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Bohemian unique siege unit. Siege weapon with long range.
—In-game description

The Houfnice is the second unique unit of the Bohemians in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes. It can be trained at the Siege Workshop in the Imperial Age once Chemistry is researched. As an upgrade to the Bombard Cannon, it is a long-ranged gunpowder siege unit.

Unlike most unique units, the Houfnice do not have an Elite version, as they are already a final unique upgrade.

Tactics[]

Compared with a regular Bombard Cannon, the Houfnice has +10 hit points, +1 pierce armor, +10 melee damage, +0.2 tiles of blast radius (0.7), +10 bonus damage vs. ships, stone defenses, and Heavy siege, and +50 bonus damage vs. buildings. The upgrade does cost a sizable 1,100 food, 800 gold, but it pays for itself quicker than it would seem as Bombard Cannons are already costly.

The Houfnice can take up to 23 fully upgraded Arbalester bolts, compared to 16 for a Bombard Cannon. It also has a 40% larger blast radius, making it more effective against mass infantry and foot archers. It flips the trade against Siege Onagers, which kills the Houfnice in two shots (one shot if 4–5 extra Siege Onager projectiles hit the Houfnice with an attack order (not attack ground), depending on Chemistry) but only needs one Houfnice shot to be killed (guaranteed on attack ground). It is the other way around for ordinary Bombard Cannons.

Its higher pierce armor also means it takes 1 damage from fully upgraded Elite Skirmishers, rather than 2 damage like a Bombard Cannon would.

Comparison with Siege Onager and Warwolf Trebuchet[]

Houfnice Siege Onager Warwolf / Trebuchet
Research cost 1,100 food, 800 gold
140 seconds
1,450 food, 1,000 gold
150 seconds
800 wood, 400 gold
40 seconds
Hit points 90 70 150
Armor 2/6 0/8 2/8 OR 1/150
Blast Radius 0.7 1.5 0.5
Range 12 8 16
Main Role anti-siege and anti-building anti-unit and anti-siege
clearing forests
anti-building
monk-resistant and archer-resistant
Availability Bohemians 13 civilizations Britons

Further statistics[]

As Houfnices are unique to the Bohemians, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Buildings, units in dense formations, slow moving units, ships, foot archers, siege weapons
Weak vs. Melee units at close range, especially Condottieri, Elite Eagle Warriors, and Magyar Huszars, Mangudai
Upgrades
Attack Siege Engineers (+20% attack against buildings)
Range Siege Engineers (+1)
Speed Wagenburg Tactics (+15%)
Conversion defense Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Heresy (die upon getting converted)

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

Dawn of the Dukes[]

  • Houfnices cost 950 food, 750 gold to upgrade, have 55 melee attack and attack bonuses vs Ships and Heavy siege, and 0.85 blast radius.

Dynasties of India[]

  • With update 61321, Houfnices have 50 melee attack and attack bonuses vs Ships and Heavy siege, and 0.80 blast radius.
  • With update 78174, Houfnices cost 1,100 food, 800 gold to upgrade and had their blast radius reduced to 0.7.

History[]

The Czech word houfnice is the origin of the German and English word howitzer. It derives in turn from the word houf, meaning crowd.

In the Hussite Wars of the 1420s and 1430s, the Czechs used short-barreled houfnice cannons to fire at short distances into crowds of infantry, or into charging heavy cavalry, to make horses shy away.

Trivia[]

  • In conjunction with stronger Halberdiers against cavalry and overall being better than the Bombard Cannon, the Houfnice is often subject of criticism because of how strong it is on closed maps on choke points due to the high attack and blast radius. This is the reason for the unit having several stats reduced over time.
  • The English word 'howitzer' is derived from Houfnice.
  • Although not possible to see in normal gameplay, the Houfnice is affected by the unique technology Artillery.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Units in Age of Empires II
Civilian Villager · Trade Cart · Fishing Ship · Trade Cog · King
Miscellaneous Transport Ship · Monk · Petard
Infantry Militia Man-at-Arms Long Swordsman Two-Handed Swordsman Champion
Spearman Pikeman Halberdier
Archer Archer Crossbowman Arbalester
Skirmisher Elite Skirmisher
Hand Cannoneer
Cavalry Archer Heavy Cavalry Archer
Cavalry Scout Cavalry Light Cavalry Hussar
Knight Cavalier Paladin
Siege weapon Battering Ram Capped Ram Siege Ram
Mangonel Onager Siege Onager
Scorpion Heavy Scorpion
Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet
Siege Tower
War ship Galley War Galley Galleon
Fire Galley Fire Ship Fast Fire Ship
Demolition Raft Demolition Ship Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon Galleon Elite Cannon Galleon
Regional
Infantry Eagle Scout Eagle Warrior Elite Eagle Warrior
Fire Lancer Elite Fire Lancer
Archer Elephant Archer Elite Elephant Archer
Cavalry Camel Rider Heavy Camel Rider
Battle Elephant Elite Battle Elephant
Steppe Lancer Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotl Warrior
Armored Elephant Siege Elephant
Hei Guang Cavalry Heavy Hei Guang Cavalry
War ship Dromon
Lou Chuan
Siege weapon Rocket Cart Heavy Rocket Cart
Traction Trebuchet
Unique
Monk Missionary · Warrior Priest
Infantry Berserk · Chakram Thrower · Condottiero · Dismounted Konnik · Flemish Militia · Gbeto · Ghulam · Huskarl · Jaguar Warrior · Jian Swordsman · Kamayuk · Karambit Warrior · Legionary · Liao Dao · Obuch · Samurai · Serjeant · Shotel Warrior · Teutonic Knight · Throwing Axeman · Urumi Swordsman · Warrior Priest · White Feather Guard · Woad Raider
Archer Arambai · Camel Archer · Chu Ko Nu · Composite Bowman · Conquistador · Genitour · Genoese Crossbowman · Grenadier · Fire Archer · Imperial Skirmisher · Janissary · Kipchak · Longbowman · Mangudai · Plumed Archer · Ranged Ratha · Rattan Archer · Slinger · Xianbei Raider · War Wagon
Cavalry Ballista Elephant · Boyar · Camel Scout · Cataphract · Centurion · Coustillier · Imperial Camel Rider · Iron Pagoda · Keshik · Konnik · Leitis · Magyar Huszar · Mameluke · Monaspa · Melee Ratha · Mounted Trebuchet · Savar · Shrivamsha Rider · Tarkan · Tiger Cavalry · War Chariot · War Elephant · Winged Hussar
Siege weapon Houfnice · Hussite Wagon · Organ Gun
War ship Caravel · Dragon Ship · Longboat · Thirisadai · Turtle Ship
Hero Cao Cao · Liu Bei · Sun Jian
Miscellaneous Flaming Camel
For different types of units, see Category:Unit types (Age of Empires II).