Artillery (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit type in Age of Empires III. For other uses, see Artillery.

A battery of Heavy Cannons, firing behind a column of heavy infantry

Artillery are heavy weapon units in Age of Empires III, superseding the role of siege units in Age of Empires II.

Overview

Artillery generally become available in the Fortress Age and are produced from Artillery Foundries or Forts for European civilizations, from Castles for Asian civilizations, from Siege Workshops for the Haudenosaunee, and from Palaces for African civilizations. However, the most powerful artillery (such as Heavy Cannons, the British Rockets, the Ottomans' Great Bombards, or the Italians' Papal Bombards) are produced at Factories in the Industrial Age. They can also be shipped from the Home City.

Artillery are typically effective against infantry, buildings, and ships, and are best countered by heavy cavalry, light ranged cavalry, shock infantry, and Culverins.

Note: They are different from the so-called siege units/siege troopers (such as Grenadiers) which are specifically differentiated when damage multipliers come into effect. Siege units/siege troopers are classified as infantry or cavalry, and they benefit from the the corresponding improvements and are countered accordingly. Counter-artillery units such as Culverins and Hand Mortars are not as efficient against siege units/siege troopers.

Most cannons have modes for moving (Limber mode) and firing (Bombard mode). In Bombard mode, they move at 40% of their base speed. Switching modes takes a few seconds, and they will automatically switch to the appropriate mode when commanded to attack or move for more than a short distance.

Some civilizations have their own unique artillery pieces, such as the Rocket for the British, the Great Bombard for the Ottomans, and the Papal Bombard for the Italians. The Spanish (with the Unction card) and the Japanese (Shogun/Daimyo auras) can increase the hit points or damage of their artillery units through the use of aura effects.

List of artillery units

• Captured Mortar (Native Americans and Maya only)
• Cetbang Cannon (Indonesia only)
• Culverin
• Falconet
• Fixed Gun (Maltese only)
• Flaming Arrow (Japanese only)
• Gatling Camel (The African Royals onwards)
• Gatling Gun (The WarChiefs onwards, for revolting European civilizations and the United States)
• Hand Mortar (Chinese only)
• Horse Artillery (The WarChiefs onwards)
• Leather Cannon (Swedes only)
• Leonardo's Tank (Italians only, or as cheat unit)
• Light Cannon (Haudenosaunee, Inca and Maya only)
• Li'l Bombard (The WarChiefs onwards)
• Mansabdar Siege Elephant (Indians only)
• Mortar
• Morutaru (Japanese only)
• Napoleon Gun (since update 23511 of the Definitive Edition)
• Organ Gun (Portuguese only)
• Quaker Gun (United States and revolutionary United States only)
• Sebastopol Mortar (Ethiopians only)
• Siege Elephant (Indians only)

Auto-spawning artillery

• Flying Crow (Chinese only)
• Great Bombard (Ottomans only; also known as the Tsar Cannon to the Russians)
• Heavy Cannon (Federal Americans and European civilizations except British, Italians, and Ottomans)
• Papal Bombard (Italians only)
• Rocket (British only)

Campaign only

• Great Cannon
• Redoubt Cannon

Cheat units

• Mediocre Bombard

Trivia

• For the most part of the Modern age, artillery wasn't standardized, and the guns names were exchanged until the Gribeauval system. Ensemble Studios used the now-outdated "Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History" theoretical framework for the units' appearances, while they based their roles on the works of Luis Collado (?-1602):
  • Culverins are the modern strict sense of "cannons" or "guns": artillery used for straight fire, relatively long and slender, used in long distance fire.
  • Cannons are the equivalent of modern howitzers: curved trajectories, from relatively thick barrels.