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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. For the unit in Age of Empires III, see War Wagon (Age of Empires III). |
| “ | Korean unique cavalry archer unit. | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
The War Wagon is the first unique unit of the Koreans in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. It is a mounted archer with very high pierce armor and hit points. It fires bolts like a War Galley, but unlike the Scorpion, it does not deal pass-through damage.
War Wagons can be upgraded to Elite War Wagons in the Imperial Age.
Tactics[]
War Wagons function as bulkier Arbalesters with faster movement. This makes them usable as either ranged support, or as a meat shield, or even performing both roles simultaneously. As ranged support, War Wagons can be placed behind melee units such as Halberdiers. They are strong against enemy archers, though Camel Archers and Genoese Crossbowmen are exceptions. However, the higher cost of the War Wagon means they should be taking advantage of their durability. Their role is distinguished from that of typical mounted archers insofar that they are not meant for hit-and-run tactics, owing to their slower movement speed and Rate of Fire. They instead perform similarly to Elephant Archers, as bulky ranged units meant to hold an area or push. Due to their bulk, they can also shrug off most arrow-fire from enemy defenses and attack Villagers from within an enemy Town Center's range.
As meat shields, War Wagons can be placed at the front line, supported by Rocket Carts and Bombard Cannons behind. Compared to melee units, the War Wagon's biggest advantage as front line troops is its ranged attack, which allows them to attack enemy troops without chasing them and breaking the formation. However, War Wagons should not be used as front line troops against Halberdiers and Camel Riders. Elite Skirmishers also deal attack bonus against War Wagons, but unless greatly outnumbered War Wagons will come out on top. Paladins, War Elephants, and Battle Elephants can also overpower War Wagons, but should be wary of Halberdiers. The latter two are inhibited by their slow speed and are less viable than Camel Riders or the Knight line in forcing an engagement. Ghulams, Eagle Warriors and Huskarls can decimate War Wagons due to their high pierce armor and high attack, considering their attack bonuses as well. Finally, due to lacking Heresy, War Wagons are susceptible to conversion by enemy Monks, considering their high value. Despite a War Wagon defeating a Camel Archer in 1 vs 1 due to having much higher hit points, it is still not advisable to face Camel Archers with War Wagons, since they deal high bonus damage and are significantly cheaper.
Because of their beefy statistics and decent speed, War Wagons work decently enough to play the role of raiding units. Besides that, they have a useful attack bonus against buildings, thus focus firing can destroy buildings fairly quickly, all while tanking enemy arrow fire. On maps with narrow paths (e.g. Black Forest), War Wagons can use their large size and collision box to clog the path and prevent enemy troops from advancing and buying some time.
Onagers, Bombard Cannons, and even Trebuchets can do considerable damage to War Wagons, which will have trouble dodging due to their clunkiness and large collision size, though this also helps prevent many War Wagons from taking damage too. Koreans can use Bombard Cannons to counter the enemy siege. Furthermore, its big collision box hinders its micromanagement even in small groups, and in large groups, it severely cripples their range, unlike other archer units which can stick together in tight spaces. And despite being cavalry archers, hit-and-run tactics do not work very well with War Wagons because of their large size, comparatively low speed, and high attack delay. Also, it should be noted that despite their hit points, War Wagons are still vulnerable against melee units.
All these factors should be taken in consideration when using War Wagons, thus the player should be dedicated to using these units smartly and carefully.
Unit comparison[]
 War Wagon line
|
 Cavalry Archer line
| |
|---|---|---|
| Training cost | 100 wood, 60 gold | 20 wood, 60 gold |
| Rate of Fire (equally affected by Thumb Ring) |
2.5 | 2 |
| Speed | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| Armor classes | Takes bonus damage from Samurai Has -1 armor against anti-cavalry-archer attacks |
|
 Castle Age
|
War Wagon
|
Cavalry Archer
|
| Training time | 21 seconds | 34 seconds |
| Hit points | 150 | 50 |
| Armor | 0/3 | 0/0 |
| Pierce attack | 9 | 6 |
| Attack bonus | +2 vs Standard building | +2 vs Spearman |
| Range | 4 | 4 |
| Attack delay | 1 | 0.9 |
| Line of Sight | 7 | 5 |
| Upgrade cost and time |
1,000 wood, 800 gold 75 seconds |
900 food, 500 gold 50 seconds |
 Imperial Age
|
 Elite War Wagon
|
 Heavy Cavalry Archer
|
| Training time | 21 seconds | 27 seconds |
| Hit points | 200 | 60 |
| Armor | 0/4 | 1/0 |
| Pierce attack | 9 | 7 |
| Attack bonus | +2 vs Standard building | +4 vs Spearman |
| Range | 5 | 4 |
| Attack delay | 1 | 0.88 |
| Line of Sight | 8 | 6 |
Further statistics[]
As War Wagons are unique to the Koreans, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:
| Strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Infantry, archers, buildings |
| Weak vs. | Cavalry, Huskarls, Mamelukes, Camel Riders, Eagle Warriors, Monks |
| Conditional matchups | Elite Skirmishers, Mangonels, Genoese Crossbowman, Camel Archers |
| Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Attack |  Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1) Chemistry (+1)
|
 Range
|
Fletching (+1) Bodkin Arrow (+1) Bracer (+1)
|
| Accuracy |  Ballistics (hit moving targets)
|
| Conversion resistance |  Devotion (+1 min, +1 max) Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
|
 Attack speed
|
 Thumb Ring (+11%)
|
 Movement speed
|
 Husbandry (+10%)
|
| Creation speed |  Conscription (+33%) Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
|
| Team bonuses | |
|---|---|
| Conversion resistance |  Teutons (+3 min, +1 max)
|
| Line of Sight |  Tatars (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Magyars (+25%)
|
Team bonuses[]
Britons: Researching Thumb Ring is 10% faster.- Bulgarians: Researching Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, and Bracer is 80% faster.
