Spahi

The Spahi is an Ottoman heavy cavalry unit featured in Age of Empires III. It is the second strongest melee cavalry in the game, after the Mahout Lancer.

Overview
The Spahi are only available from the Home City. They are effective against enemy Light Infantry and Artillery, but can be countered by normal infantry and some counter cavalry units. The Spahi fights with a mace, and deals damage over a certain area rather than a single unit. It is considered one of the most effective units in the game, and can even defeat Cuirassiers in melee combat. Only the Mahout Lancer is able to defeat them in a melee fight. Also unlike most units they can regenrate hitpoints like the Explorer make last longer in battles without support units.

Unfortunately this unit is limited as it only can be sent from the Home City and cannot be trained like regular units, that's why cannot be massed easily.

Upgrades
Spahis auto-upgrade on advance through the Ages. These units can have a maximum of 1537 hit points if the Imperial Age is reached.

History
The Spahi were an elite Ottoman Cavalry Corps and was a force within the Six Divisions of Cavalry and resembled the knights of the Medieval Ages.

The spahis were originally founded during the reign of Murad I and using the devshirmeh system, were originally recruited like the sultan's Janissaries. The Spahi's ranks were only chosen from among the ethnic Ottomans who owned land within the imperial borders.

The duties of the Spahis included riding with the sultan on parades and as a mounted bodyguard. Also in times of peace, they were also responsible for the collection of taxes and training of mounted forces.