Huihui Pao

Huihui Pao
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV - Season Four
Type	Siege
Civilization	Mongols Byzantines
Training
Trained at	Khaganate Palace Foreign Engineering Company
Population	2
Training time	63 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	260
Melee armor	0
Fire armor	0
Ranged armor	0
Ranged resistance	80%
Speed	0.625 tiles/s
Line of Sight	17.778 tiles
Siege damage
Attack	75
Attack bonus	+600 vs Building +200 vs Ship
Range	18 tiles
Minimum range	2.75 tiles
Rate of Fire	13.625 seconds

“	Massive siege engine with incredible range, extra effective at destroying walls and towers.	”
—Age of Empires IV description

The Huihui Pao (回回炮) is a very long-range anti-building siege engine in Age of Empires IV. It is not available to train at any standard production building; rather, it spawns randomly at the Khaganate Palace for the Mongols, and is available to be trained for the Byzantines at the Foreign Engineering Company for 1,000 olive oil.

Unit comparison

	Huihui Pao	Traction Trebuchet	Counterweight Trebuchet
Training Time	63 s	30 s	30 s
Hit points	260	125	140
Siege Attack	75	40	40
Bonus vs Buildings	600	190	350
Attack vs Ships	200	200	200
Rate of Fire	13.625 s	8.625 s	11.375 s
Range	18 tiles	14 tiles	16 tiles
Speed	0.62 tiles/s	0.88 tiles/s	0.62 tiles/s

Tactics

As essentially a more powerful version of the Counterweight Trebuchet, it is proficient at destroying towns, and not much else. However, unlike the standard Trebuchet, it is only available in the Imperial Age, so it now has more competition in that role. For the Mongols, the player has no impact on its creation other than deciding whether or not to advance with the Khaganate Palace or The White Stupa, so the only specific strategy to employ is: if it spawns, use it to attack buildings. For the Byzantines, it not only has the Bombard to compete with, but also the Royal Cannon and the Nest of Bees, which share the same production queue. It also competes with other mercenary units for Olive Oil. Looking first from a perspective of pure DPS vs buildings, the HuiHui Pao still falls significantly behind the Bombard, much less the Royal Cannon, which do nearly 2x and 3x the DPS, respectively. However, its range is so long that it can fire even upon the Berkshire Palace with impunity. From the perspective of other units that compete for Olive Oil, ultimately, the role of a Hui Hui Pao can be fulfilled to a lesser degree by other Byzantine units, so it may be more beneficial to spend Olive Oil on either units that fulfill a unique role, such as Tower Elephants, Camel Riders, or Javelin Throwers, or late-game power units, such as Streltsy, as needed.

Further statistics

Because the Huihui Pao is unique to the Byzantines and the Mongols, only technologies available to them are shown here. Note: Although the Byzantines have access to it, Military Academy does not apply to the Foreign Engineering Company.

Technologies
Hit points	Siege Works (+20%); Improved: (+30%, Mongols)
Attack	Geometry (+20%, Mongols); Improved: (+30%, Mongols) Greek Fire Projectiles (+30%, Byzantines)
Movement speed	Greased Axles (+15%); Improved: (+20%, Mongols)
Creation speed	Military Academy (+33%, Mongols)*; Improved: (+53%, Mongols)
Other	Greek Fire Projectiles (attacks deal lingering fire damage, Byzantines)

Aura and ability enhancements
Attack	Kurultai Aura (+20%)
Armor	Defense Arrow (+2 melee and ranged for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows)
Movement speed	Naval Deployment (+50% speed for 12 seconds after unloading from a Transport Ship, Byzantines) Maneuver Arrow (+33% for 5/10/12 seconds, depending on Whistling Arrows)
Creation speed	Conscriptio Influence (+20% per Cistern water level, Byzantines)

Dialogue lines

The Huihui Pao uses the standard Mongol ranged siege engine dialogue lines

Main article: Siege engine/Mongols dialogue lines

Changelog

• Originally, the Huihui Pao had 20 ranged armor and cost 3 population. With update 12.0.1974, the ranged armor was replaced with 80% ranged resistance and it costs 2 population.

Campaign unit

Huihui Pao
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires IV
Type	Siege
Civilization	Mongols
Training
Trained at	Ismail
Population	3
Wood	250
Stone	1,000
Training time	50 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	500
Fire armor	0
Ranged armor	0
Speed	1 tiles/s
Siege damage
Attack	500
Range	23.75 tiles
Rate of Fire	16.62 seconds

The Huihui Pao is available in the The Fall of Xiangyang scenario. It can be constructed only by Ismail, one of the two leaders available in the scenario. Unlike other Castle Age siege weapons, it does not require Improved Siege Engineering to be researched first. The following video demonstrates the unit being used in the scenario:

Trivia

• Even though it is listed as a Mongol unique unit, the Byzantines have a more reliable access to it, as it is created only by a landmark like Mongols, but is not spawned randomly.
• Since both buildings are meant to train/spawn the unique units of other civilizations, the Huihui Pao cannot be said to the unique unit of any civilization in the game.
• Since it costs 1,000 olive oil for the Byzantines, it means that the sum total of its food, wood, gold, and stone costs is 1,000.
• Huihui Pao means "Muslim Trebuchet" in Chinese. Its name is likely taken from Chinese historical accounts of the Battle of Xiangyang, in which counterweight trebuchets were referred to as such. This is because many of the siege engines employed by the Yuan were designed by Muslim engineers from the Illkhanate, such as Ismail and Al-aud-Din.

Gallery

A pair of Huihui Pao

A Huihui Pao with Greek Fire projectiles Researched

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