Mangonel

"Wheeled siege weapon used to attack a small mass of units."

- Age of Empires II description

The Mangonel is a ranged siege unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Siege Workshop. It is primarily used against large groups of enemies. Its high attack and splash damage make it a powerful unit, especially against archers and slow-moving units. Its main offsets are its low projectile speed, minimum range, and tendency to harm friendly units caught in its blast. Mangonels can attack ground.

Tactics
The Mangonel is best employed in groups of three to ten, behind large buildings, Walls, or Towers in order to avoid being attacked by melee units. Its powerful attack can be devastating to most groups of enemy units, but it is advisable to watch them in battle to prevent friendly fire. Using the attack ground command is useful for Mangonels if the player can predict the movement of enemy troops.

Mangonels are usually paired with ranged units since it is less likely that those units would be affected by the Mangonels' attack, or in other cases with melee units for protection against enemy melee units. When pairing them with melee units it is important to set those units in defensive stance in order to prevent them to be driven away and avoid to be hit.

A popular tactic, especially in on the map Arena, is to quickly advance to the Castle Age and pair Mangonels with Monks, as they cover each other's main weaknesses. Mangonels are great against ranged units like Crossbowmen, who can otherwise quickly kill Monks, while Monks can convert Knights (in small enough numbers), who are the bane of Mangonels. This strategy however requires intense micromanagement and is somewhat vulnerable to Light Cavalry and Eagle Warriors, who resist conversion, have an attack bonus against Monks, and can quickly close the gap to the Mangonels. The Eagle Warrior is particularly effective, since it has also has an attack bonus against Mangonels and is less food intensive.

Mangonels are an excellent way to deal with masses of foot archers, Skirmishers, and Cavalry Archers, and serve as an equalizer when the opponent gets ahead in archer wars. One good Mangonel shot can turn the tide of a battle in this case.

The Mangonel is very powerful siege weapon in the Castle Age for three reasons:
 * 1) Mangonels are a heavy threat to anything ranged and cannot be outranged by most civilizations.
 * 2) Mangonels outclass all other siege units in the Castle Age.
 * 3) Mangonels can outrange Town Centers.

In high level games, it often happens that nothing is able to kill a supported Mangonel other than an opposing Mangonel, though they can fall quickly to melee units or well micromanaged archers when unsupported.

Comparison to the Scorpion

 * In most circumstances, a single Mangonel will do more damage than a Scorpion, but a Scorpion is significantly cheaper and attacks almost twice as fast. Scorpions do damage in a straight line while Mangonels attack a single, small area.
 * Scorpions do not damage friendly units, but Mangonels do.
 * Scorpion bolts reach their targets faster than Mangonel payloads.
 * Mangonels have slightly more hit points.
 * Scorpions need less micromanagement than Mangonels against AI since computer controlled units will make a beeline for their target, ensuring that the Scorpion will hit them anyway.
 * Scorpions cannot attack ground, making them hard to micromanage against an agile unit. In contrast, a cleverly managed Mangonel may hit fast moving units.

Civilization Bonuses

 * Aztecs: Mangonels are created 15% faster.
 * Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
 * Celts: Mangonels fire 20% faster. Mangonels can convert herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Mangonels are 20% cheaper.
 * Portuguese: Mangonels cost 15% less gold.
 * Slavs: Mangonels are 15% cheaper.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Celts: Mangonels are created and upgraded 20% faster.
 * A team containing Koreans: Mangonels.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Chemistry and Siege Engineers is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Mangonels are more resistant to conversion.

The Age of Kings

 * Mangonels move at a speed of 0.5.

The Conquerors

 * Mangonel now move at a speed of 0.6.
 * Mangonels gain +12 bonus damage against siege weapons.
 * Heresy introduced.
 * Celts: Furor Celtica introduced. It gives Mangonels +50% HP.
 * Mongols: Drill introduced.
 * Koreans: Shinkichon initially gives Mangonels +2 range. With patch 1.0c, the effect was reduced to +1.
 * A team containing Koreans: Mangonels have +1 range.

The Forgotten

 * Celts: Furor Celtica now gives +40% HP to Mangonels.
 * Teutons: Ironclad introduced.
 * A team containing Koreans: Mangonels minimum range reduced (instead of +1 range).

Trivia

 * The design for the Mangonel is inaccurate as its real life design was essentially a small Trebuchet.
 * Before The Forgotten, researching Chemistry had a negative effect on the Mangonel's projectile speed, lowering it from 3.5 to 2.9.

History
"The mangonel was an improvement on the ancient catapult that was used to throw stones and other missiles, usually in a siege attack against a fortified position. The mangonel usually fired directly at a target, using a bar to stop the throwing arm when it was vertical. This threw the missile directly forward. Mangonels were used to fire one large stone or a basket of smaller stones. They were often assembled on the spot for use, but were also built on wheeled frames for easier movement."

- Age of Empires II manual