Landsknecht

"Flamboyant German heavy infantry mercenary."

—In-game description

The Landsknecht (correct German plural: Landsknechte) is a mercenary melee heavy infantry in Age of Empires III. It is a slow but powerful infantry, essentially an upgraded Halberdier.

Overview Edit

In terms of gameplay Landsknechts do a large amount of damage in melee combat, capable of defeating most hand infantry and cavalry units and can raze buildings quickly. However, as heavy infantry, they are vulnerable to Skirmishers and artillery.

They fulfill a similar role to the Swiss Pikeman and deal a similar amount of anti-cavalry and siege damage, both costing 2 population as well. Landsknechts are slower and more durable.

Further statistics Edit

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, light infantry, buildings
Weak vs.	Skirmishers, archers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Corselet (+25%, Spanish only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Customized Merc Weapons (+30%, John Black's Mercenaries only) Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Penalties	Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only) Corselet (-15% speed, Spanish only)

Home City Cards Edit

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times All Edit Card Description Age HC level Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 The Fencing School card is not available to Chinese, Japanese, and Ottomans. Chinese Edit Card Description Age HC level Western Reforms All units get +8% hit points and attack 40 Acupuncture Unit train time -20% 10 Dutch Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Europeans Edit Card Description Age HC level Hire Landsknecht Mercenaries Ships 8 Landsknechte; costs 1,000 coin 10 Hire Holy Roman Army Ships 4 Landsknechte, 5 Black Riders, and 7 Jaeger; costs 2,000 coin 25 The Hire Landsknecht Mercenaries card is available to Dutch, French, and Germans (which ships 2 extra Landsknechte). The Hire Holy Roman Army card is available to Dutch, French, Germans (which ships 1 extra Landsknecht, Black Rider, and Jaeger), and Russians. Germans Edit Card Description Age HC level Band of Landsknecht Mercenaries Ships 4 Landsknechte; costs 400 coin 1 Improved Mercenaries Mercenaries get +20% hit points and attack +3 Uhlans 10 Indians Edit Card Description Age HC level Dravidian Martial Arts All units get +15% melee attack +1 Villager 40 TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Edit Card Description Age HC level Onin War Infantry get +33% siege attack 40 Russians Edit Card Description Age HC level Ransack Infantry get +50% siege attack 25 TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Hand Infantry Attack Melee infantry get +15% attack 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

In-game dialogue Edit

Main article: Germans#In-game dialogue

• Ja? (Yes?)
• Bereit! (Ready!)
• Auftrag? (Order?)
• Jawohl! (Yes!)
• Verstanden! (Understood!)
• Wird erledigt! (It will be done!)
• Angriff! (Attack!)
• In den Kampf! (Into the fight!)

Trivia Edit

• The historical Landsknecht company also fielded large amounts of pikemen and arquebusiers in addition to the doppelsoldner, which is used as its representative unit in the game. The Landsknecht doppelsoldner is considered a separate unit from the German unique unit of the same description, however, and in terms of performance it is the rough equivalent of a Halberdier while its standard counterpart behaves similarly to a Ronin.
  • Historically, the Doppelsoldners were more experienced, doubly-paid vanguards among the Landsknechts. 
• Historically, the Landsknecht was a bitter rival of the mercenary corps of Switzerland (Reisläufer), in large part due to them being considered imitators of their counterpart, yet became increasingly popular upon introduction to the point of supplanting the Swiss all but entirely in service. The two forces were often opposed during the major European conflict of the early sixteenth century, the Great Italian Wars, where the results of their many clashes were often horrific.

History Edit

"Regiments of Landsknechts (German for "land knights," or "servants of the land") were formed by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. They began as top-notch pikemen, but integrated other weapons, including the new technologies and weapons beginning to appear in the late Renniassance. Doppelsoldners swung great two-handed swords and other Landsknechts were early adopters of the new-fangled arquebus, an early musket.
Landsknechts were known for their outlandish and elaborate clothing. They wore striped leggings, broad-brimmed hats with large plumes, puffy sleeves, and elaborately slashed doublets."

Gallery Edit

An in-game Landsknecht

The Landsknecht's history potrait

A historical illustration of Landsknechts from the 16th century

Add a photo to this gallery