Imperial Monitor

The Imperial Monitor is the upgrade of the "Ultimate battleship" of Age of Empires III. It has a mortar situated at the front of the ship for bombarding port cities or fortifications. Although it can destroy practically anything, Imperial Monitars are weak against other ships and anti-ship units, especially Frigates. One of the advantages of a Imperial Monitar is that it has a long range ability, which allows it to fire a single shell from an extremely long distance up to a range of 100, making it useful in a fire support role. Imperial Monitors are built in the Dock and can also be repaired there for covenience. They are able to be trained and upgraded in the Imperial Age. It is generally considered better than the Ironclad for long-range attacks.

Unction and Monitors
Due to the sizeable bonuses of the Unction aura for the Spanish, they are the only civilization capable of turning an Imperial Monitor into an effective, although makeshift fixed gun on any map with a puddle of water large enough to hold it.

The high age requirements for the maximum damage potential makes this only realistically an option for the Spanish during Treaty games, or fights against A.I. opponents.