Hand Mortar

Hand Mortar
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Artillery
Civilization	Chinese
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Banner army	Mongolian Army*
Trained at	Castle
Food	50
Wood	90
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	100
Resists	50% vs. Ranged
Speed	3.0 (Limber) 1.2 (Bombard)
Line of Sight	38
Population	1
XP train bounty	14
XP bounty	14
Siege attack
Damage	5
Multipliers	x16.0 vs. Building x14.0 vs. Ship x6.0 vs. Artillery
Range	4-34
Area of Effect	1
Rate of Fire	4.0

“	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

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.	Buildings, ships, artillery (when massed)
Weak vs.	Infantry especially Arrow Knights, cavalry, Culverins
Improvements
Hit points	Professional Gunners (+10%)
Attack	Heated Shot (+1.5x multiplier vs. ships)
Sight	Town Watch (+2) Gunner's Quadrant (+6)
Speed	Trunion (+15%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Creation speed	Quechuan Diet (-10% individually, -18% Mongolian Army)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only)

Home City Cards

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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team 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 Acupuncture Unit train time -20% 10 Banner School Banner army train time -23% 10 TEAM Engineering School Abus Gun, Grenadier, Falconet/Organ Gun, Culverin, Mortar, Horse Artillery, Petard, Ram, Mantlet, Light Cannon, Flamethrower, Hand Mortar, Siege Elephant, Flaming Arrow, and Morutaru train time -30%; Heavy Cannon, Rocket, Great Bombard, and Flying Crow train time -5%; Black Flag Army and Mongolian Army train time -15% 25 Dutch Card Description Age HC level TEAM Coehorn Mortars Mortars, Hand Mortars, and Morutaru get +20% attack 1 Europeans Card Description Age HC level TEAM Artillery Hitpoints Artillery, Abus Guns, and Grenadiers get +15% hit points 10 The TEAM Artillery Hitpoints card is available to Ottomans and Portuguese (in the Fortress Age). 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 LOS 10

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• The Hand Mortar is trained as part of the Mongolian Army.

Definitive Edition

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

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.