The most notable trait and largest disadvantage of the Light Cannon is that it is only available in the Industrial Age, unlike European artillery. This can be quite a restriction in a fast-paced battle.
It does excellent damage against artillery and buildings and is also good against ships. It can also do peripheral damage to nearby targets. The Light Cannon is strong against ships, infantry, and other artillery. Due to their effectiveness against a wide array of units complimented with a powerful range (most standard artillery have 26 or 28), they are devastating against enemy armies if left unchecked. If the "Siege Discipline" card is sent, the Haudenosaunee can easily mass a large number of these without a major penalty to the population space.
The Light Cannon is a mixture of Falconet and Culverin. It nearly has the range and damage of the Culverin, which makes it effective against other artillery units, and part of the power of the Falconet, which makes it effective against infantry and buildings.
Another advantage is that, unlike European artillery, they spend no time switching between Bombard and Limber mode. Both of the modes have equal speed, and if for any cause they have changed mode, they can change them instantly, allowing them to always remain both mobile and ready for combat. As of update 61213, Light Cannons no longer have a Limber mode, only a Bombard mode.
The main disadvantages of the Light Cannon are its slower rate of fire, less damage, and smaller damage area than a Falconet (making it for example only 31% as effective against infantry as a Falconet, not factoring in the reduced damage area), as well as its fewer hitpoints than either a Culverin or a Falconet, while costing almost the same amount of resources to train.
Light Cannons are arguably one of the best anti-artillery counter units in the game: Culverins slightly outrange them, but are highly situational and overspecialized. The Light Cannon's flexibility and great range makes it essentially a better Culverin that is also very capable at taking down buildings and can help against armies. It should be noted, however, that Light Cannons do not shine against infantry nearly as much as Falconets do, with a combination of weaker damage, area of effect and multiplier making them incapable of taking on large groups of infantry like Falconets can. This is why they should be used to destroy buildings and enemy artillery first and foremost, while their decent firepower against regular units is more of a bonus than their specialty. Aennas and Forest Prowlers should be used as a backbone of the Haudenosaunee army when it comes to dealing with infantry, with Light Cannons providing additional support.
Ships 5 Consulate Culverins; artillery get +10% hit points and -10% train time; Culverins get +20% hit points and -25% train time instead; costs 500 wood
"Lantakas" is available to the Dutch and Portuguese upon revolting to Indonesia.
"Wanderlust"is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.
"Knox's Continental Artillery" is available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.
A portrait file named sx_light_cannon_portrait.ddt in the game files suggests that the Sioux would also have access to the Light Cannon. This portrait has been updated for the Definitive Edition, where it remains unused.
History[]
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Most Iroquois campaigns ended up with siege warfare. This fact, combined with the Iroquois predilection for modern weapons (trade steel and gunpowder), meant that they learned to deal with military technology early in their history. The cannon was a natural step in this development. The Light Cannon represents an artillery piece, bought or stolen from European allies, but crewed by Iroquois warriors.