Talk:Hand Cannoneer/@comment-88.156.164.34-20150130230921/@comment-5833753-20150201033733

Back in AoK, early Imperial Champion rush was the standard strategy. In order to give other units more importance, many changes were made in AoC. Thumb Ring increased the rate of fire of Archers, cavalry got Bloodlines. Hand Cannoneers, a HARD counter to infantry no longer had to be researched seperately after Chemistry. Infact, they buffed everything else so much, standard swordsman infantry has pretty much become obsolete after Feudal (Men-at-Arms) to late Imperial (Champions in trash wars). No one, especially experts, consider upgrading to Long Swordsman viable unless the civilization has a bonus for Infantry (Goths, Vikings, Celts, Japanese etc). Infact, the preferred strategy for both Vikings and Japanese are archers, despite not having any specific bonuses for them.