Spanish Civilization Overview

By Somme, 6/4/06, AoE3 v1.07, Author’s Rating: 2050+

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Why play Spanish?

The Spanish are a very unique civilization and they have a variety of advantages, which they can exploit to bring victory. Let us look at some of these advantages.

They start with a wardog

This allows them to take control of the trading posts and treasure hunt more effectively giving you an early edge and can even help defend against rushes.

They have faster shipments

The Spanish receive shipments much faster than other civilizations and can use this advantage to send in more units or troops to give them the advantage of flexibility when fighting at any stage of the game.

They can produce Rodeleros

These are units are fast and they have a high melee resistance: making them perfect for chasing down fleeing enemy cavalry, raiding, or guarding your cannons from threats.

They can create Lancers

A unique Spanish cavalry that has high ranged resistance and a large bonus against infantry. If used correctly these units can turn the tide of an entire battle

When are the Spanish at their strongest?

Discovery

The Spanish excel in this age. A free dog makes exploring and treasure collecting a breeze. Also, the three villager card arriving quicker then other civilizations due to faster shipments gives a bonus to there early economy. Finally, they can prevent their enemy claiming trading posts giving Spanish an early edge at map control.

Colonial

Spain does well here, with a vast array of shipments and good unit choices at their disposal. Usually a colonial Spanish army will consist of rodeleros, pikes, and muskets or on a map where it is appropriate, natives.

Fortress

The area of the game where Spain excels. Here the trading post control of previous ages and the faster shipments really come into play. In this age, the Spanish have a vast array of powerful military shipments and a good selection of mercenaries, which they can apply very quickly due to their faster shipments. The perfect compliment to these mostly anti-cavalry shipments is falconets and skirmishers, which counter the units that would threaten your army. Try to bring the game to a close here as Spanish.

Industrial/Imperial

The faster shipments have begun to wear off and you are left with only one factory and 3 royal guard units, two of which are anti cavalry to fight off your opponents doubled factories and superior Royal Guard units. If the game gets to this stage try and finish it quickly with a well placed mercenary shipment but if this proves impossible fight it out as best you can. A useful combo is:

Rodeleros + Skirmishers + Lancers: A beautiful combo as rodeleros kill ranged and melee cavalry, lancers destroy light infantry and skirmishers kill heavy infantry. You may want to include culverins if your enemy goes heavy on artillery, as lancers with a relatively low attack may not kill them fast enough.

Hint!

Include advanced arsenal to give your units the boost they need in late game.

Common Spanish Strategies

Native Rush

Spanish have control of the trading posts and faster shipments making a native rush very appealing if you are on a map with good natives.

Fast Fortress

The Spanish can use there powerful and abundant shipments to beat their opponent down with pure power.

General Tips

  • Be aggressive. While good advice in general this is particularly important as Spanish because if you sit back and wait your opponent will most likely out-boom you and your advantage will be stripped away. If you go defensive and cannot break out, you will not win, as you cannot defend your opponent to death.
  • Don’t be afraid to retreat; keep your army alive to fight another day. Against many 1800/1900 players I have won simply because they throw away troops unnecessarily.
  • Don’t get complacent just because you have the lead. The game is won by battles not score. I have defeated opponents with twice my score because of a decisive battle.
  • Protect the falconets… These units are just too expensive to throw away. Move units in the way to block incoming cavalry and have the falconets move into your own units. This will mess up enemy cavalry pathing. If your opponents is trying to use dragoons use parties of rodeleros to chase them down and prevent them from firing at your cannons.
  • Don’t keep your military idle. There is always something useful they could be doing and every second you wait gives your opponent time to prepare or recover.
  • Control the pace of the game, make your opponent play how you want him to and don’t give him a moment to breathe or relax. Don’t react to what he does, prevent him from doing it in the first place.

By Somme, 6/4/06, AoE3 v1.07, Author’s Rating: 2150+

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