Bow Saw
Lumber Camp - CastleEvolution
Bow Saw
Castle
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"+20% Wood gathering rate"
Coach's Tip
Bow Saw is the Castle Age wood upgrade. Combined with Double-Bit Axe, it significantly boosts your wood income.
Strategic Analysis
Strategic Identity
Bow Saw is the Castle Age wood upgrade. Combined with Double-Bit Axe, it significantly boosts your wood income.
When to Research
High Priority
Research Bow Saw as soon as you have the resources and are using economy units.
Combat Impact
+20% Wood gathering rate
Civilization Access
* 53 civilizations have access to this technology.
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Other Technologies to Explore
AoE Coach analysis
Context & meta
Bow Saw is a Castle Age technology researched at the Lumber Camp. It costs 150 food and 100 wood and takes 50 seconds. Villagers gather wood +20% faster. It continues the wood economy after Double-Bit Axe, so the return is measured across the lumberjacks that support farms, houses, production, walls, docks, and late military transitions. Bow Saw does not improve other resources and does not create an immediate stockpile. Its value is a sustained economic rate, which makes the 50-second research window worthwhile when the build will keep many Villagers on wood instead of switching them to a short emergency task.
History & balance
Bow Saw is designed as the Castle Age continuation of an early wood commitment. The technology keeps the economy connected to the military tree: every extra wood unit can become a farm, production building, wall, ship, or support unit. Its broad effect is powerful but transparent, because the player must retain enough lumberjacks for the rate to matter. The food, wood, and research-time cost also create a real decision against Crossbowmen, Knights, Town Centers, or defensive units. Bow Saw rewards a player who has a durable wood demand rather than one who only needs a short burst.
In pro play
Research Bow Saw when at least eight to ten Villagers remain on wood after the Castle Age transition and the next plan needs continuous farms, production, or walls. Reserve 150 food, 100 wood, and the 50-second Lumber Camp window, then compare the pause with the first Castle Age unit or Town Center timing. The +20% rate pays over several minutes, not in the next few seconds. It is especially clean behind a stable economy or before a double production transition. If the opponent is attacking and the next military batch is missing, produce the batch first and research Bow Saw once the wood line can run long enough to recover the cost.
How to counter it
No military unit counters Bow Saw itself. The classic timing error is researching it with a shrinking wood line, or finishing 50 seconds of research after the Castle Age production window has passed. The opportunity cost is 150 food, 100 wood, Lumber Camp time, and the units or farms those resources could create. A practical threshold is eight to ten active lumberjacks with a plan that spends wood for several minutes. Pressure the Lumber Camp or punish the delayed army before completion; after the upgrade, raid the wood line because the bonus stops mattering when Villagers cannot work. If this economy timing keeps surprising you, AoE Coach reads your matchup and gives you the composition and timing.