Elite Cannon Galleon

"Stronger than Cannon Galleon. Long-range warship used to attack targets on shore to establish beachhead."

- Age of Empires II description

The Elite Cannon Galleon is a warship in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Dock once the Imperial Age is reached. As an upgrade of the Cannon Galleon, it has an even longer range and more attack, but remains weak against other ships. It excels at destroying immobile targets on land.

The Mongols were able to upgrade to Elite Cannon Galleons in The Conquerors. It was removed from their technology tree in The Forgotten.

Tactics
Elite Cannon Galleons have an exceptionally long range and deal bonus damage against buildings and defensive structures. They can outrange Castles and Bombard Towers, so they are almost the sea-going equivalent to Bombard Cannons, only being slightly faster. They deal large damage, and bonus damage against ships, but their slow rate of fire and very slow projectile speed makes it weak and ineffective against Galleons and other ships, particularly Fire Ships.

Elite Cannon Galleons should be always deployed with an escort, most likely Fire Ships and Galleons. As they outrange Towers and Castles, Cannon Galleons must almost always be used for dealing with such structures that deal bonus damage against ships.

Spanish Cannon Galleons are significantly better than the ones of all other civilizations, because their projectiles are much faster (7 tiles/second instead of 1.95 tiles/s) and hit moving targets with Ballistics-like behavior (The Ballistics research is not required).

Further Statistics
Civilization Bonuses=
 * Berbers: Elite Cannon Galleons move 10% faster.
 * Italians: Elite Cannon Galleons are 15% cheaper. Researching Careening, Dry Dock, and Shipwright is 50% cheaper.
 * Persians: Elite Cannon Galleons are created 20% faster. Careening, Dry Dock, and the upgrade to the Elite Cannon Galleon are researched 20% faster.
 * Portuguese: Elite Cannon Galleons have +10% HP and cost 15% less gold.
 * Spanish: Elite Cannon Galleons have Ballistics-like accuracy and faster missiles.
 * Turkish Elite Cannon Galleons have +15% HP. Upgrading to Elite Cannon Galleons is 50% cheaper. Chemistry is free.
 * Vikings: Elite Cannon Galleons are 20% cheaper.
 * -|Team Bonuses=
 * A team containing Turks: Elite Cannon Galleons are created 20% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Elite Cannon Galleons are more resistant to conversion.
 * -|The Forgotten Changes=
 * Mongols: Elite Cannon Galleon removed from technology tree.

History
"Primitive cannon were first mounted on ships in the fourteenth century. These were mounted in the stern or bow for firing forward or aft. Small weapons were mounted on the rails for use against enemy crews in close action. The first ship built specifically for carrying cannon appeared in 1406. Effectively mounting a large number of cannons on a ship took many years to work out. It required new designs to compensate for the enormous weight of the guns high on the ship’s sides. Tackle had to be designed to allow the guns to be fired and reloaded safely. Safe procedures were also needed for storing and accessing powder. Useful cannon galleons did not appear until late in the Middle Ages."

Trivia

 * If an Elite Cannon Galleon is created in the Scenario Editor for a player that it isn't in the Post-Imperial Age, it will be able to do actions like follow another unit or protect another unit, which it can't do when it is created during a game.
 * The Elite Cannon Galleon is the naval unit with the longest base range (15), and has the seconds longest base range of all units, just behind the Trebuchet. The Turkish Elite Cannon Galleon gets a +2 range bonus from their unique technology, making it the unit with the longest range, tied at 17 with the Trebuchet with Siege Engineers researched.
 * Interestingly enough, Elite Cannon Galleons deal melee damage, despite having a ranged attack.