Let's fix the Great Bombard, shall we?

QUick summary:

Remove the ability of ottomans to produce Great Bombards from the siege workshop. It's produce either by landmark only or Vizier points. This would be in line with how other civs produce their end-game powerful units

PROBLEM

The recent patch made it so springalds and culverins hit way less than other siege units. They hit faster, which can make a difference in regular sieged battles.

However, this does not make much of a difference against the Ottoman's feared Great Bombard. Why? Because the GB can one-shoot either a culverin or a springald, so reloading the next shot rather than backing away means losing a precious siege unit.

There's no denying that the GB is a very powerful unit, perhaps the most game-changing unit of the entire game. Getting more than one in your army can be GG for the opponent because the enemy will have to invest lots of resources, time, and micro in defeating this unit - while the rest of the Ottoman army is mowing the enemy army down.

Additionally, the Ott the GB recently by making it be 4 pop rather than 3. This makes no difference, though, as any Ottoman will unlock the GB way before reaching the 200-pop limit. Moreover, the GB fullfills so many roles that it allows the Ottoman to be more effective in the army population. Particularly, the only siege they need is the GB.

On team games, getting to 4 or more great bombards is actually quite easy, both playing as or againts.

Relic slightly nerfed the GB recently by making it be 4 pop rather than 3. This makes no difference, though, as any Ottoman will unlock the GB way before reaching the 200-pop limit. Moreover, the GB fulfills so many roles that it allows the Ottoman to be more effective in the army population. Particularly, the only siege they need is the GB.

Lastly, the GB hits hard (350 siege damage without chemistry) and hits in aoe. It's a bombard, a mangonel, a springald, and a culverin all at the same time - and it spawns with 11 tiles of range, one more range than a bombard or a springald.

All of this makes the GB a unit that's easy to get, easy top amass, and easy to micro.

CONTEXT

The Dehli has this unit that the devs think it's too powerfoul to produce freely. That's the Sultan's Elite Tower Elephant. This unit only spawns from an Age 4 landmark, tyhe Palace of the Sultan. Its train time is 200 seconds, and you can lower that down garrisoning 4 Scholars in the landmark.

Granted, the unit looks cool and it's fun to use. Great design - two hand cannoneers on top of an elephant, yes, please! But in reality, it's far from a game-changing unit. It's more of a walking, massive, expensive 3-pop target that requires extensive micro to use properly.

Even so, you can't produce it freely once you build the landmark.

So...

Solution

Why can the Ottoman both produce the GB for free, and from blacksmiths? Why not locking the GB behind a landmark, and only allow Ottomans to produce it on the landmark?

So,

• Make Ottoman produce the GB from the landmark only ( Mehmed Imperial Armory )
• Give Ottoman the regular bombard. With the mehter's aura, the Ottoman bombard will be pretty good either way
• Allow the Ottoman to increase the production speed of the GB by garrisoning mehter on the landmark. The base time is 360s, and it can be reduced to 300s, and further reduced by Vizier points and the blacksmith aura.
• I understand this will make the Mehmed Imperial Armory more like the only choice. So, the Istanbul Imperial Palace (the one that gives two extra Vizier points), can unlock a Vizier point that delivers one GB to the town center every 250 to 300 seconds.

This would be in-line with how the game deals with game-changing units. For example, J

• Xu Chi needs a landmark and expensive technology to unlock Imperial Guards
• Japanese need to change tickets to create Ozotzu, so the Ozotzu are limited. Moreover, Relic heavily nerfed the Ozotsu
• Mongol has to gamble to get a Hui Hui Pao from their age 4 landmark. Granted, not a game-changing unit, but the devs think it is, so they limited its production
• The French can only produce the Royal version of their canons from the College of Artillery, an Age 4 landmark that people rarely choose

Conclusion

I hope this is more than a thought exercise. I believe it's a good idea to keep the Ottoman more in line with the rest of the civs, and reduce the oppressiveness of the GB given how the culverin and the spring were nerfed

What do you think?

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