy, with both large shipments and batch training, and can be used to grind down an enemy's economy by sheer cost effectiveness.

Strelets are useful to outnumber enemies and take down heavy infantry. Strelets are also easy to mass, since each queue will train a group of 10 Strelets. It is advised to add the cards that upgrade the Strelets in the player's deck, though they still remain weak when compared to other light infantry. But once they are properly upgraded with all the cards, arsenal upgrades, and barracks upgrades, the player will end up with a very cost-effective anti-infantry unit (Skirmisher). Strelets are very good in team games, as civilizations that can boost Strelets (TEAM cards) will make them even more powerful. Strelets costs 53% less resources than Musketeers, which means a Musketeer essentially equals to two Strelets. Strelets, when buffed, deal 23 damage and have 3x multipliers to heavy infantry. Strelets are a good choice against nations that rely on gunpowder heavy infantry, but they are extremely susceptible to cavalry or artillery-based strategies/civilizations.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Strelets	200 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Strelets to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)
	Guard Strelets	600 wood, 600 coin	Upgrades Strelets to Guard (+30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Strelets
	Imperial Strelets	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Strelets to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack, +2 LOS and range); requires Guard Strelets

Further statistics

As Strelets are unique to the Russians, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

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%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Counter Infantry Rifling (+1x 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%) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Other	Westernization (grants Veteran upgrade) Petrine Reforms (grants Guard upgrade) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

As Strelets 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 Strelet

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 French Card Description Age HC level TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack Ranged infantry get +15% attack 10 TEAM Early Skirmishers Skirmishers, Cassadores, Forest Prowlers, Wakina Rifles, and Black Flag Army can be trained in the Commerce Age; Longbowman, Strelet, Macehualtin, Gurkha, and Yumi Archer train time -20% 25 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Portuguese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points 10 Russians Card Description Age HC level Strelet Combat Strelets get +20% hit points and attack 10 13 Strelets Ships 13 Strelets 1 17 Strelets Ships 17 Strelets 1 24 Strelets Ships 24 Strelets 10 28 Strelets Ships 28 Strelets 10 Strelet Horde Each Blockhouse will spawn 5 Strelets after 150 seconds, and Strelets get +10% hit points 25 Suvorov Reforms Turns all Strelets into Musketeers 10 Ransack Infantry get +50% siege attack 25 Boyars Strelets, Cossacks, and Oprichniks get +15% hit points and attack 25 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Card Description Age HC level TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• Imperial Strelets now also give Strelets +2 LOS and range.
• With update 23511, the Strelet is tagged as Rifle Infantry.

Trivia

• Even though historically Streltsy got meager payments from the cash-strapped Russian government, and therefore must farm and trade to supplement their income, Streltsy were not at all ubiquitous and on many occasions, proved themselves to be very efficient fighters, quite unlike their in-game depiction as weak, cheap, and easily massable rookies.
• The Strelet does not have any attack voice.
• Despite being a Skirmisher-type unit, Strelets have a movement (marching) animation that is unique to Musketeer-type units.
• The weapon that the Strelet uses for melee attacks is the bardiche, which is the same weapon used by the Boyar. However, in his portrait and in his art in the history portrait, the Strelet is holding a conventional axe.

History

“

Strelets (technically "streltsy" in Russian, because "strelets" is singular) were a Russian light infantry formed in the mid-sixteenth century by Tsar Ivan IV, and were Russia's first permanent standing infantry. They received a salary, a plot of land, and allotments of food and drink. This pay was rather meager, and strelets often found it necessary to supplement their income. An elite group of mounted strelets were the tsar's bodyguard and passed service to the tsar to their sons. The only way a man could become a member of this elite body was by birth. The word strelet is derived from the Russian word for arrow, strela, and while it once referred to archers, over time it came to refer to the Russian ranged infantry in general. Strelets carried heavy, unwieldy firearms, sabers, and two-handed axes. These axes had a sharp point that could be shoved into the ground to provide a rest for cumbersome strelet muskets.

”

Gallery

The Strelet's history portrait

An in-game Strelet

Veteran Strelet

Guard and Imperial Strelet

Strelets in melee mode, using the bardiche.