Petard (Age of Empires II)

"Demolition infantry unit armed with explosives. Devastating vs. buildings, ineffective vs. other units. Self-destructs when used."

- Age of Empires II description

The Petard is a siege unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors that can be trained at the Castle. Petards are faster than most siege units and explode upon impact with their target, capable of dealing a devastating amount of damage against Walls, structures, and siege weapons. They are the only suicide unit available on land.

Tactics
Petards are most effective against buildings, other siege units, and, to a limited extent, Wonders. Although Petards do in fact deal blast damage as their primary means of attack suggests (that is they explode), they do so in a very small area - the same area that a Cataphract with Logistica or War Elephant does. Ranged units are a danger to them, especially Cavalry Archers.

A good use for Petards is neutralizing enemy key buildings or key siege units near the player's Castles. They are also an excellent choice for quickly breaching Walls, taking only two to destroy a piece of Stone Wall, assuming they have the Siege Engineers upgrade. However, they are not cost effective in large numbers since they can only be used once.

When used (especially against Castles), it is important to line them is staggered formation. That way, they take less damage from the volleys of arrows since every volley only damages one Petard, and they do not damage from other Petards' blast damage when they die.

They are comparable to the Saboteur that is only available in campaigns, but the Petard is significantly weaker. It is much slower, has a much smaller blast area and deals much less damage to enemy units. There is also a 'Petard of the Seas': the Demolition Ship, which is more expensive, but has much greater attack against units and is significantly faster. In fact, the Demolition Ship is the fastest unit in the game.

Civilization Bonuses

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

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Petards are created 25% faster, and Conscription is researched 25% faster.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Siege Engineers is 80% faster.

The Conquerors

 * Petards cost 80F/25G.

The Forgotten

 * Petards now cost 65F/25G.

History
''The primary use of gunpowder during the Middle Ages was as a propellant in firearms and cannon, but it eventually found use as an explosive also. Explosive charges, called petards, could be used to damage or blow down castle gates and other obstructions. The word petard comes from a French word for breaking wind. In very dangerous situations, an armored man would carry the petard to the point of attack and light the fuse. If the fuse malfunctioned or the charge went off prematurely for any reason, the bombardier was “hoisted by his own petard,” which explains a phrase still used today when a plan or operation backfires.''