Friday Update: Week 30/2015, French UUs

I promised we'd talk about the French some more this week, so of course that's what we'll be doing. Since the last of the French UUs got out of the texturing stage this week, I thought it might be a good idea to talk about them.


First up, the Voulgier. Available from the Barracks in Age II, it replaces the Spearman for the French, and it does so in undeniable style. It's normally hard to get excited about a unit like this, but the Voulgier isn't just any Spearman replacement. Being armed with the multi-purpose voulge, effectively just a broad blade stuck to a pole, it can take down enemy infantry and cavalry alike. It's not as effective against cavalry as a Spearman is, but in return it gets a healthy dose of ranged resistance thanks to its extensive armour, and much higher base damage, meaning it can reliably defend itself against enemy Men-at-Arms and Halberdiers. It is somewhat slower than the Spearman however, and quite a bit more expensive as well.


The Chevalier is the French replacement for the Knight. "Chevalier" is of course just the French word for "knight", but that is not without reason; these human battering rams are knights, but better. French knights were famed throughout the Middle Ages for their destructive charges and ferocity in melee, and the Chevalier is tribute to that. It is difficult to fault the Chevalier anywhere, because its increased armour and base damage over the already impressive stats of the Knight make this one of the most destructive units in the game. If you encounter an army of Chevaliers coming for you, your best chance may be to simply run for your life. Much like the Voulgier being more expensive and slow-moving than the Spearman however, the Chevalier is also slower and more costly than the Knight. The kind of power these units wield on the battlefield doesn't come cheap...


The Voulgier's mediocre bonus against cavalry might seem like something of an Achilles' heel for the French, but they have another unit that more than makes up for it: The Cranequinier. This mounted crossbowman replaces the Cavalry Archer for the French, and is not unlike the Voulgier and Chevalier in that it is more expensive but also considerably more powerful than the unit it replaces. The Cranequinier has a lower rate-of-fire than the Cavalry Archer, because it uses a slow-to-load crossbow instead of a regular bow, but the damage it deals is extensive, especially against other cavalry. The weight of its arms and armour make it slower than the regular Cavalry Archer, but to compensate, it is much more capable in melee.


The Bombard that most civs get access to upon researching Black Powder is a very powerful unit, but the French would argue that there is something better still, in the form of the Ribauldequin. The Ribauldequin is not primarily a siege unit like the Bombard is, so the French rely on non-gunpowder siege units to take down enemy walls. Instead, the Ribauldequin focuses on killing enemy units. It is moderately effective against enemy artillery and siege units, although more than the Bombard it replaces, but it really shines when targeting infantry, which it can mow down with almost unparalleled efficiency.

You may have noticed that a consistent theme across French UUs is their high cost and rather excessive stats; we'll go into more detail about that next week when we talk about the French bonuses, and the way the French ought to be played to unleash their full potential, which you'll agree is not insignificant...


Some things just deserve to be Quotes of the Week regardless of their actual relevance, so here is this week's entry in the increasingly peculiar world of K&B quotes, coming from AOE_Fan...

AOE_Fan wrote:Such texture, much pretty, very Friday Update.

K&B salutes... the ability to make new models for AoE3. Yes, I know we saluted this before, but we would have been nowhere without it when it comes to the French. Just in the units shown above, there are seven (!) new models...
K&B refutes... capturable Gates. The strawpoll's results are in, and they are quite clear. Don't worry though, if you like to be able to capture Gates, we'll have an easy way for you to re-enable the feature.