Game Info[]
Unique ranged unit of the Chinese civilization. Replaces the Crossbowman.
- Common abilities:
- May Not Melee Attack
- Special abilities:
- May Attack Twice (in one turn)
- Special traits:
- Lesser
Ranged Strength (14 vs. 18)
- Lesser
Strategy[]
The Chu-Ko-Nu is one of the strongest ranged attackers of the Medieval Era, thanks to its ability to fire twice in a turn even before it reaches a high enough level to gain access to the respective promotion. Although its ranged strength appears to be lower than that of a Crossbowman, firing twice more than makes up the difference. Entrench it in a city, or a Fort, and lay waste to the enemy armies! Alternatively, you can fire just once, then retreat to safety, an ability only shared with mounted units such Knights.
The ability to fire twice carries over when the Chu-Ko-Nu is upgraded, creating really dangerous Gatling Guns, Machine Guns, and Bazookas.
Civilopedia entry[]
The Chu-Ko-Nu is a rather nifty repeating crossbow invented in China at the end of the second century AD. The machine looks something like a standard European crossbow with a box bolted to its top, just above the string. The box was filled with crossbow bolts. In operation, the soldier would pull a lever to cock the string and then push the lever back, causing a bolt to drop out of the box and into place to be fired. This gave the Chu-Ko-Nu a faster rate of fire than a standard European crossbow. However, the Chu-Ko-Nu fired a lighter bolt and had a shorter range than a European machine. Which was the superior weapon would depend upon circumstances – the European model might prevail in open terrain against heavily armored opponents, while the Chu-Ko-Nu would probably be better at short-range against large numbers of lighter-armored attackers.
See also[]
- Chu-Ko-Nu in other games
