Crossbowman

Ram: 0

Standard Building: 0

Stone Defense: 0

Archer: 0

Anti-leitis: 0

The **Crossbowman** is an archer unit that can be trained at the Archery Range once the Castle Age is reached. It is good against infantry and Villagers, but struggles against cavalry, Skirmishers, and siege weapons.

Crossbowmen are available to all civilizations except for the Bulgarians and Spanish.

## Tactics

Upgrading to Crossbowman reduces the training time of Archers from 35 seconds to 27 seconds, making this a critical upgrade if the chosen strategy is/involves massing Archers. Archers get considerably stronger in larger numbers by getting the capability of killing enemy melee units before they can close the gap and attack. Creating Crossbowmen is a good choice as they are cheap to produce and provide good covering fire. They work especially well with infantry in this regard. On the offense, it is better to put Crossbowmen in a group of melee infantry as ranged attacks are weak against buildings. The Spearman line is an excellent deterrent for cavalry, while friendly cavalry can counter siege units and Skirmishers.

If the player already invested in a Feudal Age Archer rush, upgrading to Crossbowman should be a top priority. In the Castle Age, the main counters to archers become available: Knights and Mangonels. Knights have high pierce armor, high HP, and fast speed, allowing them to decimate archers if both are in small numbers. When the archers reach a critical mass however (and preferably are entrenched in a tight space), they can kill Knights in one volley, evening the odds, or even overcoming them. Mixing in a few Spearmen, or their upgrade, the Pikeman, can also help fending off Knights, but this is taxing on the economy. Mangonels are an effective pair to crossbowmen. They have a high Area of Effect attack, allowing them to quickly and cost effectively mow down large groups of archers. A fight between archers and mangonels comes down to which player has better micromanagement. A good supplement to archers against Mangonels are Light Cavalry or Knights, but again, this is rather taxing on the economy.

Another counter to Crossbowmen are Elite Skirmishers, who cost no gold, but their drawback is that their only use is against archers, as they are woefully ineffective at fighting other units, and they are also poor raiding units.

## Civilization bonuses

* Aztecs: Crossbowmen are created 11% faster.
* Britons: Crossbowmen have +1/+2 range in the Castle/Imperial Age.
* Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
* Celts: Crossbowmen can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
* Chinese: Technologies that benefit Crossbowmen are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
* Ethiopians: Crossbowmen fire 18% faster.
* Mayans: Crossbowmen are 20%/30% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
* Portuguese: Crossbowmen cost 20% less gold. Upgrades that benefit Crossbowmen are researched 30% faster.
* Tatars: Crossbowmen deal 50% bonus damage from a cliff or an elevation. Thumb Ring is free.
* Turks: Chemistry is free.
* Vietnamese: Crossbowmen have +20% hit points. Conscription is free.
* Koreans: Crossbowmen cost 20% less wood. Armor upgrades are free.
* Saracens: Crossbowmen deal +3 bonus damage against buildings

## Team bonuses

* A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, researching Conscription is 25% faster.
* A team containing Britons: Crossbowmen are created and upgraded 20% faster. Researching Thumb Ring is 20% faster.
* A team containing Magyars: Crossbowmen have +2 LOS.
* A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
* A team containing Saracens: Crossbowmen have +2 attack against buildings.
* A team containing Teutons: Crossbowmen are more resistant to conversion.
* A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
* A team containing Bulgarians: Researching archer armor and attack upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.

## Changelog

### *The Conquerors*

* Crossbowmen receive an attack bonus of +3 against Spearmen.
* Heresy introduced.
* Thumb Ring introduced.
* Britons: Yeomen introduced. It is only available in the Imperial Age.

### *The Forgotten*

* Britons: Yeomen moved to the Castle Age.
* Mayans: Obsidian Arrows introduced. It gives Crossbowmen +4 attack against standard buildings.

### *The African Kingdoms*

* Italians: Pavise now affects Crossbowmen.
* Mayans: Obsidian Arrows now gives Crossbowmen +6 attack against buildings. With patch 4.8, Crossbowmen also gain +6 attack against stone defense.

### *Rise of the Rajas*

* Vietnamese: Initially, Crossbowmen had +15%/+20% HP in the Castle/Imperial Age. With patch 5.8, they now have +20% HP.

### *Definitive Edition*

* Bulgarians: Initially, the Team Bonus gave the Blacksmith a 50% work rate boost. With update 42848, this was changed to a 80% work rate boost.
* Persians: Kamandaran technology introduced in replacement for Boiling Oil.
* Koreans: Initially Crossbowmen cost 15% less wood. With update 39284, they cost 20% less wood.
* Koreans: With update 42848, Archer Armor upgrades are free.
* Portuguese: With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.
* Saracens: Crossbowmen deal +3 bonus damage against buildings.