Hand Mortar

Hand Mortar
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Artillery
Civilization(s)	Chinese
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Banner army	Mongolian Army (before the Definitive Edition)
Trained at	Castle Fort American Citadel
Cost	50 Food 90 Wood 1 Population
Train time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	100
Resistance	50% Ranged
Speed	3.0
Line of Sight	38
XP train bounty	14
XP kill bounty	14
Bombard attack
Damage	5 Siege
Area of Effect	1
Range	4-34
Rate of Fire	4.0
Bonus damage	16.0x Building 14.0x Ship 6.0x Siege unit 6.0x Artillery 1.25x Wall 0.2x Fixed Gun

“	Weak light artillery. En masse, good against other artillery.	”
—In-game description

The Hand Mortar is an artillery in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and can be trained at the Castle once the Fortress Age is reached or (prior to the Definitive Edition) as part of the Mongolian Army. It is a weak but very cheap artillery that only takes up one population.

Overview

The Hand Mortar has a high ranged resistance and it complements it with a bonus against artillery. They also out-range most artillery, with exception of the Mortar, Morutaru, and the Culverin (which has equal range), and most other units. It is a relatively weak artillery unit and deals a base damage of 5 points per shot, but has large multipliers against buildings, ships and artillery.

The Hand Mortar is ineffective against all forms of infantry and cavalry, and should not be left exposed. However, it is difficult to destroy by shelling, and with its low cost, it is an effective "meat shield" to protect the Chinese army, which is usually massed in large numbers, from enemy artillery fire. Due to its mediocre range compared to other mortars, it should be positioned outside a city's fortifications and attached to a Territorial or Old Han Army.

The Hand Mortar is best used in massed numbers against buildings, ships or other artillery. When positioned at the flanks, the Hand Mortar should be guarded by infantry or cavalry.

Upgrades

Hand Mortars automatically get +0.75x multiplier against Walls in the Industrial Age*.

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Honored Hand Mortar	250 food 250 wood	Upgrades Hand Mortars to Honored (+25% hit points and attack)
	Exalted Hand Mortar	1,000 wood 1,000 coin	Upgrades Hand Mortars to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Hand Mortar

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Artillery (when massed), ships, buildings
Weak vs.	Infantry (especially Arrow Knights), cavalry, shock infantry, Culverins
Improvements
Hit points	Professional Gunners (+10%) Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Smokeless Powder (+5%) Heated Shot (+50% multiplier vs. ships) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Line of Sight	Gunner's Quadrant (+6) Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Trunion (+15%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Hand Mortar

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Emperor's Army	Ships 22 Arquebusiers and 8 Hand Mortars; costs 1,500 food
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack
7 Hand Mortars	Ships 7 Hand Mortars
11 Hand Mortars	Ships 11 Hand Mortars
TEAM Wankouchong	Ships 4 Hand Mortars
Siege Hitpoints	Artillery and Flamethrowers get +15% hit points; grenade troopers get +20% hit points
Siege Attack	Artillery and Flamethrowers get +15% attack; grenade troopers get +20% attack
Siege Combat	Artillery get +15% hit points and attack; Flamethrowers and grenade troopers get +20% hit points and attack
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack
Acupuncture	All units' (except Shaolin Masters) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Heavy Cannon, and Flying Crow spawn time -5%
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%
TEAM Engineering School	Artillery, Fixed Gun, Siege Elephant, Flamethrower, Ram, Mantlet, and Haudenosaunee Mantlet train time -15%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, Flying Crow, and Gatling Camel train time -5%

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Coehorn Mortars	Mortars, Hand Mortars, Morutaru, Consulate Mortars, Grenadiers' Mortar attack, and Sebastopol Mortars get +20% attack

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Italian Firearms	Ships 3 Li'l Bombards; artillery except Culverins get +25% Area of Effect; costs 2,500 influence

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Lantakas	Artillery, buildings, and ships get +15% attack
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed
Knox's Continental Artillery	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

• "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.

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	Land military units get +10% speed

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Odzutsu Mortars	Artillery get +10% attack
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%

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

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Plan of Veracruz	[Plan] Turns all Outposts into Falconets; upgrades Falconets to Field Guns (if not already); artillery get +4 Line of Sight; costs 250 food, 250 wood
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.

