Heaven’s Reference Pages

Bowman
Age: Tool
Prerequisites: Build Town Center, build Barracks, build Archery Range.
Upgrade Cost: - - -
Cost: 40 food, 20 wood
Hit Points: 35
Attack: 3
Armor: - - -
Range: 5
Speed: Medium
Upgrade of: - - -
Special: - - -
Description:
The Bowman is the weakest of the archers. The Bowman cannot be upgraded.
Archers fire arrows at enemy villagers, military units, boats, and buildings within their range.
Researching Alchemy increases attack strength. Ballistics increases accuracy. Leather Armor, Scale Armor, and Chain Mail increase armor. Woodworking, Artisanship, and Craftsmanship increase range.
Comments
Bowmen are available in the Tool Age and can tackle Scouts and Axemen with some success. They are also great villager killers.  When your opponent uses slingers and towers for defense, however, they die horribly.  They do very little damage to buildings and walls as well, so don't try leveling their town unless you have a ton of bowmen.  They are basically there to kill units.  The bowman is not practical past the Tool age unless you place it behind a wall and use it to take out non ranged units, because they also die miserably to all bronze age units. They have a range of 5, and are a bit too slow which is why they sometimes cannot kill villagers on the run, but if the enemy's villagers are running, they aren't pulling in resources. Use them for axemen, scouts, and the protection of wood and food gathering areas (your's and the enemies'), but beware of a Bronze age opponent or one with many slingers.
Cherub Sting and Angel Washizu
History
The bow was an important military weapon from the time of the first armies, being easily adapted from hunting animals to warfare. Archers required less discipline and leadership in battle because they were not expected to engage in hand-to-hand combat, a terrifying experience. Bowmen fought from a distance on the battlefield, from behind walls or other cover, and from ambush. They were usually not decisive in battle on the attack because they could not physically take ground from the enemy like infantry could. They acted mainly as defensive troops and as light troops that disrupted enemy formations prior to the decisive moment when the infantry clashed. If barrages of arrows could cause casualties and lower morale of the enemy prior to the clash, friendly infantry had a better chance of breaking the will of the enemy infantry and being victorious.
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