Winsett's Z

Winsett's Z
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Cheat unit
Training
Trained at	Town Center
Cheat code	bigdaddy
Statistics
Hit points	500
Melee attack	300
Attack bonus	300 vs. Buildings and Fire Galley
Blast radius	2.5 [tapering effect]
Reload time	3
Range	15
Minimum range	2
Accuracy	100%
Melee armor	10
Pierce armor	0
Speed	8
Line of Sight	17

“	A chariot of the future with massive firepower and horsepower. Special design ordered by S. Winsett with a rocket launcher mounted by the Zaibatsu. Does this turn you on?.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

Winsett's Z is a cheat unit in Age of Empires. It consists of a fast sports car mounted by a person armed with a rocket launcher. The unit spawns only at the most recently built Town Center. It is also available in the Scenario Editor (Definitive Edition onwards).

Overview

The unit doesn't deal siege damage to buildings, but has a larger Area of Effect than the Heavy Catapult, and its high damage is enough to one-hit-kill almost every target, except certain units and heroes with specific civilization bonuses (such as Carthaginian elephant units, Carthaginian Hannibal, and Yamato Cleopatra's Barge).

If placed at a higher elevation or cliff, the damage dealt per hit can be as high as 900, the most attack done by any unit in the game (tied with Nuke Troopers). Despite its superior stats making it incredibly hard to destroy, use it with caution, as it is vulnerable to conversion if it is left unsupervised. It is also the fastest unit in the game.

Since Winsett's Z does not belong to any particular category, its stats cannot be upgraded.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• The unit is unable to kill animals, whether directly hit or caught in its blast.

The Rise of Rome

• The unit can deal damage to animals.

Return of Rome

• The unit previously had the same icon as the Cobra Car from Age of Empires II. With update 95810, it received a unique icon.
• Pierce Armor reduced from 10 to 0.
• Attack reduced from 600 (despite being stated as 300) to 300.
• Gained a 300 bonus attack vs buildings.
• Frame delay increased from 1 to 10.

Trivia

• The in-game stats reveal that it deals 300 damage per hit, but it actually does 600 damage. With these stats, it can even demolish a House or a Watch Tower (the latter before Return of Rome) in one strike (600/5 = 120 damage to buildings).
• The car model resembles a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. Scott Winsett, one of the artists of Age of Empires and owner of a then new Z28, thought that it would be cool to see his car in the game, hence the unit's name "Winsett's Z(28)".
• The new model in Return of Rome also has a faint logo of Forgotten Empires on the car's hood.

Gallery

Winsett's Z's original sprite

An arsenal of Winsett's Z in Return of Rome

Comparison of Winsett's Z and Winsett's Other Z in the Definitive Edition (left) and Return of Rome (right)

WINSETT'S Z vs EVERY UNIT - Age of Empires- Definitive Edition

See also

• Winsett's other Z: a similar cheat unit, with a lower attack but higher attack speed.