Janissary (Age of Empires II)

For the related Age of Empires III unit, see Janissary (Age of Empires III).

The Janissary and its upgrade, the Elite Janissary , is the Turkish unique unit. It can be created in the Castle Age from the Castle, and it is the only gunpowder unit, together with the Conquistador, that can be created early at that particular age. Janissaries, especially their Elite version, are superior to Hand Cannoneers in attack and range, but they have lower accuracy and no attack bonuses against infantry.

Tactics
Janissaries play similarly to Hand Cannoneers but with superior statistics. They are fragile but have a devastating attack. In groups they can send out a volley that will kill or severely injure enemy units that are too close. They are especially strong against infantry. They are not quite as effective against archers and cavalry due to the former's ranged attack  and the latter's speed; however, in great numbers Janissaries can kill them before they do too much damage.

Up close, Janissaries can be killed easily due to their low hit points, but any unit attacking a dense formation of Janissaries up close is vulnerable; the Janissaries can kill much much more easily at close range. Siege Weapons are also a threat to them, as a single shot from a Mangonel can devastate a formation. In addition, Huskarls can easily overwhelm Jannisaries in numbers due to their bonus damage against archers (though the Janissary is a gunpowder unit, it is considered to be an archer unit), Italian Condottiero are especially quite effective due their bonus attack against any gunpowder units. Also the Samurais have bonus attack against unique units, they are very dangerous when getting closer to Jannisaries.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Teutons: Janissaries are more resistant to conversion.
 * A team containing Saracens: Janissaries +2 attack vs buildings.
 * A team containing Magyars: Janissaries have +2 LOS.
 * A team Containing Turks (always): Janissaries are created 20% faster.

Civilization bonuses

 * Janissaries have 25% more HP.

The Conquerors Changes

 * Janissaries (Elite) gain +2 (+4) attack.
 * Janissaries lose attack bonuses against Infantry and Buildings.
 * Janissaries accuracy reduced from 55% to 50%.

The Forgotten changes

 * Elite janissaries are now affected by the Turkish team bonus.

Trivia

 * Along with Villagers, Trade Carts and Monks, Janissaries are the only units in Age of Empires II to have two skins: one, a fair-skinned man with a tall white top hat (called Royal Janissary in Scenario Editor), and the other, a dark-skinned man with no hat and a longer hand cannon.
 * The Janissary was originally planned to have the design used by the Royal variant, the reason for the change was "Because testers and Ensemble employees would comment that the Janissary looked like a "Ku Klux Klan" member".
 * Jannissaries originally were meant to be Heavy Foot Archers rather than Unique Hand Cannoners, this was more historically in line with the historical Turks in Age of Empires 2 medieval era time period.

History
"Some of the best units in the Turkish armies were the janissaries. These men were slaves captured as children and raised under Islam to be fanatical warriors. They wore distinctive white headgear and marched into battle accompanied by music. They fought on foot with a variety of weapons, including early firearms when these weapons reached the Middle East. The military was their entire life and they took great pride in their ability. They led the successful assault into Constantinople and the unsuccessful Turkish attacks against Malta and Vienna."