The War Wagon functions as the German mounted counter-cavalry (light ranged 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 a hand resistance multiplier instead of ranged multiplier. 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 Imperial War Wagon has 900 hit points without any cards, 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% hand resistance can reduce the damage they deal onto them. The other unique trait is their extremely high ranged damage and higher range. An Imperial War Wagon deals 79 ranged damage without any cards, and with all cards (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 moves slowly and has a low turn rate when compared to most ranged units, as it shoots 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. However, they are still good units to be shipped from the Home City to offset their high costs.
With all hit point improvement upgrades (Comanche) and cards (Indian and Russian allies), the Imperial War Wagon is the ranged cavalry with the second highest hit points, 1,175 which is next to Exalted Howdahs.
While the War Wagon is light ranged cavalry, it does not benefit from the "TEAM House of Aviz" Home City Card, which reduces the train time of Commerce Age light ranged cavalry and enables Fortress Age light ranged cavalry to be trained in the Commerce Age.
In Knights of the Mediterranean, Germans who send the "Princely Bavarian Chevaulegers" Home City Card will replace the War Wagons with Prinz Chevaulegers. They will still benefit from any Home City Cards that improve a War Wagon's performance.
Upgrades[]
The War Wagon starts at the Veteran level by default without increasing hit points and damage, they can be only upgraded to Guard and Imperial.
(Definitive Edition) South Africa can train Guard War Wagons instead of Dragoons (if revolting from the British) or Ruyters (if revolting from the Dutch) if the "Wagon Warfare" Home City Card is sent. This card costs 1,000 wood and takes 60 seconds to arrive, instead of the usual 40 seconds.
Cavalry train time -40%; Cuirassier, Oprichnik, and Hakkapelit train time -35% instead; Gatling Camel train time -20% instead
Wagon Warfare
Fully replaces Dragoons/Ruyters with War Wagons at Stables, Forts, and Galleons/Fluyts; grants Guard War Wagons and enables Imperial War Wagons to be researched; costs 1,000 wood (arrives in 60 seconds)
War Wagons, when changed to Melee mode, will possess a hand damage with 3 range. This makes them one of the rarest units in the game which deal hand damage at range, like Meteor Hammers and Haudenosaunee Tomahawks.
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 sensibilities 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.
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Gallery[]
A War Wagon guarding a strategic location in New England
A in-game (Veteran) War Wagon
A in-game Guard/Imperial War Wagon
The War Wagon's history portrait
War Wagon concept art from the Age of Empires III standard manual
In-game (Veteran) War Wagon in the Definitive Edition
In-game Guard/Imperial War Wagon in the Definitive Edition
Guard War Wagons
Imperial War Wagons
Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%)
Cree Tanning (+5%)
Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Tar Kilns (+5%)
Ranged Cavalry Caracole (+10%)
Smokeless Powder (+10%)
Yoga (+5%)
Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance)
Apache Endurance (+5%)
Comanche Mustangs (+5%)
Town Watch (+3)
Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%)
Mass Cavalry (-35%)
Quechuan Diet (-15%)
Immigrants (-10%)
Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Cavalry Damage
Cavalry Hitpoints
Cavalry Combat
Riding School
Wagon Warfare
Wanderlust
4 War Wagons
TEAM Cavalry Attack
3 War Wagons
Princely Bavarian Chevaulegers
Spanish Riding School
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
TEAM Sengoku
TEAM Mustangs
TEAM Knights of the Round Table
TEAM Mariachi
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions
TEAM Spanish Inquisition
