The War Galley is a ship in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Dock once the Castle Age is reached. Instead of firing arrows like its predecessor, it fires large bolts like a Scorpion, but unlike the Scorpion (or the Caravel), their bolt only damages the single target it hits.
The War Galley has +15 hit points, +1 attack, +1 anti-ship attack, +1 range, and a massive -24 seconds of training time over the Galley. In naval battles, quickly advancing to Castle Age and researching War Galley is considered imperative for all of these reasons, as well as upgrading every other Feudal warship.
The Galley line units are the backbone of any naval army, War Galleys and Galleons are a very cost effective way to deal with Cannon Galleons and Demolition Ships if they are micromanaged properly. They are also useful in shoreline combats against enemy units and shoreline buildings with the exception of towers, Castles, and siege units. War Galleys work a lot better in large numbers, and they must be paired with Fire Ships in most cases, and are excellent escorts for Transport Ships.
The War Galley's main counter unit is the Fire Ship, but when in large enough numbers, they can hold their own, especially when combined with Demolition Ships. While Demolition Ships perish under War Galley fire quickly, they deal enough damage to be threatening.
With update 66692, the Dock now refers to "Upgrade to War Galley, Fire Ship and Demolition Ship". The tech tree still refers to the upgrade only as War Galley.
Upon release, the Armenian civilization bonus made War Galleys shoot an extra projectile. With update 99311, the extra projectile was changed to an arrow for better readability.
History[]
“
The war galley was a larger and improved fighting ship. It carried a larger contingent of marines and archers. When necessary, the equivalent of a war galley was created by putting fighting towers at the stern and bow of trading ship. These provided better protection and a height advantage for archers when closed with an enemy ship.
”
Trivia[]
The War Galley is one of only four upgraded forms of military units (the other three being the Man-at-Arms, the Long Swordsman, and the Capped Ram) to be available to all civilizations.
War Galleys deal bonus damage against the cheat unitSaboteur (since The Conquerors) because it is in the same unit class as ships.
Gallery[]
The Galley line, with the War Galley in the middle
A group of War Galleys
All War Galleys in The Age of Kings and The Conquerors
All War Galleys introduced in the HD Edition's expansions
Fletching (+1)
Bodkin Arrow (+1)
Bracer (+1)
Chemistry (+1)
Ballistas (+2, Romans only)
Range
Ballistics (hit moving targets)
Careening (0/+1)
Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Heresy (die upon getting converted)
Movement speed
Dry Dock (+15%)
Shipwright (-20% wood)
Hit points
Portuguese (+10%)
Regeneration
Bengalis (15 hit points per minute)
Armenians (extra projectile, deals 1 pierce damage)
Tatars (+20% from elevation)
Romans (+1/+1)
Georgians (+20% from elevation)
Attack speed
Saracens (+25%)
Berbers (+10%)
Koreans (-20% wood)
Vikings (-15%/-20%) in the Castle/Imperial Age
Aztecs (+15%)
Persians (+15%/+20%) in the Castle/Imperial Age
Bulgarians (Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost -50% food)
Burmese (Devotion and Faith are 50% cheaper)
Celts (Can convert herdable animals even if enemy units are next to them)
Chinese (Relevant technologies are 10%/15% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age)
Italians (Researching Careening, Dry Dock, Shipwright, Ballistics, Chemistry and upgrading to Galleon is 33% cheaper)
Spanish (Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer cost no gold)
Turks (Chemistry is free)
Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
Japanese (+4)
Lithuanians (Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster)
Malians (Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster)
The Age of Kings[]
