Besteiros
Besteiros was a Portuguese Fortress Age Church technology that converted a Crossbowman plan into a large veteran shipment. It delivered 22 Besteiros and upgraded existing Crossbowmen to Veteran and Guard status. The technology is legacy content: it was removed from Definitive Edition with Knights of the Mediterranean, so its card and research sequence describe the earlier ruleset.
Earlier Portuguese technology
- Civilization
- Portuguese
- Age & building
- Fortress Age · Church
- Prerequisite
- Treaty of Tordesillas Home City Card
- Research cost & time
- 2,000 Wood · 15 seconds
- Shipment
- 22 Besteiros (Crossbowmen)
- Upgrade effect
- Existing Crossbowmen become Veteran and Guard Crossbowmen
- Current availability
- Removed from Definitive Edition with Knights of the Mediterranean
Portuguese veteran Crossbowman shipment
The Portuguese first had to send the Treaty of Tordesillas Home City Card. They could then research Besteiros at a Church in the Fortress Age for 2,000 Wood; research took 15 seconds. Completion sent 22 Crossbowmen, named Besteiros, to the Home City shipment point and improved Crossbowmen already owned. It therefore combined immediate reinforcements with an upgrade to the existing unit line rather than acting as a standard, repeatable Crossbowman shipment.
Research condition
Portuguese · Fortress Age · Church · Treaty of Tordesillas Home City Card · 2,000 Wood · 15 seconds; legacy content removed from Definitive Edition with Knights of the Mediterranean.
Access and research cost
In the rules where it is available, this is a major wood investment and needs both the required card and the Fortress Age. It is most useful when a Portuguese player already has Crossbowmen or is ready to field them: the shipment and veteran upgrades arrive together. Do not include it in a current Definitive Edition plan after Knights of the Mediterranean, where the technology was removed.
The shipment and upgrade are separate effects
Besteiros combines two outcomes in one research action. It sends a group of 22 Crossbowmen to the Home City shipment point, and it upgrades Crossbowmen already owned by the Portuguese player to Veteran and Guard status. The reinforcement changes the number of units on the field; the upgrade changes the quality of the existing Crossbowman line. Keep those effects distinct when judging the investment: the immediate group must still travel from its arrival point, while the improved existing force can already be positioned with the army.
Do not confuse it with Order Besteiros
Besteiros is the name of this older Portuguese Church technology and its Crossbowman shipment. Order Besteiros are a different unit associated with Portuguese-allied Consulate or Monastery packages in The Asian Dynasties and later Definitive Edition content. India and Japan can receive seven Order Besteiros through the Commerce Age Portuguese Expeditionary Company, or eleven Order Besteiros with a Consulate Culverin through the Fortress Age Portuguese Expeditionary Force. Those foreign-alliance deliveries do not research this Portuguese technology, require the Treaty of Tordesillas card, or upgrade Portuguese Crossbowmen.