Rodelero

Rodelero
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Melee infantry
Civilization	Spanish Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood)
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Barracks Fort Galleon
Food	65
Coin	35
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	135
Resists	40% vs. Melee
Speed	6.0
Line of Sight	12
Population	1
XP train bounty	10
XP bounty	10
Melee attack
Damage	11
Multipliers	x3.5 vs. Cavalry x2.25 vs. Shock infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege attack
Damage	10
Range	6
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Fast-moving sword and buckler infantry.	”
—In-game description

The Rodelero is a melee heavy infantry in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Spanish and can be trained at Barracks, Fort, and Galleon.

Rodeleros are also available to Knights of St. John in the Act I: Blood campaign.

Overview

Outfitted with a sword and buckler, Rodeleros are quite different compared to the typical heavy infantry. Their melee resistance enables them to negate melee damage multipliers, and attack units that would otherwise overpower them in a one to one fight. They move very quickly (similar to cavalry). This makes them a relatively cheap raiding/scouting unit in the very early stages of the game. Rodelero deal less damage against cavalry compared to Pikemen (even at Imperial level), however, Rodeleros can catch up to fleeing enemies due to their speed. They are also a decent melee unit against non-cavalry units as they possess a higher base damage compared to Pikemen. They are also more durable than Pikemen, with higher hitpoints and an exceptional melee resistance for non-mercenary units.

However, when destroying buildings, Rodeleros are not recommended, as they possess siege damage similar to that of ranged infantry, despite being a heavy infantry unit. Pikemen and Musketeers are far more efficient at razing buildings. Rodeleros should also be wary of ranged infantry and artillery, as they can be easily destroyed by them in battle.

Knights of St. John can further boost their Rodeleros' hit points by 20% through the "Hand Infantry Hitpoints" Home City Card (12 damage and 189 hit points with all upgrades except Corselet).

Through use of Academy cards from the Spanish Home City, Rodeleros' hit points and attack can be increased by 35% and 30% respectively. Unction will then boost their attack further 5-63% (39.93 damage and 324 hit points with all upgrades except Corselet).

In spite of the several cards the Spanish can send for them, Rodeleros should be considered a specialised Pikeman unit that scales better in the later ages and nothing else. They cannot take on buildings well, are extremely vulnerable to Skirmisher-type units, and do not fare well against masses of ranged Heavy Infantry either. Indeed, despite their massive melee resistance, their fragile hit points make them fall quickly to virtually any type of ranged attack; even if Rodeleros manage to get up close to a Musketeer group, they will lose, since most Musketeers will get a chance to use ranged attacks due to being protected by the rest of their group. While they can force light cavalry to retreat, Dragoons can hit-and-run against them, meaning they only really shine against Melee Cavalry.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Rodeleros	200 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Rodeleros to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)
	Espadachins	1,000 wood, 1,000 coin	Upgrades Rodeleros to Espada Rodeleros (+40% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Rodeleros
	Imperial Espada	1,500 wood, 1,500 coin	Upgrades Espada Rodeleros to Imperial Espadas (+50% hit points and attack); requires Espadachins

Civilization differences

• The Knights of St. John can only upgrade Rodeleros to the Veteran level.
• The Aztecs can ship up to 35 Veteran Rodeleros with the "Renegade Spanish" cards.
• The Japanese can get Rodeleros by allying with the Spanish at the Consulate (requires a level 40 Home City) which provides Spanish Expeditionary Army and Spanish Brigade that includes 13 and 17 Rodeleros (named Espadachin) respectively. These Rodeleros start with +10% hit points and attack than their regular counterpart, and are automatically upgraded in every Age starting in the Fortress Age (see here for the exact values).

Further statistics

As Rodeleros are unique to the Spanish and Knights of St. John, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, shock infantry, slow infantry
Weak vs.	Skirmishers, archers, artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Corselet (+25%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
Attack	Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%)
Speed	Military Drummers (+10%) Quechuan Mountaineering (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) Quechuan Diet (-25%)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Penalties	High Crusade (-5% hit points, Knights of St. John only) Corselet (-15% speed)

Home City Cards

As Rodeleros are unique to the Spanish and Knights of St. John, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown on the following tables:

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Red: Shipment that can be sent TWICE Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times Aztecs Card Description Age HC level 11 Renegade Spanish Ships 11 Rodeleros; costs 500 coin 1 24 Renegade Spanish Ships 24 Veteran Rodeleros; costs 1,000 coin 10 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry get +15% hit points 10 Inca Card Description Age HC level 11 Renegade Spanish Ships 11 Rodeleros; costs 500 coin 1 24 Renegade Spanish Ships 24 Veteran Rodeleros; costs 1,000 coin 10 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Haudenosaunee Card Description Age HC level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry get +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Card Description Age HC level Spanish Square Ships 10 Pikemen and 8 Rodeleros 25 5 Rodeleros Ships 5 Rodeleros 1 7 Rodeleros Ships 7 Rodeleros 1 13 Rodeleros Ships 13 Rodeleros 10 8 Rodeleros Ships 8 Rodeleros 10 6 Rodeleros Ships 6 Rodeleros 25 TEAM Hand Infantry Attack Melee infantry get +15% attack 10 Hand Infantry Hitpoints Pikemen get +15% hit points; Rodeleros get +20% hit points 10 Hand Infantry Combat Pikemen and Rodeleros gain +15% hit points and attack 25 10 Rodeleros Ships 10 Rodeleros 10 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Changelog

Age of Empires III

• Rodeleros have 12 melee attack and ×3.0 multiplier against cavalry.

The WarChiefs

• With patch 1.04, Rodeleros now have 10 melee attack and increased multiplier against cavalry to ×3.5.

Definitive Edition

• Rodeleros now have 11 melee attack.

Trivia

• Royal Guard Rodeleros' name, Espada, is short from espadachín, which means "swordsman" in Spanish. Alternatively, it could also mean "fencer".
• Espadachins is incorrect. The plural name of the Espadachín is espadachines.

History

“

Rodeleros were a Spanish infantry who used swords and round shields. This arms combination was often used against formations of pike and halberds. Agile swordsmen could better evade the deadly iron of densely packed pikes and could take formations apart from the inside. In 1506 Cortez arrived in the New World with over 1,300 soldiers, 1,000 of which were rodeleros. They were adaptable, versatile soldiers, capable in close quarters on the decks of ships as well as against the loose, guerilla tactics of non-European enemies. Rodela is a Spanish word meaning shield; Rodeleros are "shield-bearers." Rodeleros were armed with one-handed swords and round shields approximately two feet in diameter. These rodela were most often made of steel, but were also made of iron-bound wood covered with hide.

”

Gallery

An in game Rodelero.

An in game Veteran Rodelero.

An in game (Imperial) Espada Rodelero.

A close up of a Rodelero

Veteran Rodelero model

Espada Rodelero model