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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For the unit in Age of Empires III, see Janissary (Age of Empires III).

Template:AoEIIUnits Test

โ€œTurkish unique unit. Hand Cannoneer with longer range and no minimum range. Powerful close attack, but inaccurate at range.โ€
Age of Empires II description

The Janissary is the unique unit of the Turks in Age of Empires II. It is a gunpowder unit with high attack and melee armor.

Janissaries can be upgraded to Elite Janissaries in the Imperial Age.

There is also a related unit, the Royal Janissary, which is only available in the Scenario Editor. It has exactly the same stats as the Elite Janissary, apart from the HP.

Tactics

Janissaries play similarly to Hand Cannoneers, but with superior statistics. They are fragile but have a devastating attack. In groups they can send out a volley that will kill or severely injure enemy units that are too close. They are especially strong against infantry, but against them, the Hand Cannoneer is actually better. They are not quite as effective against archers and cavalry due to the former's ranged attack and the latter's speed. In great numbers, however, Janissaries can kill them before they do too much damage.

Counters

Up close, Janissaries can be killed easily due to their low hit points, but any unit attacking a dense formation of Janissaries up close is vulnerable. Janissaries can kill much more easily at close range due to their low accuracy at range. Therefore, siege weapons are a threat to them, as a single shot from an Onager can devastate a formation. Bombard Cannons also work very well against Janissaries. Archers are also an issue, because they can make advantage of the Janissary's low accuracy, low pierce armor, and low Rate of Fire.

In addition, Huskarls can easily overwhelm Janissaries in numbers due to their attack bonus against archers (armor-wise, Janissaries are also considered archers). Condottieri and Samurai also are a threat due to their attack bonuses.

Further statistics

As Janissaries are unique to the Turks, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Infantry, buildings
Weak vs. Skirmishers, Samurai, Scorpions, Mangonels, Huskarls, Condottieri, Bombard Cannons
Upgrades
Armor PaddedArcherArmorDE Padded Archer Armor (+1/+1)
LeatherArcherArmorDE Leather Archer Armor (+1/+1)
RingArcherArmorDE Ring Archer Armor (+1/+2)
Conversion defense FaithDE Faith
HeresyDE Heresy
Creation speed ConscriptionDE Conscription (+33%)
Upgrades Janissaries can be upgraded to Elite Janissaries

Civilization bonuses

  • Turks: Janissaries have +25% HP.

Team bonuses

  • A team containing Berbers: With Kasbah researched, Janissaries are created and upgraded 25% faster, and Conscription is researched 25% faster.
  • A team containing Teutons: Janissaries are more resistant to conversion.
  • A team containing Turks: Janissaries are created 20% faster.

Changelog

The Age of Kings

  • Janissaries have 15 (18 for Elite) attack. Non-Elite Janissaries have an attack bonus of +4 against infantry, and Elite Janissaries have +8 attack against infantry as well as +3 attack against buildings.
  • Janissaries have an accuracy of 55%.
  • Turks: Janissaries have +50% HP. The team bonus does not affect Elite Janissaries.

The Conquerors

  • Janissaries now have 17 attack (22 for Elite), but lose their attack bonuses against infantry and buildings.
  • Janissaries' accuracy reduced to 50%.
  • Heresy introduced.
  • Turks: Janissaries now have +25% HP.

The Forgotten

  • Turks: Elite Janissaries are now affected by the team bonus.

Trivia

  • Janissaries originally were meant to be heavy foot archers rather than unique Hand Cannoneers, this was more historically in line with the historical Turks in Age of Empires II medieval era time period. Janissaries also could be upgraded into unique Hand Cannoneers, this was later changed due to an archer unique unit already existing.
  • The Janissary was originally planned to have the design used by the Royal variant with a hat. However, this was changed; the reason for the change was because "testers and Ensemble employees would comment that the Janissary looked like a 'Ku Klux Klan' member".
  • Before patch 4.8, the Elite Janissary was one of three unique units with 0 frame delay, the others being the Elite Mangudai and Elite Mameluke. After patch 4.8, only the Elite Janissary retained this 0 frame delay.
  • When ten Janissaries enter the Teutonic Bombard Tower it will shot with three cannonballs instead of one.

History

โ€œSome of the best units in the Turkish armies were the janissaries. These men were slaves captured as children and raised under Islam to be fanatical warriors. They wore distinctive white headgear and marched into battle accompanied by music. They fought on foot with a variety of weapons, including early firearms when these weapons reached the Middle East. The military was their entire life and they took great pride in their ability. They led the successful assault into Constantinople and the unsuccessful Turkish attacks against Malta and Vienna.โ€

Gallery

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager ยท Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart ยท FishingShipDE Fishing Ship ยท Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog ยท King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia ยท Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms ยท Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman ยท Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman ยท Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman ยท Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman ยท Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
Eaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout ยท Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior ยท EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer ยท Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman ยท Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher ยท Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer ยท Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
Aoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer ยท ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry ยท Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry ยท Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight ยท Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier ยท Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider ยท Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
Battle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant ยท Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer ยท Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant ยท AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram ยท Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram ยท Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel ยท Onager aoe2DE Onager ยท Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion ยท Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship
Galley aoe2DE Galley ยท War galley aoe2DE War Galley ยท Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley ยท Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship ยท Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft ยท Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship ยท Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon ยท Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
AoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary ยท AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk ยท Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower ยท CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero ยท Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia ยท GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto ยท Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam ยท HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl ยท JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior ยท KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk ยท Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior ยท AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary ยท Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch ยท SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai ยท Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant ยท Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior ยท TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight ยท ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman ยท Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman ยท AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest ยท WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai ยท CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer ยท ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu ยท AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman ยท ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador ยท GenitourIcon-DE Genitour ยท GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman ยท Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher ยท JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary ยท Kipchakicon Kipchak ยท LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman ยท MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai ยท PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer ยท Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha ยท Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer ยท SlingerIcon-DE Slinger ยท WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant ยท BoyarIcon-DE Boyar ยท Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout ยท CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract ยท Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion ยท Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier ยท Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel ยท ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider ยท Keshikicon Keshik ยท Konnikicon Konnik ยท Leitisicon Leitis ยท MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar ยท MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke ยท AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa ยท Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha ยท AoE2 Savar Savar ยท Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider ยท TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan ยท WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant ยท Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice ยท Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon ยท OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel ยท LongboatIcon-DE Longboat ยท Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai ยท TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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