Stradiot

The Stradiot is a cavalry mercenary available to many civilizations from the Saloon building in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs. The Ottoman and Spanish civilizations can also ship six Stradiots from their Home Cities for. Four Stradiots are also included in the Mediterranean Mercenary Army shipment, available to all European civilizations except the Dutch.

However in replacement of this the Dutch can, with the Religious Freedom Home City shipment, send five Stradiots known as Waardgelders for the price of. After this upgrade is purchased any future Stradiot hired in the Saloon by the Dutch will be called Waardgelder.

Stradiots have 585 hitpoints with a Normal Damage of 56, Trample Damage of 37 and Siege Damage of 30. They occupy three slots of total population and costs 300 Coin when hired from the Saloon.

They act as the midway between the high HP but relatively low attack Mameluke and the high attack but relatively low HP Hackapell.

Shipments
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British

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In-game dialogue Language (Albania)

 * Po?/Po (yes)
 * Gati (ready)
 * Komandë? (command)
 * Do bëj (will do)
 * Do të bëj (I'll do)
 * Sulm! (attack!)
 * Në betejë! (to battle!)

History
The Stradiots are originally from Albania. They were the soldiers of George Castriota, the son of an Albanian noble held hostage by the Ottoman Empire. Castriota escaped and managed to organize a revolution, expelling the Ottomans from Albanian territory. The Stradiots were later used as mercenaries in the service of Venetians, largely replacing their existing light cavalry forces, and were hired by other countries such as France and Spain.

The Stradiots were ferocious but undisciplined riders that were known to leave battle to loot enemy encampments or caravans. For this reason, they were considered excellent raiders. They were typically clad in voluptous pants and turkish shirts, wearing mail or, later, plate armor. They were equipped with an assagaya (a type of short, double-tipped spear), but also wielded swords, maces, crossbows, and lances depending on the situation.