Apparently everyone is getting early handcannoneers before China. Ottoman, Lancasters, now Sengoku Daimyo. Funny how variant civilizations feature so many “early” version of existing units. Very original. 
1 Like
Zhu Xi’s Legacy represents the tech focused portion of the Chinese civ, and have castle age gunpowder units with the early grenadier. Not only that, it is one of the most important parts of their army in Age III because of their ability to enhance damage received with the unique technology.
There’s also the Nest of Bees in castle age, that’s the only gunpowder siege unit that can be built en-masse in castle age. Exclusive to the Chinese civ tree!
Oh and now that I think of it, they have handcannon slits available on their outposts from Feudal age, and a handcannon on their Main TC from Dark age. There’s a lot there that people from 3 years ago didn’t consider!
2 Likes
Why doesn’t China have early handcannons?
Funny that I didn’t comment on this article at the time was published (2022).
I suppose there were only eight civs at that time, and none had an early handcannon; I didn’t think it was a big deal. Chinas in that moment has even “Chemistry Free”, and even “Handcannon Emplacements” (II).
However, now in 2025:
- Ottomans have an early handcannon, the Janissary.
- Lancasters, using technology from their Burgundian allies, have an early handcannon.
- Probably in the future: Burgundians also have an early handcannon.
- Japanese Variant Sengoku: Is gonna have Early Arquebusiers.
That being the case, China, which invented the handcannon, actually does have an early handcannon, but it has a special form:
Fire Lancer
Literally, Fire Lancers are early handcannons, but they use their weapons as a short-range explosive instead of for a range attack.
Of course, they could have given China early Handcanonner, but there was another real reason, which i suppose has to be “balance” in the Season Zero.
Season Zero: Unique Units Limited to 3 for balance
China is one of the first 8 civs. It was created at a time when there were "Limited Unique Units" and “Limited early units” per civ. This was implemented for fear of unbalanced gameplay. Some examples:
- English; 1) Vanguard Men-at-Arm, 2) Archer Villager, 3) Longbowman
- French: 1) Royal Knight, 2) Arbalestier, 3) Cannon
- Mongols: 1) Khan, 2) Mangudai, 3) Traction Trebuchet
The Chinese were the exception, and that was their bonus: The only civ in the game with 6 unique units, and 3 of them were unlocked by dynasties: 1) Palace Guard 2) Bee Nest 3) Officer 4) Zhuge Nu 5) Fire Lancer 6) Grenadier
That was supposedly the original game balance, but, in a game where asymmetry was the fun part, and civs weren’t actually as balanced as they were supposed to be, such a rule wasn’t going to last long.
Season 3: Janissaries and Many Unique Units
And so it was. Since the Anniversary Collection, the Malians (6) broke the rules, and by Season 6, the Japanese (14) were just leaving the remnants. And then the Janissary (III) appeared.
Even so, for “balance,” the Janissary wasn’t a common early gunpowder unit; it had weaker stats and was actually stronger against cavalry than infantry.
At that moment, the excuse for not giving a Handcanonner to China was that it would be too Broken, they didn’t even give a really strong one to the Ottomans.
Season 6: Early Grenadier
To further represent its early gunpowder characteristic, Zhu Xi, acting as an alternate No. 2 build for China, had an early grenadier.
In that moment, we tought everything about the theoretical early handcannoner theme was over, but we were wrong, very wrong.
Season 10: Lancaster Handcannoner
Historically, during the Hundred Years’ War, the English of the House of Lancaster befriended Burgundy, who at the time had their own informal kingdom: Burgundian-Netherland.
The Netherlands, under Burgundian control, imported firearms to England. While they weren’t as popular as the English longbow, they did make a name for themselves.
Now in the game, we have exactly that technology: the English not only have early Handcannons, but they’re cheap (a Netherlands discount).
And China… well, no.
Season 12: Early Arquebusiers, aggains, but for Sengoku Jidai
Now, one of the most anticipated requests is fulfilled: Japanese with Arquebusiers, but for its variant in the Sengoku era.
History: It was the Tanegashima clan, who, upon encountering a stranded Portuguese ship in 1543, purchased two arquebuses and, using reverse engineering, produced a large quantity of them, which they began selling to the rest of the country. The Portuguese were surprised to find that just 10 years after their introduction, they had already produced more than 300,000 of them nationwide.
Now, about his stats, the unit’s data is about to be revealed.
Since they don’t have this Crossbowman, it’s possible that this unit is its replacement (historically, that happens, they use it as anti-armor weapon). We don’t know, so for now, we can only theorize. It could also be that the replacement is the Kanabo Samurai.
What’s there to do?
Now all we can do is speculate and give ideas.
But that’s for another post; this one is already very long and requires a To Be Continued.
2 Likes
Possible Solutions
In general, I’d say China shouldn’t have any current problems with having an Early Handcannon:
- Except for the fact that the Pros consider it to be one of the top SSS civs, and this would make it even stronger.
But beyond that, historically speaking, they could have it. Maybe even with some cheap tech.
Well, Pandora’s box has been opened: “Early Handcannons are real”, and China could have them in the future, if it’s considered that it wouldn’t make it more broken than it is.
2 Likes