Conquistador Élite

Conquistadors are ranged cavalry with a high attack strength and are essentially mounted Hand Cannoneers. Conquistadors have the advantage in mobility and durability over Hand Cannoneers, but lose the anti- attack. Similar to Hand Cannoneers, the Conquistador is a ready-to-use unit, due to having fewer technologies affecting it. An early rush with Conquistadors is difficult to stop if the enemy is not prepared. Although they are the shortest ranged gunpowder unit and unlike Cavalry Archers do not benefit from range increases, their increased mobility makes them far more formidable and very heavy hitting. While ideally all technologies must be researched, Husbandry alone is enough to make them a great force at raiding and against non-ranged units. Conquistadors shine when using hit-and-run tactics, their short range and relative mobility often force them into this position when being chased down by infantry or cavalry. In groups, they can release a devastating volley that will severely damage enemy formations. While Elite Skirmishers are effective against them, they are not nearly as effective as against Cavalry Archers, because the Conquistador's attack overpowers the Skirmisher's pierce armor. Moreover, siege weapons can be handled easily if the Conquistador player can micromanage their units. Monks are one of the biggest foes of Conquistadors; one might think that the Conquistadors being ranged can deal with Monks, but the Monks can get in enough conversions before dying to make this a bad trade, especially since Conquistadors are expensive. As such, they should be paired with Light Cavalry which can handle these units. Conquistadors in turn provide great damage output to deal with other types of units. However, Camel Riders and Mamelukes are a large threat to both units. Other units that can defeat Conquistadors by a good margin include Bolas Riders, Condottieri, Konas, Shrivamsha Riders, and Winged Hussars. Other than the aforementioned units, Halberdiers can also hurt Conquistadors badly, provided they can catch them. While only the Skirmisher is mentioned, all archers with available technologies researched can deal with Conquistadors cost-effectively. With the Imperial Age technologies researched, archers can win even population-efficiently with good micromanagement.