Ordnance Factory (ETW building)
| Ordnance Factory | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category: | Ordnance | ||||||
| Level: | 1 | ||||||
| Turns to build: | 3 | ||||||
| Building cost: | 1250 | ||||||
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| Requires | |||||||
 Cannon Foundry | |||||||
| Technology | |||||||
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| Enables | |||||||
 Great Arsenal | |||||||
An ordnance factory is a large-scale enterprise dedicated to the design and manufacture of guns and their associated equipment for the army and navy.
The large-scale manufacturing of cannons is a monopoly often retained by the state, even in a republic: there is no need for anyone other than a government to own large cannons! The creation of large guns is also a difficult and expensive business, and the state is the only authority that can afford to do it. The number of guns available is therefore a measure of national prestige, and the ability to produce guns (rather than buy them from foreigners) is equally prestigious. An ordnance factory adds lustre and firepower to armies.
Historically, most ordnance factories began as royal establishments, giving the crown in each nation a source of cannons. These were needed for reducing the castles of recalcitrant barons! Even though politics moved on, the state control of cannon production remained. The royal household or near-ministerial status of the Master Gunner or Master of the Ordnance is proof that artillery was an important part of national or royal prestige. Size really did matter! The Ottoman Turks had a strong tradition of artillery production, in particular heavy siege guns.