[GoodSpeed's 3.0 TAD Guide] British
Posted: 27 Feb 2017, 14:19
VC build — 80% 
by GoatSpeed
**
British
Counter-intuitively, Brits have the most options out of any civ. They can choose to invest in economy at any random point in the game, but also have solid aggressive options as well as a balanced unit composition. Having so many (eco-focused) options, Brits are one of those challenging civs where you have to scout and adapt. Their early to midgame economy is the best in the game, but it takes a big investment and opens you up to early game timings. Walls as Brit can be a huge help against such timings, but an even better help is to scout and see them coming, and adapt into the right card order and right unit composition to stop the army that you know will be coming at X minutes. Brits are a civ that is very focused on getting just enough mass out to hold early game timings, because too little obviously loses and too much would mean they could have invested more in their economy, which they will need to win the game with later. Greedily cutting corners will win games with Brit.
Then there's longbows which are the best ranged infantry in colonial (not counting abus), and their range makes them work very well behind walls which gives Brit some excellent defensive options. This means Brit can often get away with a fast boom even against rushes, and it makes them generally not worth rushing. This is painful when up against Brits because you know they're booming, and they are a civ that can outgather you by 2k within 8 minutes.
All well and good, but there is an issue that Brit faces.
Brits would be the top civ if they had infinite resources in their base. However this is not the case, and at some point Brit will have to move out. This is where the problem lies, as Brit's boom will only barely have paid off by the time they run out of hunts in their base which means they'll have about the same amount if not less units than their opponent (depending on their civ). The trick here, and this is something NaturePhoenix did intelligently which is one of the reasons he was such a scary Brit player, is using walls. Walls can help you push out across the map, since longbows work so extremely well behind them. Any defensive position with a wall in front of a mass of longbows is pretty much impossible to push into, which makes securing extra resources sometimes a tedious task, but doable.
Mostly a Brit's opponent will end up with some sort of a fast (semi-)FF build. Brit can mass a whole bunch of units by 8 min, don't get that wrong, but it's not going to be a game winning timing against for example a French musk semi-FF. Brit can choose to fight in colonial which is risky, or follow up to fortress. You'd think Brit's FF builds are awkward because they don't generally build a TP, don't have a fast age politician and quick teching interferes with their boom. They also have to upgrade RI and cav in fortress. Seemingly plenty of reasons not to go fortress, but in the end it's just simply something Brits can afford to do against opposing FF builds, and fighting fortress in colonial can be tough. So following them up is a great choice in this case, but it can be too late.
If you scout their age up by reading “X's colony has just reached the fortress age”, your only option is now playing it out in colonial. After all, Brits don't have that fast age politician and you'll likely be killed just as you hit fortress.
If you scout their age up by seeing them send 700g early and stopping unit production but your 5v just arrived, you're also too late. Waiting for 700g is not an option, and gathering the entire 2200 resources will usually take too long.
But you can't scout it earlier than that, can you?
No you can't. The solution? send 700g.
Simply send 700g early no matter what (after 700w 600w, or even immediately after 700w) and then choose to use it either for units or for the age up. 700g doesn't only function as a gateway to fortress, it's also a great card which will grow your mass quite a bit if you simply use it for musk huss (or just huss). Then, if you scout his (semi-)FF you won't be in a situation where an awkward 5v shipment just popped out, you'll have 700g lying around and can follow him up comfortably (note: this trick applies for many other civs as well). Strategic tricks like these that enable a Brit to be as greedy as possible while keeping an eye on their opponent and keeping their options open is how Brit gets an edge over most civs, and also what makes it such a hard and rewarding civ to play.
The British build
Check your starting crates. Your start is very different for all 3 possibilities:
With 200w and no gold crate, simply build a manor.
With 300w, build a TP and chop 35w for the manor.
With 200w and 100g, Mine 75 gold (usually get most of this from treasures), build a market first and trade gold for wood, then get a manor + hunting dogs.
As players start relying on timings and FF builds to beat Brit rather than fast rushes, booming fast and early with them becomes stronger. Virginia company suddenly finds itself competing with 3v as the first card to send, and actually winning in most cases. If a lot of early military presence is not necessary, VC becomes worth it, after all you're saving almost 50 wood per house and assuming you'll make about 15 during transition and early colonial you'll have saved a total of 750 wood AND generated a bunch of XP, which is huge for an age1 card. The card actually does about the same as port consulate+heavenly kami does for Japan, and Japan goes for that every single game. Go figure.
