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Captain_Rex#1635 wrote:

They are a specialist unit, so never use more than 1-2 per Army. I would keep them in the very center of my frontline with Jade Warriors to their flanks. Have your Lord and a hero in front of them to blob the enemy while they throw their bombs. 

I use that tactics with iron hail and that usually works better. 

The debuff ability is very good, but as far as damage output, from my tests I'd rather just have peasant archers for chip damage. Seems like the explosions of them just don't do enough currently.

Cathay is a defensive siege faction. Siege, gunpowder and grenadiers are at their strongest when used against enemy descending from a hill, or alternatively though slightly weaker, when you hold a hill

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Captain_Rex#1635 wrote:

 

I think it depends on the enemy type. Iron Hail gunners are AP (And AL?) while Bombers are generally good against anything chaff and low armoured Infantry. Especially against Skaven stuff like Skaven or low tier Chaos dwarf ARmies I would use the bombers. 

So its the same use but a different focus I would say. 

That's the theory but in practice the bombs do too little damage and iron hail can deal with skavenslaves almost as fast. 

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Riba#6818 wrote:

Cathay is a defensive siege faction. Siege, gunpowder and grenadiers are at their strongest when used against enemy descending from a hill, or alternatively though slightly weaker, when you hold a hill

This need to be combined with something like aiming at the last row of the enemy unit. Right now they aim at first row and hit my own guys. 

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Data5#9904 wrote:

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Captain_Rex#1635 wrote:

 

I think it depends on the enemy type. Iron Hail gunners are AP (And AL?) while Bombers are generally good against anything chaff and low armoured Infantry. Especially against Skaven stuff like Skaven or low tier Chaos dwarf ARmies I would use the bombers. 

So its the same use but a different focus I would say. 

That's the theory but in practice the bombs do too little damage and iron hail can deal with skavenslaves almost as fast. 

I haven’t tried them myself ye but that indeed wouldn’t surprise me. I personally never really use Bombers as the VCoast since normal Gunners just do a much better job. 

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Data5#9904 wrote:

After a 40 turn campaign with Miao I'm not really sure on how to use that unit. 

You can't throw over your front without friendly damage. If you flank with them they usually get overrun by fast units or shot to pieces by skavenslave singers. 

Many times I wished I had iron hail instead of grenadiers when monsters or lords break through the line. If you manage to get on the flank then iron hail output more AP damage. 

The only good thing about them is the stun grenade ability. 

It would be great if they where remade into a free company milita unit. 120 entities, better melee but only carry 3-5 ammo for grenades. Thn they could fill the role of fast offensive flanking infantry. 

Cheap enemy disruption. They are cheaper Miners with demo charges.

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Riba#6818 wrote:

Cathay is a defensive siege faction. Siege, gunpowder and grenadiers are at their strongest when used against enemy descending from a hill, or alternatively though slightly weaker, when you hold a hill

Yup. Positioning is key. They should make Yin casters valuable much sooner than they currently are because of their ability to slow down enemy units. 

From a practical standpoint, there’s simply no guarantee that Nan-Gau Grenadiers can outperform Peasant Bowman in terms of damage output during PvE battles. These close-range grenadiers require more micro-management, and as you noted carry a higher risk of friendly fire. 

While this doesn’t mean you can’t use them in a campaign, their role feels more like a for-fun unit. The core issue, in my view, lies in CA’s overly conservative stat design for them—they lack a clear, defined niche. Even if they can be entertaining to use, their potential was squandered; they could have been designed far more effectively.

Chokes...they will decimate anything... really good for siege battles

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kaiki#4128 wrote:

From a practical standpoint, there’s simply no guarantee that Nan-Gau Grenadiers can outperform Peasant Bowman in terms of damage output during PvE battles. These close-range grenadiers require more micro-management, and as you noted carry a higher risk of friendly fire. 

While this doesn’t mean you can’t use them in a campaign, their role feels more like a for-fun unit. The core issue, in my view, lies in CA’s overly conservative stat design for them—they lack a clear, defined niche. Even if they can be entertaining to use, their potential was squandered; they could have been designed far more effectively.

They require more attention and more forethought but their damage is significantly higher than the bow unit. They also don't have to fret being attacked by dogs because of their grenades and their melee skills. They are going to get targeted by ranged units but that's just something to use against the enemy. Unlike Onyx Crowmen --who also get targeted by missle units -- they can provide the Harmony bonus AND burst damage; and they don't crumble into nothingness from doing their job. 

I'm very pleased to see a unit that acknowledges the Cathayan playstyle and leans into it. It's only a matter of time before we finally fill the holes in Grand Cathay's army. Mortars are next on the list but this is a good start and a much better direction than balloons with rifles. 

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hurricane501#1568 wrote:

Chokes...they will decimate anything... really good for siege battles

I've not seen any value during the seige that I brought them in. They don't throw their grenades over the wall and they can't target the gate. Do you mean defensive seiges? 

He meant sieges as an afterthought since those are full of chokepoints where infantry blobs up.

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kaiki#4128 wrote:
r 27, 2025, 3:16:00 AM

From a practical standpoint, there’s simply no guarantee that Nan-Gau Grenadiers can outperform Peasant Bowman in terms of damage output during PvE battles. These close-range grenadiers require more micro-management, and as you noted carry a higher risk of friendly fire. 

That's more owed to the fact that archer units in this game overperform in general.

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TainBoCuailinge#8335 wrote:
That's more owed to the fact that archer units in this game overperform in general.

I hope that CA implements the shooting types introduced in Dynasties. This would make archers shooting in a high arch much less effective than Archers shootinmg straight. 

If you're against anything with high amounts of chaff (Greenskins, Vampires, Skaven) the Grenadiers are amazing in the early game.