Wokou Junk

Wokou Junk
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Ship Warship Mercenary Warship
Age	Commerce Age
Requires	Trading Post or Tambo on a Holy Site settlement on Hokkaido, Honshu, Korea, Manchuria, Parallel Rivers, Regicide and Yellow River maps
Training
Trained at	Dock (Asians, Europeans, Federal Americans, and Native Americans) Port (Africans)
Coin	800
Train time	40 seconds
Train limit	3
Statistics
Hit points	1,500
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	7.5
Garrison	50
Line of Sight	38
Ability	Transports land units Trains Wokou Ronin, Wokou Monk, Wokou Pirate, Wokou Horseman, and Orangutan (only if close to shore)
Special ability	Broadside Attack
XP train bounty	80
XP kill bounty	80
Ranged attack
Damage	70 Siege
Bonus damage	×1.5 vs. Building ×0.66 vs. Dock and Port ×0.5 vs. Artillery
Area	1
Range	23
Rate of Fire	2.0

“	Wokou Junk. Mercenary warship.	”
—In-game description

The Wokou Junk is a mercenary warship in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It can be shipped by the Japanese and Chinese (Indians receive Marathan Catamaran instead), and is also trainable on Hokkaido, Honshu, Korea, Manchuria, Parallel Rivers, Regicide and Yellow River maps if a Trading Post is built on a Holy Site settlement.

Overview

Special ability

• Broadside Attack: Fires a volley of cannon shots at an enemy from a range of 28, with each shot doing 40×2 siege damage in an Area of Effect of 1 with a ×2.0 multiplier against ships. 60 seconds cooldown.

Units

The Wokou Junk must be close to the shore to train the units, and will also be unable to move and attack while doing so.

Age	Unit	Cost	Pop.	Limit	Civ.
	Old Doug the Orangutan	200 food	–	5	All
	Wokou Pirate	100 coin	4	∞	AS EU
	Wokou Ronin	200 coin
	Wokou Monk	120 coin	3
	Wokou Horseman	180 coin	4
	State Militia	50 food 40 wood	1
	Regular	55 food 50 coin
	Hussar	120 food 80 coin	2
	Sharpshooter	40 food 75 coin	1
	Carbine Cavalry	80 food 80 coin	2
	State Militia	50 food 40 wood	1
	Regular	55 food 50 coin
	Sharpshooter	40 food 75 coin
	Carbine Cavalry	80 food 80 coin	2

• Units with an asterisk (*) are added in the Definitive Edition.
• The Revolutionary United States can train State Militia, Regulars, and Carbine Cavalry after sending the "Rhode Island Militia", "Haslet's Continental Regiment", and "Lee's Continental Light Dragoons" Home City Cards respectively.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ships, infantry and buildings close to shore
Weak vs.	Artillery especially Culverins, defensive structures
Improvements
Hit points	Armor Plating (+50%) Heavy Riverboats (+25%; Africans only) Rawhide Covers (+20%; Haudenosaunee only) Byzantine Legacy (+15%) Cipactli Worship (+10%; Aztecs only) Tar Kilns (+10%) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only)
Attack	Carronade (+25%) Flaming Arrows (+25%; Lakota only) River Skirmishes (+25%; Africans only) Cipactli Worship (+10%; Aztecs only) Gadaa System (+5%; Ethiopians only) Percussion Lock (+50% Broadside Attack damage) Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only) Strangers' Quarters (-10%; Africans only)
Cost	Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) Golden Liberty (-5% coin cost)
Other	Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) Öresund Customs (generates 0.4 coin/sec.)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Wokou Junk

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

All

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Advanced Dock	Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 85% faster; warships' train time -33% (also +1 Villager for the Indians)		10
Improved Warships	Warships get +25% hit points and attack (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		10
TEAM Improved Warships	Warships get +10% hit points and attack		10
Naval Gunners	Warships get +20% attack		25
Offshore Support	Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans)		40
European Cannons	Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range (also +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		25
Admiralty	Dock warship technologies cost and research time -60% (also +2 Uhlans for the Germans; +1 Hindu Villager for the Indians)		1

• "Advanced Dock" is not available to Africans.
• "Improved Warships" is not available to the Chinese, Lakota, and United States.
• "TEAM Improved Warships" is available to the Chinese and Maltese.
• "Naval Gunners" is available to the British, French, Italians, Maltese, Russians, Swedes, and United States.
• "Offshore Support" is available to the Aztecs, Germans, Inca, Maltese, and Ottomans.
• "European Cannons" is not available to Europeans and Native Americans.
• "Admiralty" is not available to Africans and Native Americans.

