| “ | Wrought in the sacred form of fire-belching Dragon-mouths, their flaming cannonballs can topple almost any foe. | „ |
Grand Cannon are a 
Grand Cathay artillery unit introduced in Total War: Warhammer III.
Recruitment[]
Unlocked with: Powder Magazine
Description[]
The armies of Cathay use many kinds of cannon in their armies, most forged in the workshops of Nan-Gau. These include massive Grand Cannons shaped like roaring Dragons, each one able to belch fire or spit flaming cannonballs. The walls of the Great Bastion are lined with such war machines, the fortress towers of the wall looking like war galleons, with sides bristling with row upon row of cannon. When the armies of Grand Cathay march to war, some of these great guns are set upon oxen-hauled gun carriages, where they can lend their impressive firepower to the Dragon Emperor’s soldiers.
Attributes[]
- Siege Artillery
- ▲ Harmony: Yin: This unit counts as a Yin unit and gains increased reload skill and leadership near Yang units.
Unit Abilities[]
Passive Abilities[]
Strategy[]
The Grand Cannon is useful for many reasons: in siege battles, it will quickly and reliably destroy walls, gates and towers to create openings for attack. In field battles, it is dangerous to infantry and monsters, but absolutely deadly against cavalry and monstrous infantry. Ogres especially suffer when Cathay brings several batteries of these to the field. However, its effectiveness is dependent not only on terrain, but also on other units´ positioning. A unit of Yang-aligned melee infantry or cavalry should always be kept in reserve to give them the extra reload speed bonus harmony provides, and these can be further amplified with a Lord, Sky Lantern or Sky Junk nearby. Ideally, the best location to place your cannons would be a slight elevation like a small hill overlooking the battlefield so they are not obstructed by your troops in their firing lines. If properly supported and protected, they will earn their cost back very quickly.
An easy rookie mistake to make is to imagine the Fire Rain Rocket or the Sky-junk are direct upgrades to this thing. They are not - they're great at burning through clumps of infantry, but bad at dealing with single entities. The Grand Cannon is superb at punching holes through big lords and monsters who will otherwise cause your infantry and heroes all sorts of problems, particularly if you can catch them with a Storm of Shadows spell in open ground. This characteristic easily earns this unit its place in late game armies.
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