Heavy Cannon

Heavy Cannon
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Artillery
Civilization(s)	All (except the British, Italians, and Ottomans)
Age	Industrial Age
Internal name	Cannon
Training
Trained at	Factory Palace (Hausa)
Cost	200 Wood 600 Coin 7 Population
Train time	115 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	475
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	: 3.5 : 1.4
Line of Sight	32
Train XP	80
Kill XP	80
Bombard attack
Damage	200 Siege
Area of Effect	4
Range	28
Rate of Fire	6.0
Bonus damage	3.0× vs. Infantry 3.0× vs. Ship 2.0× vs. Building 1.5× vs. Fixed Gun 0.75× vs. Artillery 0.5× vs. Arrow Knight
Case shot attack
Damage	20 (7) Siege
Area of Effect	6
Range	14
Rate of Fire	6.0
Bonus damage	3.0× vs. Infantry 1.5× vs. Fixed Gun 0.75× vs. Artillery 0.5× vs. Cavalry 0.5× vs. Shock infantry 0.5× vs. Arrow Knight
Requires	"Case Shot" card

“	Heavy artillery. Good against infantry or buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Heavy Cannon is an artillery unit in Age of Empires III that can only be trained at the Factory or shipped from the Home City.

Heavy Cannons are available to the European civilizations except British (who have Rockets instead), Italians (who have Papal Bombards instead), John Black's Mercenaries (Act II: Ice campaign), Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign), and Ottomans (who have Great Bombards instead) and Federal American civilizations. The Chinese can train them through the Russian Consulate allies, which provide the Factory Wagon technology. The Hausa can train them through the British Alliance Age-up.

In-game information

“

The Heavy Cannon is a long-ranged artillery piece that does a lot of area-of-effect damage. It is slow like other cannon and vulnerable once units can get close enough to attack it. The Heavy Cannon is only available from the Factory or the Home City. It cannot be conventionally trained like other military. British and Ottomans lack the Heavy Cannon, but have unique artillery instead.

”

Overview

The Heavy Cannon is the typical artillery piece for the Dutch, French, Germans, Maltese, Portuguese, Russians, Spanish, and Swedes. Its power and hit points are similar to the Great Bombard, but the Rate of Fire is slightly faster and it has no penalties versus cavalry. The Heavy Cannon is effective against enemy infantry and artillery units.

Overall, a Heavy Cannon (1 on 1) would have a good chance to beat a Great Bombard with full hit points, though it would rely on the Heavy Cannon getting two shots off (12 seconds) before the Bombard began attacking the Heavy Cannon. This is realistically possible due to the Heavy Cannon's smaller penalty versus other artillery and its greater Rate of Fire. Other common factors such as battlefield confusion, varying levels of micromanagement skill and Line of Sight advantages allow this scenario to occur frequently. The population cost of this unit is 7.

The The General Imperial Age politician provides 2 Heavy Cannons.

Hidden cost

The Heavy Cannon has a base cost of 200 wood, 600 coin, and a train time of 115 seconds (103.5 seconds with the "Engineering School" Home City Card, 109.25 seconds with the Chinese "TEAM Engineering School" Home City Card, 97.75 seconds with both), while the Factory generates 5.5 (7.15 with the respective improvements) resources every second.

Therefore, a Factory producing a Heavy Cannon uses up 632.5 resources (475.75 with "Engineering School" or "TEAM Engineering School", 379.5 with both); with all three of the respective improvements, the value goes up to 822.5 (618.475 with "Engineering School" or "TEAM Engineering School", 493.35 with both).

This means for the majority of civilizations, especially those lacking significant damage potential with Heavy Cannon, it is very economically damaging to create them. Improvements and Home City Cards that reduces artillery train time will also affect the Factory, whereas no economic cards do the same. With "Engineering School" or "TEAM Engineering School", the bonus for Heavy Cannon is only 5% whereas regular artillery will train 70% faster (30% faster for civilizations lacking their "Engineering School"), fielding much quicker.

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
Imperial Age	Imperial Cannon	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Heavy Cannons to Imperial Cannons (+50% hit points and damage)

Civilization differences

• The Chinese can get Heavy Cannons by allying with the Russians at the Consulate, which provides the shipment of one Factory Wagon, allowing the Chinese player to build a single Factory and train Heavy Cannons.
• The Hausa can receive 1 Imperial Cannon when allying with the British and can train them at the Palaces through British Artillery Engineers. These Heavy Cannons cost 800 influence instead of wood and coin cost.
• Since Knights of the Mediterranean, any civilization (except the British, Italians, and Ottomans) can train Heavy Cannons by allying with the House of Hanover and researching the Victorian Era, which ships a Factory Wagon, allowing the player to build a Factory.

