"Weak but cheap skirmisher. Good against infantry."
—In-game description
The Strelet (correct Russian plural: Streltsy) 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 
Edit
Streltsy are the Russian meat-shield and anti-infantry unit. They are weak, but cheap infantry, making them useful for rushing opponents in the Colonial Age, however, the Streltsy are weaker than other infantry units (they are the weakest and cheapest infantry), but if they are massed they can easily hit 200 population. The player can get the original cost if Streltsy are trained from Forts or Galleons. Streltsy are cost-effective, and even more after using cards that upgrade them. By the time the player reach the Fortress or the Industrial Age, the core of the Russian army should be made up of Musketeers and Cossacks since Streltsy are just too weak to be used beyond the Colonial Age but still can be used as a counter to Heavy Infantry and as a form of cannon fodder.
Streltsy are useful to outnumber enemies and taking down heavy infantry. Streltsy are also easy to mass since each queue will train a group of 10 Streltsy. It is advised to add the cards that upgrade the Streltsy 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). Streltsy are very good at team games as nations that can boost Streltsy (team cards) will make them even more powerful. Streltsy costs 53% less resources than Musketeers, which means a Musketeer essentially equals to two Streltsy. Streltsy, when buffed, deal 23 damage and have 3x multipliers to heavy infantry. Streltsy 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 Edit
| Age | Improvement | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  | 200 wood, 200 coin | Upgrades Streltsy to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack) |
 |  | 600 wood, 600 coin | Upgrades Streltsy to Guard (+30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Strelets |
 |  | 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades Streltsy to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Strelets |
Further statistics Edit
As the Strelet can only be trained by the Russians, only improvements available to them (including native improvements) are listed here.
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry (when massed), Eagle Runner Knights (when massed) |
| Weak vs. | Heavy cavalry, Coyote Runners, artillery |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Flint Lock (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Counter Infantry Rifling (+0.75x 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 Edit
As the Strelet is exclusive to the Russians, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Strelet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Dutch
|
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry gets +15% hit points |  | 10 |
French Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ranged infantry get +15% attack |  | 10 |
 | 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 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +5% hit points and attack |  | 25 |
Iroquois Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry gets +8 LOS | | 10 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Portuguese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Gunpowder infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Streltsy get +20% hit points and attack | | 10 |
 | Ships 13 Streltsy | | 1 |
 | Ships 17 Streltsy | | 1 |
 | Ships 24 Streltsy | | 10 |
 | Ships 28 Streltsy | | 10 |
 | Each Blockhouse will spawn 5 Streltsy after 150 seconds, and Streltsy get +10% hit points | | 25 |
 | Turns all Streltsy into Musketeers | | 10 |
 | Infantry gets +50% siege attack | | 25 |
 | Streltsy, Cossacks, and Oprichniki get +15% hit points and attack | | 25 |
 | Infantry train time -40% | | 10 |
 | Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% | | 25 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
History Edit
"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."
