Depot Wagon
Depot Wagon is a Maltese construction wagon that places one free Depot. The Depot improves the rate of fire of nearby friendly units and structures, so placement determines which force benefits.
Recorded values
- Durability & mobility
- 250 hit points · 4.0 speed · 18 line of sight
- Ability
- Builds a Depot for free
Role, availability & values
The wagon has 250 hit points and moves at 4.0 speed. Guide it to a defended point near the troops or defensive buildings expected to fight together; the Depot’s area effect rewards a concentrated position. The wagon itself does not provide the bonus while travelling.
Matchup & timing
Choose a site the Maltese can hold and where the fire-rate benefit will cover useful units. Protect the wagon during transit and the Depot after construction. Avoid placing it so far forward that the opponent can destroy it before the army uses the support.
Free Depot delivery and explosive risk
The Depot Wagon is a Maltese Home City shipment unit from Knights of the Mediterranean. It places one Depot without spending resources: the wagon builds it in eight seconds, compared with 24 seconds for the Grand Master’s ordinary 60-Wood, 60-Coin construction. If Bailiff has been sent, the Grand Master’s construction time falls to 16 seconds and the wagon’s to six seconds. Gunpowder Mills is the card that makes every later shipment also include a free Depot Wagon, so the wagon is not an unrestricted trainable unit. The resulting Depot improves the attack speed of nearby gunpowder units. Placement should cover the units expected to fight together, and the structure’s destruction has a major drawback: its explosion damages nearby units and buildings, including allied forces. The wagon itself also explodes when killed, but its death does not deal damage. Depots can be used aggressively because their rapid placement may finish before an opponent can destroy the structure; from the Industrial Age onward, closely placed Depots can destroy one another, creating a siege-damage interaction similar to a Petard attack. This is situational and risky, not a substitute for a normal siege army. Keep allies clear of a Depot likely to fall, and use the free shipment where the fire-rate aura can affect a real engagement.
Keep the Depot’s explosion away from allies
The Depot’s support effect also applies to nearby Buildings that use gunpowder, so a position can improve both the army and its defensive structures. Its destruction has a serious risk: the completed Depot explodes and can damage every nearby unit and Building, including allied ones. The Depot Wagon itself is safe to lose in that respect; when the wagon is killed, it does not cause that explosion. Keep the finished Depot away from fragile friendly formations and important structures, and avoid allowing an enemy to detonate it in the middle of the army. The Gunpowder Mills Home City card also changes Maltese shipments: after it is sent, each later shipment includes another free Depot Wagon. This creates repeatable access to support infrastructure, but every new placement still needs a protected site and a deliberate blast-safe distance from allies.