Houfnice

Houfnice
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes
Type	Gunpowder siege unit
Civilization	Bohemians
Age	Imperial Age
Pronunciation	hohf nit-say
Training
Trained at	Siege Workshop
Wood	225
Gold	225
Training time	56 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	90
Melee attack	50
Attack bonus	+250 vs Building +50 vs Ship +50 vs Fishing Ship +50 vs Stone defense +50 vs Heavy siege +20 vs Siege weapon
Blast radius	0.7 [tapering effect]
Reload time	6.5
Attack delay	0.21 seconds
Range	12
Minimum range	5
Accuracy	100%
Projectile speed	4
Melee armor	2
Pierce armor	6
Armor class	Siege weapon Gunpowder unit
Speed	0.7
Line of Sight	14
Ability	Can attack ground
Upgraded from
Upgraded from	Bombard Cannon

“	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

• Celts: Houfnices are created 20% faster.
• Lithuanians: Researching Heresy, Devotion, and Faith is 20% faster.
• Malians: Researching Chemistry and Siege Engineers is 80% faster.
• Portuguese: Upgrades that benefit Houfnices are researched 25% faster.
• Teutons: Houfnices are more resistant to conversion.
• Turks: Houfnices are created 25% faster.

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

Multiple views of the unit.

Houfnice with ammunition.

Animation of three Houfnices attacking an enemy Castle.

The Bombard Cannon line, with the Houfnice on the right

Videos

HOUFNICE vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT - AoE II- Definitive Edition

HOUFNICE - Bohemians Unique Unit - AoE II- Definitive Edition