No introduction text for the Spanish, but an introduction video instead. If you’re over 50, you can look back in nostalgia, if not, you can just stare and think to yourself “Qué?”.
Quick Card
- Builders work 30% faster
- Blacksmith upgrades don’t cost gold
- Cannon galleons benefit from ballistics (fire faster and more accurately)
- Hand cannoneers and bombard cannons fire 15% faster
- Unique Unit: Conquistador
- Unique Unit: Missionary
- Unique Technology: Supremacy
- Team Bonus: Trade units generate +33% gold
Analysis of bonuses
Builders work 30% faster
A very versatile bonus that manifests itself on many fronts. Actually the bonus kicks in right at the start: you can build houses with just 2 villagers without being housed while the other villager can either scout for sheep or go eat lamb chops. It actually makes Spanish one of the rare civs with a different start, even though not forced and just optional.
An obvious bonus in fast aging too since you’ll need less villagers to construct buildings in the same time as your enemies. And last but not least: a great aid in slower buildings like town centers, towers and castles. Did you know that exactly this bonus actually makes Spanish good at trushing? This game between [CSC]geoffrey and [xSeCh]Andrew_ (both 2.1K) shows how a Spaniard can easily build a tower before the defender can even respond with a tower of his own. Even though the defender has more villagers at his disposal! A non traditional game on Arabia for sure.
Recorded Game
The impact is also economical: faster TC for booming and farms are created much faster. And last but not least a bit of a hidden bonus for the Spanish: even though the game documentation says the building bonus doesn’t count for wonders, Spaniards still build a wonder faster than every other civ. This is because this bonus is actually not +30% building speed but the free research of treadmill crane (+20%) and +10% extra. So Spanish build a wonder 20% faster than other civs because they have treadmill crane researched for free.
Keep in mind for wonder races!
Blacksmith upgrades don’t cost gold
Once more an incredibly versatile bonus: Spaniards have well educated farriers and get every blacksmith upgrade in the book. Which means they can save up to a staggering 1350 gold on blacksmith upgrades! This can count for an economical advantage. Especially since most tactics require the blacksmith to be used.
The bonus is also very beneficial to both gold units and trash units:
- Trash units: you don’t have to think in advance which trash units to upgrade, even if you’re in big troubles and need a different trash unit fast you can easily buy all their upgrades. This, combined with the fact that the Spanish get every upgrade for trash units makes them a top tier trash civ.
- Gold units: quite simple maths here: the gold you save on fletching buys you an extra archer, while the armor upgrades for cavalry can buy you up to 9 extra knights!
A comparison can even be made with the +20% longer lasting resources from Mayans: if Spanish research all their smithy techs, the savings are as big as a big Mayan gold pile. (8 tiles of gold with 160 gold extra). But the biggest difference is of course that Spanish don’t have to delve this gold, they just “get it”.
Cannon galleons benefit from ballistics (fire faster and more accurately)
This bonus is probably a shift towards realism: if you see other cannon balls slowly cruise through the air you wonder if they’re actually hot air balloons rather than iron, skull crushing projectiles. It also makes the Spanish Armada rule the seas in late game. However, since we’re talking about water wars: Galleons have been deciding naval battles 99% of the time. The lower the level you play on and the fewer the ships are used, the stronger they are however. Compared to other cannon galleons, the Spanish boats don’t miss their targets more than hitting them. Besides that they’re a true scourge on shorelines (and not only against buildings).
A rarely seen bonus in competitive game play but all the more fun if you can get to use it.
Hand cannoneers and bombard cannons fire 15% faster
Not only their cannon galleons fire faster, their other gunpowder units are equipped with the same technology. A sad disadvantage is the lack of siege engineers which actually numbs out the faster firing bonus. But it nevertheless makes their hand cannoneers the 2nd best in the game. Just after their gunpowder arch rivals: the Turks.
Team Bonus: Trade units generate +33% gold
It’s about time to get a straightforward economical bonus, and what a bonus even. Maybe the best team bonus in the game. Some tough competition from Mongols but in the long run: no competition. It’s population effective and since Spanish have the greatest trash line in the game they can bridge a gap where trade runs low without problems.
