Yeomen is a technology in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors that is unique to the Britons and available at the Castle. Once researched, it increases foot archer range by +1 (including Skirmishers) and tower attack by +2.
Strategy[]
The Yeomen research combined with their civilization bonuses gives the Britons' foot archers the longest attacking range in the game and makes their Longbowmen even more effective at range. Notably, it is required to make Elite Longbowmen outrange enemy Castles and Towers with Bracer. With Yeomen, Briton towers also perform better against small-sized attacks, especially with Arrowslits researched as well. It is difficult to research in the Castle Age, as it is prohibitively expensive, and so it is generally researched in the Imperial Age, as the Imperial Age is similarly expensive while granting a similar effect to archers, while granting access to Bracer and the Arbalester upgrade. However, it is theoretically possible to achieve a range of 9 for Briton Crossbowmen and Longbowmen in the Castle Age, though this does not let them outrange anything they previously could not. It also affects Skirmishers, unlike the Briton bonus of +1/+2 range in the Castle/Imperial Age, giving them a range of 8 in the Castle Age and 9 in the Imperial Age - the same effect in terms of range that the technology Atlatl gives to Aztec Skirmishers.
Team bonuses[]
Portuguese: Researching Yeomen is 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- Yeomen is available in the Imperial Age.
- Yeomen only affects the first arrow of towers.
The Forgotten[]
- Yeomen is available in the Castle Age.
The African Kingdoms[]
- With patch 4.8, Yeomen affects the secondary arrows of towers.
History[]
Yeoman (right, in green attire) in the Knight's retinue, from The Canterbury Tales. Note the bow and arrows.
| “ | The longbow developed in Wales became a favored British weapon under Edward I, who quickly understood how it could be effectively deployed. British longbowmen played havoc against French armies throughout the Hundred Year's War. British free men, called yeomen, were skilled and highly motivated by self-interest. The pay and loot from a successful campaign in France could set up a man in business for life. | ” |
| —The Conquerors manual | ||
English yew longbow, of the kind used by yeomen archers
The term "yeoman archer" is applied specifically to English and Welsh military longbow archers (either mounted or on foot) of the 14th–15th centuries. Yeoman archers were commoners; free-born members of the social classes below the nobility and gentry. They were a product of the English form of feudalism in which the military duty of a knight to his lord (which was implicit in tenure feudalism) was replaced by paid, short-term service.
