Artillery class unit of Industrial Age. Breech loader is the last unlocked unit in the Industrial Age. Having low damage and defense points, but the longest attack range in the game. Receiving additional damage on hills for terrain bonus. Effective against heavy unit class but vulnerable to any from of melee attacks or 2 spaces. Having the special ability Dug-in, receives a defense bonus if the enemy is more than 2 spaces from away it.
A breech-Loader
A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel.
Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading (though mortars are generally muzzle-loaded). Early firearms were almost entirely muzzle-loading.
The main advantage of breech-loading is a reduction in reloading time; it is much quicker to load the projectile and charge into the breech than to force them down a long tube, especially when the tube has spiral ridges from rifling. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the weapon without exposing themselves to enemy fire or repositioning the piece (as was required for muzzle-loaded weapons) and allows turrets and emplacements to be smaller (since breech loaded weapons do not need to be retracted for loading).
Early types of breech loaders are from the 15th and 16th century
Although breech-loading weapons were developed as far back as the late 14th century in Burgundy, breech-loading became more successful with improvements in precision engineering and machining in the 19th century.
The main challenge for developers of breech-loading weapons was sealing the breech. This was eventually solved for smaller weapons by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For weapons too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw.
Other Military Units
Legend: = Light Unit Class = Ranged Unit Class = Artillery Unit Class = Heavy Unit Class = Fast Unit Class