Doppelsoldner

Doppelsoldner
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Hand infantry
Civilization(s)	Germans
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Barracks Fort Galleon American Citadel Steamer (Gran Colombia)
Cost	75 Food 125 Coin 2 Population
Train time	45 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	240
Resistance	20% Hand
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	12
XP train bounty	20
XP kill bounty	20
Siege attack
Damage	60 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	20 Hand
Area of Effect	2
Range	1
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	3.0x Cavalry 2.0x Shock infantry

“	Heavy swordsman with a sweep attack.	”
—In-game description

The Doppelsoldner (correct German: Doppelsöldner; both singular and plural) is a melee heavy infantry in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Germans and can be trained at Barracks, Fort, and Galleon. It is a swordsman whose large sword causes area damage in each sweep.

Overview

The Doppelsoldner's potential is incredible. Doppelsoldners wield great two-handed swords, "Zweihänder" (German for 'two-handed sword), dealing area damage. They are good against most hand infantry, shock infantry (such as Coyote Runners), buildings, and cavalry, but are vulnerable to artillery and ranged infantry. Doppelsoldners have high siege damage and can destroy buildings within seconds in large numbers.

They cost roughly the same as a Hussar, so they can be difficult to mass early, unless proper investments are made into economy. They are quite powerful for a Commerce Age unit, but are vulnerable to ranged infantry. Combining them with Uhlans and Crossbowmen can make for an effective early composition. They become less useful after the Commerce Age, but can be used as a meatshield against cavalry or for sieging down enemy buildings.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Doppelsoldners	200 wood 200 coin	Upgrades Doppelsoldners to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)
	Guard Doppelsoldners	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrades Doppelsoldners to Guard (+30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Doppelsoldners
	Imperial Doppelsoldners	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Doppelsoldners to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Doppelsoldners

Consulate Zweihänder

Zweihänder
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Hand infantry Consulate unit
Civilization(s)	Chinese
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Banner army	German Expeditionary Company German Expeditionary Force
Trained at	Consulate
Cost	2 Population
Statistics
Hit points	240
Resistance	20% Hand
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	12
XP train bounty	20
XP kill bounty	20
Siege attack
Damage	60 Siege
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	20 Hand
Area of Effect	2
Range	2
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	3.0x Cavalry 2.0x Shock infantry

“	Heavy swordsman with a sweep attack.	”
—In-game description

The Zweihänder (Zweihander before the Definitive Edition) is a counterpart of the Doppelsoldner, which starts with +10% hit points and attack, and have 2 hand attack range.

Upgrades

The Zweihänder is automatically upgraded in the Fortress Age, Industrial Age, and Imperial Age:

• +20% hit points and attack
• +30% hit points and attack
• +50% hit points and attack

Civilization differences

• The Chinese can get Zweihänders by allying with the Germans at the Consulate which provides German Expeditionary Company and German Expeditionary Force that includes 3 Zweihänders, and through the "Intervention" Home City Card, which ships 5 Zweihänders if German allies are picked.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry and shock infantry especially in groups, buildings
Weak vs.	Light infantry, counter-skirmishers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Zweihänder (+10%; Germans only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Master Lessons (+10%) Yoga (+5%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack)
Resistance	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (+5% ranged resistance)
Range	Zweihänder (+1 hand attack; Germans only)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Tilly's Discipline (+20%; Germans only) Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+10%) Akan Fontomfrom (+5%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Train time	Standing Army (-25%) Akan Fontomfrom (-20%) Quechuan Diet (-15%) Immigrants (-10%)
Cost	Somali Oryx Hide Shields (-10%) Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Zweihänder (delivers 12 Doppelsoldners; Germans only) Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers 4 Doppelsoldners if The Sergeant at Arms was chosen for the Germans) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost; Germans only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Doppelsoldner

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Yongle Infrastructure	Ships 1 Mongol Scout; infantry, land villagers, healing units, Envoys, and Disciples get +5% speed
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-300 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades)
Intervention	The Consulate ally sends a shipment of their units

• "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" does not stack with the Inca "TEAM Inca Bridges" card.
• "Intervention" ships 5 Consulate Zweihänders (if German allies are picked).