Africans

Card	Description	Age
Advanced Port	Ports get +100% attack and heal ships 100% faster; warships' train time -33%
Feudal Armies	All units' train time -15%; hero respawn time -15%

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and attack		40
Acupuncture	All units' train time -20%		10
Recruit Wokou + 3 Wokou Horsemen	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 3 Wokou Horsemen in it; costs 500 coin		1
Recruit Wokou + 5 Horse Artillery	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 5 Horse Artillery in it; costs 2,000 coin		10
Recruit Wokou + 10 Petards	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 10 Petards in it; costs 1,000 coin		25

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
Ignatian Spirituality	All units get +5% hit points and regeneration capability even while in combat
Land of the Sea	Warships get +35% attack for each garrisoned Ras

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
2 Wokou Junks	Ships 2 Wokou Junks
Lantakas	Artillery, buildings, and ships get +15% attack

• "2 Wokou Junks" and "Lantakas" are available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.

Haudenosaunee

Card	Description	Age
Wampum	Training units and constructing buildings grants +35% XP

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and attack		25
Bombay Marine	Ships' train time -30% and train bounty +30%; +1 Hindu Villager		1

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Sengoku	Unit upgrades cost -20%		1
Recruit Wokou + 2 Ronin	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 2 Wokou Ronin in it; costs 500 coin		10
Recruit Wokou + 7 Yojimbo	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 7 Yojimbo in it; costs 2,000 coin		25
Recruit Wokou + 4 Ronin	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 4 Ronin in it; costs 1,000 coin		40

Lakota

Card	Description	Age
Winter Counts	Training units grants +40% XP and constructing buildings grants +20% XP

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Ships 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center owned by the player; all units get +2% hit points
Speronaras	Ships get +10% speed; Order Galleys and Fishing Boats get +30% speed instead

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military buildings work 400% faster and units get +10% speed
Colegio de San Nicolás	Ships 500 XP; units get +4 and buildings (except Walls) get +8 Line of Sight; sees what enemies can see for 20 seconds
National Servant	All units get +10% hit points; Padre healing 200% faster

• "Colegio de San Nicolás" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.

Native Americans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Water Ceremony	Water Ceremony available at the Community Plaza		1

• "Water Ceremony" is not available to the Lakota.

Portuguese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Navigation School	Warships' cost and train time -20%		25

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Cold Water Port	Warships cost -15%		10

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight		10
Armada	Warships get +20% hit points and +2 Line of Sight; Caravels can now train infantry units; Frigates can now train cavalry and artillery units; Monitors can now train Mortars; Battleships can now train infantry, cavalry and artillery units		10

United States

Card	Description	Age
Recruit Manilamen	Ships 2 Wokou Junks; costs 300 food, 300 wood
Recruit Manilamen Fleet	Ships 3 Wokou Junks; costs 300 food, 300 wood
Indiana Mobilization	Ships 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game including this one; unit train time (except Heavy Cannons), technology research time, and age-up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood
Connecticut Shipwrights	Ship train time -50%; building build time -35%; artillery train time -15%, Heavy Cannon train time -10% instead

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.
• "Connecticut Shipwrights" is available upon selecting the Connecticut Federal State.

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• Wokou Junks have a ×3.0 multiplier against buildings and no multipliers against Docks.

The African Royals

• With update 47581, Wokou Junks have a ×1.5 multiplier against buildings and a ×0.66 multiplier against Docks and Ports.

