The Monaspa is the unique unit of the Georgians in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Pride of the Caucasus. It is a cavalry unit that ignores terrain penalties (hills and cliffs) when dealing or taking damage.
Monaspa can be upgraded to Elite Monaspa in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
Monaspa are best used on maps like Kilimanjaro, Acropolis, and Ravines in order to take advantage of their special trait of ignoring elevation penalties. This ability allows them to fight uphill dealing full damage, while not taking any extra damage. This trait also applies to cliffs, where they do not take any extra damage from ranged units attacking from on top of a cliff. This trait helps to win in otherwise tactically dangerous battles with pure stats alone.
Monaspa have a slight bonus against Rams, which helps them defend Castles under siege, both from rams and unpacked Trebuchets, which are classified as rams. The rarely-used Siege Tower is also classified as a ram, so the Monaspa has a bonus against it.
Monaspa have very similar stats to Cavaliers, but are available one age earlier. This makes them a very strong unit in combat. However, they are slower than Knights, which makes forcing engagements with Monaspa difficult. Instead, a wise player should surround enemy units with Light Cavalry to keep them engaged until the Monaspa arrive.
Monaspa have better stats than Paladins overall, which the Georgians do not have access to. Thus, the Monaspa should be used as the primary heavy cavalry if the player's economy allows.
Due to the Monaspa's slow speed, it should not be used for raiding. Instead, that role should be relegated to Knights, Light Cavalry, and Cavalry Archers. The Georgians have access to Hussar, Heavy Cavalry Archer, and Parthian Tactics, which makes them good at raiding. They even have Steppe Lancers as an additional raiding option.
The ideal late game Georgian army should consist of Champions, Monaspa, Heavy Cavalry Archers, and Steppe Lancers.
Further statistics[]
As Monaspa are unique to the Georgians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Infantry, archers, Villagers, siege weapons, Cavalry Archers, Light Cavalry |
| Weak vs. | Samurai, Boyars, Pikemen, Kamayuks, Berserks, Genoese Crossbowmen, Teutonic Knights, Mamelukes, Camel Riders, Monks, War Elephants |
| Upgrades | |
| Hit points |  Bloodlines (+20)
|
| Attack |  Forging (+1) Iron Casting (+1) Blast Furnace (+2)
|
| Armor |  Scale Barding Armor (+1/+1) Chain Barding Armor (+1/+1) Plate Barding Armor (+1/+2)
|
| Speed |  Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Conversion defense |  Faith
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%)
|
| Upgrades |  Elite Monaspa
|
Team bonuses[]
- A team containing Alans: Monaspa are trained 10% faster.
- A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Monaspa are created 25% faster at the Castle, upgraded 25% faster, and Conscription is researched 25% faster.
- A team containing Bulgarians: Blacksmith upgrades are researched 80% faster.
- A team containing Huns: Researching Bloodlines is 20% faster.
- A team containing Teutons: Monaspa are resistant to conversion.
History[]
The Monaspa were royal troops personally controlled by the monarch of Georgia. While they were previously low in numbers, after David the Builder's reforms, the Monaspa's numbers were increased considerably. David relocated several thousand Kipchaks from the north into Georgian territory, and as a result, one horseman per family was sent to David to form a standing army. It is possible that some of those Kipchaks became part of the Monaspa. In only the second major battle the new Monaspa fought in, Didgori, the Georgian army successfully routed the Turkish army, despite being significantly outnumbered.
Trivia[]
- The Monaspa is the only unique unit introduced in Pride of the Caucasus whose name doesn't start with the letter "A", though this is purely coincidental.