Soldado

Soldado
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Type	Infantry Heavy Infantry Ranged Infantry Gunpowder Unit Musket Infantry Grenade Trooper
Civilization	Mexicans
Age	Commerce Age
Training
Trained at	Barracks Fort Steamer
Food	90
Coin	80
Training time	45
Statistics
Hit points	300
Resists	20% vs. Melee
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	16
Population	2
XP train bounty	17
XP bounty	17
Melee attack
Damage	24
Multipliers	×3.0 vs. Cavalry ×2.25 vs. Shock Infantry
Rate of Fire	1.5
Ranged attack
Damage	36
Range	12
Rate of Fire	3.0
Siege attack
Damage	32
Range	9
Rate of Fire	3.0

“	Very sturdy, but slow training, Heavy Infantry armed with a musket and grenades.	”
—In-game description

The Soldado (literally "Soldier") is a heavy infantry in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition that is unique to the Mexicans. The unit is also available to the Spanish through the Home City-only building 'Haciendas', sacrificing Villager work time to spawn free Soldados, similarly to Native American Ceremonies.

It is a Musketeer with higher hit points and attack, and uses grenades to attack buildings like that of Grenadiers, but are more expensive, takes longer to train, and uses up two population.

Overview

The Soldado replaces the Musketeer and is unique to the Mexicans. It is available starting in the Commerce Age, and like the Musketeer, is effective against Cavalry and Shock Infantry, but weak vs Light Infantry. Soldados are stronger and have a a fast bayonet attack, but slower to train and take two population slots rather than one.

Special abilities

• Battle Bluster (automatically activated when attacking with a cooldown of 18 seconds; requires the "Refurbished Firearms" Home City Card): The Soldado fires a grenade from a grenade launcher, which deals 32 damage (10.88 against Artillery) with an AOE of 1 from a range of 14.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Veteran Soldados	200 wood 200 coin	Upgrades Soldados to Veteran (+20% hit points and attack)
	Guard Soldados	600 wood 600 coin	Upgrades Soldados to Guard (+30% hit points and attack); requires Veteran Soldados
	Imperial Soldados	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Soldados to Imperial (+50% hit points and attack); requires Guard Soldados

Further statistics

As Soldados are unique to the Mexicans, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Home City Cards

As Soldados are unique to the Mexicans, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

• Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
• Violet: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times

British

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Musketeer/Grenadier Hitpoints	Musket Infantry and Grenade Trooper get +15% hit points		40

Central America

Card	Description
Santamaria's Fire	Ships 4 Soldados; receive a Petard with every Home City shipment, including this one.
Central American Infantry	Upgrades Insurgentes, Soldados, and Salteadores to Veteran (if not already); costs 500 wood, 500 coin

The "Santamaria's Fire" card is retained upon reverting to Mexico

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points		10

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coffee Consumption	Ranged Infantry get +5% speed

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack	Ranged infantry get +15% attack		10

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 LOS		10

Incas

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Inca Bridges	Infantry and civilian units get +5% speed; +1 Chasqui

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cheaper Unit Upgrades	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Center owned by the player; increases all unit hit points by 2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
5 Soldados	Ships 5 Soldados
6 Soldados	Ships 6 Soldados
Los Colorados Battallion	Ships 9 Soldados and 1 Falconet
Refurbished Firearms	Soldados get +2 LOS and gets a charged grenade launcher ability on their grenade attack with +2 range
Leather Soldiers	Changes the coin cost of Soldados, Salteadores, Chinacos, and Dragoons to wood on the first time, and vice-versa on the second time
Plan of Tacubaya	[Plan] Turns all Soldados into Dragoons; Dragoons get +10% hit points; Costs 250 food, 250 wood
Plan of Tuxtepec	[Plan] Turns all Salteadores into Soldados; Soldados get +1 LOS and range
Liberation March	Infantry, Cavalry, and Shock Infantry get +5% speed and train time -35%

The "Liberation March" card is also available to California, and Rio Grande.

The "Leather Soldiers" card is also available to Rio Grande.

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Gunpowder Infantry Hitpoints	Gunpowder infantry get +15% hit points		10

Rio Grande

Card	Description
9 Soldados	Ships 9 Soldados
Bastimento	Infantry train time -25%; Revolutionary train time -50%

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 LOS		10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Heavy Infantry Hitpoints	Heavy Infantry get +15% hit points

Federal State

Card	Description	State
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units and buildings get +8 LOS; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds	Michoacán
Bustamante	The General can build Field Hospitals for free; Soldados get +10% hit points; Field Hospitals can train Soldados	San Luis Potosí
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing speed increased by 200%	Estado de México
Army of the Three Guarantees	Ships 15 Soldados, 10 Chinacos and 2 Heavy Cannons; uses 3 Home City shipments
Cinco de Mayo	Forts increase the hit points and attack of friendly Infantry and Cavalry in an AOE of 26 around them by 25%	Puebla

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• Originally, Soldado's Battle Bluster ability had a x0.5 multiplier against artillery. Although it is not listed in the patch notes, with update 13.9057, Soldado's Battle Bluster ability has a x0.34 multiplier against artillery.

Trivia

• The Soldado represents the standing army established by the Spanish crown in the late 18th century to shore up the defense of New Spain against foreign attacks.
  • Historically, the Army of New Spain remain loyal to the Spanish crown and fought against the insurgency during the Mexican War of Independence in order to contain the rebellion. Eventually, the army changed sides in 1821, joining the insurgency to fight for the Independence and formed the Army of the Three Guarantees.
• The Soldado and Veteran Soldado are based on the Army of New Spain from the 18th century.
• The Guard and Imperial Soldado are based on the Mexican Army from the 19th century, particularly as seen in the artwork for the book "Santa Anna’s Mexican Army 1821–48" by René Chartrand.

History

“

The Viceroyalty of New Spain equipped a professional force of fighting men to defend its territories against internal and external threats alike. These Soldados proved quite effective against most opponents due to their training and organization, but could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, as often happened during the Mexican struggle for independence. After the nation's emancipation from Spain, the new government saw fit to continue the maintenance of a professional military force, and Soldados formed the core of many Mexican armies for years to come.

”

Gallery

Soldado image from the Compendium section

In-game Soldado

In-game Veteran Soldado

In-game Guard Soldado

In-game Imperial Soldado