(1) 3v
Or
(1) Virginia company
If you had an early TP from a 300w start, always send both (3 vills first). For convenience I will still refer to 700w as your second shipment even if you've already sent 3v and VC.
Remember, with 3 vills first will have more units in early colonial but VC first will have a stronger mass later on. It has strong timings after 7 min but is somewhat vulnerable to fast rushes. Because the style is largely unexplored, I'm unsure myself as to which rushes actually beat it and which don't. Walling always helps, and note that Brits are often quick at ageing (~4:10) so they can usually afford to boom and wait for 700w before building raxes.
(2) 700w
700w second is a no-brainer with Brits. Even if you'd only use it for manors it would still be a superior eco card compared to 5v due to the XP you get from building the manors and the 50 extra pop. But of course you're not only using it for manors, you're using it to get (additional) military buildings up, market upgrades, lb or pike, and manors.
Your age up politician is almost always 500f, the tower is unnecessary. However against civs like Iro which can garisson your vills early making the 500f somewhat less useful, tower+200c is viable as well. You are essentially buying a tower for 250f though, since you're missing the 500f, and in theory with proper walling you should never need the tower. If you need it later for map control, delaying it until then is better than getting it early. After all the earlier you get it, the more time it will spend just sitting there doing nothing. Useless investments are something you want to shy away from, especially early on.
Something I like to do as Brits is mine 150g no matter what, and then decide based on their build whether to spend it on minutemen or steel traps in early colonial. This is a mindset you'll have to get into as Brits: setting yourself up for multiple options then choosing one at the latest possible moment so that you have time to scout your opponent and adapt properly.
If you are likely to semi-FF (you can hardly ever know this for sure before scouting your opponent's colonial start), note that building a TP during transition to colonial is worth it.
The 3v build 20%
If you sent 3v first and don't have a TP, that means you're not planning to boom fully. Either you have to defend against early aggression, or you want to be the aggressor. There are 3 ways of playing from here, in each case you'll want to have gathered 200w at the time of age up for your first military building (but don't skip market):
—Cav start. This is a good choice against rushes that are holdable with 5 cav + minutemen. You can turn it into colonial play with any composition involving huss, but it can also be turned into a strong semi-FF (think against China).
Get a second military building from the 700w. In situations where you need a lot of infantry fast you might even get 2 raxes from it to land on a total of 2 rax+1 stable. Sometimes it's better to wait for the 600w and boom fully from 700w.
(3) 700g or (3) 600w
You can choose to age up immediately from the 700g, in that case send nothing afterwards until fortress unless you got a TP up during age up (which in hindsight you should have).
(4) 700g or (4) 600g
You can choose on the fly whether to age up with it or not. 600w is also good if you still have it, but note that you won't have the option to age.
—Musk start. Better against fast HI+cav based rushes than cav, and also less vulnerable to timings if you decide to follow up with a semi-FF. A musk start can also put on some solid pressure where cav are more of a raiding force. The follow up is identical to the cav start.
—Lb/pike start. Strong if you want to turtle behind a wall (a rush or an 8 min timing will never break you that way), or if you want to 2 rax rush them. This isn't as strong as the French 2 rax but it still puts on some decent pressure and can take initiative where Brits would otherwise lack it.
(3) 600w. Build a stable from this unless you want to do a full inf rush or you're 100% sure you want to age up.
(4) 700g (Mix cav or age up) or (4) 6 lb (continued rush or lb/pike timing).
The recommended card order is very similar for all 3 of these options, but they're also not very clear cut. Brits are a civ that should be adapting to their opponent from the moment they hit colonial, and they have many options since they can choose how gradually they want to boom and their colonial unit comp is very balanced. The question mark after the first 3 colonial shipments means that at that point, there are too many variations. There are too many different situations you could find yourself in after 3 colonial shipments, and the next card to send depends entirely on that situation. Instead of mentioning your options and which one to use in which situation, here's the gist of it:
—A resource shipment (the last one) is best if you want to move out soon or have to defend a timing soon (in the next 1 to 4 minutes).
—5v is best if you're sure you're going to be left alone for the next 4 min and have already sent both of your wood shipments. If you still have 600w, that is still better than 5v.
