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.
Special abilities[]
Oberhau (automatically activated when attacking with a cooldown of 15 seconds): The Landsknecht performs a heavy zweihander strike from above that does the same damage of their normal hand attack, but with 2 AOE.
With update 23511, Landsknechts have an Oberhau charged attack.
In-game dialogue[]
The Landsknecht, similar to the units of the Germans, speaks modern Standard German with a standard theater pronunciation ("Bühnendeutsch"), although this does not represent the form of German spoken in the Age of Empires III timeframe. The dialogue file are the same as for the Jaeger, but with the pitch raised slightly.
Select 1Ja? - Yes?
Select 2Bereit - Ready
Select 3Auftrag? - Order?
Move 1Jawohl - Yes
Move 2Verstanden - Understood
Move 3Wird erledigt - It will be done
Attack 1Angriff! - Attack!
Attack 2In den Kampf! - Into the fight!
Attack 3Jawohl! - Yes!
Trivia[]
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.
The Landsknecht's outfit appears to be based on the Osprey published book "The Landsknechts".
In the game files there is a mentioning of a unit called "Landsknecht Halberdier" but it didn't make it to the final version of the game.
History[]
“
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[]
An in-game Landsknecht
The Landsknecht's history potrait
A historical illustration of Landsknechts from the 16th century
Oberhau (automatically activated when attacking with a cooldown of 15 seconds): The Landsknecht performs a heavy zweihander strike from above that does the same damage of their normal hand attack, but with 2 AOE.
Infantry Breastplate (+10%)
Thin Red Line (+20%, British only)
Corselet (+25%, Spanish only)
Cree Tanning (+5%)
Maya Cotton Armor (+20%)
Navajo Weaving (+5%)
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%)
Military Drummers (+10%)
Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only)
Quechuan Mountaineering (+20%)
Apache Endurance (+5%)
Town Watch (+2)
Standing Army (-25%)
Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only)
