“ | Chinese heavy cavalry. Good against archers, skirmishers, and artillery. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Iron Flail is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of Forbidden Army and Imperial Army.
Overview[]
The Iron Flail is a powerful heavy cavalry available to the Chinese. It behaves similarly to the Naginata Rider, in that it possesses a multiplier against ranged infantry such as Skirmishers (please note that this does not include true Shock Infantry such as Coyote Runners). The thing that sets the Iron Flail apart is that it has a splash damage attack, making it especially effective vs massed infantry and an exceptional raider as well. If Double Faced Armor is shipped, it boosts the range resist up to an impressive 41%, allowing it to tank an incredible amount of ranged fire, even allowing it to stand up to ranged cavalry for a short time.
The Iron Flail can be trained in the Imperial Army alongside Arquebusiers, or in the Forbidden Army alongside Meteor Hammers.
Due to the Iron Flail's fairly low base damage, it is quite poor against other cavalry and not especially quick at killing artillery. Fortunately, to compensate, it has a high amount of hit points, making it still a valuable unit to round out the Chinese army.
Upgrades[]
The Iron Flail is automatically upgraded to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) in the Fortress Age.
Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Honored Iron Flail | 300 wood 300 coin |
Upgrades Iron Flails to Honored (+30% hit points and attack) | |
Exalted Iron Flail | 750 wood 750 coin |
Upgrades Iron Flails to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Iron Flail |
Further statistics[]
As Iron Flails are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | light infantry, artillery |
Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry, ranged shock infantry |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%) |
Attack | Yoga (+5%) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire) |
Resistance | Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance) |
Speed | Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5) |
Train time | Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40% Forbidden Army; -20% Imperial Army) Quechuan Diet (-15%; Forbidden Army and Imperial Army) Akan Fontomfrom (-10%; Imperial Army) Immigrants (-10%; Forbidden Army and Imperial Army) |
Cost | Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost; Forbidden Army and Imperial Army) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost; Forbidden Army and Imperial Army) |
Other | Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) |
Home City Cards[]
As Iron Flails are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:
- Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Iron Flail
Some cards are highlighted with: | |
Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Mongolian Scourge | Steppe Riders get +1.0 multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0 multiplier against heavy cavalry and shock infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5 multiplier against infantry and -0.17 multiplier against heavy infantry | |
4 Iron Flails | Ships 4 Iron Flails | |
7 Iron Flails | Ships 7 Iron Flails | |
Ever Victorious Army | Ships 8 Iron Flails and 3 Flying Crows; costs 2,000 food | |
Double-Faced Armor | Iron Flails, Meteor Hammers, and Keshiks get +15% hit points and +5% ranged resistance | |
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | |
Acupuncture | All units' (except Shaolin Masters) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon spawn time -5% | |
Banner School | Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7% |
French[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack | Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack |
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead |
- "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack |
Italians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead |
- "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Sengoku | Unit upgrades cost -20% |
Maltese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Knights of the Round Table | Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points |
Mexicans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Mariachi | For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions | Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Spanish Inquisition | Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight |
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
Mongolian Scourge | Steppe Riders get +1.0 multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0 multiplier against heavy cavalry and shock infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5 multiplier against infantry and -0.17 multiplier against heavy infantry | 25 | |
4 Iron Flails | Ships 4 Iron Flails | 1 | |
7 Iron Flails | Ships 7 Iron Flails | 10 | |
Ever Victorious Army | Ships 8 Iron Flails and 3 Flying Crows; costs 2,000 food | 40 | |
Double-Faced Armor | Iron Flails and Meteor Hammers get +15% hit points and +10.5% resistance | 25 | |
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | 40 | |
Acupuncture | All units' (except Shaolin Masters, Heavy Cannons, Flying Crows, and Summer Palace banner armies) train time -20% | 10 | |
Banner School | Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7% | 10 |
French[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | 10 |
Germans[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Attack | Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack | 10 |
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack | 25 |
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades | Unit upgrades cost -20% | 1 |
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cavalry Scouts | Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight | 1 |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Inquisition | All units get +10 Line of Sight | 10 |
History[]
“ | The flail is a medieval weapon used primarily in Europe during the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Its construction consists of a weighted head, often spiked, that is attached to a wooden handle with a whip or length of chain. While not as commonly used in Asia, the flail was quite similar to other flail weapons, such as the Chinese nunchaku, or two-section staff, and Sanjiegun, or three-section staff. | ” |
Trivia[]
- Before the Definitive Edition, Iron Flails, together with Meteor Hammers, were the only units in Age of Empires III which could receive an upgrade to their resistance: the Double-Faced Armor card.