Iroquois Mantlet

The Iroquois Mantlet is a Native American unit in Age of Empires III. It can be trained from Iroquois settlements.

From the WarChiefs on, this unit was replaced by the Huron Mantlet, and the Iroquois became a playable faction.

Overview
The Iroquois mantlet has no bonuses versus enemy units, it does however have a good siege attack and outstanding durability versus enemy ranged units. It's usefulness is diminished versus melee cavalry and infantry.

The unit has neat health, acceptable range, decent attack resistance, but a somewhat weak attack. Due to their survivability, Mantlets excel at destroying military and economic buildings. However, in order to use Mantlets properly, a sufficient range between their target must be established.

Large groups of Mantlets, with a maximum of fifteen, can be mustered via the Iroquois Morning Wars, which provides one Mantlet for every two minutes the game has lasted (up to thirty minutes).

History
"Because the Iroquois often fortified their towns, they needed siege weapons when they went to war with rival towns. One technique they developed was the mantlet, similar in function to those used in Roman and medieval armies. Two warriors would carry the mantlet (essentially a moveable wooden wall) to protect themselves from enemy arrow or musket fire until they reached their enemy's town walls, where the mantlet was used as a ladder to scale the walls and breach the town. Canoes could also be used as shields and ladders, although canoes used for assaulting a fortress were not always the best paddling vessels after the fighting was over."