Capped Ram

"Stronger than Battering Ram. Slow, lumbering siege weapon used to reduce enemy towns to ruins."

- Age of Empires II description

The Capped Ram is a non-ranged siege unit in Age of Empires II that can be trained at the Siege Workshop once the Imperial Age is reached. Other than the Battering Ram, the head of the Ram is now capped with a metal head, thus making it stronger against buildings. The Capped Ram upgrade also allows Rams to now deal splash damage to adjacent structures and units, making them very useful in tearing down enemy Walls and clear makeshift obstructions. Also, Siege Rams perform outstandingly against Trebuchets. A Capped Ram can garrison up to five foot units (infantry, archers, or Villagers).

Tactics
Rams do not have any melee armor (in fact melee attackers get an attack bonus of +3), so any unit with a melee attack can destroy a Capped Ram rather quickly. The best ways to destroy them are with Mangonels, Mangudai, cavalry, or infantry. However, due to their high pierce armor and HP, they can withstand most ranged attacks easily. In fact, it's sometimes useful to add a few Capped Rams to an army for the sole purpose of soaking up enemy archer fire to protect the main force.

Capped  Rams can cause enormous damage if left ignored. Although they can attack units, the damage they do is negligible. However, they can be used against Trebuchets and other siege units to good effect. The Capped Ram is good against arrow-shooting Towers, buildings and Castles. In The Age of Kings, it is not recommended to use the Capped Ram against Bombard Towers, but this weakness was removed in a The Conquerors patch.

Since The Conquerors, infantry and foot archers can load themselves into Capped Rams, increasing their speed and damage, and giving enemies a nasty surprise should they attempt to destroy it. The presence of units garrisoned inside a Ram is denoted by a flag on top of the Ram (similar to Transport Ships). A Capped Ram may load up to five (four in The Conquerors) units. The relationship shared between foot troops and Rams is mutually beneficial. When they are fully loaded, it is granted a speed greater than that of most foot units. Thus, the Ram may be used as a viable form of rapid transportation for the infantry and foot archers, in addition to providing cover from withering archer fire from Castles and Towers while the Ram closes the gap. Capped Rams can knock holes in Walls and then disgorge infantry directly into the enemy base.

In The Forgotten, Villagers can also load themselves into Capped Rams enabling them to perform a distraction through deception by loading single Villagers in Rams making them effective dummies that can drive enemy forces away from the player's intended target, and enabling to perform offensive maneuvers. This new ability also enables to the Villagers to make them a better frontal support builders as they can travel inside Rams along with infantry and foot archers, and once they reach the intended place they can start to build frontal military structures.

Like with a Transport Ship, if a Ram is converted, units inside the Ram will not be converted. A converted Ram with units inside can hold them in order to prevent an enemy to use the population space from those units.

Further Statistics
Civilization Bonuses=
 * Aztecs: Capped Rams are created 15% faster.
 * Celts: Capped Rams attack 20% faster. A Capped Ram can convert Herdables even if enemy units are next to them.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Capped Rams are 20% cheaper.
 * Portuguese: Capped Rams cost 15% less gold.
 * Slavs: Capped Rams are 15% cheaper.
 * -|Team Bonuses=
 * A team containing Celts: Capped Rams are created and upgraded 20% faster.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Siege Engineers is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Teutons: Capped Rams are more resistant to conversion.


 * -|The Forgotten Changes=
 * Villagers can be garrisoned in Rams.
 * Celts: Furor Celtica gives +40% HP to Capped Rams (instead of +50% as in The Conquerors).
 * Capped Rams can now garrison five units instead of four.

Trivia

 * With the Mongol unique technology Drill, Rams loaded with infantry may move faster than cavalry. Such speed and damage will allow Mongol players to quickly devastate a defensive fortification far more swiftly than conventional Trebuchet or Bombard Cannon tactics.
 * The Capped Ram is one of only four upgraded forms of military units (the other three being the Man-at-Arms, the Long Swordsman, and the War Galley) to be available to all civilizations.

History
''Rams were simple and effective weapons for breaking into fortifications. The typical battering ram was a stout log mounted on wheels or suspended from a frame so it could swing forward and backward. Any wall could be knocked down given enough time. Capping the point of a battering ram with iron greatly improved the battering ram. The capped ram did more damage and lasted longer before needing replacement.''