Different Cannon Types

[FourWinds]

Hi all. I had a question concerning cannons. I started playing total war again after a very long hiatus and something has been bothering me. I could have sworn that there were more cannon types available aside from the bombard, mortar, culvern i think? I seem to remember a smaller cannon basically for anti-personnel. Am I right or have I just not played in so long that I am mixing up my total war games?

[PrestigeX]

It's called the Serpentine.

Not all factions have the same Artillery roster - you can check in the Custom Battles just put the era to 'all'.

[Silent Assassin]

It's called the Serpentine.

Not all factions have the same Artillery roster - you can check in the Custom Battles just put the era to 'all'.

Exactly but to add to what the OP named in his post:

bombard, mortar, culvern

Serpentine, Basilik, Grand Mortar, Ribault, Monster Ribault

[Surgeon]

There's several anti-personnel cannon types, including Serpentine (available to only France, HRE, Denmark IIRC), Ribault (a lot of factions have this, also available as mercenaries) and Monster Ribault (Milan and Venice, also available as mercs around Italy), off the top of my head.

In Kingdoms the regular Bombard also gets the grape shot ability which is pretty effective against troops, though I don't recall if this is only in the Crusades campaign or not.

[Sweger]

And then, of course the notorious and epic monster bombard! I've never actually seen it in action though...

[Blood Raven]

And then, of course the notorious and epic monster bombard! I've never actually seen it in action though...

I've used them in custom battles as the Turks,Walls don't stand a chance, one hit and the wall is gone.
Takes forever to load the the beast though.

[Macunaíma]

And then, of course the notorious and epic monster bombard! I've never actually seen it in action though...

Took Constantinople with one of those beauties... Huge walls got like 80-90% damage with one shot.

You can recruit them in the Balkans.

[Avatar]

Aside from the anti-personnel Ribault types, there really isnt much difference between the cannon available in game. Unless you are taking down a citadel you would be able to make do with a regular bombard or cannon, which will tear down a wall or two without trouble.

[Aeratus]

Well, there's a pretty big difference in accuracy between culverin and cannon, and an even bigger difference between culverin and bombard. Culverin and basilisk are pretty good anti-personnel cannons. They can do everything. On the other hand, bombards are nearly useless against troops.

As for sieges, you're right that it doesn't make a difference. In other mods like SS, it does make a difference because the smaller siege weapons don't have enough firepower to break through the bigger walls without running out of ammo.

[Silverheart]

To answer the OP question, different factions have different unit rosters - including when it comes to artillery.
Some, like the Italians for example, have a large variety of cannon artillery to choose from in the late game, while others, like the Byzantines for example, hardly gets anything at all.
The Byzantines actually have to rely completely on regular Bombards and whatever Monster Bombard mercenaries they can find.

[liburn]

u gotta try monster bombard as defensive weapon when besieged. timurids besieged me, i put one behind the troops defending gate in guard mode. then try and aim at the archer unit the pretty often camps right at the gate shooting arrows and see whats the effect . BOOM!

[Silverheart]

u gotta try monster bombard as defensive weapon when besieged. timurids besieged me, i put one behind the troops defending gate in guard mode. then try and aim at the archer unit the pretty often camps right at the gate shooting arrows and see whats the effect . BOOM!

Monster Bombards are usually too big to place on a streets, so they don´t make for very good defensive weapons in a siege situation. You´re better off with Catapults, Ribaults or Mortars.

I do, however, have some experience with using Monster Bombards defensively in field battles.
Using an army composed entirely of mercenaries, I swept along the entire length of the Appenine peninsula and destroyed about one full-size papal army at every turn.
I won mostly because of my mercenary knights, but the two Monster Bombards (with their impressive range and unmatched power) did their part in severely lowering the enemies´ morale, with the result that they almost always broke and routed within seconds of engaging my infantry.

[HauptmanT]

Yes for the most part, most WE nations have the same bombard to culverin roster with the following exceptions. Italian/Riviarian get the ribalt. An early attempt at a machine gun. Would be useful if the animation loaded then looked for a target. As is it looks for target, then loads, Useless. HRE, serpentine. The absolute best anti personel cannon in the game. It never misses so it's lack of explosive ammo isnt an issue. Iberian, bigger culverin (forget it's actual name). Increased range, however it adds nothing much else. England, Mortor. Second favorite toy in M2TW. Acurate enough to hit troops and can be used in city defense. Again, no explosive shells so a near miss does nothing. Can still rack up some AP kills however, and quite capable of taking down walls, after you bombard the occupants a while.

[liburn]

place the bombard at center city and make it advance then, theres is enough time until the ram breach the gate. as for dimensions, if 2 catapults can stand, one monster can too, no big deal i guess.
yea its silly but fun is fun and the monster bombard is fun as hell on packed fights. just make sure your spears hold their ground enough for a couple of shells (hoping that the shell wont hit them too, wich is highly possible ).

ofcoz serious defense is another thing.