“ | Fire Junk. Rams anything on the water and explodes. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Fire Junk is a military ship in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is exclusive to the Chinese and can be trained at the Dock once the Commerce Age is reached. It makes a beeline towards enemy ships or buildings close to shore and explodes to deal splash damage, similar to the Demolition Ship in Age of Empires II.
Overview[]
The Fire Junk is a cheap ship with a high attack, high speed and a great line of sight, the highest in the game for a ship, even higher than a Monitor's. But it has low hit points, no range and it can be used only once. It's mainly used to quickly destroy ships, especially fragile ones and ones that transport units. It's also useful against land units and buildings directly adjacent to the water, especially when the enemy has them in tight bunches, allowing multiple kills at once. They can also prove useful in shore battles, destroying Docks quickly and preventing the enemy from training a fleet.
One of the Fire Junk's weaknesses is that against human players, if the enemy ship flees, the Fire Junk will detonate too early.
Further statistics[]
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Ships, buildings and units close to shore/in shallows |
Weak vs. | Artillery especially Culverins, defensive structures |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Rawhide Covers (+30%; Haudenosaunee only) Armor Plating (+50%) Heavy Riverboats (+25%; Africans only) Byzantine Legacy (+15%) Cipactli Worship (+10%; Aztecs only) Tar Kilns (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) |
Attack | Flaming Arrows (+30%; Lakota only) Carronade (+25%) River Skirmishes (+25%; Africans only) Cipactli Worship (+10%; Aztecs only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification) |
Line of Sight | Town Watch (+3) |
Train time | Immigrants (-10%) |
Other | Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) Öresund Customs (generates 0.1 coin/sec.) |
Penalties | Coffee Trade (-10% speed; Dutch only) |
Home City Cards[]
- Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Fire Junk
Some cards are highlighted with: | |
Green | TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team |
Blue | Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds) |
All[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
Improved Warships | Warships get +25% hit points and attack (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians) | 10 | |
TEAM Improved Warships | Warships get +10% hit points and attack | 10 | |
Naval Gunners | Warships get +20% attack | 25 | |
Offshore Support | Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans) | 40 | |
European Cannons | Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians) | 25 | |
Admiralty | Dock warship technologies cost and research time -60% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians) | 1 |
- "Improved Warships" is not available to the Chinese, Lakota, and United States.
- "TEAM Improved Warships" is available to the Chinese and Maltese.
- "Naval Gunners" is available to the British, French, Italians, Maltese, Russians, Swedes, and United States.
- "Offshore Support" is available to the Aztecs, Germans, Inca, Maltese, and Ottomans.
- "European Cannons" is not available to Europeans and Native Americans.
- "Admiralty" is not available to Africans and Native Americans.
Chinese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
Western Reforms | All units get +8% hit points and attack | 40 | |
Acupuncture | All units' train time -20% | 10 | |
Advanced Dock | Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 85% faster; warships' train time -33% | 10 | |
2 Fire Junks | Ships 2 Fire Junks | 10 | |
TEAM Burning Sea | Ships 3 Fire Junks | 10 | |
Chinese Imperial Navy | Ships 1 Fire Junk and 1 Fuchuan | 25 | |
Fire Junk Attack | Fire Junks get +50% attack | 25 | |
European Cannons | Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range | 40 | |
Admiralty | Dock warship technologies cost and research time -60% | 1 |
Ethiopians[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Ignatian Spirituality | All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat |
Europeans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
Lantakas | Artillery, buildings, and ships get +15% attack |
- "Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.
Indians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics | All units get +5% hit points and attack | 25 |
Japanese[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Sengoku | Unit upgrades cost -20% | 1 |
Maltese[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Knights of the Round Table | Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points | |
Speronaras | Ships get +10% speed; Order Galleys and Fishing Boats get +30% speed instead |
Mexicans[]
Card | Description | Age |
---|---|---|
TEAM Mariachi | For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed | |
Colegio de San Nicolás | Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds | |
National Servant | All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster |
- "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
- "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.
Native Americans[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
Water Ceremony | Water Ceremony available at the Community Plaza | 1 |
- "Water Ceremony" is not available to the Lakota.
Russians[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Cold Water Port | Warships cost -15% | 10 |
Spanish[]
Card | Description | Age | HC level |
---|---|---|---|
TEAM Spanish Inquisition | Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight | 10 |
Changelog[]
The Asian Dynasties[]
- Fire Junks train in 10 seconds.
Knights of the Mediterranean[]
- Fire Junks train in 15 seconds.
Trivia[]
- The Fire Junk uses the same model as the War Junk.
- When it is trained, the Fire Junk quickly begins to burn, and it can burn indefinitely.
- Ironically, althought being a Chinese unique unit, the Fire Junk's history section does not mention any usage of fire junk by the Chinese navy, but instead mentioning the usage of a similar demolition ship by the British against the Spanish, which is unavailable in-game.
History[]
“ | Virtually everything on a tall ship is flammable, from wooden planks and tar that seals seams to greased ropes and canvas sails, to gunpowder - especially gunpowder! Black powder ships, also called fireships, were ships set afire and allowed to drift (or were sometimes piloted by a minimal crew, who escaped before impact) into enemy fleets with the purpose of setting them afire and blowing them up. Fireships were particularly nasty when sailed into harbors to destroy immobile ships at anchor. Fireships were used by the English Royal Navy against the larger and more powerful Spanish Armada. Unable to find a proper port or deep mooring, the Spanish fleet congregated in a defensive arc, into which the British sailed a half-dozen fireships, scattering and confusing the Spanish fleet. This allowed the smaller English fleet to engage the Spanish Armada on a more even footing. | ” |