In-game dialogue

Main article: Japanese (Age of Empires III)#In-game dialogue

History

“

The oldest references to the Chinese sailing vessel known as the "junk" date back to the Han Dynasty (220 BCE-200 CE), although it is generally believed that the junk was in use even earlier. The term "junk" has many origins, including roots in the Portuguese "junco," the French "junque," the Dutch "jonk," the Malay "jon," and the Javanese "djong." The junk is identified by its high stern, projecting bow, and square linen sails. The sails are spread and contracted in an action similar to that of collapsible Venetian blinds. Instead of a keel, the junk has a large rudder. Junks were integral in Chinese trade and exploration up until the nineteenth century. The term "wokou" is a combination of the Chinese word "wo," referring to Japanese, and "kou," meaning bandit or invasion. Beginning in the thirteenth century, no group of sailors was as feared or as mighty as the plundering wokou pirates, a clan of Japanese raiders and smugglers who terrified the Chinese and Korean coasts. The first attacks occurred in 1223, triggering immediate calls for the Kamakura shogunate of Japan to corral these scoundrels and prevent further attacks on the Korean coast. In 1227, as a show of strength, the shogun had ninety suspected wokou pirates decapitated before the visiting Korean envoy. During the Mongol invasions of the mid-thirteenth century, wokou attacks fell in number, most likely due to a heightened military preparedness on the part of both the Japanese and Korean governments. But this did not last. In the late fourteenth century, as central authority in Japan weakened, the wokou took full advantage, even branching out to initiate attacks along the coast of China. They profited highly from a severe trade embargo forced on Japan by the Qin and then Ming Dynasties of China, reaping rewards as black markets flourished. The wokou experienced periods of rise and decline, even attacking China with a makeshift fleet in 1419, but they ultimately became obsolete. At its peak, the wokou culture was enough to threaten even the most powerful Asian rulers, and to appeal to the most ordinary of citizenry. Many men left behind their lives to seek fortunes at sea. Chinese merchants, militiamen, smugglers, Korean pirates, Portuguese sailors, traders, and even missionaries joined up with the notorious wokou pirates.

”

Trivia

• The in-game history section is highly inaccurate. The Qin dynasty was over 2,200 years ago, far before the time of the Wokou, and if it is a mispelling of the Qing dynasty, the Qing was also after the era of the wokou. Japanese naval ships were also inferior to Chinese ones and wokou lost every naval battle with the Ming fleet and had to rely on avoiding Ming naval ships to reach land for battle.

Marauding Junk

Marauding Junk
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Ship Warship Mercenary Treasure guardian
Civilization(s)	Mother Nature
Statistics
Hit points	1,500
Resistance	75% Ranged
Speed	7.5
Line of Sight	38
Special ability	Broadside Attack
XP kill bounty	100
Ranged attack
Damage	65 Siege
Bonus damage	×3.0 vs. Building ×0.5 vs. Artillery
Area	1
Range	30
Rate of Fire	2.0

The Marauding Junk is the Treasure guardian version of the Wokou Junk. They usually guard very abundant treasures.

Special ability

• Broadside Attack: Fires a volley of cannon shots at an enemy within attack range, with each shot doing 40×2 siege damage in an Area of Effect of 1 with a ×2.0 multiplier against ships. 60 seconds cooldown.

History

“

The oldest references to the Chinese sailing vessel known as the "junk" date back to the Han Dynasty (220 BCE to 200 CE), although it is generally believed to have come about earlier. The term "junk" has many origins, including roots in the Portuguese "junco," the French "junque," the Dutch "jonk," the Malay "jon," and the Javanese "djong." The junk is identified by its high stern, projecting bow, and square linen sails. The sails are spread and contracted in an action similar to that of collapsible Venetian blinds. Instead of a keel, the junk has a large rudder. Junks were integral in Chinese trade and exploration up until the nineteenth century.

”

Gallery

An in-game Wokou Junk

A Marauding Junk guarding treasure

The Wokou Junk history portrait

Marauding Junk stats

In-game Wokou Junk in the Definitive Edition