Heavy Cannon

Heavy Cannon
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Artillery
Civilization(s)	Europeans (except the British, Italians, and Ottomans) Federal Americans Chinese Hausa
Age	Industrial Age
Training
Trained at	Factory Palace (Hausa)
Population	7
Wood	200
Coin	600
Train time	115 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	475
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	3.5 (Limber) 1.4 (Bombard)
Line of Sight	32
XP train bounty	80
XP kill bounty	80
Bombard attack
Damage	200 Siege
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Infantry and ship ×2.0 vs. Building ×1.5 vs. Fixed Gun ×0.75 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Arrow Knight
Area	4
Range	28
Rate of Fire	6.0
Caseshot attack
Damage	20 (7) Siege
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Infantry ×1.5 vs. Fixed Gun ×0.75 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Cavalry, shock infantry, and Arrow Knight
Area	6
Range	14
Rate of Fire	6.0
Requires	"Case Shot" HCC

“	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 and Federal American 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). The Hausa can train them through the British Alliance Age-up.

Overview

The Heavy Cannon is the typical heavy artillery piece for the Spanish, Portuguese, Germans, Russians, Dutch, French, Swedes and Maltese. 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 health, 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 for the Dutch, French, Germans, and Spanish.

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 "Engineering School", 109.25 seconds with "TEAM Engineering School" Home City Card, 92 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 Cannon	1,500 wood 1,500 coin	Upgrades Heavy Cannons to Imperial Cannons (+50% hit points and attack)

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 Heavy Cannon

Consulate Heavy Cannon
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Artillery Consulate unit
Civilization(s)	Chinese
Age	Industrial Age
Training
Banner army	German Expeditionary Army
Trained at	Consulate
Population	7
Wood	200
Coin	600
Train time	115 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	475
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	3.5 (Limber) 1.4 (Bombard)
Line of Sight	32
XP train bounty	80
XP kill bounty	80
Bombard attack
Damage	200 Siege
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Infantry and ship ×2.0 vs. Building ×1.5 vs. Fixed Gun ×0.75 vs. Artillery ×0.5 vs. Arrow Knight
Area	4
Range	28
Rate of Fire	6.0

“	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 attack.

Upgrades

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

• +50% hit points and attack

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.

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)
Line of Sight	Gunner's Quadrant (+6) Town Watch (+3)
Speed	Trunion (+15%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
Train time	Mass Production (-25%) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Hausa only) Immigrants (-5%) New Mexico Immigration (-5%; United States only)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost) Improved Cannon Trade (changes cost to 500 coin, 400 influence; Hausa only)
Other	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

All

Card	Description	Age
2 Heavy Cannons	Ships 2 Heavy Cannons (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans)
Army of the Three Guarantees	Ships 15 Soldados, 10 Chinacos, and 2 Heavy Cannons; costs 3 shipments

• "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.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
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' train time -20%, 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%
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-300 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades)

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

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Italian Firearms	Ships 3 Li'l Bombards; artillery except Culverins get +25% Area of Effect; 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%
1 Heavy Cannon	Ships 1 Heavy Cannon (also +4 Uhlans for the Germans)
Flying Battery	Falconets, Culverins, Mortars, Horse Artillery, Heavy Cannons, Napoleon Guns, and Li'l Bombards get +1.1 speed and -10% Rate of Fire
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

• "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 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.

French

Card	Description	Age
Gribeauval System	Falconets, Culverins, and Horse Artillery get +25% attack; Heavy Cannons get +20% attack
Grand Battery	Ships 3 Heavy Cannons and 3 Horse Artillery; costs 1,804 coin
Grande Armée	Imperial upgrades for military units are available and cost -50%

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

Haudenosaunee

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

Hausa

Card	Description	Age
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%

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, Abus Gunners, 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 1 Heavy Cannon	Ships 1 Heavy Cannon; costs 500 coin
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight

Swedes

Card	Description	Age
Case Shot	Leather Cannons, Falconets, Culverins, Horse Artillery, and Heavy Cannons get the Caseshot attack
Cronstedt Reforms	Leather Cannons, Falconets, and Heavy Cannons take -1 population

United States

Card	Description	Age
Knox Artillery Train	Upgrades Horse Artillery to Heavy Horse Guns (if not already); Horse Artillery and Heavy Cannons get +20% hit points; Horse Artillery train time -20%; Heavy Cannon train time -10%
Marion's Diversions	Artillery get +5% speed; Quaker Guns available at the Artillery Foundry
Connecticut Shipwrights	Ship train time -50%; building build time -35%; artillery train time -15%, Heavy Cannon train time -10% instead
Bushnell's Sapper Corps	Ships 2 Heavy Cannons; Ironclad train limit +1

• "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 attack; Flamethrowers get +20% hit points and attack		25
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		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 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 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

See also

• Flying Crow – Chinese analogue