How do you get guns

[pickles78uk]

ive got cannons, what buildings do i need to buld to get musketmen and handgunners and stuff like that?

tom

[katank]

Barracks buildings. Musketeers are usually enabled by a high level barracks in cities. This may change for certain factions. Not all factions get hand gunners and only a few get musketeers.

[PureFodder]

To find out what buildings make what units click on the buildings browser icon in any settlement.
https://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5714/buildingbrowserhr5.th.gif (https://img84.imageshack.us/my.php?image=buildingbrowserhr5.gif)
Then right click on a building to see what it would make if you built it.
https://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6690/browseryq3.th.gif (https://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=browseryq3.gif)

[Skott]

As far as firearms go (non-cannons) which unit and faction is the most powerful/best? Would that be the Turkish Jannissaries Handgunners I hear about or does another faction have a better firearm unit? :inquisitive:

[Musashi]

Janissary Musketeers are better than any other ranged unit in the game. BUT, the Turks have very little in terms of cannon selection. The Russians have Cossack Musketeers who are almost as good as Janissaries, and they have a better selection of cannons.

Portugal has Musketeers, Elite Portugese Arquebusiers, and elite pikemen, the Aventuros. They get a good variety of cannons too.

Germany gets Reiters and Serpentines...

Basically you could argue about which faction is the best in the gunpowder age for ever.

Worst in the gunpowder age is easy though. Byzantium. No gun troops, and only one kind of cannon (Bombard). They suck for gunpowder.

[A. Smith]

Well, the Venitians have musketeers, which makes them pretty unique... but i dont know if musketeers are the most powerful

[Musashi]

Venice, Milan, Spain, and Portual ALL have Musketeers. Russia and Turkey have special elite Musketeers who kick tail in melee as well as at range.

[IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer]

Musketeers are a generic unit avaliable to almost every catholic faction. They are pretty crappy, too. Long range but low ranged attack and virtually zero melee and defense.

Janissary Musketeers and Cossack Musketeers do the same amount of damage with their guns, but the Janissaries have significantly higher melee attack and defense, so they can survive much longer in a melee. They're better for defending cities than Cossacks are, because the Janissaries are strong enough to hold the walls even after the ladders or towers hit them. Obviously they're better in field battles, too, because they can usually hold against other infantry or even beat them, or function as flanking troops if your cavalry is busy.

The Turks don't have a BAD selection of cannons by any means. The western factions might get the Serpentine and the Basilisk, but the Turks get the Monster Bombard, which can one-shot any wall. That pretty much makes up for any lack of cannons, since cannons are very poor for anti-unit jobs anyway.

Still, some factions get some really impressive gunpowder units. Top on my list would be the Moors' Camel Gunners, which if used correctly, can dominate any battlefield. They are mounted, have a very high attack, and are the only cavalry unit in the game with Long Range Missiles. They can really tear up the field, even in melee. Because they are camels, which scare horses, Camel Gunners can kill even the strongest heavy cavalry, provided they have been weakened by gunfire.

Reiters seem good too, but I've never seen them used. Very, very high missile attack but a short range. They're more meant to fire off a couple volleys and then close in to attack in melee, since they have high attack/defense.

Unless we're talking about Elephant Artillery, I don't think cannons have a very significant presence on the field in M2 at all. They are inaccurate, slow to reload, slow moving, and extremely vulnerable to flanking. If you're going to have a discussion on the best gunpowder unit period, I'd stick it strictly to cavalry and infantry, because cannons just aren't that great. Again, unless they are mounted on Timurid elephants. Then they suddenly destroy all.

[Warluster]

Do the Mongols have guns?

[IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer]

No. I think they get Rocket Launchers, though.

[Warluster]

So the worst gunpowder faction is not Byzantine, its the Mongols! Unless you mean Playable.

[Musashi]

Nah, the Mongol Rocket Launcher is >>>>>>>>>>>>> the Byzantine Bombard.

[Warluster]

Mongol Rocket Launcher> Isnt that Timurids?

[sapi]

Timurids get both that and the monster bombard :P

[Musashi]

But they don't need either because they have Panzerphants which are > everything else in the whole darn game.

[dopp]

Why, it's a well-known fact that the Timurids invented modern armored warfare. Wait until they introduce the giant rocket-armed man-carrying kites in the expansion as the Timurid air force. Timurids: Lightning War, coming Fall 2007.

[PureFodder]

Camel gunners are probably one of the best ranged units in the game. If you haven't used them before the closest thing to them would be a Ribalt on a go-kart. Long range shots that drop morale, can easily flank armies, they scare horses in close combat and can murder most foot archers in melee.