Dark Age basics
VerifiedKeep villagers busy, place Houses, and scout. The first four minutes decide whether Feudal Age feels late.
Open land random map
Idle Villager
Strategies
Practical notes for standard land maps unless a guide says otherwise. Build orders state assumptions and do not invent precise clocks.
13 published guides.
Beginner fundamentals
What to do with villagers, army, and idle time.
Openings
How games actually start on land maps.
Feudal Scout opening
VerifiedA Stable in Feudal Age to raid woodlines with Scout Cavalry. Best on open maps with hunt.
Arabia-style open land
Khmer Fast Castle
VerifiedKhmer can click Castle Age without the usual building requirements. Use that to boom or to drop a workshop, not to skip villagers.
Open or semi-open land
Economy and booming
Town Centers, farms, and when to stop booming.
Three Town Center boom
VerifiedExtra Town Centers in Castle Age to out-villager the opponent, then add army when you can afford both.
Land maps with room for Town Centers
Defending aggression
Living through Drush, Scouts, and archers.
Holding Feudal pressure
VerifiedSurvive Scouts or archers without throwing the game. Spears, Skirmishers, a second Town Center later, and no panic idle.
Open land
Army compositions and transitions
What to add when the first plan stalls.
Scorpion ball
VerifiedMass Scorpions with a melee shield. Khmer and Celts make this a civ identity. Generic civs can still use it.
Land, including closed maps
Archers into Knights
VerifiedWin Feudal with archers, then add stables so Knights catch the opponent's counter.
Open land
Khmer siege and elephant push
VerifiedScorpions, Ballista Elephants, and Battle Elephants as a Castle to Imperial plan. Strong if it lands, fragile vs pikes, monks, and Onagers.
Land, especially semi-closed
Late game
Trash, siege, and Imperial upgrades.
Trash wars
VerifiedHalberdiers, Elite Skirmishers, and Hussars when gold is low. Know which of those three your civ actually has.
Any land map that went long
Late-game siege
VerifiedOnagers, Scorpions, rams, Trebs, and BBC. Bring cavalry guard. Check which of those your civ is missing.
Land
Team games
Flank and pocket roles. Not 1v1.
Pocket and flank
PartialFlanks fight early. Pockets boom and bring Knights or siege later. Team bonuses matter. This is not 1v1.
Team land maps
Map type
Open land vs closed land. Water is labeled incomplete.
Open land maps
VerifiedNo full walls. Scouts, archers, and Knights decide the game more than elephants and deathballs.
Arabia-style open land
Closed land maps
PartialWalls delay army contact. Booms, monks, unique units, and siege matter more. Fast Castle is common.
Arena or other closed land
Planned guides
- Man-at-Arms into archersPlanned
Beginner Feudal pressure planned.
- Black Forest pocketsPlanned
Closed-map team guide planned.
- Water hybrid on IslandsPlanned
Needs the post-169123 naval data pass.