Flail Elephant

Flail Elephant
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Siege unit Elephant
Civilization(s)	Indians
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Castle Agra Fort (once upgraded to Red Fort)
Cost	125 Food 125 Coin 3 Population
Train time	43 seconds seconds
Statistics
Hit points	325
Resistance	50% Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
XP train bounty	25
XP kill bounty	25
Siege attack
Damage	80 Siege
Rate of Fire	1.5
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Area of Effect	2
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	×4.0 vs. Artillery ×1.5 vs. Infantry ×1.0 vs. Villager ×0.67 vs. Heavy infantry

“	Powerful Elephant from India that swings a mace for area damage. Good against buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Flail Elephant is a melee heavy siege cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Indians and can be trained at the Castle once the Commerce Age is reached, and the Agra Fort wonder once it is upgraded to Red Fort. It excels at taking down buildings.

Overview

The Flail Elephant has a rapid siege attack, and a massive ranged resistance and can demolish buildings in seconds, but is fairly poor in combat, largely due to its low speed and vulnerability to heavy infantry and ranged cavalry.

Flail Elephants are very effective at taking out buildings such as Forts and Town Centers incredibly quickly, sometimes before the enemy is able to react. They are capable of dealing with artillery extremely effectively, if they are able to reach it; they are the only Indian heavy cavalry that has a multiplier against cannon and all of them share the trait of having low base damage. Thus, Flail Elephants can somewhat fill this weakness.

After "Professional Handlers" has been shipped, Flail Elephants become very population-effective damage sponges. As Mahout Lancers are quite easy to focus down (as well as expensive), and Sowars are quite fragile, Flail Elephants can offer a middle ground option to soak up ranged infantry fire to protect a player's ranged units. This is especially important for the Indians because they lack a massable artillery piece. Flail Elephants don't do a large amount of damage to units (although the splash damage somewhat compensates this), but can supplement armies as a tank unit and anti-artillery without taking too much population space.

Mansabdar Flail Elephant

Mansabdar Flail Elephant
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Cavalry Heavy cavalry Hand cavalry Siege unit Elephant
Civilization(s)	Indians
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Charminar Gate
Cost	250 Food 250 Coin 3 Population
Train time	43 seconds seconds
Train limit	1
Statistics
Hit points	650
Resistance	50% Ranged
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
Special ability	Imperial Service
XP train bounty	50
XP kill bounty	50
Siege attack
Damage	80 Siege
Rate of Fire	1.5
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Area of Effect	2
Rate of Fire	1.5
Bonus damage	×4.0 vs. Artillery ×1.5 vs. Infantry ×1.0 vs. Villager ×0.67 vs. Heavy infantry

“	Inspires all nearby Flail Elephants. Powerful Elephant from India that swings a mace. Good against buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Mansabdar Flail Elephant is a stronger version of the Flail Elephant that can be trained from the Charminar Gate wonder. As a Mansabdar unit, the Mansabdar Flail Elephant has twice the hit points of a Flail Elephant and Imperial Service that increases the hit points and attack of nearby Flail Elephants, but are two times more expensive.

Special ability

• Imperial Service (passive): The Mansabdar Flail Elephant increases the hit points and attack of Flail Elephants in a radius of 24 around them by 10%.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Disciplined Flail Elephant	200 wood 100 coin	Upgrades Flail Elephants and Mansabdar Flail Elephant to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack)
	Honored Flail Elephant	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrades Flail Elephants and Mansabdar Flail Elephant to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Flail Elephant
	Exalted Flail Elephant	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Flail Elephants and Mansabdar Flail Elephant to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Flail Elephant

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Light infantry, artillery, buildings
Weak vs.	Heavy infantry, cavalry
Improvements
Hit points	Cavalry Cuirass (+10%) Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Navajo Weaving (+5%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Yoga (+5%) Crushing Force (+15% hand attack; Indians only) Pillage (+25% siege attack multiplier vs. buildings) Horsemanship (+1.0 multiplier vs. Walls; Lakota only) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification) Wind Horses (-10% Rate of Fire)
Resistance	Sudanese Quilted Armor (+10% hand resistance) Pancerni (+10% ranged resistance)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Horse Secrets (+10%; Haudenosaunee only) Apache Endurance (+5%) Comanche Mustangs (+5%) Wind Horses (+0.5)
Train time	Cheyenne Horse Trading (-40%) Terror Charge (-20%; Indians only) Immigrants (-10%) Shaman Drums (-10%)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the (Mansabdar) Flail Elephant

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

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

All

Card	Description	Age
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack
Liberation March	Infantry, cavalry, and shock infantry get +5% speed and -35% train time

• "Cavalry Damage" is available to British and Lakota.
• "Cavalry Hitpoints" is available to British and Haudenosaunee.
• "Cavalry Combat" is available to British, Dutch, French, Italians, Lakota, Mexicans, Ottomans, Russians, and Spanish.
• "Liberation March" is available to Mexicans and Spanish.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed

• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.

