Khmer War Elephant
From Warbirth Wiki
"When the elephants go to war, the mousedeer is caught between them."
— Malay saying
In game[edit | edit source]
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Super heavy cavalry unit with powerful splash-based attack, highly effective versus melee units, but near worthless against missile units, especially firearms.
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| Prereq: | Build time | HP | LOS | Attack | Attack speed | Movement speed |
Upgrades to | |||
| 10.3s (155t) |
230 | 10 | 23 | 5.9s (35t) |
25 | |||||
| Cost | Created from | Armour | Weapon range | Specialty | ||||||
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1 |
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8 | Melee |
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Overall strategy[edit | edit source]
The strongest melee unit in the game, the Asian Elephant is a thing of terror. Large, repugnant in scent and capable of tearing down primitive forts, this unit is a menace to everyone but the most powerful missile weapons. Not even Assyrian Siege Rams can stop an all-out "charge" by them. Sadly, Asian Elephants consume a fair amount of resources, alongside having a huge pop cap cost , and so despite this tremendous killing power, those who feel they can survive fielding these beasts alone are as scatterebrained as those who dare oppose these elephants using swords and shields. Melee cavalry are especially weak against these units because these animals have a scent that spooks horses, thus they enjoy a defensive bonus versus melee cavalry.
For those unfortunate to encounter these beasts, there is but one way around them, and that is to not come close to them at all. Although any bow-equipped unit can take potshots at these beasts with impunity, the best weapons to use against them are crossbows, composite bows and skirmishers wherever you can find them. Ships, although weak in firepower, can be used since Asian Elephants are land units and can't cross water.
Unit summary[edit | edit source]
- Livin' Large — These units consume a fair amount of resources and have a huge pop cap cost. Thus, only the most warlike and the richest cultures can afford to recruit War Elephants.
- Bigger Is Not Better — War Elephants are weak to ranged weapons and ships, so should not be fielded on their own.
See also[edit | edit source]
History[edit | edit source]
Aside from horses, elephants are the only other animal in the world to have been used by humans for combat duty, but by the Mediaeval Era, the use of elephants was mostly confined to South Asia, where there was a near-perpetual supply of eligible recruits for battle — African elephants do not have the capacity to be domesticated. Although elephants were a vital component in the Indian, Siamese, Khmer, Bamar and Malay states, the best war elephants were said to come from Sri Lanka, whose elephants were said to be the most easily trained of them all — in Sri Lanka itself, archaeological evidence suggests that elephant handling took place as early as the 1st century BCE. So valuable were elephants to the local economy (they were exported to the Indian mainland), that the many kingdoms which flourished on the island made them a protected species.