So the bonus is big, but it’s their only real big bonus and only kicks in very late.
Conquistador
- Cost: 60 food, 70 gold
- Attack: 16 (Elite: 18 )
- Armor: 2/2 (Elite: 2/2)
- HP: 55 (Elite: 70)
- Range: 6 (Elite: 6)
- Elite Upgrade: 1200 food, 600 gold
A daring statement but in my opinion, the conquistador is the best unique unit in the castle age. Why? They’re speedy, have a high attack and can fire from range. A bit like cavalry archers on dope. They can kill villagers in 3 hits and a pack of 10 can kill any other unit of flesh and blood in a single strike (except elephants). You can imagine this inspired many people to try a conquistador rush, even on 2k+ level. Here’s a thrilling Arabia game between Thug_Culunguele and _Air_Autumn. Prepare for some very nice market abuse and of course: conquistadors.
Recorded Game
The stronger I value conquistadors in the castle age, the weaker in the later stages of the game. The trade off for the upgrade is quite low: a few extra HP and attack points, but that’s it. Then again, a combination of conquistadors + paladins is devastating but not holy. Conquistadors suffer a bit from “countervitis”, they have a lot of mutual counters. They technically beat pikes and heavy cavalry but once these can catch up with them, the game is over. So keep your conquistadors away from pikemen and don’t forget to turn around to shoot them once in a while.
Missionary
- Cost: 100 gold
- Armor: 0/0
- HP: 30 (Max: 45)
I’m not really in the position to blame the designers of AoC for their work (it would look weird after dedicating this whole website to their work) but if I must choose one unit that has been totally left out, it’s the missionary. It’s just a fast monk (okay, technically, this is the only weakness of a monk) with a slightly shorter range. But they suffer from a few big disadvantages: first of all they require a castle before they can be created. Secondly, they have a plethora of counter units: eagles, pikes, skirmishers, light cavalry and of course archers and heavy siege. The worse thing are the pikes actually: they’re sitting on a donkey, thus count as cavalry, but they don’t receive the upgrades for stable units (husbandry, bloodlines and why not, blacksmith?) and thus have nothing to put on their side of the scale.
A top rush with missionaries seems to be out of the question but that doesn’t mean they have no uses: they’re fast so they can easily travel along with your armies to heal them. And if one feature is still underused in AoC, despite being incredibly cost saving, it’s putting some monks behind your army for healing and converting.
However, it’s always good to stimulate people to think out of the box, so I won’t hesitate to share the only “okay” missionary rush I got. A game between Tsu_ShiNe_ and AdiX_Zoro_. The rating gap is so big that he could’ve won with most likely anything and in the end, he had to win with conquistadors + champions because missionaries alone just fall short against mostly anything.
Recorded Game
Supremacy
Aocbox’ favourite tech! Hilarious to play around with and humiliating to lose against it. Angry villagers knocking down anything in no time. But let’s take a closer look at the stats.
| Technology | HP | Attack | Armor | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | 25 | 3 | 0/0 | |
| Loom | 40 | 3 | 1/2 | |
| Supremacy | 80 | 9 | 3/4 | Sappers +15 attack vs buildings |
Actually, Spanish villagers are a bit like mini champions. A comparable strength and an amazing attack against buildings. And they cost no gold! Needless to say this makes Spaniards highly resistant to raiding in later stages of the game.
The downside is of course that each villager must be manually targeted. So in order to take full advantage of this tech you would probably need the hands of a robot on octopus arms.
But then again, expert players sometimes look like that, so let’s delve in our archives for two brilliant games featuring a villager rush.
Dominance through the Ages
An oversight about dominance through the ages can be found in this article.
Dark Age
Faster building is a bonus but it’s extremely minimal. Unless you’re of course playing on nomad style maps. Nothing to see here, Spain was historically ruled by the Goths during this time anyways.
Feudal Age
You’re still stuck with the faster building bonus which is an incredible aid in tower warfare and you can save a little trickle of gold on fletching, but safe to say, these bonuses vanish compared to most civs.
