Roundshier (mercenary)

Roundshier (mercenary) is a melee infantry unit in Cossacks 3, available at the Diplomatic Center. They're the only mercenary unit with an armor.

Background
In the Austrian army, a few infantry detachments armed with cold steel still remained. The mission of those brave soldiers was to wait for a pause in the musketeers' shooting and assault an enemy to breach his pikemen's file or chop his musketeers. In the 16th - 17th centuries, musketeers were not too effective and depended much on the weather. A Roundshier was armed with a sword and equipped with a plate mail armour and a Rundschild - a small round shield. In battle formation, Roundshiers occupied the front lines. Later on, as firearms were developed, this echo of medieval infantry vanished completely.