"Well i think that each civilization has its use on different maps, i am stabilized between the spanish and the byzantines(they seem to be quite popular), i use the spanish a lot beacause the blacksmith upgrades only cost food, and therefore are easy to upgrade, this should lead to a nice advantege against the enemies, when i use the spanish i usualy make 3 large groups of paladins(i have all the upgrades made before i start making them, so they have 160 hp 18 dmg and 12 armor) and one large group of conquistadors(they are better then cavalry archers, even if they have a slower fire rate their dmg makes it up for it), and 5 trebouches, and after this CHARGE!! Note at spanish: a large group consists in 35 units so it means that if you are to follow my plan it is best suitable that you stack some heavy resources before since you will kill a big part of your peasants, having about 55 left(or less if you include the trade carts, or fishing ships). That is the attack strategy i use on land, it is even more efficient if you are in a multiplayer game and play whit allies, and one of your allies are the byzantines cause the combination of the 2 forcess is outstanding, i have tested the possible ways of being defeated(the huge huskrals army, pikemen, husars), and NONE can defeat the 2 allies unless they are in a very greater numeric superiority or have great tactical advantage.


I use the byzantines because of thier famous building bonuses, the byzantines are extremely effective in the black forest map and islands, both because the enemy has limited ways of attacking you, and this is where the building bonus really comes in handy since it takes longer for the enemy to destroy even a fortified wall, not to mention that if you build multiple rounds of walls it takes quite a bit for the enemy to break through(and i am talking about real human players, not the stupid bots), even whit all the siege weaponry the enemy still has to work his way through the triple layers of walls, thas giving you enough time to build an army of cataphracts and somke trebuchets, set the trebuchets to fire at ground just outside your walls(this will significantly slow your enemy down since all of his close range siege units will be torn to shreds by the big boulders>:), the only way he can destroy your walls is by using trebuchets or very large units of bombard canon or siege onagers. Note at byzantines: when in a island map don't make your walls or castles anywhere near the shore NO MATTER WHAT TIPS YOU HAVE SEEN, they will be just torn to pieces by cannon galleons, also don't just make elite cannon galleons if on a island map, fast fire ships and galleys are very important 2, cause canon galleons can't fire at close range(but you fellas already know that;) ).


My final tip is this, and it is a very good one: have you ever noticed that trees have their own hp? try using some SIEGE ONAGERS to fire at ground;), you will find this very useful in the black forest map, cause now you know how to carve into the woods getting those all important isolated resources of stone and gold;), use this tip wisely, for you can also use it to sneak to your enemy from behind using the cover of nature(the forest). Hope i helped and that you understood my tips." - Alexander the II

"use siege ogars to cut to trees to get into your enemy's base works every time" - sweetlou