—A unit shipment (lb or musk) is best if you need units now (<1 minute).
The VC build 80%
Also known as the greedy build, this will get you a vill count of about 35 at 6.30 which is a big deal. However, obviously you're throwing most of your early income into your boom, which means you'll have less units. Use this at your own risk, it takes a solid understanding of the match up and some good adaptation to be comfortable with it. And yet, it may be one of the strongest builds on the current patch.
The main strength of this build is that it, while designed to boom as quickly as possible, also has the option of turning into a relatively normal defensive build. It doesn't actually force you to boom, you can still choose to simply gather 200w for your military building and build it. Relative to 3v, it will have less of an economy in early colonial, but it will likely still hold the rush and end up winning later because rushing just isn't great against a Brit with a decent hunt. This makes it often worth it to make the early investment and send VC, allowing you to choose later whether it's worth it to boom fully or to simply make some units. After all, it booms better than the 3v build and will still beat (most) rushes. This again comes back to that typical Brit mindset of cutting corners, keeping their options open and making choices at the latest possible moment.
During transition, it's recommended to get the market up first and gather just 100f, then put all vills on wood. Get gang saw, don't bother with 100f for a vill. You will age up with 500f, and the small idle TC time is not worth wasting wood over.
Mass manors.
The TP is still worth it, so if you're planning to semi-FF get that up. As you hit colonial, don't stop chopping wood. Mine gold after hunting dogs for either mm or steel traps and just keep massing manors until 700w. The arrival of 700w is when you decide what to build, usually it'll be 2 raxes for lb+pike. Cav is also fine, or even musk huss from 2rax+stable immediately.
(3) 600w
Even if you went cav or musk(+huss) this is worth it for market upgrades and more manors. If you really need more units for some reason, 700g is also fine, but this would be a rare exception.
(4) 700g
Age with this or mix hussars, decide as it arrives. At this point you can switch to musk huss comfortably.
The same principles apply to this build as the 3v build, but this has some stronger timings from 8-10 min. 700w 600w 6 lb is pretty strong, and 700g after that for a cav switch can really throw them off. Sending 5 vills with this build isn't viable early, as you're always looking to push out of your base as your hunts run out around 8-10 min and 5 vills won't have paid off yet at that point.
by GoatSpeed
**
British
Counter-intuitively, Brits have the most options out of any civ. They can choose to invest in economy at any random point in the game, but also have solid aggressive options as well as a balanced unit composition. Having so many (eco-focused) options, Brits are one of those challenging civs where you have to scout and adapt. Their early to midgame economy is the best in the game, but it takes a big investment and opens you up to early game timings. Walls as Brit can be a huge help against such timings, but an even better help is to scout and see them coming, and adapt into the right card order and right unit composition to stop the army that you know will be coming at X minutes. Brits are a civ that is very focused on getting just enough mass out to hold early game timings, because too little obviously loses and too much would mean they could have invested more in their economy, which they will need to win the game with later. Greedily cutting corners will win games with Brit.
Then there's longbows which are the best ranged infantry in colonial (not counting abus), and their range makes them work very well behind walls which gives Brit some excellent defensive options. This means Brit can often get away with a fast boom even against rushes, and it makes them generally not worth rushing. This is painful when up against Brits because you know they're booming, and they are a civ that can outgather you by 2k within 8 minutes.
All well and good, but there is an issue that Brit faces.
Brits would be the top civ if they had infinite resources in their base. However this is not the case, and at some point Brit will have to move out. This is where the problem lies, as Brit's boom will only barely have paid off by the time they run out of hunts in their base which means they'll have about the same amount if not less units than their opponent (depending on their civ). The trick here, and this is something NaturePhoenix did intelligently which is one of the reasons he was such a scary Brit player, is using walls. Walls can help you push out across the map, since longbows work so extremely well behind them. Any defensive position with a wall in front of a mass of longbows is pretty much impossible to push into, which makes securing extra resources sometimes a tedious task, but doable.
Mostly a Brit's opponent will end up with some sort of a fast (semi-)FF build. Brit can mass a whole bunch of units by 8 min, don't get that wrong, but it's not going to be a game winning timing against for example a French musk semi-FF. Brit can choose to fight in colonial which is risky, or follow up to fortress. You'd think Brit's FF builds are awkward because they don't generally build a TP, don't have a fast age politician and quick teching interferes with their boom. They also have to upgrade RI and cav in fortress. Seemingly plenty of reasons not to go fortress, but in the end it's just simply something Brits can afford to do against opposing FF builds, and fighting fortress in colonial can be tough. So following them up is a great choice in this case, but it can be too late.
