“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 one of the most important heavy cavalry units offered by the Chinese; depending on the situation, if used with Beiyang Army (Keshiks + Steppe Riders) units, the Forbidden Army proves good against artillery, light cavalry, light infantry, Skirmishers, and archers. When used with the Imperial Army, they are good against heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, archers, skirmishers and light infantry; for heavy artillery have lesser impact. However, they are most effective when combined with either Hand Mortars or/and Flying Crows and with Territorial Army or Old Han Army units.
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 the Iron Flail can only be trained by the Chinese, only improvements available to them (including native improvements) are listed here.
| 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 the Iron Flail is exclusive to the Chinese, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.
| 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
|
| 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 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 gets +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 gets +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.”
Gallery Edit
