Condotiero

The Condottiero has a large attack bonus against , and bonus armor which negates 10 anti-infantry attack from gunpowder units (viz. attack bonuses of Hand Cannoneers, Organ Guns, and Grenadiers). Thus, Condottieri are an effective counter for armies of Janissaries, Grenadiers, or Hand Cannoneers when matched up close. In addition, Condottieri trade effectively against Halberdiers and Heavy Camel Riders, which are common auxiliary forces to protect gunpowder units and take down cavalry. Condottieri move fast and have good hit points for an infantry unit. They are also created quite quickly and do not need to be upgraded, which makes them very easy to mass when needed. Their comparatively high gold cost, however, makes them an expensive unit to field and sustain in the long run. Elite Skirmishers are much more efficient at dealing with foot or mounted gunpowder units on a cost basis, though they will struggle against gunpowder siege units. Siege units excel in general combat against ranged units, which again limits the Condottiero's use to an emergency counter to gunpowder. Condottieri can be used as an expensive substitute for Champions. This can occur in situations where the player does not have the Champion upgrade at the ready or if the player's civilization does not have access to them (Bulgarians, Ethiopians, Huns, Khmer, Malay, Maya, Tatars, and especially Persians and Jurchens; the former lack the Two-Handed Swordsman upgrade, while the latter do not even get the Long Swordsman upgrade). On the other hand, Condottieri can be a huge power spike during early Imperial Age, though as already mentioned, they are less and less cost efficient as time goes on. In some cases, the Condottieri can be used as an expensive substitute for the Hussar owing to its fast speed and decent hit points for civilizations with poor cavalry, like Koreans, Malay, and Vikings, where it can be used to counter siege units and Elite Skirmishers, and occasionally for raiding. Condottieri can be used against Elite Eagle Warriors simply because of their ability to force engagements and win cost-effectively despite the lack of attack bonuses. The fact that they come fully upgraded helps their cause further, unlike the Swordsman or Scout Cavalry lines. Even for civilizations that have access to great Champions or Two-Handed Swordsmen (Malay and Bulgarians), substituting or supplementing them when enemies use many gunpowder units should be considered. For example, an interesting play would be to couple Malian Condottieri with Gbetos, both possessing great mobility to raid enemy positions and supplement each other's weaknesses; Gbetos add firepower, whereas Malian Condottieri are tasked with shielding Gbetos against enemy ranged units. Although in more general situations, Elite Skirmishers would be more cost-effective, since they effectively counter all gunpowder units (except siege) as well as the Arbalester, to which the Condottiero has little defense with no base pierce armor. A practical, general example would be a scenario where the player has previously built several Barracks to train Halberdiers against a cavalry civilization, and in this case, the opponent has chosen Hand Cannoneers as a counter. In this instance, if the player can afford the gold cost but is unable to train Skirmishers right away, training some Condottieri in order to diversify and gain a slight edge in battle is recommended, taking advantage of the Condottiero's beefier stats. But as the player's gold starts draining out, Condottieri might be a dangerous choice for the player's economy, especially when the opponent can easily switch to other ranged units. Condottieri are extremely good for landings on water maps. They require no unit upgrades, unlike Champions, which is especially relevant, as players are less likely to have them for land units when the navy is the main focus. They have a reasonably fast movement speed, and are created at the Barracks, with its relatively cheap cost and fast construction time. They have no real counters the defending player has access to, and they have a fast training time. They can easily kill Villagers with Loom, needing only 5 hits even without technologies, and 4 with Forging, which only costs , and can chase Villagers down with their relatively fast movement speed. They can even easily kill off defending troops, as they will almost certainly have no unit upgrades, making the Condottiero trade efficiently with them, even with defender's advantage. Their fast training time also means they can easily outnumber the defending troops for even more efficient trades. For the strategy of landing, the Italians have access to all of the Blacksmith technologies and are only lacking Gambesons as a technology for Champions at the Barracks. This is important, as the Feudal and Castle Age technologies are often extremely cheap for the Imperial Age, especially Forging and Scale Mail Armor. These can be used to create an arms race against the player defending from the landing, while not significantly slowing down the Italians getting important technologies like Chemistry (which unlocks Cannon Galleons), Elite Cannon Galleon, Galleon, and Shipwright to make a late game navy. A landing with Condottieri threatens to win the game by itself and even if it fails in that, it is likely to make the defending player invest much more in defense than the cost of the landing, and it takes away attention away from micro on the water. Finally, their ability to be trained without upgrades upon reaching the Imperial Age makes them a suitable counter to the Fast Imperial Age into gunpowder units strategy, especially on closed maps like Arena, where it is common that battles initially happen between small groups of powerful units. Here, training just a few Condottieri to take down enemy Bombard Cannons can inflict tremendous damage on the opponent. In other cases, the mere presence of an Italian player can be a strong deterrent against the creation of gunpowder units, in order to prevent a disastrous scenario. Condottieri are basically a lighter version of the Swordsman line, and as such are more susceptible in direct combat. Heavy cavalry (like Boyars) and heavy infantry (like Serjeants) can devastate them. Since they are also a unique unit, Samurai are extra threatening as well. === Comparison with similar units === { Cost Hit points Speed 0.96 1.2 Armor 1/ Train time 21 seconds 18 seconds Line of Sight Melee attack Attack bonus +8 vs shock infantry+4 vs standard building +10 vs gunpowder unit+2 vs standard building Attack speed 1.9 Research costand time Upgrade from Two-Handed Swordsman:70 seconds None }