Fire Rockets (TWS2 Unit)

Fire Rockets (TWS2 Unit)
Class	Siege Unit
Recruitment Cost	950
Upkeep Cost	150
Requires	Buildings: Arsenal
Melee Attack	2
Charge Bonus	5
Bonus vs Cavalry	0
Range	250
Accuracy	25
Reloading Skill	15
Ammunition	5
Melee Defence	1
Armour	1
Morale	2
Speed	4

Description

These men are armed with large arquebuses loaded with wooden rockets that are ignited and fired into enemy ranks to cause fires and panic.

Because they are launched from hand-held arquebuses, fire rockets are much more mobile than siege weapons. However, they are less powerful and accurate than cannons, and are not used to batter down the walls of a castle. Instead they fire over the top of walls: the rockets’ high arc and long range lets them rain down on the enemy below, setting buildings alight, sowing panic and destroying morale in the process.

During the Sengoku Jidai, the Japanese used incendiary weapons such as fire bombs and fire rockets in naval warfare. Kobayakawa Takakage of the Mori clan used rocket-loaded arquebuses to bombard enemy ships, and many vessels would carry a unit of fire bombers or a small catapult to launch flammable projectiles. Japanese vessels resembled large, floating wooden castles, and another tactic was to simply moor your ship next to your enemy, board it and fight to the death as if the ships were fortifications on land!

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Armed with weapons designed for dealing with castles and buildings.
• Vulnerable to cavalry and in melee in general.