Artillery

Artillery could also refer to the Technology in Age of Empires II.

Artillery is first introduced in Age of Empires III replacing the Siege Equipment used in Age of Empires and Age of Empires II. Artillery is built from Artillery Foundrys, Siege Workshops, and Castles and is first available in the Colonial Age. They can also be shipped from your Home City or via the Consulate.

Artillery is an effective heavy weapon against enemy infantry because of its power and splash damage. It is also very useful at destroying buildings. Artillery is best countered with hand cavalry or other artillery. Some civilizations have their own unique artillery pieces such as the Rocket for the British and the Great Bombard for the Ottomans.

Cannons have modes for moving and firing. Switching modes takes a few seconds. They will automatically switch to the appropriate mode if commanded to attack or to move more than a short distance.

Types
There are several types of artillery.

European Basic

 * Grenadiers: Footmen who throw grenades, causing moderate damage to infantry and buildings. Good for making early attacks on enemy bases.


 * Falconets: Light cannons good against infantry but weaker against buildings.


 * Culverins: Long range cannons with light munitions. Good against other artillery but weak against buildings.


 * Mortars: Long range cannons with a high arc. Devastating against buildings and ships but incapable of attacking anything else.


 * Heavy Cannon: Powerful cannons available through shipments and factories. Demolishes buildings and infantry.


 * Horse Drawn Artillery: Expensive but fast cannon.

European Unique

 * Rocket: British unique unit. Fires a large rocket which is effective against buildings and infantry.


 * Great Bombard: Ottoman unique unit. Massive cannon with a strong attack. Replaces heavy cannon.


 * Abus Gun: Ottoman unique unit. A heavy personal firearm mounted on a stand. Fills the same role as Skirmishers, it is not considered Artillery. It is considered Infantry/RangedInfantry/GunpowderTrooper for purposes of multipliers against it in combat or it's own upgrades from Ottoman buildings and cards. It is listed here only because it is trained from an Artillery Foundry, etc.


 * Organ Gun: Portuguese unique unit. A row of small cannons which fire all at once. Replaces the falconet.

Native American

 * Mantlet: Iroquois unit. A portable shield resistant to building attacks, however it is not considered Artillery but rather RangedInfantry/SiegeTrooper/Infantry it will not be affected by damage multipliers versus true artillery (such as Culverins).


 * Ram: Iroquois unit. A very simple short range siege weapon, however it is not considered Artillery. It is SiegeTrooper/Infantry/HandSiege and will not be affected by multipliers versus true Artillery (such as Culverins firing at it).


 * Light Cannon: Iroquois cannon. Same role as falconets.

Asian

 * Flamethrower: Chinese unit. Blasts forth a jet of flame, dealing gradual but rapid damage over a short range. Best against infantry. It is not Artillery, it is Infantry/SiegeTrooper/RangedInfantry and will thus ignore any multipliers versus true artillery yet be slaughtered wholeheartedly by Lancers and other units with high multipliers versus infantry.


 * Hand Mortar: Chinese unit. Small cheap cannon with a long range. Good against other artillery.


 * Flying Crow: Chinese unit. Heavy artillery created for free at the Confucian Academy wonder.


 * Siege Elephant: Indian unit. Expensive but powerful elephant-mounted cannon.


 * Flaming Arrow: Japanese unit. Same role as the falconet but cheaper and weaker.


 * Morutaru: Japanese unit. Same role as the mortar but cheaper, weaker and faster.

Minor Natives

 * Huron Mantlet: Just that. A mantlet from your Huron allies. Same as the other Mantlet listed above except it also has NativeWarrior making it vulnerable to Spies and Ninja, it is not true artillery nor will bonus multipliers versus artillery affect it.

Mercenaries

 * Li'l Bombard: Mercenary cannon sometimes available at the Saloon or Monastery. Costs 1200 coin and 8 population, but has enough bombard power to make it worth the expense.


 * Arsonist: Indian mercenary grenadier. Like all other grenadier type units it is not considered true Artillery, it is instead SiegeTrooper/Infantry/Heavy Infantry/RangedInfantry and not subject to damage multipliers versus Artillery.

Other

 * Hoop Thrower: Like the Grenadier above these units are not artillery, they are considered Heavy Infantry/SiegeTrooper/Infantry/RangedInfantry. They are listed here only because they are trained at the Artillery Foundry, they only possess a single upgrade specifically for them. This upgrade called High Crusade can only be acquired by the Knights of St. John through use of the Royal Decree to Claim the New World card and subsequent Church upgrade.


 * Fixed Gun: Immobile cannon with a powerful attack and great range found in the campaigns. Eliminate all nearby enemies and move your troops in to capture it.


 * Mediocre Bombard: Cheat unit with unusual munitions.