Consulate unit

Heavy Cannon
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Artillery Consulate unit
Civilization(s)	Chinese Japanese (campaign only)
Age	Industrial Age
Internal name	ypConsulateCannon
Training
Banner army	German Expeditionary Army
Trained at	Consulate
Cost	7 Population
Statistics
Hit points	475
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	: 3.5 : 1.4
Line of Sight	32
Kill XP	80
Bombard attack
Damage	200 Siege
Area of Effect	4
Range	28
Rate of Fire	6.0
Bonus damage	3.0× vs. Infantry 3.0× vs. Ship 2.0× vs. Building 1.5× vs. Fixed Gun 0.75× vs. Artillery 0.5× vs. Arrow Knight

“	Heavy artillery. Good against infantry or buildings.	”
—In-game description

The Consulate Heavy Cannon is a counterpart of the Heavy Cannon, which starts with +10% hit points and damage.

Upgrades

The Consulate Heavy Cannon is automatically upgraded in the Imperial Age:

• +50% hit points and damage

Civilization differences

• The Chinese can get Consulate Heavy Cannons by allying with the Germans at the Consulate which provides the German Expeditionary Army that includes 1 Consulate Heavy Cannon.

Campaign appearance

• Consulate Heavy Cannons are available to the Japanese in Act I: Japan after reaching the Industrial Age through the Portuguese Expeditionary Army, which includes 3 Consulate Heavy Cannons.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Most units, buildings
Weak vs.	Artillery especially Culverins, Arrow Knights
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)
Speed	Trunion (+15%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Line of Sight	Gunner's Quadrant (+6) Town Watch (+3)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Improved Cannon Trade (changes cost to 500 coin, 400 influence; Hausa only)
Train time	Mass Production (-25%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Hausa only) Immigrants (-5%) New Mexico Immigration (-5%; United States only)
Other	Jagiellonian Legacy (delivers 2 Heavy Cannons if The General was chosen, except the British, Italians, and Ottomans) British Artillery Engineers (can be trained at Palaces; Hausa only) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost)
Penalties	High Crusade (-5% hit points; Knights of St. John only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Heavy Cannon

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
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Shared

Card	Description	Age
2 Heavy Cannons	Delivers 2 Heavy Cannons
Army of the Three Guarantees	Delivers 15 Soldados, 10 Chinacos, and 2 Heavy Cannons; costs 3 shipments	Imperial Age
Marion's Diversions	Delivers 2 Quaker Guns; enables Quaker Guns to be trained at Artillery Foundries; artillery speed +5%

• "2 Heavy Cannons" is available to the Dutch, French, Germans, Mexicans, Portuguese, Russians, Spanish, Swedes, and United States.
• "Army of the Three Guarantees" is available to Mexicans upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State, and also Spanish upon revolting to Mexico.
• "Marion's Diversions" is available to the United States upon selecting the South Carolina Federal State, and also British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Siege Hitpoints	Artillery and Flamethrower hit points +15%; grenade trooper hit points +20%
Siege Attack	Artillery and Flamethrower damage +15%; grenade trooper damage +20%
Siege Combat	Artillery hit points and damage +15%; Flamethrower and grenade trooper hit points and damage +20%
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%
Acupuncture	Unit (except monk) train time -20%; Summer Palace banner army, Flying Crow, and Heavy Cannon 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% instead
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate unit train time -50%; Consulate technology cost -40% (-300 export for Brigades), research time -50% (except Brigades)

• "Banner School" and "Good Faith Agreements" only affects Consulate Heavy Cannon.

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Italian Firearms	Delivers 3 Li'l Bombards; artillery (except Culverins) attack Area of Effect +25%; costs 2,500 influence

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Engineering School	Artillery, Fixed Gun, Siege Elephant, Flamethrower, Ram, Mantlet, and Haudenosaunee Mantlet train time -30%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, Flying Crow, and Gatling Camel train time -10% instead
1 Heavy Cannon	Delivers 1 Heavy Cannon
Flying Battery	Artillery (except Fixed Gun) speed +1.1; Falconet, Culverin, Mortar, Horse Artillery, Heavy Cannon, and Li'l Bombard bombard attack Rate of Fire -10%; Napoleon Gun bombard and caseshot attack Rate of Fire -10%
Lantakas	Artillery, building, and ship damage +15%
Wanderlust	Land military and land villager hit points +5%; land villager and construction wagon speed +5% (can be sent 3 times)
Knox's Continental Artillery	Delivers 5 Consulate Culverins; artillery train time -10%, hit points +10%; Culverin train time -25%, hit points +20% instead; costs 500 wood

• "Engineering School" is available to the French, Ottomans, Portuguese, Russians, and Swedes.
• "1 Heavy Cannon" is available to the Germans and French (upon revolting to Revolutionary France).
• "Flying Battery" is available to the Germans, Italians, and Spanish upon revolting to Argentina, and French upon revolting to Revolutionary France.
• "Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.
• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa.
• "Knox's Continental Artillery" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.

French

Card	Description	Age
Gribeauval System	Falconet, Culverin, and Horse Artillery damage +25%; Heavy Cannon damage +20%
Grand Battery	Delivers 3 Horse Artillery and 3 Heavy Cannons; costs 1,804 coin
Grande Armée	Enables Imperial upgrades for military units to be researched at -50% cost; Sansculotte cost +25%

• "Grand Battery" and "Grande Armée" are available upon revolting to Revolutionary France.