Castle Age
Spanish castles are a sweet thing to check out if you ever have the chance to visit the country. Or in other words: time to shine. Spaniards can count on a powerful unique unit, an okay boom, good cavalry and they can start to save out good amounts of gold on blacksmith upgrades. They’re not top tier but if you can use them right, they can do a lot of damage.
Early Imperial Age
Spaniards must hold out a little: they have access to just a few strong early imp combinations but their strength kicks in a little later. Especially since conquistadors are badly distracted by rams, which are still a key to the most powerful early imp armies. But in the meanwhile you can cheaply upgrade your units. And if you’re kickass enough, research supremacy for a surprise villager rush?
Imperial Age
The imperial age! Time to show off your assets. Paladins, conquistadors, siege rams, hussars, halberdiers, champions, guns and even bombard towers. None of them come with a big bonus but the possibilities are overwhelming. And if it sounds costly, don’t bother because you don’t really need the gold anyways…
Post Imperial Age (no trade)
The only civ to give competition to the Byzantines in trashwars. All upgrades for hussars, halberdiers and skirmishers are available and you save more than 1000 gold on them too. Above that, their villagers can be a great meat shield in trashwars. Hard to control but able to absorb quite a bit of damage. Byzantines are still however the #1 trash civ especially since their bonus kicks in so early and lasts for a whole game. If bloodlines + blast furnace make the difference in later stages is up for debate. It gives hussars one extra hit against halberdiers and absorbs 20 extra javelins. But since hussars die after only 2 or 3 halberdier hits, does it make the cut? Anyways, to make the decision easier or maybe harder, here are two top tier records featuring a Byzantinium vs Spain showdown.
Recorded Game
Post Imperial age (with trade)
You simply can’t go without Spaniards in long teamgames. Their tradebonus is downright awesome and with their wide techtree they can deliver any support possible. Mainly bombard towers and fully upgraded paladins.
Economy
Surprisingly, Spaniards lack crop rotation and gold shaft mining. An odd disability for an army that’s based on these two resources. Then again, they largely make up for this with their trade bonus. You must thus wait till the very late stages of the game for your bonus to matter.
Military
Infantry
Spain can be played as an infantry civ: all upgrades to all units. Who needs more? Even though águila sounds cool in Spanish…
Archery
The real big downside of the Spanish techtree. They’re the only civ to not receive crossbowmen, which is harsh in the transition from feudal to castle as archers are the strongest unit in early castle. The oh so common archers are a dead end for the Spaniards. But to make up for this, they get the 2nd best guns in the game.
Cavalry
The thing that makes the Hispanics shine in all the stages of the imperial age: fully upgraded light and heavy cavalry. Right from the castle age bloodlines are available, in early imp you can spice them up with cheap blacksmith upgrades and when gold runs out you can easily switch to hussars. And with your superior tradeline you can exchange them for paladins again soon.
Siege
Spaniards are the Byzantines of the west: a very extended tech tree and a strong unique unit. But obviously this means they have to suffer on some parts. Besides the lack of crossbows, this means the lack of a decent siege line. No siege onagers, no heavy scorpions and no siege engineers. Their bombard cannons are only marginally better than the average bombard but then again, bombard cannons are a support unit in most of the cases.
Monks
The Spanish set sail to convert the heathens of Southern America. With variable success even though the majority of the continent is still Catholic. A special monk unit and all upgrades makes the Spanish monastery a powerhouse for you wolololovers.
Navy
In post imp, the Armada has few competition. All upgrades and incredibly powerful cannon galleons. All upgrades too but sadly no early economic bonus. Keep in mind the trade bonus goes for trade cogs too!
Structures
One of the few civs with a fully upgraded arsenal of buildings. Bombard towers with full range and all upgrades on your castles and towers for an incredible fortification. And they’re built faster by nearly immortal vils.
Conclusion
Spaniards are one of the coolest civs to have by your side in teamgames. A very versatile and strong force with a plethora of tactics to choose from. But a wide techtree comes with a disadvantage. Just like their Middle Eastern brothers (the Byzantines), the Spanish lack an early economical bonus. They’re great to play around with and in the hands of the right player: never predictable.
Jajaja!
-fdp