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +10% hit points; Dutch-only infantry get +15% hit points instead

Germans

Card	Description	Age
3 Doppelsoldners	Ships 3 Doppelsoldners; +2 Uhlans
4 Doppelsoldners	Ships 4 Doppelsoldners; +3 Uhlans
6 Doppelsoldners	Ships 6 Doppelsoldners; +4 Uhlans
5 Doppelsoldners	Ships 5 Doppelsoldners; +3 Uhlans
8 Doppelsoldners	Ships 8 Doppelsoldners; +4 Uhlans
Solingen Steel	Doppelsoldners get +50% hit points and attack, and -33% speed; +4 Uhlans
9 Doppelsoldners	Ships 9 Doppelsoldners; +4 Uhlans
Hand Infantry Attack	Pikemen and Doppelsoldners get +15% attack; +2 Uhlans
Hand Infantry Hitpoints	Pikemen and Doppelsoldners get +15% hit points; +2 Uhlans
Hand Infantry Combat	Pikemen and Doppelsoldners get +15% hit points and attack; +3 Uhlans
Fencing School	Infantry and shock infantry train time -40%; +2 Uhlans

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Scout Infantry	Ships 1 Native Scout; infantry get +8 Line of Sight

Inca

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Ships 1 Chasqui; infantry, land villagers, healing units, and Envoys get +5% speed

• "TEAM Inca Bridges" does not stack with the Chinese "TEAM Yongle Infrastructure" card.

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Infantry Attack	Hand infantry get +15% attack
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Bernadotte	Heavy infantry get +15% hit points

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%		40
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%		10
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-400 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades)		1
Intervention	The Consulate ally sends a shipment of their units		10

• "Intervention" ships 4 Consulate Zweihänders (if German allies are picked).

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
3 Doppelsoldners	Ships 3 Doppelsoldners; +2 Uhlans		1
4 Doppelsoldners	Ships 4 Doppelsoldners; +3 Uhlans		1
6 Doppelsoldners	Ships 6 Doppelsoldners; +4 Uhlans		1
5 Doppelsoldners	Ships 5 Doppelsoldners; +3 Uhlans		10
8 Doppelsoldners	Ships 8 Doppelsoldners; +4 Uhlans		25
Solingen Steel	Doppelsoldners get +50% hit points and attack, and -33% speed; +4 Uhlans		25
9 Doppelsoldners	Ships 9 Doppelsoldners; +4 Uhlans		40
Hand Infantry Attack	Pikemen and Doppelsoldners get +15% attack; +2 Uhlans		10
Hand Infantry Hitpoints	Pikemen and Doppelsoldners get +15% hit points; +2 Uhlans		10
Hand Infantry Combat	Pikemen and Doppelsoldners get +15% hit points and attack; +3 Uhlans		25
Fencing School	Infantry train time -40%; +2 Uhlans		10

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Iroquois

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 Line of Sight		10

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Infantry Attack	Hand infantry get +15% attack		10
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Doppelsoldners have 230 hit points.

Definitive Edition

• Doppelsoldners now have 240 hit points.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 14.43676, the Doppelsoldner's portrait was updated. Researching Zweihänder grants new models for Doppelsoldners.

Trivia

• "Doppelsöldner" (lit. "double-mercenary") is a near-universal trademark of the Landsknecht back in the days to refer to their more experienced vanguards armed with halberd and zweihänder.
  • Therefore, to be historically accurate, a trainable front-line grunt should be named Landsknecht; whereas the mercenary vanguard with higher stats the Doppelsöldner proper.
  • The term "Doppelsoldner" is not applied at all to any unaffiliated troops of the same description without the mercenary company declaring hostility towards them on grounds of imitation.
    • In other words, not all Landsknecht soldiers are doppelsoldners, but all doppelsoldners are Landsknechts.
• On the Doppelsoldner's portrait image the smaller set of handguards is near the zweihänder's handle. In real life, the smaller guards are the farthest away from the handle, and are located in the ricasso, away from the swordsman's hands. This was corrected in update 14.43676.

History

“

Doppelsoldners were a group of specialized Landsknechts, whose role was to charge lines of pike and halberds. They were actually mercenaries that fought under Maximilian II. They were armed with halberds, arquebuses, and long two-handed swords (zweihänders). They stood in the front ranks and earned double the normal pay (and their name) from the privilege of breaking up ranks of pike. Dress in this era was flamboyant, and Doppelsoldners are depicted with striped leggings, puffy sleeves (for mobility), large or elaborately plumed hats, and richly slashed and decorated uniforms.

”

Gallery

Doppelsoldner through Commerce Age to Imperial Age with only Barracks upgrades, and fully upgraded Imperial Age (except Infantry Breastplate)

The Doppelsoldner's history portrait

In-game Doppelsoldner in the Definitive Edition

In-game Veteran Doppelsoldner in the Definitive Edition

In-game Guard/Imperial Doppelsoldner in the Definitive Edition

In-game Doppelsoldner after researching Zweihänder since update 14.43676