If you scout their age up by reading “X's colony has just reached the fortress age”, your only option is now playing it out in colonial. After all, Brits don't have that fast age politician and you'll likely be killed just as you hit fortress.
If you scout their age up by seeing them send 700g early and stopping unit production but your 5v just arrived, you're also too late. Waiting for 700g is not an option, and gathering the entire 2200 resources will usually take too long.
But you can't scout it earlier than that, can you?
No you can't. The solution? send 700g.
Simply send 700g early no matter what (after 700w 600w, or even immediately after 700w) and then choose to use it either for units or for the age up. 700g doesn't only function as a gateway to fortress, it's also a great card which will grow your mass quite a bit if you simply use it for musk huss (or just huss). Then, if you scout his (semi-)FF you won't be in a situation where an awkward 5v shipment just popped out, you'll have 700g lying around and can follow him up comfortably (note: this trick applies for many other civs as well). Strategic tricks like these that enable a Brit to be as greedy as possible while keeping an eye on their opponent and keeping their options open is how Brit gets an edge over most civs, and also what makes it such a hard and rewarding civ to play.
The British build
Check your starting crates. Your start is very different for all 3 possibilities:
With 200w and no gold crate, simply build a manor.
With 300w, build a TP and chop 35w for the manor.
With 200w and 100g, Mine 75 gold (usually get most of this from treasures), build a market first and trade gold for wood, then get a manor + hunting dogs.
As players start relying on timings and FF builds to beat Brit rather than fast rushes, booming fast and early with them becomes stronger. Virginia company suddenly finds itself competing with 3v as the first card to send, and actually winning in most cases. If a lot of early military presence is not necessary, VC becomes worth it, after all you're saving almost 50 wood per house and assuming you'll make about 15 during transition and early colonial you'll have saved a total of 750 wood AND generated a bunch of XP, which is huge for an age1 card. The card actually does about the same as port consulate+heavenly kami does for Japan, and Japan goes for that every single game. Go figure.
(1) 3v
Or
(1) Virginia company
If you had an early TP from a 300w start, always send both (3 vills first). For convenience I will still refer to 700w as your second shipment even if you've already sent 3v and VC.
Remember, with 3 vills first will have more units in early colonial but VC first will have a stronger mass later on. It has strong timings after 7 min but is somewhat vulnerable to fast rushes. Because the style is largely unexplored, I'm unsure myself as to which rushes actually beat it and which don't. Walling always helps, and note that Brits are often quick at ageing (~4:10) so they can usually afford to boom and wait for 700w before building raxes.
(2) 700w
700w second is a no-brainer with Brits. Even if you'd only use it for manors it would still be a superior eco card compared to 5v due to the XP you get from building the manors and the 50 extra pop. But of course you're not only using it for manors, you're using it to get (additional) military buildings up, market upgrades, lb or pike, and manors.
Your age up politician is almost always 500f, the tower is unnecessary. However against civs like Iro which can garisson your vills early making the 500f somewhat less useful, tower+200c is viable as well. You are essentially buying a tower for 250f though, since you're missing the 500f, and in theory with proper walling you should never need the tower. If you need it later for map control, delaying it until then is better than getting it early. After all the earlier you get it, the more time it will spend just sitting there doing nothing. Useless investments are something you want to shy away from, especially early on.
Something I like to do as Brits is mine 150g no matter what, and then decide based on their build whether to spend it on minutemen or steel traps in early colonial. This is a mindset you'll have to get into as Brits: setting yourself up for multiple options then choosing one at the latest possible moment so that you have time to scout your opponent and adapt properly.
If you are likely to semi-FF (you can hardly ever know this for sure before scouting your opponent's colonial start), note that building a TP during transition to colonial is worth it.
The 3v build 20%
If you sent 3v first and don't have a TP, that means you're not planning to boom fully. Either you have to defend against early aggression, or you want to be the aggressor. There are 3 ways of playing from here, in each case you'll want to have gathered 200w at the time of age up for your first military building (but don't skip market):
—Cav start. This is a good choice against rushes that are holdable with 5 cav + minutemen. You can turn it into colonial play with any composition involving huss, but it can also be turned into a strong semi-FF (think against China).
