Talk:Condottiero/@comment-34012722-20180125092849/@comment-81.134.8.144-20180215163503

The unit design is based of a type of renassaince soldier called a rodelero or targetier. They were armoured (usually half-plate), carried a large steel shield known as a target or rotella, and used single-handed swords of various kinds popular at the time for military use, generally cut-and-thrust swords that were an evolution of the earlier arming sword associated with knights.

The metal shield and steel armour made them very resistant to bullets of the time (also arrows, but we cannot give them too many bonuses). They were used to disrupt pike blocks by moving under the pikes into close melee, and then attack the more vulnerable gunners behind the pikes, and were an important part of Spanish tercios during the period. Their mobility also allowed them to flank opponents. The targetier had several weaknesses though, mainly that they had little defence against cavalry, so they were used as a support troop for pike blocks. They also were not as damaging as equivalent armoured troops wielding halberd-equivalents or greatswords, so halberdiers were a good counter (AoE halberdiers are more like pikemen, champions are the equivalent of actual halberdiers and greatsword wielders).

So basically, if you think of the unit as targetiers, rather than condottiero in general, then their gunpowder resistance and high speed makes sense, as well as their weakness to cavalry and champions.