Field Hospital
Field Hospital is a special support building in Age of Empires III that heals nearby injured units and trains Surgeons. Its access depends on the card or scenario that provides it, so it is not a universal early-game building.
Recorded values
- Cost
- 200 Wood
- Available
- Exploration Age
- Builder
- Surgeon, Explorer (with the "Turku Academy" card), General MX (with the "Bustamante" card), Grenadiers (with the "Génie Troops" card)
- Function
- Heals injured units; Trains Surgeons; Auto gather food 0.67/s (with the "Cantinières" card)
- Construction
- 30 sec · up to 8 builders · limit 4
- Structure
- 1,500 hit points · 20 line of sight · 4x4 footprint
Function & construction
The building can be constructed by eligible units and cards listed for the selected civilization. With the Cantinières card it also generates Food automatically; access and effects differ by setup.
Placement & timing
Place it behind the front where injured units can recover without remaining exposed. Use its Surgeon queue and any card-enabled economy effect when the match will last long enough to benefit.
Healing radius, access and placement
The Field Hospital is an Exploration Age support building that heals friendly units within a radius of 20. It costs 200 Wood, takes 30 seconds to construct, has 1,500 hit points, line of sight 20 and a four-building limit. Its current healing rate is 10 hit points per second. The healing effect is most useful behind a frontline: units that are actively attacking or currently under attack do not receive the ordinary recovery, so the structure is a rally and recovery point rather than a way to win a fight while standing inside enemy fire. Pull wounded troops back, allow them to recover, then return them to combat. That rotation can preserve expensive units and reduce the experience the opponent earns from killing them. The standard builder is a Surgeon. Access to Surgeons varies: some civilizations can ship them from the Home City, and Definitive Edition rules allow training through a Church or Mosque after the Master Surgeons card for specified civilizations. Portuguese, German, Ottoman and Russian access follows that card path; Chinese and Indian players can ship Surgeons through the Consulate when allied with Britain. Other cards provide builders for particular civilizations, including Turku Academy for an Explorer, Bustamante for General MX and Génie Troops for Grenadiers. Confirm that the relevant shipment or technology is in the deck before investing in the building plan. A Field Hospital is not an ordinary structure every civilization can place at the start of a match. Place the Hospital close enough to the army’s retreat route to keep recovery convenient, but behind walls or other defenses so the enemy cannot remove the support point cheaply. The maximum of four makes placement matter: several buildings spread too far apart may be harder to defend, while overlapping coverage can waste the cap. A central protected location near the Town Center is safer; a forward position can shorten the return trip but should only be used when map control is stable. The Hospital has no military attack in its core profile, so guard it with units or structures rather than treating its hit points as a defense. Healing can generate substantial value over a long match because it restores health to units that would otherwise need to be replaced. It is strongest against opponents who allow damaged units to withdraw and regroup, and less reliable against focused fire that kills troops before they reach safety. The effect also applies to units whose health deteriorates over time, such as Minutemen, Irregulars and Warriors, although the healing interaction has special limits when they reach one hit point. Garrison or retreat those units according to their rules rather than assuming the Hospital stops every source of health loss. The Cantinières Home City Card gives the Field Hospital an additional economic function: it automatically gathers 0.67 Food per second. This does not replace villagers or make the structure a primary economy building, but it can add steady income while the Hospital remains protected. Definitive Edition adjusted several core values: construction is 30 rather than the original 10 seconds, line of sight rose to 20 from 15, and healing changed from 3 to 10 and later from 20 down to 10. Use the current tooltip when comparing old strategy advice.
Recover units between engagements
A useful recovery loop is to designate a safe rally point just behind the army, retreat damaged units to the Hospital, and keep fresh troops at the front until the wounded are ready to return. This is most practical after a skirmish or during a lull, not while the enemy is focusing the structure. Since the building does not heal units while they are under attack or actively attacking, move them fully out of combat range before relying on the 10-per-second recovery. Its radius covers a large area, but units that fight beyond that 20 range will not benefit. The Explorer and other qualifying builders can place a forward Hospital only through their specific card access; the structure’s broad coverage can help protect an important pass, yet four total placements means a forward post is a major commitment. Keep one or more Villagers nearby to repair or reinforce defenses where available, and ensure the retreat path does not cross the same enemy fire that wounded the force. Against an opponent who retreats damaged units as well, a Hospital can extend the value of both armies; against rapid focus fire, spend the Wood on units and defenses instead.
Healing and Surgeon production
The Field Hospital is a special support building that heals nearby injured units and trains Surgeons. Access depends on the card or scenario that provides it. Eligible builders include a Surgeon, an Explorer with the Turku Academy card, a Mexican General with the Bustamante card, or Grenadiers with the Génie Troops card. The building costs 200 Wood, has 1,500 hit points and takes about 30 seconds to construct.
Placement and card-enabled Food income
Place the Hospital behind the front where injured troops can recover without remaining exposed. It can train Surgeons and, with the Cantinières card, automatically gather Food at 0.67 per second. That income and the healing function should be considered within the active civilization and card setup. The Field Hospital is limited in number and can be lost to a raid, so protect it if wounded units rely on its radius. Use it when the match has time for healing and support to repay the Wood cost.