Mangudai

"Mongol unique unit. Cavalry archer with attack bonus vs. siege weapons."

- Age of Empires II description

The Mangudai is the unique unit of the Mongols in Age of Empires II. It is a cavalry archer with an attack bonus against siege weapons.

Mangudai can be upgraded to Elite Mangudai in the Imperial Age.

Tactics
Mangudai are effective against slow moving units, such as Monks, Villagers, or infantry. They can also take down unsuspecting archers. With bonus damage dealt to Rams, Mangudai can also be used to counter them effectively behind fortifications.

However, despite their attack bonus against them, attacking (massed) Scorpions and Mangonels one on one is not recommended unless there are enough Mangudai to destroy the machine in one volley and they can be micromanaged to dodge the projectiles. Camels and Pikemen are a threat, if they can catch up with the Mangudai, but the latter can usually be avoided with ease, and Camels have low pierce armor and hence take a lot of damage themselves. Skirmishers and Light Cavalry can also be dangerous to Mangudai in sufficiently large numbers.

Mangudai are usually paired with Hussars and siege weapons, because they all benefit from the Mongols' civilization bonuses and unique technology Drill, respectively.

Comparison to the Cavalry Archer

 * Fully upgraded, the armor, range, and HP are the same. In the Castle Age, Cavalry Archers have 10HP less than Mangudai.
 * The Mangudai has a higher attack strength, but attacks a little slower contrary to popular belief. That is, of course, for Mongol Cavalry Archers. Compared to Cavalry Archers of all other civilizations, the Mangudai has a faster attack naturally due to the civilization bonus, where it fires 20% faster.
 * Mangudai have a frame delay of 5, Cavalry Archers 10. That means Mangudai can utilize hit-and-run tactics better.
 * The Mangudai moves and trains faster.
 * The Cavalry Archer (upgrade included) is cheaper by 15 wood and 5 gold as of The African Kingdoms. In The Forgotten, it was cheaper by 15 wood only (equal gold cost), and before the Mangudai was cheaper by 5 gold, but still cost 15 wood more.
 * All in all it can be said that the Mangudai fits better in a Mongol army because of the higher speed in order to keep up with the other core unit of the Mongol army, the Hussar. Also, a Castle with a couple of Mangudai garrisoned can be a bulky fortress due to the capability of the Mangudai to take out Rams with ease. All in all considered, the Mangudai is probably slightly better.

Comparison to the Camel Archer

 * The attack and range are the same, but the attack rate of the Mangudai is higher, so the damage output of the Mangudai is higher. Also, the Mangudai gets an attack bonus of +2 against Pikemen because of Parthian Tactics.
 * The Camel Archer holds an advantage of +5 hit points, can regenerate, and has one more pierce armor.
 * The Camel Archer is in the camel armor class rather than the cavalry armor class, resulting in less damage taken from anti-cavalry units such as Camels and Pikemen.It also has +1 armor in this class (+2 for Elite), resulting in even less damage taken.
 * The Camel Archer has +2 armor in the Cavalry Archer armor class, resulting in less damage taken from Elite Skirmishers and Genitours.
 * The Mangudai moves slightly faster.
 * The Camel Archer is cheaper by 5 wood and gold. Its Elite upgrade is also cheaper.
 * The Mangudai holds an attack bonus against siege weapons, the Camel Archer against Cavalry Archers.
 * All in all, the Mangudai is faster and holds a stronger attack, but the Camel Archer is more durable because of the slightly higher hit points, regeneration ability, and armor.
 * In one-on-one combat, the Camel Archer easily wins.

Further statistics
As Mangudai are unique to the Mongols, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Civilization bonuses

 * Mongols: Mangudai attack faster.

Team bonuses

 * A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Mangudai are created and upgraded 25% faster, and Conscription is researched 25% faster.
 * A team containing Britons: Researching Thumb Ring and Parthian Tactics is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Huns: Researching Bloodlines and Husbandry is 20% faster.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Mangudai are more resistant to conversion.

The Age of Kings

 * Mangudai only have a single attack bonus against siege weapons of +3 (+5 for Elite).
 * Mangudai have a Rate of Fire of 2.03.
 * Mangudai have an accuracy of 100%.
 * Mangudai move at a speed of 1.43.
 * Mangudai have a train time of 21 seconds.
 * Mangudai (non-Elite) have a frame delay of 10.
 * Elite Mangudai have a frame delay of 0.

Changes in The Conquerors

 * Mangudai gain a +1 attack bonus against Spearmen.
 * Mangudai Rate of Fire increased (made slower) to 2.13.
 * Mangudai accuracy lowered to 95%.
 * Mangudai speed increased to 1.45.
 * Mangudai train time increased to 26 seconds.
 * Bloodlines introduced.
 * Heresy introduced.
 * Parthian Tactics introduced.
 * Thumb Ring introduced.

Changes in The Forgotten

 * Mangudai attack bonus against siege weapons reduced to +1.
 * Mangudai receive an attack bonus against rams of +3 (+5 for Elite).
 * Mangudai (non-Elite) frame delay reduced to 5.

Changes in The African Kingdoms

 * With patch 4.8, Elite Mangudai now have a frame delay of 5.
 * With patch 4.8, Mangudai get back their initial attack bonus of +3 (+5 for Elite) against siege weapons. The attack bonus against rams is removed.

Trivia

 * The Mangudai is the only unique unit that has the same hit points as its Elite version, with 60 HP.

History
"The Mongols were united by Genghis Khan, who took them off on a campaign of conquest that reached from the Pacific to the Mediterranean to Central Europe. The Mongols were superb horsemen and each warrior kept a stable of ponies so that fresh mounts were always available. The strength of the Mongol armies was the horse archer firing a composite bow from the saddle. The best of these archers, called the Mangudai, used great tactics to catch enemies at a disadvantage. They used feints and traps to wear out enemy cavalry and shoot it to pieces. Slower troops could be shot to pieces at range with little risk. Enemy armies were exhausted and shattered without ever coming to grips with the elusive Mangudai. The main weakness of the Mongol army was that only great leaders could keep it together. When the great Khan or later leaders died, the army dissolved into factions bickering for primacy."