| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the unit in Age of Empires II, see War Wagon (Age of Empires II). |
“Hussite horse-drawn wagon outfitted with cannon.”—In-game description
The War Wagon is a ranged gunpowder cavalry unit in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Germans, replacing the functions of the Dragoon. It is a horse-drawn wagon outfitted with two light cannons that becomes available at the Stable, Fort, and Galleon upon reaching the Fortress Age.
War Wagons are also available to John Black's Mercenaries in the Act II: Ice campaign.
Overview 
Edit
The War Wagon functions as the German mounted counter-cavalry (light cavalry) unit. Just as expensive as the French Cuirassier, the War Wagon has strong single target ranged damage with medium range, longer than a Musketeer.
The War Wagon has high siege damage, making it powerful against buildings, and have a melee resistance multiplier that most other cavalry do not have. War Wagons enjoy the benefit of a 3x damage multiplier against cavalry, which allows them to shred cavalry intense armies with ease. Fully upgraded Imperial War Wagons can easily shred Imperial melee cavalry in 3-4 hits and take down Mamelukes and Imperial Gendarmes in 6-7 hits.
There are two unique traits that War Wagons have compared to other ranged cavalry. One is their unusually high health (an unupgraded Imperial War Wagon has 900 hit points, while something like an Imperial Dragoon has half of that), which allows them to tank reasonably well against most sources of damage. Even though heavy infantry have bonus melee multipliers on them, the War Wagon's high health and 20% melee resistance can reduce the damage they deal onto them. The other unique trait is their extremely high ranged damage. An unupgraded Imperial War Wagon deals 79 ranged damage, and when fully upgraded (not including Native technology as it is not present in all maps), deals 88 damage instead. This allows War Wagons to function as ranged infantry just as well without suffering from the low health they usually have, as their damage is similar to that of Imperial Skirmishers, who are good against heavy infantry.
However, the War Wagon possess somewhat slow speed and attacks slowly, as they shoot off light cannons and not from pistols. This can make it rather hard to perform hit-and-run attacks with them. War Wagons are also expensive, costing 150 food and coin, in addition to occupying 3 population slots. This will severely limit the variety in the player's armies if they train a large number of War Wagons for units to help defend them from enemy rushes.
With all hit point improvement upgrades (Commnche) and cards (Indian and Russian allies), the Imperial War Wagon is the ranged cavalry with the highest hit points, 1,175.
Upgrades Edit
The War Wagon starts as Veteran, although it does not get extra hit points and attack.
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Guard War Wagons
| 600 wood, 600 coin | Upgrades War Wagons to Guard (+30% hit points and attack) |
 |  Imperial War Wagons
| 1,500 wood, 1,500 coin | Upgrades War Wagons to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard War Wagons |
Civilization differences Edit
- John Black's Mercenaries can only upgrade War Wagons to the Guard level.
Further statistics Edit
As War Wagons are unique to Germans and John Black's Mercenaries, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Heavy cavalry, light infantry, artillery |
| Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, ranged infantry, light cavalry |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Smokeless Powder (+30% siege attack)
|
| Range | Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2) Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+2)
|
| Speed |  Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Creation speed |  Mass Cavalry (-50%) Cheyenne Horse Trading (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
|
| Train cost |  Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
|
| Other |  Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As War Wagons are unique to Germans and John Black's Mercenaries, 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 War Wagon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Germans
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 3 War Wagons
| Ships 3 War Wagons +3 Uhlans |  | 1 |
 4 War Wagons
| Ships 4 War Wagons +4 Uhlans | | 1 |
 TEAM Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry gets +15% attack |  | 10 |
 Cavalry Hitpoints
| Uhlans and War Wagons get +15% hit points +2 Uhlans | | 10 |
 Cavalry Combat
| Uhlans and War Wagons get +15% attack and hit points +3 Uhlans | | 10 |
 Riding School
| Cavalry train time -40% +2 Uhlans | | 10 |
 Spanish Riding School
| Cavalry get +10% speed +4 Uhlans | | 25 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Scouts
| Cavalry and light infantry gets +10% hit points and +4 LOS |  | 1 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
History Edit
“These fortified carts were used to great effect by the infantry armies of the Hussites, followers of the Czech religious reformer John Huss (Jan Hus), who was excommunicated and burned at the stake early in the fifteenth century. John Zizka lead the Hussite forces against the armies of Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund. His army was largely comprised of peasants, and Zizka developed new tactics to suit the farm-grown sensibilites of his untrained soldiers. They armored farm wagons, used flails and pitchforks, and a number of howitzer artillery pieces. The armored wagons moved in trains and would circle up, forming an overlapping impromptu fortress from which they would fire their artillery baiting opposing armies into a response. The wagons could also be used in offense, charging into ranks of soldiers and knights, loaded with men firing into the groups of knights and infantry. When Zizka died, his skin was made into a drum used to summon Hussites to battle. The Hussite revolution, however, was eventually put down.”
Gallery Edit
