The War Galley is countered by Fire Ship, Demolition Ship and Ballista Elephant. It is a ship unit of the Galley Line.
- Class
- Ship
- Line
- Galley Line
- Available to
- All civilizations
- Cost
-
90 
30
The Galley Line
War Galley stats
-
Hit points - 125
-
Melee attack - 0
-
Pierce attack - 7 / 3s
-
Range - 6
-
Melee armour - 0
-
Pierce armour - 4
-
Speed - 1.36
-
Line of sight - 8
-
Training time - 27s
What counters the War Galley?
Hard counters beat the War Galley decisively and win even at a cost disadvantage — usually through bonus damage, area damage, conversion or a speed advantage it cannot escape. Soft counters win the fight too, but only with good numbers and positioning.
-
Fire Ship hard Extreme fire rate and high pierce armor -
Demolition Ship hard Burst damage -
Ballista Elephant UU hard Attack bonus vs. warships (+8) -
Cannon Galleon soft Outranges
What does the War Galley counter?
Units the War Galley has a damage bonus against
Bonus damage says how hard the War Galley hits these units, not that it wins every fight — some of them still beat it by outranging or outrunning it.
-
Battering Ram hard Rams -
Capped Ram hard Rams -
Siege Ram hard Rams
Civilizations that improve the War Galley
10 civilizations have a bonus or unique technology that affects this unit.
Armenians
- Galley-line and Dromons fire an additional projectile
- Cilician Fleet (unique tech): Demolition Ships +20% blast radius; Galley-line and Dromons +1 range
Bengalis
- Ships regenerate 15 HP per minute
Berbers
- Ships move +10% faster
Koreans
- Warships cost -20% wood
- Shinkichon (unique tech): Rocket Carts and Turtle Ships +1 range, fire additional projectiles
Portuguese
- Ships +10/15/20% HP in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
- Circumnavigation (unique tech): Sets the entire map to explored; Ships train +33% faster
Romans
- Galley-line and Dromons +1 melee/+1 pierce armor
- Ballistas (unique tech): Scorpions attack +33% faster; Galley-line +2 attack
Saracens
- Galley-line attacks +25% faster
Shu
- Siege Weapons and Siege Warships move +10/15% faster in Castle/Imperial Age
Vikings
- Warships cost -10/15/20% in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
Wu
- Red Cliffs Tactics (unique tech): Demolition Ships and Fire Archers deal fire damage to ships and buildings
For the strategy behind these matchups — when to build counters, how to mix them and which civs do it best — see the Naval Counters guide.
Facing something other than War Galleys?
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