Elite Cannon Galleon

Elite Cannon Galleon
Unit information
Introduced in	The Age of Kings
Type	Naval vessel Gunpowder unit
Civilization	See table
Age	Imperial Age
Training
Trained at	Dock
Wood	200
Gold	150
Training time	46 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	150
Attack	45 melee
Attack bonuses	+275 vs Building +40 vs Siege weapon +15 vs Infantry +15 vs Archer +15 vs Cavalry +4 vs Mameluke
Rate of Fire	10
Frame delay	0
Range	15
Minimum range	3
Accuracy	50%
Projectile speed	1.95
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	8
Armor classes	Ship Gunpowder unit
Speed	1.1
Line of Sight	17
Unit evolution
Upgraded from	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 naval vessel 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.

Unit availability

Available	Unavailable
Berbers*^ Burgundians^ Burmese* Byzantines* Indians* Italians* Japanese* Khmer* Koreans Lithuanians Malay* Persians* Portuguese*^ Saracens* Spanish*^ Tatars Turks*^ Vietnamese* Vikings*	Aztecs Britons Bulgarians Celts Chinese Cumans Ethiopians Franks Goths Huns Incas Magyars Malians Mayans Mongols Sicilians Slavs Teutons

The * indicates that the civilization can fully upgrade their Elite Cannon Galleons, i.e. gets Dry Dock. Faith and Heresy are not taken into account because they only contribute to their combat strength in a very situational manner.

The ^ indicates that the civilization has at least one civilization or team bonus or a unique technology that benefits the combat strength of the Elite Cannon Galleon.

Tactics

Elite Cannon Galleons have an exceptionally long range and deal bonus damage against buildings. They can outrange Castles and Bombard Towers, so they are almost the sea-going equivalent to Bombard Cannons, only being slightly faster. They deal huge damage, 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.

Generally speaking, Elite Cannon Galleons should only be used to clear the shoreline off enemy buildings, and not be put against enemy ships.

Spanish Elite 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

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Buildings
Weak vs.	Ships, Bombard Cannons, Monks
Upgrades
Range	Artillery (+2, Turks only)
Accuracy	Arquebus (hit moving targets, Portuguese only)
Armor	Careening (+0/+1)  Carrack (+1/+1, Portuguese only)
Speed	Dry Dock (+15%)
Conversion defense	Faith  Heresy
Creation speed	Shipwright (+54%)
Train cost	Shipwright (-20% wood)

Civilization bonuses

• Berbers: Elite Cannon Galleons move 10% faster.
• Burgundians: Elite Cannon Galleons have +25% attack.
• Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
• Italians: Elite Cannon Galleons are 20% cheaper. Researching Chemistry, Careening, Dry Dock, and Shipwright is 33% cheaper.
• Persians: Elite Cannon Galleons are created 20% faster. Careening and Dry Dock are researched 20% faster.
• Portuguese: Elite Cannon Galleons have +10% HP and cost 20% less gold. Upgrades that benefit Elite Cannon Galleons are researched 30% faster.
• Spanish: Elite Cannon Galleons have Ballistics-like accuracy and faster missiles.
• Tatars: Elite Cannon Galleons deal +25% bonus damage from cliffs and elevations.
• Turks: Elite Cannon Galleons have +25% HP.
• Vikings: Elite Cannon Galleons are 20% cheaper.

Team bonuses

• A team containing Lithuanians: Researching Heresy and Faith is 20% faster.
• A team containing Turks: Elite Cannon Galleons are created 25% faster.
• A team containing Teutons: Elite Cannon Galleons are more resistant to conversion.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

• Shipwright only reduces the wood cost by 20%.
• Mongols: Can build Elite Cannon Galleons.
• Turks: Elite Cannon Galleons have 150 HP. Due to a bug, Elite Cannon Galleons do not benefit from the civilization bonus that gives all other gunpowder units +50% HP.

The Conquerors

• With patch 1.0b, Shipwright also decreases train time by 35% now.
• Heresy introduced.
• Spanish: Elite Cannon Galleon's projectiles are affected by the technology Ballistics and are 4× faster.
• Turks: Artillery introduced. Elite Cannon Galleons now benefit from the civilization bonus and have +25% HP (the bonus was reduced).
• Koreans: cannot train Elite Cannon Galleons.

The Forgotten

• Italians: Elite Cannon Galleons are 15% cheaper.
• Mongols: Elite Cannon Galleon removed from technology tree.
• Spanish: Elite Cannon Galleons fire with Ballistics-like accuracy (without need for the technology itself) and their cannonballs move at 7 tiles/s (~3.6× faster).

The African Kingdoms

• Italians: With patch 4.8, Elite Cannon Galleons are now 20% cheaper.

Definitive Edition

• Portuguese: With update 39284, Elite Cannon Galleons cost 20% less gold. With update 42848, technologies are researched 30% faster.

Lords of the West

• Koreans: With update 44725, Elite Cannon Galleon added to the technology tree.

Trivia

• If an Elite Cannon Galleon is created in the Scenario Editor for a player that isn't in the Post-Imperial Age, it will be able to do actions like follow or protect other units, which it can't do when created during a game.
• The Elite Cannon Galleon is the naval unit with the longest base range (15), and has the second 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 second longest range, tied at 17 with any regular Trebuchet with Siege Engineers researched, a value that is only beaten by the Tatar Trebuchet with Timurid Siegecraft researched (19 range).
• Before the Definitive Edition, Cannon Galleons and Elite Cannon Galleons shared the same icon and model. They were the only non-unique units to do so. However, in the Definitive Edition, Elite Cannon Galleons have a new unique model and icon.
• Said shared model (retained by the unupgraded Cannon Galleon in the Definitive Edition) is armed with a Late Medieval Bombard Cannon that is lashed to the ship, implying that it was put on a ship not designed to carry cannons (as referenced in the History section). In contrast, the Elite Cannon Galleon is armed with a more advanced bronze Culverin from the 16th century, with trunnions, and the ship's bow has a figurehead.

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.

”

Gallery

A group of Elite Cannon Galleons

All Elite Cannon Galleons in The Age of Kings and The Conquerors

All Elite Cannon Galleons introduced in the HD expansions

Elite Cannon Galleons can destroy enemy fortifications from a safe distance.

Elite Cannon Galleons in the Definitive Edition

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