Highlander
Highlander is Heavy infantry in Age of Empires III, available from the Fortress Age; obtained through Tavern (Europeans), Monastery (Asians), Saloon (Federal Americans), Palace (Africans), Lombard (Italians), European Barracks (with the "Dutch States Army" card).
Recorded values
- Cost
- 200 Coin
- Available
- Fortress Age · Tavern (Europeans) ; Monastery (Asians) ; Saloon (Federal Americans) ; Palace (Africans) ; Lombard (Italians) ; European Barracks (with the "Dutch States Army" card)
- Training
- 40 sec · 2 population · 20 XP per train
- Durability & mobility
- 400 hit points · 40% hand resistance · 4.0 speed · 16 line of sight
- Hand attack
- 32 damage · 1.5 attack interval · bonuses: 2.0x vs. Cavalry; 1.5x vs. Shock troops
- Ranged attack
- 63 damage · 12 range · 3.0 attack interval
- Siege attack
- 40 damage · 6 range · 3.0 attack interval
Role, availability & values
Production is available through Tavern (Europeans), Monastery (Asians), Saloon (Federal Americans), Palace (Africans), Lombard (Italians), or European Barracks (with the "Dutch States Army" card). It has 400 hit points. It moves at 4.0 speed and uses 2 population. Training costs 200 Coin; it takes 40 seconds to train. Attack profile: Hand attack deals 32 damage. Ranged attack deals 63 damage. Siege attack deals 40 damage. Hand attack bonuses: 2.0× against Cavalry and 1.5× against Shock troops.
Matchup & timing
Highlanders are expensive Fortress Age mercenaries whose 63-damage ranged attack at range 12 can remove a high-value target; their 32-damage hand attack still counters Cavalry and Shock troops. Use them as a limited elite line, not as a cheap replacement for Musketeers. Preserve the group behind a screen and compare the mercenary cost with the army slot it fills.
Base statistics and role
The Highlander is a Fortress Age mercenary heavy infantry unit hired for 200 Coin. It takes 40 seconds to train, uses two population and has 400 hit points, 40% hand resistance, speed 4.0 and line of sight 16. Its ranged attack deals 63 damage at range 12 every three seconds; the hand attack deals 32 damage every 1.5 seconds with a 2.0 multiplier against cavalry and 1.5 against shock troops. It has 40 siege damage. Those high values make it a powerful Musketeer-style mercenary that can hurt cavalry, heavy infantry and buildings, but its slow movement and population cost limit how quickly it can be massed. Its strong hand resistance is not ranged protection: skirmishers and artillery can outrange and damage it.
Hiring, shipments and local production
European civilizations hire Highlanders through the Tavern, Asian civilizations through the Monastery, Federal Americans through the Saloon, Africans through the Palace and Italians through the Lombard. Specific Home City cards create other routes. Dutch States Army allows Dutch players to train them from European Barracks and improves their movement and training time. German Battleships can train them through Adler von Lübeck if the Tavern offers the unit. United States players can receive Highlanders through Scottish Immigrants based on the number of Saloons, Meeting Houses and Trading Posts, up to ten, or encounter them in Poker’s random mercenary pool. These routes differ between direct production and a shipment; a one-time card does not necessarily create repeatable recruitment.
Strengths and counters
The Highlander is strong against cavalry and shock troops because its hand attack has meaningful multipliers and its ranged damage is high. It is also relatively effective against buildings. Light infantry, counter-skirmishers, artillery and MercType2 mercenaries are the principal counters. Heavy hand resistance helps when cavalry or melee infantry reaches it, but ranged units can use their range to attack before the Highlander closes. Protect the formation from artillery and avoid chasing skirmishers across open ground. A screen of cavalry or other mobile units can pressure the counters while Highlanders focus on the main army. Their two-population cost means an unsupported group lost to artillery is a costly trade.
How it differs from a Musketeer
The Highlander is a stronger but more expensive Musketeer-like mercenary. It has 400 hit points, 63 ranged damage, 40% hand resistance and two-population cost, while its hand multipliers make it effective against cavalry and shock troops. It is available from the Fortress Age and generally requires a mercenary building or a special card. Unlike a standard Musketeer, it does not follow an ordinary age-based Veteran and Guard path for every civilization. General mercenary cards, civilization-specific technologies and the Imperial Mercenary Contractor can improve it; the latter grants mercenaries +50% hit points and attack for European civilizations that choose that politician. Compare the improved final stats and the 200-Coin recruitment cost with a larger conventional army before investing.
Civilization variants
British players can research The Black Watch at the Church in the Fortress Age after sending The Glorious Revolution. The technology ships eight Black Watch, unlocks Tavern training, adds three line of sight and one range, and grants regeneration at 0.15% of hit points per second rather than the usual 0.25%. Canada can also upgrade Highlanders to Black Watch and has a repeatable shipment of fourteen. Dutch States Army changes training access and movement, while United States Scottish Immigrants scales the shipment with built locations. These variants have distinct access and effects; Black Watch is not merely a cosmetic name, and the British regeneration rate should not be confused with the generic value.
