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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. For the armor class, see Armor Class: Turtle Ship.

Template:AoEIIUnits Test

โ€œKorean unique unit. Slow, ironclad battleship used to destroy other ships at close range.โ€
Age of Empires II description

The Turtle Ship is the second unique unit of the Koreans in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. It can be trained at the Dock once the Castle Age is reached. It is a heavily armored gunpowder warship.

Turtle Ships can be upgraded to Elite Turtle Ships in the Imperial Age.

Tactics

The Turtle Ship is one of the major Korean advantages. A single Turtle Ship can wipe out a small fleet of enemy vessels.

The Turtle Ship's main weaknesses are its short range and slow speed, allowing other ships to utilize hit-and-run tactics on it. The cost is also a drawback.

This means that the best choice against Turtle Ships is probably to mass Galleons, since the they are cheaper, faster, and long-ranged, allowing them to utilize hit-and-run tactics. Bombard Cannons and Monks from inland are also good choices against Turtle Ships.

The player must not fall in the trap to only create Turtle Ships as that mistake can prove costly. To use them properly, Turtle Ships must be paired with other naval vessels, most likely Galleons, which have a long-ranged attack and hinder the enemy to use hit-and-run tactics. The role of the Turtle Ship in the navy is to soak up a lot of damage while dealing a considerable amount of damage to enemy vessels. Therefore, they should be used in the first frontline.

Turtle Ships are very heavily armored, with the non-elite Turtle Ship possessing +8 defense against anti-ship attack bonuses that other ships and Towers typically deal against ships. The Elite Turtle Ship even has +11 defense against anti-ship attack bonuses, making it especially formidable. This bonus defense nullifies all the bonus attack that ships (War Galleys and Fire Ships) and Towers deal against naval vessels. Elite Turtle Ships also receive a small +1 defense boost against Fast Fire Ships (which have their own specific attack bonus against Turtle Ships).

Further statistics

As Turtle Ships are unique to the Koreans, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Ships at close distance, buildings on the shoreline, units on the shoreline or shallows
Weak vs. Bombard Cannons, Monks, Trebuchets, Castles, Towers, Condottieri (in the shallows)
Upgrades
Armor CareeningDE Careening (+0/+1)
Speed DryDockDE Dry Dock (+15%)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Panokseon (+15%, Koreans only)
Conversion defense FaithDE Faith
HeresyDE Heresy
Creation speed ShipwrightDE Shipwright (+54%)
Train cost ShipwrightDE Shipwright (-20%)
Upgrades Turtle Ships can be upgraded to Elite Turtle Ships

Team bonuses

Changelog

The Conquerors

  • Turtle Ships require a Castle.
  • Turtle Ships cost 200W/200G.

The Forgotten

  • Turtle Ships now cost 180W/180G.

The African Kingdoms

  • Turtle Ships no longer require a Castle.

Trivia

  • Despite being gunpowder units, Turtle Ships are unaffected by the Turkish team bonus.
  • The Turtle Ship is one of only four units in the game without any attack bonus (the other being the Militia, the Boyar, and the Knight line).

History

โ€œUnder attack by samurai Japan in 1592, the fate of Korea and perhaps China depended on breaking the invaderโ€™s supply lines at sea across the Straits of Korea. Korean admiral Yi Sun-Shin won two great naval victories off southern Korea with the aid of Turtle Ships, the first armored warships in history. These oarpowered ships had a low profile and mounted a battery of cannons on their broadside. Their sides and top were rounded and shaped like a flat turtle shell. They were not well suited for use on the high sea but quite useful in coastal waters where waters were relatively calm. The Japanese ships were at a great disadvantage in combat against them. Most missile fire glanced off their rounded armor. They offered no openings for enemy boarding parties. Unarmored enemy ships were quickly disabled by their cannon.โ€

Gallery

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager ยท Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart ยท FishingShipDE Fishing Ship ยท Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog ยท King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia ยท Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms ยท Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman ยท Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman ยท Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman ยท Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman ยท Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
Eaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout ยท Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior ยท EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer ยท Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman ยท Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher ยท Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer ยท Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
Aoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer ยท ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry ยท Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry ยท Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight ยท Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier ยท Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider ยท Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
Battle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant ยท Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer ยท Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant ยท AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram ยท Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram ยท Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel ยท Onager aoe2DE Onager ยท Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion ยท Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship
Galley aoe2DE Galley ยท War galley aoe2DE War Galley ยท Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley ยท Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship ยท Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft ยท Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship ยท Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon ยท Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
AoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary ยท AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk ยท Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower ยท CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero ยท Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia ยท GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto ยท Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam ยท HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl ยท JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior ยท KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk ยท Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior ยท AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary ยท Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch ยท SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai ยท Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant ยท Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior ยท TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight ยท ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman ยท Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman ยท AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest ยท WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai ยท CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer ยท ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu ยท AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman ยท ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador ยท GenitourIcon-DE Genitour ยท GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman ยท Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher ยท JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary ยท Kipchakicon Kipchak ยท LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman ยท MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai ยท PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer ยท Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha ยท Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer ยท SlingerIcon-DE Slinger ยท WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant ยท BoyarIcon-DE Boyar ยท Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout ยท CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract ยท Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion ยท Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier ยท Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel ยท ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider ยท Keshikicon Keshik ยท Konnikicon Konnik ยท Leitisicon Leitis ยท MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar ยท MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke ยท AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa ยท Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha ยท AoE2 Savar Savar ยท Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider ยท TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan ยท WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant ยท Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice ยท Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon ยท OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel ยท LongboatIcon-DE Longboat ยท Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai ยท TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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