Scorpion

"A man with his eyes on the sky does not see the scorpion at his feet. A man with his eyes on the ground does not see the dragon in the air."

— David Gemmell

In game

Scorpion — Vital statistics
	Powerful siege weapon with a good rate of fire; excellent against infantry (especially archers), but has mediocre performance against buildings. Strong versus units, especially melee infantry arrayed in tight formation. Weak versus defensive structures; melee units.
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrades to
	13.1s (200t)	80	5	19	3s (45t)	19
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 50; : 50	: 150; : 50	2		0	2–13	Immense attack bonus versus units, especially infantry. Attack bonus versus buildings.

Overall strategy

Like the venomous animal it was named after, a Scorpion is a siege machine that packs a punch against infantry. While not as destructive against buildings and fortifications as a mangonel, the Scorpion nevertheless has a range and rate of fire that makes it more than just a match for all but the finest archers: it surpasses them. Infantry will know all too well its sinister reputation when multiple Scorpions begin firing javelins into their ranks. However, like all siege weapons a Scorpion is exceedingly slow and must be deployed in an area before it can begin firing away, and so it is vulnerable to close-up melee attacks, although it must be noted that it has a lower minimum range compared to catapult-type machines. Not to mention its price. While mangonels cost metal and wood, scorpions however need wealth instead of metal, and thus you will need a solid economy in order to field these lethal machines of mass destruction.

Because it isn't that effective a weapon, the best use for a Scorpion is as a form of defensive artillery. A team of three Scorpions can be defended using other units, especially infantry, to help fend off cavalry which can find windows of opportunity to attack and destroy them. The far range and devastating power of Scorpions can then be used to fend off massed infantry formations. Scorpions are not ideal for use against enemy ships, because ships tend to have higher hitpoints and often have weapons as strong or even stronger than those of Scorpions. Eventually however you will have to choose to upgrade your Scorpions to Springalds, or switch to the costlier but more efficient Culverin.

Unit summary

• This Is Personnel — Because the Scorpion's range and weaker attack make it less efficient at demolishing buildings, use Scorpions to take out enemy units instead.
• Screening Process — Keep your Scorpions must be well-defended when being moved from one area to another, and watch out for enemy siege weapons such as Mangonels which can outrange them.
• At What Price Victory? — A Scorpion is a very costly weapon since it requires wealth to be constructed — keep this in mind if you plan to assemble a contingent of Scorpions to fight for you.

Notes

This unit can have two different appearances, namely:

• 

  European Scorpion

• Scropio A cameo.jpg

  Asian Scorpion

• Scrop M cameo.jpg

  Middle Eastern Scorpion

In Bronze Dawn the Scorpion is known as Twakiong-p'hau, ie "great-bow siege-machine" and is buildable only if Mo Jia was researched by the seven kingdoms of China, but is buildable to all Chinese factions (excluding Nanyue) in the Imperial campaign.

History

The Scorpion was a large crossbow-like weapon that was said to have been first created by the Greeks (and possibly introduced independently in China during the Warring States Period) and could be used to fire projectiles that outshot most light missile weapons such as crossbows or slings. The benefit of this weapon was that it could be used to devastate enemy formations well out of bowshot, and could be used to damage light fortifications as well. Although it was a fairly effective weapon, it was difficult to construct and equally costly to maintain owing to the need to keep the torsion of its cables intact over long-term use, and so it was eventually replaced by the cheaper and more effective Springald.