"Chinese heavy cavalry. Good against archers, skirmishers, and artillery."—In-game description
The Iron Flail is a melee heavy cavalry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and are trained as part of Forbidden Army and Imperial Army.
Overview 
Edit
The Iron Flail is a powerful heavy cavalry available to the Chinese. It behaves similarly to the Naginata Rider, in that it possesses a multiplier against ranged infantry such as Skirmishers (please note that this does not include true light infantry such as Coyote Runners). The thing that sets the Iron Flail apart is that it has a splash damage attack, making it especially effective vs massed infantry and an exceptional raider as well. If Double Faced Armor is shipped, it boosts the range resist up to an impressive 41%, allowing it to tank an incredible amount of ranged fire, even allowing it to stand up to ranged cavalry for a short time.
The Iron Flail can be trained in the Imperial Army alongside Arquebusiers, or in the Forbidden Army alongside Meteor Hammers.
Due to the Iron Flail's fairly low base damage, it is quite poor against other cavalry and not especially quick at killing artillery. Fortunately, to compensate, it has a high amount of hit points, making it still a valuable unit to round out the Chinese army.
Upgrades Edit
The Iron Flail is automatically upgraded to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) at the Fortress Age.
| Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Honored Iron Flail
| 300 wood, 300 coin | Upgrades Iron Flails to Honored (+30% hit points and attack) |
 |  Exalted Iron Flail
| 750 wood, 750 coin | Upgrades Iron Flails to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Iron Flail |
Further statistics Edit
As Iron Flails are unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Ranged infantry, light infantry, artillery |
| Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Comanche Horse Breeding (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Yoga (+5%)
|
| Speed |  Comanche Mustangs (+10%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Creation speed |  Cheyenne Horse Trading (-12%, Imperial Army)
|
| Train cost |  Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost, Forbidden Army and Imperial Army)
|
| Other |  Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As Iron Flails are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Iron Flail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Chinese
|
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 Western Reforms
| All units get +8% hit points and attack | | 40 |
 Mongolian Scourge
| Steppe Riders get +1.0x multiplier against villagers and +50% siege attack; Keshiks get +1.0x multiplier against heavy cavalry and light infantry; Iron Flails get +0.5x multiplier against infantry and -0.17x multiplier against heavy infantry |  | 25 |
 4 Iron Flails
| Ships 4 Iron Flails |  | 1 |
 7 Iron Flails
| Ships 7 Iron Flails | | 10 |
 Ever Victorious Army
| Ships 8 Iron Flails and 3 Flying Crows; costs 2,000 food | | 40 |
 Double-Faced Armor
| Iron Flails and Meteor Hammers get +15% hit points and +35% resistance | | 25 |
 Banner School
| Banner army train time -23% | | 10 |
French Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Hand Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry and Coyote Runners get +15% attack | | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Attack
| Heavy cavalry, light cavalry, and light infantry get +15% attack | | 10 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
| All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Japanese Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades
| Unit upgrades cost -20% | | 1 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Cavalry Scouts
| Cavalry and light infantry get +10% hit points and +4 LOS |  | 1 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | HC level |
|---|---|---|---|
 TEAM Inquisition
| All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
History Edit
"The flail is a medieval weapon used primarily in Europe during the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Its construction consists of a weighted head, often spiked, that is attached to a wooden handle with a whip or length of chain. While not as commonly used in Asia, the flail was quite similar to other flail weapons, such as the Chinese nunchaku, or two-section staff, and Sanjiegun, or three-section staff."
Trivia Edit
Iron Flails, together with Meteor Hammers, are the only units in Age of Empires III which can receive an upgrade to their resistance: the Double-Faced Armor card.
Gallery Edit
