Incendiary Grenades
Incendiary Grenades is a Commerce Age Arsenal upgrade for eligible grenade units. It increases their building siege bonus damage by 15% and expands their area of effect.
Research profile
- Age
- Commerce Age*
- Civilization
- British; Dutch; French*; Maltese; Mexicans; Ottomans; Russians; Swedes; United States*; Other European civilizations
- Research location
- Arsenal
- Research time
- 30 seconds
- Wood cost
- 400
- Coin cost
- 300
- Effect
- Grenade trooper* siege attack bonus damage against buildings +15%, ranged attack Area of Effect +1; Grenadier and Humbaraci mortar attack Area of Effect +0.5; Soldado and Giant Grenadier ranged attack Area of Effect +0.5 instead; Revolutionary siege attack bonus damage against buildings +15%, grenade attack Area of Effect +1 (with the "Peruvian Guard" Home City Card)
Effect
The exact units that receive the upgrade vary by civilization and shipment. Its two recorded benefits affect grenade attacks against structures and the area affected by those attacks; check the eligible-unit details before relying on it.
Research condition
Definitive Edition: Arsenal; normally Commerce Age; 400 Wood · 300 Coin; 30 seconds. The WarChiefs: Fortress Age and different Grenadier effect. Civilization and card access vary.
Research decision
Research when grenade units are available and a push will include buildings or clustered targets. Do not assume that every civilization’s grenade unit receives the upgrade.
Expansion change and eligible attacks
Incendiary Grenades changed substantially between The WarChiefs and Definitive Edition. In The WarChiefs it is a Fortress Age upgrade that increases Grenadier siege damage against buildings by 30%. In Definitive Edition it moves to the Commerce Age, costs 400 Wood and 300 Coin, takes 30 seconds to research at an Arsenal, and increases siege bonus damage against buildings by 15% for eligible grenade units; the Peruvian Guard’s grenade attack also benefits. Grenade Launchers can unlock access for European civilizations, and the Logistician can make earlier Arsenal research possible where its building access applies. Update 54545 adjusted the description to name Grenadiers and Soldados. The effect also increases burst radius, so the upgrade can improve attacks against clustered structures or units in the blast area. Check the civilization’s actual grenade roster before spending the resources: it is not a universal bonus to every infantry attack. Research it when a building push is part of the plan, then keep the grenade units protected from cavalry and focused fire.
Research decision by edition
A player using The WarChiefs should plan for Fortress Age access and the original +30% Grenadier building multiplier. Definitive Edition instead allows the +15% siege-bonus-damage research in the Commerce Age, subject to the Arsenal and civilization/card access. That timing can move a structure push earlier, but the upgrade still requires grenade units to be present and does not replace the need for frontline protection.
Different grenade units gain different blast effects
In Definitive Edition, Incendiary Grenades is a 30-second Arsenal technology costing 400 Wood and 300 Coin, normally available from the Commerce Age; older The WarChiefs rules place it in the Fortress Age and use a different effect. The current upgrade adds 15% siege bonus damage against Buildings and one point of area radius to eligible Grenade Troopers. Grenadiers and Humbaraci receive a separate 0.5 increase to the area of their mortar attack. Soldados and Giant Grenadiers gain a 0.5 increase to ranged attack area instead, rather than the same mortar effect. With the Peruvian Guard Home City Card, Revolutionaries receive the building siege bonus and the extra grenade radius. Because the unit-specific effects differ, check which grenade unit the civilization actually fields; the technology is most useful when its affected units are already part of a planned building push or can exploit clustered targets.