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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. For the unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean, see Pavisier. |
| “ | Italian unique archer. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The Genoese Crossbowman is the first unique unit of the Italians in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. It is a foot archer unit with an attack bonus against cavalry.
Genoese Crossbowmen can be upgraded to Elite Genoese Crossbowmen in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
The Genoese Crossbowman is a crossbow-wielding unit that has an attack bonus against cavalry and as such can prove to be a great defense against enemy Knights. Even mighty elephant units (such as War Elephants and Battle Elephants) can be slaughtered very easily when faced with large mobs of Genoese Crossbowmen.
The Genoese Crossbowman is a well-rounded unit as it counters cavalry. While most archer units are able to handle themselves against cavalry, the Genoese Crossbowman is a genuine counter. In masses, they are good against cavalry and infantry alike. Despite the attack bonus, cavalry units can still defeat them on one to one combat if they are able to get in melee. This especially holds true for the Shrivamsha Rider, as it can outright dodge a Genoese Crossbowman's shots and are very fast. Despite all its strength, the unit can be considered an Arbalester with -1 range against non-mounted units. They are still vulnerable to Mangonels, although to a lesser extent than other archers due to having enough HP to survive a single Mangonel shot, and Scorpions. Other anti-archer units such as Skirmishers and Huskarls, which have good pierce armor and an attack bonus against them, are especially effective. The speed and armor of faster infantry such as the Eagle Warriors and Ghulams can pose a problem as well. They can be paired up with the cheap Italian Hand Cannoneers whose attack bonus against infantry can prove very useful against civilizations with archer threatening infantry. Hussars and Bombard Cannons also pair up well for dealing with siege, and the former has a low cost and fast speed while the latter helps against buildings.
The Genoese Crossbowman also has an attack bonus against all kinds of ships. In fact, it only takes two Elite Genoese Crossbowmen to take out a fully upgraded Galleon, while it takes about ten Arbalesters to sink the same ship.
Despite the official description stating that the unit is weak to archers, the only disadvantage it has against foot archers is -1 range. To compensate for it, it has +1 attack in the Castle Age, as well as +10 hit points. The description is also wrong considering archers includes mounted archers, against which the unit has a massive attack bonus, and no range disadvantage. Moreover, the Italian unique technology grants +1/+1 armor, making it more resistant to archer fire compared to the archer line of other civilizations.
Comparison in the Castle Age with similar units[]
 Genoese Crossbowman
|
 Crossbowman
| |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 45 wood, 40 gold | 25 wood, 45 gold |
| Training time | 14 seconds | 27 seconds |
| Hit Points | 45 | 35 |
| Pierce Attack | 6 | 5 |
| Attack Bonus | +4 vs Camels and Ships +5 vs Cavalry and Elephants |
+3 vs Spearman |
| Range | 4 | 5 |
| Accuracy | 100% | 85% |
| Line of Sight | Range + 4 | Range + 2 |
| Rate of Fire | 2 | 2 |
| Armor | 1/0 | 0/0 |
| Movement Speed | 0.96 | 0.96 |
| Upgrade Cost | 900 food, 750 gold | 450 food, 400 gold |
| Upgrade Time | 60 seconds | 50 seconds |
Comparison in the Imperial Age with similar units[]
| Elite Genoese Crossbowman
|
 Arbalester
| |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 45 wood, 40 gold | 25 wood, 45 gold |
| Training time | 14 seconds | 27 seconds |
| Hit Points | 50 | 40 |
| Pierce Attack | 6 | 6 |
| Attack Bonus | +5 vs Ships +6 vs Camels +7 vs Cavalry and Elephants |
+3 vs Spearman |
| Range | 4 | 5 |
| Accuracy | 100% | 90% |
| Line of Sight | Range + 4 | Range + 2 |
| Rate of Fire | 2 | 2 |
| Armor | 1/0 | 0/0 |
| Movement Speed | 0.96 | 0.96 |
Further statistics[]
As Genoese Crossbowmen are unique to the Italians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Most Cavalry, mounted archers, infantry |
| Weak vs. | Skirmishers, siege weapons, Huskarls, Eagle Warriors, Rattan Archers, Ghulams, Shrivamsha Riders |
| Upgrades | |
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1)
|
| Range | Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1)
|
| Firing rate |  Thumb Ring (+18%)
|
| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Armor |  Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1) Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1) Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2) Pavise (+1/+1)
|
| Conversion defense |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Upgrades |  Elite Genoese Crossbowman
|
Civilization bonuses[]
Italians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 33% cheaper.
