Ironclad (Age of Empires III)

The Ironclad is a special military vessel that can be sent from from the Home City. They are only available through the Revolution, or through Portugeuse allies (The Asian Dynasties). They are a faster, and swifter firing version of a monitor with diminished range, line of sight and hitpoints (versus a fully upgraded monitor).

They are a mixture between the frigate and the monitor, as a result it is merely average at both jobs.


 * It has no damage bonus versus artillery with it's long-range attack, same as the monitor, however the ironclads regular attacks have a negative multiplier of 0.5x whereas the monitor has no such penalty.
 * The ironclad has a smaller impact area per shot versus the monitor.
 * The monitor deals 10x damage to buildings with either of it's attacks as opposed to the 5x on the ironclads long-range shot.
 * It is still slow compared to many other ships, allowing them to effectively run from it or dash in and swarm it for simultaneous point blank broadsides. The Spanish card team inquisition gives all of their warships a greater line of sight than the ironclad, as well as boosting the LOS of their allies ships. Combined with greater speed or an already superior line of sight versus the ironclad will make it more difficult for the ironclad to acquire a firing solution on any observant players who choose flight over fight.
 * A player does not need to send the admiralty card to possess three of these ships, unlike the monitor.