The Falconet is a simple yet surprisingly useful and capable artillery piece, which is important because of their early accessibility and impact on early battles, due to its bonus against infantry that combines well with its area damage and versatility. Sent early into the Fortress Age, they can allow friendly infantry to quickly turn the tide of battle as long as they have the needed protection of a nearby force. They are usually used in small groups, such as the early "2 Falconets" Home City Card.
Each shot deals 300 damage to nearby infantry, which are usually packed very densely. Limbered, the unit is also quite fast for artillery, keeping pace with infantry, and can reposition along with an army between battles. Falconets can be easily countered with the Culverin, which is effective against other pieces of artillery. They are also extremely weak against cavalry in melee, both heavy cavalry and light cavalry such as Dragoons, and should be protected by nearby heavy infantry or ranged cavalry, or placed behind obstacles like walls. Light cavalry such as Dragoons also counter artillery at range, but is not as deadly as if the Dragoons go into melee mode and reach the Falconets intact without any heavy infantry protecting the cannons.
In addition to their anti-infantry properties, they are also very well designed for heavier tasks such as destroying enemy buildings. This is because of their high rate of fire, long range, high base damage and multiplier against buildings. This lets them take down buildings quickly and safely while other units such as Musketeers protect them from cavalry. However, they are not as good as Mortars against buildings, which although might have a slower rate of fire and lower speed, have far better range and higher damage against buildings. If the battle drags on, Heavy Cannons or unique equivalents (such as Rockets or Great Bombards) may prove a useful alternative as well. However, in the early game, Falconets on their own are sufficient against buildings if needed and can outrange Town Centers, Outposts, and some base defenses.
They are also surprisingly powerful against ships, performing nearly as well as Culverins. A small group can easily sink stray Galleons and Caravels thanks to the damage multiplier, provided ships somehow come into their firing range. However, Mortars and Culverins can pick ships off more safely from deeper inland with their longer range but slower rate of fire.
Note that all cannons deal siege damage for resistance purposes, which is distinct from the ranged damage of gunfire. This means that units such as Skirmishers, who have 30% ranged resist, do not resist any of the cannon damage, and are therefore easily countered by cannons such as Falconets.
African civilizations can train Falconets at the Palace when the Imported Cannons technology is researched. These Falconets cost 500 influence instead of wood and coin cost, and automatically upgrade to Field Guns and Imperial Field Guns in the Industrial Age and Imperial Age respectively.
The Portuguese can ship 1 (III), 3 (IV), and 5 (V) Field Guns through the "Estremoz Field Guns" Home City Card. Numbers vary by which Age the card was sent.
Asian civilizations can get Consulate Falconets by allying with British and Spanish at the Consulate, which provides armies and technologies that includes Consulate Falconets listed below:
Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-300 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades) (also +1 Villager for the Indians)
Ships 5 Consulate Culverins; artillery get +10% hit points and -10% train time; Culverins get +20% hit points and -25% train time instead; costs 500 wood
"2 Falconets + 2 Culverins" and "1 Falconet + 1 Culverin" are available to the Italians and Swedes.
"Blockhouse Cannon" is available to the Russians and also Swedes upon revolting to Finland.
"Engineering School" is available to the French, Ottomans, Portuguese, Russians, and Swedes.
"Flying Battery" is available to the Germans, Italians, and Spanish upon revolting to Argentina, and French upon revolting to Revolutionary France.
"3 Falconets" is available to the Italians, Maltese, Ottomans, and Portuguese upon revolting to the Barbary States, and the British and French upon revolting to Haiti.
"Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.
"Wanderlust" is available to the Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.
"Knox's Continental Artillery" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.
Grenade troopers get +30% hit points; artillery get +15% hit points
Estremoz Field Guns
Upgrades Falconets to Field Guns and ships an increasing amount of Field Guns per Age: 1 Field Gun in the Fortress Age; 3 Field Guns in the Industrial Age; 5 Field Guns in the Imperial Age
Falconets were among the smallest artillery. They weighed about 280 pounds, had a six-foot barrel and used about a pound of powder to fire a one pound shot. Still, the small quantity of powder (relative to larger artillery pieces) was enough to make a properly braced Falconet fly back up to 10 yards when fired.
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Gallery[]
A Falconet in Bombard mode
A Falconet in Limber mode
A(n) (Imperial) Field Gun in Limber mode
A(n) (Imperial) Field Gun in Bombard mode
A real-life Falconet
A 16th century Falconet in the Bauernkriegsmuseum, Muhlhausen, Germany.
Falconet in the original game and in the Definitive Edition
A Falconet in Limber mode in the Definitive Edition
A Falconet in Bombard mode in the Definitive Edition
A(n) (Imperial) Field Gun in Limber mode in the Definitive Edition
In-game Ottoman Falconet (the in-game model required the "Topçular" Home City Card before update 14.43676)
Field Guns
Imperial Field Guns
+25% hit points and attack
Professional Gunners (+10%)
Tar Kilns (+5%)
Smokeless Powder (+5%)
Heated Shot (+50% multiplier vs. ships)
Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Gunner's Quadrant (+6)
Town Watch (+3)
Trunion (+15%)
Apache Endurance (+5%)
Immigrants (-10%)
Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Africans only)
Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost)
Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Improved Cannon Trade (changes cost to 300 coin, 250 influence; Africans only)
British Brigade (delivers 5 Consulate Falconets; Chinese and Indians only)
Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers 2 Falconets if The Engineer was chosen, except the Portuguese)
Imported Cannons (can be trained at Palaces; Africans only)
Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
High Crusade (-5% hit points; Knights of St. John only)
1 Falconet
2 Falconets
2 Falconets
3 Falconets
Feudal Armies
Good Faith Agreements
Siege Hitpoints
Siege Attack
Siege Combat
Western Reforms
Acupuncture
Banner School
TEAM Engineering School
Ignatian Spirituality
Italian Firearms
2 Falconets + 2 Culverins
1 Falconet + 1 Culverin
Blockhouse Cannon
Engineering School
Flying Battery
3 Falconets
Lantakas
Wanderlust
Knox's Continental Artillery
Gribeauval System
Grande Armée
Road Building
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics
Foreign Trading Companies
TEAM Odzutsu Mortars
TEAM Sengoku
Bakufu
TEAM Knights of the Round Table
4 Falconets
1 Falconet +1 Mortar
Squires
Los Colorados Battallion
Plan of Veracruz
TEAM Mariachi
National Servant
Artillery
1 Falconet
Topçular
Estremoz Field Guns
Tsar Cannon
TEAM 1 Falconet
TEAM Spanish Inquisition
Case Shot
Cronstedt Reforms
Marions Diversions
Advanced Artillery
TEAM Artillery Hitpoints
