Urumi

The Urumi Swordsman is an Indian infantry unit in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It has a lot of hit points and dishes out high damage with a bonus against heavy infantry.

Overview
Urumi Swordsmen can only be sent through Home City shipments from the Fortress Age. They have high hit points, high range damage with a ranged area effect, a high rate of fire, and a multiplier against heavy infantry. Urumi are incredibly powerful, but are more vulnerable to melee cavalry. Due to their high ranged resistance and more than average movement speed, they are not as vulnerable to ranged infantry as other melee infantry.

The Indian Fast Fortress strategy is important, but Urumi Swordsman should be mixed with anti-cavalry units, such as Sepoys or Howdahs. Urumi are useful against civilizations that rely on heavy infantry and light cavalry units for their armies, such as the Aztecs and British.

The Urumi is upgraded automatically when the player advances in Age, but unlike units such as the Spahi and Skull Knight, the unit name changes to reflect that; Ankathari in Fortress Age, Verumkai in Industrial Age, and Gurukkal in Imperial Age. It has an infinite card in the Industrial Age and can be massed, especially with the use of Sacred Fields.

Mansabdar Urumi
Like other Indian military units, a Mansabdar Urumi is available to inspire other Urumis in combat. Unlike the other Mansabdar units however, the Mansabdar Urumi cannot be trained from the Charminar Gate and can only be received by the shipment card "Urumi Regiment" from the Industrial Age: sending 10 Urumis and a Mansabdar Urumi.

== History == "Practitioners of the Indian martial art of Kalarippayattu, which dates back to at least the twelfth century, begin their education at the age of seven. Once training commences, it progresses through four unique stages of development: Meithari, Kolthari, Ankathari and Verumkai. Meithari is a rigorous series of posture and coordination exercises that helps the student achieve peak physical condition through jumps, balance, and flexibility. Kolthari is the study of fighting with wooden weapons. Ankathari is the study of metal weapons, and near the end of this stage a student chooses a weapon in which to specialize. Finally, once the student has mastered all forms of weaponry, he is taught how to defend himself in hand-to-hand combat using grapples, blows, and strikes to vital pressure points, or marmam. Only the most trusted students of Kalarippayattu are instructed in this honored art. Masters of Kalarippayattu are highly skilled in many weapons, but none as strange, or as deadly, as the urumi, or flexible sword. The urumi is a flexible band of steel about one inch in width, and up to 5 feet in length, that is attached to a handle. Most urumi have multiple bands attached to a single handle. Because of its flexibility, an urumi can be coiled around the waist and inconspicuously carried like a belt. If a fight breaks out, the urumi can be uncoiled and swung like a sword. It is most effective when the wielder faces multiple enemies."