Rodelero

Rodelero
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Melee infantry
Civilization	Spanish Knights of St. John (campaign)
Age	Colonial Age
Training
Trained at	Barracks Fort Galleon
Population	1
Food	65
Coin	35
Statistics
Hit points	135
Resists	40% vs. Melee
Speed	6.0
Line of Sight	12
XP train bounty	10
XP bounty	10
Melee damage
Attack	10
Multipliers	x3.5 vs. Cavalry x2.25 vs. Light infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Siege damage
Attack	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

The Rodelero is first available in the Colonial Age. It can also be sent from the Consulate building as the Japanese, once a level 40 Home City is attained and the Spanish are selected as an ally, the Aztecs are also able to obtain the Rodelero through the Home City in groups ranging from ten to forty.

Outfitted with a sword and buckler, Rodeleros are quite different compared to your typical heavy infantry. They move extremely fast (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, Roldeleros 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.

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 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).

Upgrades

Age	Improvement	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Rodeleros	200 wood 200 coin	Upgrades Rodeleros to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)

Since the Knights of St. John cannot upgrade Rodeleros beyond the Veteran level, the upgrades listed below are only available to the Spanish.

Age	Improvement	Cost	Effect
	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 Japanese can get Rodeleros (named Espadachin) 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 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 the Rodelero can only be trained by Spanish and Knights of St. John (campaign), only improvements available them (including native improvements) are listed here.

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Cavalry, light 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%) File:Inca Road-building.png Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Sight	Town Watch (+2)
Creation speed	Standing Army (-25%) File:Inca Chaquis Messengers.png Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	High Crusade (-5% hit points, Knights of St. John only) Corselet (-15% speed)

Home City Cards

As the Rodelero is exclusive to the Spanish and the Knights of St. John (campaign), only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times Aztecs Card Description Age Home City level 11 Renegade Spanish Ships 11 Rodeleros; costs 500 coin 1 24 Renegade Spanish Ships 24 Rodeleros and upgrades them to Veteran (if not already); costs 1,000 coin 10 Dutch Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Infantry Hitpoints Infantry gets +15% hit points 10 Indians Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Shivaji's Tactics All units get +5% hit points and attack 25 Iroquois Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Scout Infantry Infantry gets +8 LOS 10 Japanese Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades Unit upgrades cost -20% 1 Russians Card Description Age Home City level TEAM Dueling School Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% 25 Spanish Card Description Age Home City level Spanish Square Ships 10 Pikemen and 8 Rodeleros 25 5 Rodeleros Ships 5 Rodeleros 1 7 Rodeleros Ships 7 Rodeleros 1 File:Spanish Home City 1 (13 Rodeleros).png 13 Rodeleros Ships 13 Rodeleros 10 8 Rodeleros Ships 8 Rodeleros 10 6 Rodeleros Ships 6 Rodeleros 25 TEAM Hand Infantry Attack Melee infantry gets +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 File:Spanish Home City 2 (10 Rodeleros).png 10 Rodeleros Ships 10 Rodeleros 10 Fencing School Infantry train time -40% 10 TEAM Inquisition All units get +10 LOS 10

Trivia

• Royal Guard Rodeleros' name, Espada, is short from espadachín, which means "swordsman" in Spanish. Alternatively, it could also mean "fencer".

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