Early Bombard

The early bombard was the first true cannon the medieval world fielded in significant numbers — a squat, thick-walled iron tube bound with iron hoops to contain the explosive force of the powder charge, loaded from the breech with a removable powder chamber and firing stone balls as heavy as one hundred kilograms. At Crécy in 1346 the English deployed primitive firearms; by the late fourteenth century bombards had grown large enough to crack the mortar from city walls, making the static castle irreversibly obsolete. Their deafening report and clouds of sulfurous smoke unnerved horses and defenders alike long before the ball struck. Terrifyingly slow to reload — sometimes an hour per shot — and vulnerable to wet powder, they required careful positioning behind earthen screens. In the game the early bombard delivers devastating siege damage against fortifications and grouped infantry, but must be protected from cavalry raids and repositioned with great deliberation.