French

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry and hand shock infantry get +15% attack

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Germans-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry get +10% speed; +4 Uhlans

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the Italian "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	Land military units get +10% speed

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; Rajputs get +20% hand attack istead; +1 Hindu Villager
5 Flail Elephants	Ships 5 Flail Elephants; +1 Hindu Villager
3 Flail Elephants	Ships 3 Flail Elephants; +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM 2 Flail Elephants	Ships 2 Flail Elephants; costs 300 food
Elephant Combat	Elephants get +20% hit points and attack; +1 Hindu Villager
Professional Handlers	Mahout Lancers, Howdahs, and Flail Elephants take -1 population; Siege Elephants take -2 population; +1 Hindu Villager
Tame Elephants	Elephants' cost and train time -10%; +1 Hindu Villager
Mughal Elephant Armors	Mahout Lancers and Howdahs get +10% hand resistance, Flail Elephants get +10% siege resistance, Siege Elephants get +10% ranged resistance; +1 Hindu Villager; costs 500 wood, 500 coin
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%; +1 Hindu Villager
Foreign Trading Companies	Gives a trickle of 0.75 export/sec.; banner army cost -15% export; Indian units cost +2.5% (Hindu Villagers, Fishing Boats, and Sacred Cows cost +5% instead); +1 Hindu Villager
Grazing	Camels generate 0.05 food/sec.; Brahmins and elephants generate 0.1 wood/sec.; Sacred Cows generate 0.075 coin/sec.; +1 Hindu Villager

Italians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +10% attack; Italians-only heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack instead
Schiavoni Swords	Infantry and cavalry get +15% hand attack

• "TEAM Cavalry Attack" does not stack with the German "TEAM Cavalry Attack" card.

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Morning Star	Temporarily reveals all enemies and treasures; Axe Riders can loot treasures for double the resources or XP; hand cavalry get +2.0 attack multiplier against treasure guardians
TEAM Mustangs	Cavalry and shock infantry cost -10%

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
Plan of Casa Mata	[Plan] Turns all Dragoons into Chinacos; hand cavalry get +5% speed; costs 250 food, 250 wood
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Russians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Kamchatka Expeditions	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand cavalry get +15% attack
Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Hand cavalry get +15% hit points
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Attack	Hand infantry and hand cavalry get +15% attack
Hand Infantry/Hand Cavalry Hitpoints	Hand infantry and hand cavalry get +15% hit points

United States

Card	Description	Age
Seminole Ponies	Ships 9 Hussars; hand cavalry get +15% hit points and attack, and +5% speed; cavalry train time -10%

• "Seminole Ponies" is available upon selecting the Florida Federal State.

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Combat	Cavalry get +15% hit points and attack		10

• "Cavalry Combat" is available to the Dutch, Ottomans, Russians, and Sioux (at a level 25 Home City).

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack		10

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Attack	Heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, and shock infantry get +15% attack		10
Spanish Riding School	Cavalry get +10% speed; +4 Uhlans		25

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand attack; +1 Villager		40
5 Flail Elephants	Ships 5 Flail Elephants; +1 Villager		1
3 Flail Elephants	Ships 3 Flail Elephants; +1 Villager		1
TEAM 2 Flail Elephants	Ships 2 Flail Elephants; costs 300 food		10
Elephant Combat	Elephants get +15% hit points and attack; +1 Villager		25
Professional Handlers	Elephants take -1 population; +1 Villager		10
Tame Elephants	Elephants' cost and train time -10%; +1 Hindu Villager		10
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25
Riding School	Cavalry train time -40%; +1 Villager		10
Grazing	Camels generate 0.05 food/sec.; Brahmins and elephants generate 0.1 wood/sec.; +1 Villager		40

Japanese

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

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cavalry Scout	Cavalry and shock infantry get +10% hit points and +4 Line of Sight		1

Sioux

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Damage	Cavalry get +15% attack		10
Cavalry Hitpoints	Cavalry get +15% hit points		10

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Cavalry Combat	Hand cavalry get +15% hit points and attack		10
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• Flail Elephants cost 4 population, have 5 attack, and give 30 XP when killed.
• Mansabdar Flail Elephants cost 8 population, have 5 attack, and give 60 XP when trained or killed.

Definitive Edition

• Flail Elephants cost 3 population, have 10 attack, and give 25 XP when killed.
• Mansabdar Flail Elephants cost 6 population, have 10 attack, and give 50 XP when trained or killed. With update 20322, Mansabdar Flail Elephants cost 3 population.

Trivia

• The Flail Elephant is the only hand siege unit, together with the Ram, and they are also the only two units with a siege RoF of 1.5.
• Besides the aura underneath it, the Mansabdar and Honor/Exalted Flail Elephant can be difficult to distinguish due to having the same identical features.
• The Dravidian Martial Arts card boosts their siege damage by 15%, not just their hand attack.

History

“

Although there are few accounts to substantiate its existence, the flail elephant was said to have been a cavalry and siege unit fielded with the early armies of Sri Lanka. It would enter battle whirling a heavy iron chain that had been affixed to its trunk, becoming both a terrifying and entirely unapproachable force.

”

Gallery

An in-game Flail Elephant

An in-game Disciplined Flail Elephant

An in-game Honored/Exalted Flail Elephant

An in-game Mansabdar Flail Elephant

The Flail Elephant's history portrait

Flail Elephants using their mighty trunks to bring down buildings

Flail Elephant in the original and Definitive Edition

In-game Flail Elephant in the Definitive Edition

In-game Disciplined Flail Elephant in the Definitive Edition

In-game Honored/Exalted Flail Elephant in the Definitive Edition

In-game Mansabdar Flail Elephant in the Definitive Edition