Mandekalu need a serious buff.

Mandekalu traits.
Common traits:
Can move after attacking
No defensive terrain bonuses
Special traits:
No penalty when fighting cities
Also Songhai UA grants full embarkation defense.

Conquistadors are better by far than the Mandekalu.
Common traits:
Can move after attacking
No defensive terrain bonuses
Special traits:
No attack penalty when fighting cities
Embarkation with defense
Extra sight +1
May found cities on other continents

The Conquistador gets extra sight and the ability to found cities.
The Mandekalu needs a buff as it isn't really unique and inferior compared to the Conquistador.

I don't really know Songhai or Mandekalu history so I can't really comment on what buffs it should get

You can't just compare it directly UU to UU (Imagine having to balance everything to the keshik). You have to look at the team as a whole (UA, UU's, UB's, etc). And no penalty when attacking cities is pretty big for cavalry, plus they are cheaper by 10 hammers than a normal knight (so cost 110) while conquistadors are 15 hammers more expensive than a knight (so 135).

Mandekalu cavalry are meh alone, but with Songhai's unique ability they can be truly devastating. Don't knock them without smashing apart a city from the waves then ripping the defenders apart from behind. There low cost makes them good seige units and allow you to perform more tisky maneuvers. Added with songhai's ability these meh units become very potent in there own right.

Tyrvos said:

You can't just compare it directly UU to UU (Imagine having to balance everything to the keshik). You have to look at the team as a whole (UA, UU's, UB's, etc). And no penalty when attacking cities is pretty big for cavalry, plus they are cheaper by 10 hammers than a normal knight (so cost 110) while conquistadors are 15 hammers more expensive than a knight (so 135).

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Conquistadors also don't have a penalty when attacking cities. A 35 hammer difference is significant but the Mandekalu are still a lot weaker.

SULOMON said:

Conquistadors also don't have a penalty when attacking cities. A 35 hammer difference is significant but the Mandekalu are still a lot weaker.

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I wouldn't say a lot. The difference is sight and the ability to settle with them (the latter useless on Pangaea), but the Mandekalu are 35 hammers cheaper.

Also, look at the rest of the team's Uniques. Spain's UA is a dice roll (can be relaly good, but also meh). The Tercio is nice, but Spain is left without a long lasting UB.

Songhai's UA, in my opinion since I do a lot of coastal warfare, is pretty solid consistently unless you are on a more land based map. Their Mud Pyramid is a solid UB and long lasting, unlike Spain's double UU.

As Tyrvos says, you don't compare individual UUs to individual UUs, but you compare a civ's entire package.