Trebuchet

Wherever you are, death will find you, even if you are in towers strong and high.

— The Qur'an, 4:78

Trebuchet: Vital statistics
Unit type	Siege artillery
Built/trained at	Siege workshop
Damage and weapon type	High; catapult shot
Armour	Laughable
Production cost	Pop cost: 2 Resource cost: 200, 200 Ramp cost: 7, 7
Range	Excellent Fair LOS
Unit move and creation speed	Unit movement speed: slow Creation speed: Slow
Weak	No information
Technological requirements / upgrades	Fort:— Upgrade of Mangonel Upgrades to Howitzer for Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Poland and Burgundy
Factions available	All

The way of the trebuchet is the way of war: seek out an area where enemies may not get you, and then attack them with impunity. Although it is one of the weakest units in the game, the trebuchet however has superb range and a powerful attack, making a mockery of enemy fortifications from afar. Even the mighty strongholds favoured by the Chinese cannot hope to stand alone if faced by a barrage of trebuchets.

All this power, however, has a great cost. Trebuchets

Like all siege weapons, trebuchets require a great deal of research and resources to be constructed, so they should be protected from enemy units at all times.

require a great deal of research to be constructed. Next is their cost: like all siege weapons, they are all costly and take some time to create, and finally they must be set up in a static position in order to fire. Because of their poor rate of fire and their accuracy, trebuchets are weak if facing enemy troops, but generally useful for disabling enemy artillery, especially culverins and war wagons, and fortifications. Trebuchets like most siege weapons require time to be set up, and even so they are fairly weak against mobile targets, so they should be protected from enemy units at all times.

However, it is to be noted that the trebuchet, while having better range, has a poorer attack and build time in contrast with a bombard once the Imperial Era is achieved. In which case, a bombard may be a better weapon to manufacture, given its cost structure and relative ease of construction, and its ability to crack apart fortresses with more potency than a trebuchet, given that trebuchets, while being cheaper than gunpowder weaponry, have a high ramp associated with them.

Unit summary

• Siege unit, with very weak stats but superb range and a powerful attack against enemy fortifications and very slow targets.
• Like all siege weapons, trebuchets require a great deal of research and resources to be constructed, so they should be protected from enemy units at all times.
• Although cheaper in base cost and fairly effective, a Bombard may be a better weapon to manufacture compared to the Trebuchet, given its cost structure and relative ease of construction as long as you have resources to spend.