Campaign use and timing
Highlanders also appear in campaign scenarios. In Act I: Blood, some scenarios place them alongside the Knights of St. John even though those knights cannot train them. In Act III: India, the East India Company deploys Highlanders against the Indian rebellion. Campaign availability is scenario-specific and does not imply standard Skirmish production. In a normal match, their Fortress Age timing makes them useful once a player can afford mercenary Coin and needs a durable ranged unit. Earlier pressure should not assume they can be hired in the Commerce Age; use a different unit until the building or shipment route is available.
Field use and preservation
Bring Highlanders into the main fight behind a screen, focus their high-damage volleys on priority units, and use the melee attack only when cavalry commits or the target can be reached safely. Their movement speed of 4.0 makes withdrawal slower than with cavalry, so choose the engagement before advancing. If a Home City shipment creates a limited force, preserve it for fights where its hit points and damage can decide the battle. When artillery counters appear, use terrain and friendly mobile units to reach the guns or move the Highlanders out of range. The unit’s strength is concentrated combat value; its weakness is the high Coin and population cost of losing that value.
Upgrade planning and cost recovery
Highlanders benefit from general infantry and mercenary improvements, but the exact card set varies by civilization. Hit-point effects such as Flint Lock and attack effects such as Paper Cartridge or Smokeless Powder can raise performance; cards specific to mercenaries can also increase their value. The Imperial Mercenary Contractor offers a large +50% hit-point and attack increase to mercenaries under its condition. These investments are worthwhile when a substantial force will fight more than once. If only a small shipment is expected to survive one engagement, spending heavily on a broad mercenary upgrade may be worse than adding a counter-unit or protecting the route to the battlefield.
Formation and target priority
Keep Highlanders in a compact second line so their 12-range volleys can focus a priority target without exposing them to a cavalry dive. Their attack is high enough to punish heavy infantry, while the hand multipliers make them a meaningful deterrent if cavalry closes. Use the force’s ranged damage to remove vulnerable support units, then retreat if skirmishers or artillery begin trading safely from outside the Highlanders’ reach. Do not scatter a limited mercenary shipment into separate raids; a concentrated group is more likely to earn promotions, survive and justify its expensive Coin purchase.
Mercenary cards and special access
Cards such as Hire Scottish Highlanders, Hire Highland Mercenary Army or other civilization-specific mercenary shipments create different timing and quantity. Revolutions can add Black Watch or Highlanders to a new deck, while the United States may receive one per qualifying building through Scottish Immigrants. These access rules are more useful than a generic claim that every player can train the unit: check whether the card ships a fixed group, scales with structures, grants repeatable recruitment or merely adds the Highlander to a random pool. Production from a Barracks through Dutch States Army is a specific exception and should be labeled accordingly.
When not to hire
Avoid a Highlander purchase when Coin is needed for a critical age-up, when the enemy’s ranged counters already dominate, or when the population cap cannot support a two-population unit. A conventional force may answer that situation more cheaply and arrive sooner.
Using Black Watch range
The Black Watch variant gains one additional range and three line of sight, letting it begin firing sooner and see farther. Those bonuses do not remove the need for a screen against artillery or light infantry.
Elite mercenary Heavy Infantry and access routes
The Highlander costs 200 Coin, trains in 40 seconds and uses two population. It has 400 hit points, 40% ranged resistance, speed 4.0 and a 63-damage ranged attack at range 12 every three seconds. Its 32-damage hand attack fires every 1.5 seconds, with 2× damage against Cavalry and 1.5× against Shock troops; its Siege attack deals 40 damage. European Tavern, Asian Monastery, Federal American Saloon, African Palace, Italian Lombard and a Dutch States Army Barracks route are listed, so access is broad but not identical. Use Highlanders when a durable Heavy Infantry line can protect artillery or ranged specialists and the army has enough Coin to sustain replacements. Their large hit-point pool does not make them invulnerable to Skirmishers or focused artillery. Compare the mercenary’s two-population cost with ordinary Musketeers before spending a large portion of the late-game population cap.
Preserve the mercenary investment across fights
Because a Highlander is expensive in Coin and population, retreating a damaged group can be more valuable than replacing it after a poor engagement. Keep the unit in the center of the formation, where its high health and ranged resistance can hold the line, while mobile Cavalry is assigned to pressure the opponent’s artillery. Its hand attack can punish Cavalry that closes in, but do not chase mounted units across the map and leave the ranged army exposed. Mercenary cards, age upgrades and local production can change the replacement timing, so check which route is available in the current civilization. Stop hiring when Coin must be reserved for artillery, a technology or an Age advance; Highlander strength only matters if the rest of the army can support it.