- Huns: Researching Husbandry is 20% faster.
- Lithuanians: Researching Devotion and Faith is 20% faster.
- Malians: Researching Chemistry and Ballistics is 80% faster.
- Portuguese: Technologies that benefit War Wagons are researched 25% faster.
Changelog[]
The Conquerors[]
- War Wagons train in 25 seconds.
- War Wagons cost 80 wood, 60 gold.
- (Elite) War Wagons have 5 (6) range.
- (Elite) War Wagon deals +4 bonus damage vs. rams armor class and +5 vs. standard buildings.
- With patch 1.0b:
The Forgotten[]
The African Kingdoms[]
- Cavalry archer armor class added to War Wagons.
Definitive Edition[]
- Initially, War Wagons cost -15% wood (94 wood). With update 39284, the War Wagon's base cost is 115 wood, 60 gold, and they cost -20% wood (92 wood).
- Koreans: With update 42848, Archer Armor technologies are free.
Dynasties of India[]
- With update 61321, War Wagons' base cost is 125 wood (100 wood after the civilization bonus) and 60 gold.
- With update 66692, War Wagons receive -1 Cavalry archer armor.
Return of Rome[]
- With update 87863, the War Wagon's base cost is 200 wood, 60 gold, and the civilization bonus lowers the wood cost by 50%, meaning the cost after the bonus is unchanged.
Chronicles: Battle for Greece[]
- With update 141935, (Elite) War Wagon deals +2 vs. standard buildings.
History[]
| “ | The Korean kingdom of Koryo was often under attack from all sides — by China, by barbarian civilizations to the north like the Mongols, and by sea raiders. To survive, they needed a strong military. We have hints from scant records that the Koryo were innovative warriors, perhaps being the first to use rockets in combat and carriages of some type. Trains of these wagons could be arranged into temporary fortifications in open areas, providing a mobile, yet substantial, defensive position against mounted enemies. So became the war wagon, a classic chariot with scythed blades and mobile forts from which archers could fire with some protection. | ” |
Trivia[]
- Upon its release in The Conquerors, the War Wagon was the archer unit with the highest HP. Since the release of The Forgotten however, the title belongs to the Elephant Archer.
- The War Wagon only has two wheels, making it a cart. It was inspired by the hwacha, a wooden cart from the Joseon era capable of firing barrage of rocket arrows.[1] However, while the War Wagon is quick and mobile, a real-life hwacha must be operated stationarily and were used primarily for defensive purposes. In addition, the design of the War Wagon as a two-wheeled cart pulled by horses is probably not based on actual Korean historical units, but instead from ancient Chinese civilian chariots like this one. A separate and more fitting representation of the hwacha was added later in the form of the Rocket Cart in The Three Kingdoms.
- The Elite War Wagon borrows design elements from the Elite Turtle Ship in the form of the armored spiked roof and the banner at the back.
- With 13 attack, a fully upgraded Elite War Wagon has the third highest attack of all ranged units outside of siege weapons and gunpowder units, only behind the Elite Arambai and the fully upgraded Elite Chu Ko Nu, with 15 and 14, respectively.
- The War Wagon is the only cavalry archer unique unit without Bloodlines, and one of the two unique cavalry archer unique units without Parthian Tactics (the other being the Berbers' Camel Archer).[note 1]
- Before the Definitive Edition, unlike most units, whose icons usually show their front or upper part of their body, the icon of War Wagon is showing their bottom part (wheel).
- According to Sandy Petersen, during development, he scoured books and the "primitive" internet at the time to find an inspiration for the Koreans' unique land unit. He came across a reference to "some Korean army towing cannons on a cart, which fired arrow-like bolts" and he named it after the Western movie The War Wagon. All the developers loved the idea so much that no one questioned its authenticity, and coincidentally the artists made a model that looked like the wagon seen in the movie. Petersen felt guilty about the unit's provenance and "wanted to hinder its use a bit", so he gave it the horse archer tag so that it would have expensive upgrades.[2]
- The War Wagon is the reason the Koreans do not have the Heresy technology - it was a balance decision made by Sandy Petersen to make sure that enemy Monks could convert them.[2]
Gallery[]
Video[]
Notes[]
- ↑ the Genitour does not count, as the unit is unaffected by Parthian Tactics and is a shared unique unit via the Berbers' team bonus
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTcNwLlEY-U
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sandy Petersen's Korean bonuses post (July 2025) on X.com