Get a second military building from the 700w. In situations where you need a lot of infantry fast you might even get 2 raxes from it to land on a total of 2 rax+1 stable. Sometimes it's better to wait for the 600w and boom fully from 700w.
(3) 700g or (3) 600w
You can choose to age up immediately from the 700g, in that case send nothing afterwards until fortress unless you got a TP up during age up (which in hindsight you should have).
(4) 700g or (4) 600g
You can choose on the fly whether to age up with it or not. 600w is also good if you still have it, but note that you won't have the option to age.
—Musk start. Better against fast HI+cav based rushes than cav, and also less vulnerable to timings if you decide to follow up with a semi-FF. A musk start can also put on some solid pressure where cav are more of a raiding force. The follow up is identical to the cav start.
—Lb/pike start. Strong if you want to turtle behind a wall (a rush or an 8 min timing will never break you that way), or if you want to 2 rax rush them. This isn't as strong as the French 2 rax but it still puts on some decent pressure and can take initiative where Brits would otherwise lack it.
(3) 600w. Build a stable from this unless you want to do a full inf rush or you're 100% sure you want to age up.
(4) 700g (Mix cav or age up) or (4) 6 lb (continued rush or lb/pike timing).
The recommended card order is very similar for all 3 of these options, but they're also not very clear cut. Brits are a civ that should be adapting to their opponent from the moment they hit colonial, and they have many options since they can choose how gradually they want to boom and their colonial unit comp is very balanced. The question mark after the first 3 colonial shipments means that at that point, there are too many variations. There are too many different situations you could find yourself in after 3 colonial shipments, and the next card to send depends entirely on that situation. Instead of mentioning your options and which one to use in which situation, here's the gist of it:
—A resource shipment (the last one) is best if you want to move out soon or have to defend a timing soon (in the next 1 to 4 minutes).
—5v is best if you're sure you're going to be left alone for the next 4 min and have already sent both of your wood shipments. If you still have 600w, that is still better than 5v.
—A unit shipment (lb or musk) is best if you need units now (<1 minute).
The VC build 80%
Also known as the greedy build, this will get you a vill count of about 35 at 6.30 which is a big deal. However, obviously you're throwing most of your early income into your boom, which means you'll have less units. Use this at your own risk, it takes a solid understanding of the match up and some good adaptation to be comfortable with it. And yet, it may be one of the strongest builds on the current patch.
The main strength of this build is that it, while designed to boom as quickly as possible, also has the option of turning into a relatively normal defensive build. It doesn't actually force you to boom, you can still choose to simply gather 200w for your military building and build it. Relative to 3v, it will have less of an economy in early colonial, but it will likely still hold the rush and end up winning later because rushing just isn't great against a Brit with a decent hunt. This makes it often worth it to make the early investment and send VC, allowing you to choose later whether it's worth it to boom fully or to simply make some units. After all, it booms better than the 3v build and will still beat (most) rushes. This again comes back to that typical Brit mindset of cutting corners, keeping their options open and making choices at the latest possible moment.
During transition, it's recommended to get the market up first and gather just 100f, then put all vills on wood. Get gang saw, don't bother with 100f for a vill. You will age up with 500f, and the small idle TC time is not worth wasting wood over.
Mass manors.
The TP is still worth it, so if you're planning to semi-FF get that up. As you hit colonial, don't stop chopping wood. Mine gold after hunting dogs for either mm or steel traps and just keep massing manors until 700w. The arrival of 700w is when you decide what to build, usually it'll be 2 raxes for lb+pike. Cav is also fine, or even musk huss from 2rax+stable immediately.
(3) 600w
Even if you went cav or musk(+huss) this is worth it for market upgrades and more manors. If you really need more units for some reason, 700g is also fine, but this would be a rare exception.
(4) 700g
Age with this or mix hussars, decide as it arrives. At this point you can switch to musk huss comfortably.
The same principles apply to this build as the 3v build, but this has some stronger timings from 8-10 min. 700w 600w 6 lb is pretty strong, and 700g after that for a cav switch can really throw them off. Sending 5 vills with this build isn't viable early, as you're always looking to push out of your base as your hunts run out around 8-10 min and 5 vills won't have paid off yet at that point.
