"Then ten of the twenty cannon hidden in pits behind the line of bushes belched thunder and fire ... Where there had been a division of highly disciplined charging cavalry there was now a charnel house of twisted corpses and mutilated men."
— David Gemmell, Stormrider
| Culverin | |
|---|---|
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Unit type |
Siege artillery |
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Built/trained at |
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Damage and weapon type |
High; explosive shell |
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Armour |
Laughable |
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Production cost |
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Range |
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Unit move and creation speed |
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Unit HP |
Low |
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Technological requirements |
Fort:— Upgrades to Ocak Cannon for Turks. |
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Factions available |
All, except |
As artillery, the Culverin performs more or less the same as a Springald, being used primarily to blast apart large concentrations of units. Woe betide the player who tries to use archers against Culverins! however, bear in mind that there are many counters to the culverin: lowly Trebuchets fire more slowly but have much better range, making them useful in destroying your hard-earned money (or metal?) worth of Culverins. Equally, like all siege weapons, Culverins are vulnerable to a melee foe which is lucky to come near enough: a Culverin may have lower minimum range compared to a Springald, but it is still vulnerable to cavalry taking advantage of its blind spots.
Units aside, Towers and other buildings can be attacked with Culverins, however this is not advisable because the Culverin isn't that efficient in taking them apart. For Serbia and Mongolia, Culverins are the only gunpowder artillery available — they will have to make do with a combination of Trebuchets and Culverins in the Imperial Era in order to get by.
The Turks, living in between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, have learnt the secret of gunpowder from Asia and gunsmithery from the Europeans, and have created a superior artillery piece. This piece, the Ocak Cannon, has a more powerful attack and better range with respect to the culverin class.
Unit summary[]
- Light gunpowder artillery unit.
- As light-moving artillery, culverins are highly effective against archers and massed infantry.
- Culverins however are vulnerable against point-blank attacks, so watch out for enemy cavalry and keep them well-defended at all times.
- Heavy siege weapons will destroy your culverins, so be wary. You might want to bring trebuchets to deal with them.
- Demolition Delight — The Turks creat a superior artillery piece, known as the Ocak Cannon. This light artillery unit has a more powerful attack and better range with respect to the culverin class, making it somewhat more useful and versatile as it can also be used against buildings and other gun units.