"Trains mansabdars that increase attack and hitpoints of your troops."
—In-game description
The Charminar Gate is an Indian Wonder in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It sends a shipment of Sowars or Mahout Lancers when built and can train Mansabdar units which enhances units of the same type (see Overview).
Overview
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Example of an Mansabdar unit: an in-game Mansabdar Siege Elephant. Note the unit's ornamental garb, which distinguish the unit from other Siege Elephants, even from Exalted Siege Elephants.
The Charminar Gate trains Mansabdar units which are more stalwart than their corresponding units and they have a passive ability that hit points and attack of all nearby similar units, somewhat similar to the Japanese Daimyo, but Mansabdars themselves cannot train units or receive Home City shipments. They are enabled with proper Age; the Mansabdar Mahout Lancer cannot be trained until the player enters the Fortress Age. They typically have decorative uniforms and equipment, making it easy to distinguish them from normal units. Every Mansabdar unit only affects identical units and do not affect other non-related units (e.g. the Mansabdar Gurkha inspires all other Gurkhas and the Mansabdar Flail Elephant inspires other Flail Elephants).
All Mansabdar units cost twice as much as regular ones, require more population and train a little bit slower than a simple unit, making the Mansabdar units only available for players who mixed a good and productive economy with a powerful and hard-to-beat army. The most expensive units that the Indians can train are the Mansabdar elephants: they cost more population than a singular unit, though the Home City elephant upgrades will help a little bit. However, the high cost of the Mansabdar units are compensated by their high combat stats and unique special abilities, helping the player achieve a conquest victory if the same player handles them very carefully and with intelligence.
The Mansabdar units are not upgradable to Disciplined, Honored or Exalted level, but they can receive some upgrades from arsenal technologies, Home City cards shipments (such as TEAM cards from ally players) and some Native/Religious upgrades at the trading posts.
The Mansabdar units are also shipped from the Indian Home City with the Regiment cards. Those cards ship at the town center a group of units with a Mansabdar unit as the leader of the regiment. For example, the Sowar Regiment card will send a group of Sowars, and a Mansabdar Sowar, with an extra villager (due the Indian special civilization ability), getting ready to assault the enemies without the request of a Charminar Gate wonder if the player can’t get it, but the player must be careful with this, because if the Mansabdar unit gets killed in combat and the player doesn’t have a Charminar Gate wonder, the Mansabdar unit is gone for good.
- Note: Mansabdar Elephants do not lose 2 population with the use of the "Professional Handlers" card. They only receive a 1 point discount as per the rules of the card.
Units
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Age | Unit | Cost |
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200 food, 70 wood | ||
180 food, 60 coin | ||
140 food, 100 coin | ||
160 food, 160 coin | ||
120 food, 120 coin | ||
800 food, 500 wood | ||
500 food, 700 coin | ||
250 food, 250 coin | ||
600 wood, 800 coin |
- Note: The Mansabdar Urumi cannot be trained from the Charminar Gate and is only avalaible through the Urumi Regiment Home City card.
Shipments
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Age | Shipment |
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2 Sowars | |
1 Mahout Lancer | |
2 Mahout Lancers | |
3 Mahout Lancers |
Home City Cards
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As the Charminar Gate is exclusive to the Indians, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.
Click for a list of related Home City cards | |||||||||||||||
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Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Europeans
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Icon | Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
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![]() | TEAM Improved Buildings | Buildings get +25% hit points | 1 | 10 |
Advanced Wonders | Wonders get +50% hit points and build 25% faster +1 Villager | 1 | 25 |
History
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"Located in the City of Hyderabad, a former capital city of India, the Charminar Gate was built in 1591 at the center of the city to commemorate the eradication of a plague. At the place where Emperor Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah prayed for an end to the plague, he vowed to erect a mosque if his prayer were granted. When the plague ended, he built the mosque. The structure became known as Charminar because of its four characteristic minarets (“char,” meaning four, and “minar,” meaning spires). Each minaret has four stories, each of which opens into a plaza. Four is a number of significance in Islam. In this case, each of the four pillars represents a different aspect of knowledge.
When India became a British colony, the gate served as a storage facility for liquor and opium. The domes at the top of the gate offer unobstructed views of the city - a city once offered up in hopeful prayer by a distraught emperor."