“ | 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[]
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 Shock 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[]
The Iron Flail is automatically upgraded to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) in the Fortress Age.
Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
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300 wood 300 coin |
Upgrades Iron Flails to Honored (+30% hit points and attack) | |
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750 wood 750 coin |
Upgrades Iron Flails to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Iron Flail |
Further statistics[]
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, Shock Infantry, artillery |
Weak vs. | Heavy infantry, light cavalry |
Improvements | |
Hit points | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Attack | ![]() |
Speed | ![]() ![]() |
Creation speed | ![]() |
Train cost | ![]() |
Other | ![]() |
Home City Cards[]
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Chinese[]
French[]
Germans[]
Indians[]
Japanese[]
Russians[]
Spanish[]
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History[]
“ | 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[]
- Before the Definitive Edition, Iron Flails, together with Meteor Hammers, were the only units in Age of Empires III which could receive an upgrade to their resistance: the Double-Faced Armor card.