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
Covenant Chain	Delivers 4 Irish Brigadiers, 4 Highlanders, 3 Harquebusiers, and 2 Heavy Cannons; costs 2,000 coin

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	Unit train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%

Inca

Card	Description	Age
Road Building	Land military speed +10%

Indians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Japanese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Odzutsu Mortars	Artillery damage +10%; Samurai Line of Sight +2, siege attack range +1
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrade cost -20%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
Plan of Veracruz	Transforms all Outposts into Falconets; grants Field Guns; artillery Line of Sight +4; costs 250 food, 250 wood
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
Colegio de San Nicolas	Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%	Imperial Age

• "Colegio de San Nicolas" 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 trooper, and grenade trooper hit points and damage +15%

Portuguese

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

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM 1 Heavy Cannon	Delivers 1 Heavy Cannon; costs 500 coin
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Case Shot	Leather Cannon, Falconet, Culverin, Horse Artillery, and Heavy Cannon get the Case Shot attack
Cronstedt Reforms	Leather Cannon, Falconet, and Heavy Cannon population cost -1

United States

Card	Description	Age
Knox Artillery Train	Horse Artillery hit points +20%, train time -20%; Heavy Cannon hit points +20%, train time -10%; Grants Heavy Horse Guns
Connecticut Shipwrights	War ship train time -50%; building build time -35%; artillery train time -15%, Heavy Cannon train time -10% instead	Imperial Age
Bushnell's Sapper Corps	Delivers 3 Heavy Cannons; Ironclad train limit +1	Imperial Age

• "Marion's Diversions" is available upon selecting the South Carolina Federal State.
• "Connecticut Shipwrights" and "Bushnell's Sapper Corps" are available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
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 damage; Flamethrowers get +20% hit points and damage		25
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and damage		40
Banner School	Banner army train time -30%; Summer Palace banner army spawn time -7%		10
TEAM Engineering School	Abus Gunner, Grenadier, Culverin, Falconet, Mortar, Organ Gun, Mantlet, Ram, Light Cannon, Petard, Horse Artillery, Siege Elephant, Morutaru, Flaming Arrow, Hand Mortar, and Flamethrower train time -30%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, and Flying Crow train time -5%		25
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-400 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades)		1

• "Banner School" and "Good Faith Agreements" only affects Consulate Heavy Cannon.

Europeans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
2 Heavy Cannons	Ships 2 Heavy Cannons (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans)		10
TEAM Artillery Hitpoints	Artillery, Abus Gunners, and Grenadiers get +15% hit points		10
Engineering School	Abus Gunner, Grenadier, Culverin, Falconet, Mortar, Organ Gun, Mantlet, Ram, Light Cannon, Petard, Horse Artillery, Siege Elephant, Morutaru, Flaming Arrow, Hand Mortar, and Flamethrower train time -40%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, and Flying Crow train time -10%		25

• "2 Heavy Cannons" is available to the Dutch, French, Germans, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish.
• "TEAM Artillery Hitpoints" is available to the Ottomans and Portuguese.
• "Engineering School" is available to the French, Ottomans, Portuguese, and Russians.

French

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Gribeauval System	Falconets, Culverins, and Horse Artillery get +25% attack; Heavy Cannons get +20% attack		40

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
1 Heavy Cannon	Ships 1 Heavy Cannon; +4 Uhlans		10

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage		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 Gunners, and Grenadiers get +15% attack		25

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Tsar Cannon	Ships 2 Heavy Cannons		25

Spanish

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

Trivia

• The Heavy Cannon was originally trained at the Artillery Foundry.
• According to pre-release screenshots, the Heavy Cannon would be available to the British. There are unused voice files for British Heavy Cannon in the game files and in the Scenario Editor, which are the same voice files used by the Rocket.
• For the Chinese, Heavy Cannons spawned from the Factory, shipped by the Russians' allies, speak German like Heavy Cannons trained from the Consulate.

History

“

The logistics of moving, maintaining, positioning, aiming, and firing artillery required a highly drilled and disciplined team with a sharp commander. In addition to the men and artillery pieces in his command, an artillery officer had to see to the horses used to haul the pieces around - sometimes up to six for heavier guns. When one side in a battle could field hundreds of artillery pieces, the logistics of just moving them into position were taxing. "Heavy Cannon" is a relative term, but in general, cannon considered 'heavy' were typically used as permanent gun emplacements to defend Forts and strategic locations.

”

Gallery

A Heavy Cannon in Bombard mode

A Heavy Cannon in Limber mode

Heavy Cannon side model

Heavy Cannon in Bombard mode model

Heavy Cannon in Bombard mode side model

A Heavy Cannon in Limber mode in the Definitive Edition

Heavy Cannon in Bombard mode in the Definitive Edition

Heavy Cannon image from the Compendium section

See also

• Rocket – British equivalent
• Great Bombard – Ottoman equivalent
• Flying Crow – Chinese equivalent
• Sebastopol Mortar – Ethiopian equivalent
• Papal Bombard – Italian equivalent
• Li'l Bombard – Mercenary equivalent