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age
Topçular	Artillery, artillery troopers, and grenade troopers get +15% hit points and attack

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age
Artillery Hitpoints	Grenade troopers get +30% hit points; artillery get +15% hit points

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

United States

Card	Description	Age
Marion's Diversions	Artillery get +5% speed; Quaker Guns available at the Artillery Foundry

• "Marion's Diversions" is available upon selecting the South Carolina Federal State.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Emperor's Army	Ships 22 Arquebusiers and 8 Hand Mortars; costs 1,500 food		40
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
7 Hand Mortars	Ships 7 Hand Mortars		1
11 Hand Mortars	Ships 11 Hand Mortars		25
TEAM 4 Hand Mortars	Ships 4 Hand Mortars		25
Siege Hitpoints	Artillery get +15% hit points; Flamethrowers get +20% hit points		10
Siege Attack	Artillery get +15% attack; Flamethrowers get +20% attack		10
Siege Combat	Artillery get +15% hit points and attack; Flamethrowers get +20% hit points and attack		25
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	All units' (except Shaolin Masters, Heavy Cannons, Flying Crows, and Summer Palace banner armies) train time -20%		10
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%		10
TEAM Engineering School	Abus Gun, Grenadier, Culverin, Falconet, Mortar, Organ Gun, Mantlet, Ram, Light Cannon, Petard, Horse Artillery, Siege Elephant, Morutaru, Flaming Arrow, Hand Mortar, and Flamethrowers train time -30%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, and Flying Crow train time -5%		25

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Coehorn Mortars	Mortars, Hand Mortars, Morutaru, and Consulate Mortars get +20% attack		1

Europeans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Artillery Hitpoints	Artillery, Abus Guns, and Grenadiers get +15% hit points		10

• "TEAM Artillery Hitpoints" is available to the Ottomans and Portuguese.

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 Cheaper Unit Upgrades	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Artillery Attack	Artillery, Abus Guns, and Grenadiers get +15% attack		25

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• The Hand Mortar is trained as part of the Mongolian Army.
• Hand Mortars have a speed of 4.0, a max speed of 5.0, 20 siege damage, a ×4.0 multiplier against buildings, and ×2.0 against ships and artillery. With patch 1.01, Hand Mortars have a speed of 3.0, a max speed of 4.0, 5 siege damage, a ×16.0 multiplier against buildings, ×14.0 against ships, and ×6.0 against artillery.

Definitive Edition

• The Hand Mortar is no longer trained as part of the Mongolian Army.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.58326, Hand Mortars have a ×1.25 multiplier against Walls in the Fortress Age, which is increased to ×2.0 upon reaching the Industrial Age.
• With update 15.59076, Hand Mortars have a ×6.0 multiplier against siege units.

Trivia

• The Hand Mortar is the cheapest artillery unit in Age of Empires III.
• Despite the model featuring two men carrying the weapon, the Hand Mortar only uses a single population slot.

History

“

The earliest use of exploding bombs dates back to 1044, when bombs were encased in paper and generally used to create a distraction, or to startle soldiers and cavalry horses. The first Chinese hand mortar used specifically for firing iron-cased bombs was found in 1413. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the hand-thrown bomb became more common in battle, and eventually the Chinese began to use it as mortar ammunition, replacing spherical stones as the projectile of choice. The hand mortar was highly mobile and its fuse could be shortened and lengthened in accordance with the kind of bomb it was firing. Because of the diversity of bombs developed by Chinese and Korean armies, a hand mortar could cause a wide variety of effects, making it a very adaptable, and very dangerous, siege weapon.

”

Gallery

A Hand Mortar in Bombard mode

A Hand Mortar in Limber mode

The Hand Mortar's history portrait

Hand Mortar in real life

A Chinese gun similar to hand mortar, from Yuan dynasty, 1332. It is called a 碗口铳 (Wǎn kǒu chòng) or bowl-mouthed gun.

In-game Hand Mortar in Limber mode in the Definitive Edition

In-game Hand Mortar in Bombard mode in the Definitive Edition

In-game Honored Hand Mortar in Limber mode in the Definitive Edition