Travois
The Haudenosaunee Travois is a free construction wagon associated with the Founder Ceremony at the Community Plaza. It builds eligible Haudenosaunee structures without the usual Wood payment, allowing the civilization to turn a ceremony reward into infrastructure. A Travois cannot construct a Town Center. Its usefulness therefore comes from choosing a suitable production, economic or defensive building and moving the wagon safely to the desired site; the unit itself does not fight as a normal military troop.
Recorded values
- Available
- Exploration Age · Community Plaza (Founder Ceremony)
- Training
- 30 sec · 0 XP per train
- Durability & mobility
- 250 hit points · 4.0 speed · 12 line of sight
- Ability
- Builds Haudenosaunee buildings (except Town Centers) for free
Role & counters
Send the Travois to a location where the intended structure can be completed without leaving the wagon exposed. Select an eligible building and use the saved Wood for units, upgrades or other construction. Although the building is free in Wood, it still takes construction time and the chosen location remains strategically important. Protect the wagon on the way and during construction.
Training & availability
Haudenosaunee; obtained through the Founder Ceremony at the Community Plaza; constructs eligible buildings without their normal Wood cost; cannot build Town Centers.
When to field it
Use a Travois to establish forward infrastructure or expand the Haudenosaunee settlement while preserving gathered Wood for other needs. A forward War Hut can shorten reinforcement routes, while a safer site may be preferable when the enemy controls the map. Remember that Town Centers are excluded from the Travois’s construction options.
Trade route unit versus construction wagons
The word Travois is used for two different Age III systems. The neutral Travois on a Trade Route is an uncontrollable level-one trade unit that moves along the route and delivers resources or Experience at Trading Posts; its line is shown on the minimap, and a Trading Post can reveal the area around the passing wagon. Native construction Travois from The WarChiefs are player-owned wagons that turn into free buildings. Those construction versions include civilization-specific options and are consumed after placement. Do not confuse either type with a standard Villager: only the Native construction wagon creates a building, while the neutral route unit follows its path automatically. The route Travois can be replaced by a Stagecoach and later a Train when the route’s upgrades are researched. For strategy, claim a Trading Post to benefit from the passing unit and route vision, but use a Native Travois to preserve Wood for the rest of the army and settlement.
Native construction options
Construction Travois are civilization-specific: the Haudenosaunee Founder Ceremony version builds eligible buildings but cannot construct Town Centers, while other Native construction wagons may be restricted to a single building type. This differs from the neutral route Travois, which remains under Gaia control and only delivers route goods. Before saving a construction wagon for a later Age, check which structures its particular version can place.
Stagecoach and route vision
A Trading Post on a Trade Route grants vision around the passing neutral Travois, so route ownership helps reveal unexplored terrain as well as deliver goods. Improving the route replaces the slow level-one wagon with faster Stagecoaches and eventually Trains. Native construction Travois are separate player units that can be saved for a later Age to place a more expensive building without spending its normal resources.
Free Haudenosaunee construction and placement
The Haudenosaunee Travois costs no Wood and can construct most Haudenosaunee buildings for free, except Town Centers. Its listed role comes from the Founder Ceremony at the Community Plaza, and the unit cap is ten. A Travois builds at three times the ordinary rate, has 250 hit points, speed 4.0 and 20% siege resistance. This makes it useful for quickly placing a forward War Hut, defensive structure or economic building, but its free construction is not a license to expose it: the wagon can still be destroyed before the structure is complete. Select the exact legal site before moving it through contested terrain, and avoid using one for a building that the civilization cannot place there. Since Town Centers are excluded, expansion still requires the normal Town Center route and investment.