War Elephant

Overview

A powerful mounted unit that can damage groups around its target, but moves slowly and draws counter-attacks.

Availability and investment

War Elephant becomes available in Castle Age. Its listed production context is Persians. The listed cost is not separately recorded and the training time is 25 seconds. This tells you when it can first join an army and which resources must be reserved alongside Villager production, upgrades, and other military lines.

Combat profile

The available combat values are included here so the numbers can be read as a profile rather than an isolated list. Hit points and armor describe how long the unit can remain exposed; attack and any bonus damage describe what it threatens; range, reload, accuracy, and movement describe how reliably it can engage or disengage. A value shown for a whole upgrade line applies to the listed stages as recorded, so compare the stage names instead of treating the line as one base unit.

• Hit points: 450
• Melee armor: 1
• Pierce armor: 2
• Line of sight: 7
• Reload time: 2 seconds
• Movement speed: 0.8

Field use

Use its mobility to choose the engagement: pressure exposed economy, reinforce quickly, or withdraw from a prepared counter. Avoid trading its movement advantage for a stationary fight unless the target justifies it.

Armor classes and counters

Armor-class bonuses are separate from base attack and the target’s melee or pierce armor. The class list below shows the unit’s documented combat categories and bonus-damage relationships; use it to judge matchups instead of relying on the unit label alone.

• Armor class: Unique unit
• Armor class: Cavalry
• Armor class: Elephant Units
• War Elephant deals +30 bonus damage to units in the All Buildings class
• War Elephant deals +30 bonus damage to units in the Stone Defense class

Related unit plan: War Elephant breakthrough mass

War Elephant: War Elephants combine very high durability with melee and trample damage, making a large mass difficult to stop with ordinary melee units. Their slow movement makes them better at breaking a chosen front than at pursuing mobile targets Build a group before moving toward a clear objective, then use infantry or ranged support to handle Pikemen and Monks. Let the Elephants absorb contact while the rest of the army removes counters, and keep reinforcements close enough to maintain the mass The high cost and slow speed make scattered losses difficult to replace. Ranged counters, Pikemen, and Monks can punish an unsupported army; avoid chasing units that can kite the Elephants