Team bonuses[]
- Britons: Researching Thumb Ring is 10% faster.
- Bulgarians: Researching upgrades at the Blacksmith is 80% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion and Faith is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Crossbowmen are researched 25% faster.
- Saracens: Genoese Crossbowmen have +3 attack against standard buildings.
- Teutons: Genoese Crossbowmen are more resistant to conversion.
Changelog[]
The Forgotten[]
- Genoese Crossbowmen cost 50 wood, 50 gold.
- Standard Genoese Crossbowmen have a reload time of 3.
- Genoese Crossbowmen have a training time of 22 (standard) and 19 (elite).
The African Kingdoms[]
- Elite Genoese Crossbowmen have +5 attack against camel units.
Rise of the Rajas[]
- Genoese Crossbowmen cost 45 wood, 45 gold.
- With patch 5.7, Elite Genoese Crossbowmen have +6 attack against camel units.
Definitive Edition[]
- Genoese Crossbowmen have a reload time of 2.
- Genoese Crossbowmen have a training time of 18 (standard) and 14 (elite).
Lords of the West[]
- With update 44725, Genoese Crossbowmen cost 45 wood, 40 gold.
Victors and Vanquished[]
- With update 107882, Genoese Crossbowmen training time decreased from 18 seconds to 14 seconds.
Heroes[]
There is one hero in the game with the appearance of a Genoese Crossbowman:
Trivia[]
- In the mod version of The Forgotten Empires, the Genoese Crossbowmen use a modified Hand Cannoneer unit model and texture. In the retail version however, they receive a new model as a crossbowman carrying a shield.
- Genoese Crossbowmen first appeared in the series via the Nintendo DS spinoff Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, released in 2006.
- Genoese Crossbowmen carry a shield whose appearance much resembles the Pavise (from which the unique technology's name comes), which is a type of tall convex shield used by Medieval European bowmen as a sort of mobile cover for them to duck behind while not firing, though the unit never seems to duck behind it while engaging an enemy, thus somewhat defeating the shield's purpose when faced with ranged adversaries. Also in reality, the pavise is much taller than the bowmen whereas in the game, this is much shorter. However, they do carry the pavise on their back when they move, which is historically accurate.
- Genoese Crossbowman's bonus damage against cavalry probably refers to the weapon's ban by the Pope in 1096. The ban was applied because a mounted knight who spent years in military training could be killed easily by a peasant with little to no training who used a crossbow. As a result, the crossbow was considered as a threat against ruling elites and they lobbied the Roman Catholic Church to ban the weapon.[1]
- Historically, all archers and crossbowmen countered cavalry effectively because horses were easier to hit, owing to their large size, with arrows; for example, English longbowmen killed and wounded very many unarmored horses of their French foes at Crécy.
- The Genoese Crossbowman is the only foot archer unit in the game that does not have any bonus damage against the Spearman armor class.
History[]
The Genoese crossbowmen were mercenaries from Genoa that assisted in defending it and other Italian and European cities. They carried daggers, crossbows, a chain mail shirt, and large shields called pavises. After firing, the crossbowmen would hide behind their pavises while reloading. This protected them from other ranged attacks. What makes the Genoese crossbowmen so special is they operated in teams of three. One would set up and maintain the pavise while one shoots and another reloads a second crossbow handing him to the shooter when reloaded. This effectively doubled the fire rate of the skilled crossbowmen. The Genoese crossbowmen participated in the Crusades.
Gallery[]
Video[]
ELITE GENOESE CROSSBOWMAN vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT (Total Resources) - AoE II- Definitive Edition
