Bombard Towers are powerful defensive structures that can be used to secure one’s base or even used offensively to harass an enemy. Not all civilizations get these beasts and among those that do, not ALL Bombard Towers are made equal. A number of upgrades affect Bombard Towers: Masonry, Architecture, Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, Bracer, Heated Shot, Treadmill Crane, some monastery techs like Faith and Heresy (which don’t matter that much as people generally don’t try to convert Bombard Towers) and also some unique techs.
Vietnamese: Lack Masonry and Architecture but get Treadmill Crane, Heated Shot and Bracer.
Conclusion: Below average Bombard towers
Malay: Get Masonry, Heated Shot and Bracer but lack Architecture and Treadmill Crane.
Advances Ages faster which might help getting Bombard Towers out a little bit sooner.
Conclusion: Below average Bombard Towers.
Portuguese: Get Masonry, Architecture, Treadmill Crane, Heated Shot and Bracer.
Also gets both Faith and Heresy.
Can build Feitorias in the Imeprial Age which can slowly generate all resources while trading away 20 population slots. It’s a pretty good deal when all the stone on the map is exhausted..and also in 1v1 games where gold is limited. Previously, the generation rates were good enough to get out one Bombard Tower in a minute.
Has a Unique technology called Arquebus which used to increase projectile speed of Bombard Cannons and Bombard Towers making them fire like Spanish Cannon Galleons with almost 100% accuracy and nearly impossible to dodge. However, this tech was nerfed big time. So, it is nothing great now. I guess the justification the developers initially had for Arquebus was Portugal’s proximity to Spain.
Conclusion: Used to be Über at one point till they were nerfed. Now, they’re good but not Über . They lack none of the upgrades that a Bombard Tower benefits from. If one considers how good the Feitoria is, they are between good and top tier now.
Spanish: Get Masonry, Architecture, Bracer but lack Heated Shot and Treadmill Crane (However builders work 30% faster right from the Dark age..so, this does not matter).
At 30% faster builders, they are second only to the Koreans when it comes to building speed as the Koreans get (25% speed bonus+ Treadmill Crane making it 45% faster). Heated Shot is a very situational tech that is useful only against Ships and Camels (changed in the expansions). An extra 10% builder speed is useful in ALL situations.
As a Monk civilization, they also get Faith and Heresy.
Blacksmith upgrades don’t cost gold which acts as a bit of a gold saving bonus when getting those upgrades.
Also, has a team bonus that makes Trade Carts and Trade cogs generate 33% (25% in the expansions) gold. For a building that costs 100 gold each, this makes Bombard Tower spamming easier for the entire team.
Has a Unique Tech called Supremacy which makes villagers strong. With Loom and Supremacy researched, they end up with 80 HP, 0+3/0+4 armor and 3+6 attack.
A combination of Supremacy and 30% faster builders makes them effective for using Bombard Towers offensively.
Conclusion: Pretty good with Bombard Towers but not Top Tier as such.
Italians: Gets Masonry, Architecture, Treadmill Crane, Heated Shot, Bracer.
Lack Heresy which is not a big deal since most people don’t normally attempt to convert Bombard Towers.
Advancing to the next age costs -15% which might help get Bombard Towers out faster.
Conclusion: Gets all the necessary techs and cheaper Ageing up but doesn’t get anything great. Has no real weakness and no real strengths. Average Bombard Towers.
Teutons: Get Masonry, Treadmill Crane and Heated Shot but lack Bracer and Architecture.
Can garrison 10 units inside a tower. This can make Bombard Towers fire two cannon balls with 10 Hand Canooneers or 3 cannon balls with Janissaries. This is not all that useful.
Gets Free Murder Holes. This is again not all that useful except for the stone saved. If you are building Bombard Towers, you are in the Imperial Age…and you should have gotten Murder Holes by then.
Gets Heresy and Faith and also, a team bonus that makes units resist conversion. Again, not very useful as people don’t normally tend to convert Bombard Towers.
Has a unique tech called ‘Crennelations’ which gives Castles +3 range and makes all garrisoned infantry fire arrows. Again, nothing that benefits the Bombard Tower.
Conclusion: Inspite of being a defensive civilization, the Teutons lack any significant bonus that helps their Bombard Towers. Slightly below average Bombard Towers.
Chinese: Gets Masonry, Architecture, Bracer, Heated Shot but lacks Treadmill Crane.
Gets Faith but lacks Heresy. This is not a big problem anyway.
In the expansions, they get a unique tech called ‘Great Wall’ which gives their walls and towers 30% extra HP. This makes their towers the tankiest in the game. Tankier than even the Byzantines. Unlike the Byzantine bonus which only gives HP, Masonry and Architecture contribute towards a building’s armor as well. Masonry, Architecture and Great Wall add up to 50% extra HP while the Byzantine bonus adds upto only 40% but affects ALL buildings instead of just walls and towers.
Has a bonus that makes all techs cheaper by 10/15/20% depending on whether they’re in Feudal, Castle or Imperial Age. This means that researches like Masonry, Architecture, Fletching, Bodkin Arrow, Bracer, Great Wall, Faith, Chemistry and Bombard Tower can be gotten at a discounted price which saves a lot of resources.
Conclusion: Before the expansions, their Bombard Towers were above average but in the expansions with discounted access to all regular techs (except Treadmill Crane) that benefit the Bombard Tower and a unique tech that gives them +30% HP, they’re right there at the top with the Turks and the Koreans.
Byzantines:
Gets Bracer but lacks Treadmill Crane, Heated Shot, Masonry and Architecture. So, their Bombard Towers lack the extra armor that other civilizations like the Spanish have but have more HP. This makes them more resilient to Siege but less to melee units.
Gets Free Townwatch which is not much since any player who is building Bombard Towers should have gotten it well before being able to build Bombard Towers.
Has a bonus that gives buildings 10/20/30/40% HP per age. Since Bombard Towers can only be built in the Imperial Age, they should be having an extra 40% HP and be quite tanky.
Has bonus to make going up to the Imperial age cost less 33% less. This means they can get up to the Imperial Age a lot faster and can start researching Chemistry and Bombard Tower earlier.
Conclusion: Pretty good Bombard Towers.
Architecture of Bombard Towers of Blue: Western European Civilizations (Spanish), Red: East Asian Civilizations (Chinese and Koreans), Green: Eastern European Civilizations (Teutons), Yellow: Arab Civilizations (Byzantines and Turks), Teal: Portuguese and Italians, Purple: Malay and Vietnamese
Architecture of Bombard Towers of Civilizations that don’t get Bombard Tower (unavailable originally): Blue: Meso-Americans (Aztecs, Mayans and Incas), Red: Magyars and Slavs, Green: Africans (Ethiopians and Malians), Yellow: Indians
