You'll have to forgive me for some of the long-winded explanations in the introduction. This is a rough draft, and I stole a lot of it from a larger GoodSpeed-esque guide I had tried to write at some point earlier this summer (which I quickly gave up on, because it takes too long to go into detail on everything, and I can't be bothered to be concise), so parts of it may also be a bit out of date with what I currently think. I will likely edit parts of it in the future too.
Contents
1.0 - Introduction
1.1 - Deck
2.1 - Crates
2.2 - Discovery Age Planning
3.1 - Basic FF and Semi-FF Builds*
3.2 - Basic Colonial Builds*
4.0 - Match-up Descriptions (RE & EP)*
* = Incomplete
1.0 - Introduction
Germany has one of the strongest early and mid-game economies in the game. However, they don't have the greatest of crate spawns in the world, and this can limit them somewhat in the Discovery Age. Germany is, after all, a very shipment reliant civ, and they would love to grab that trading post as early as possible, but sometimes they may handicap themselves with a bit of idle time on their age up, or sometimes even by training an extra villager. For the most part, though, the pros of the early trading post greatly outweigh the cons, so this (usually) doesn't hurt them too much.
Germany's strength, however, lies not in their economy, but their mid-game military potential. A German in the fortress age with a few shipments in is a scary opponent for any civilization.
In the past, the backbone of this army was usually the Uhlan, which Germany tends to mass at all points in the game, pretty much regardless of the situation. The mass of Uhlans would become so large that it often ends up becoming their anti-cav as well. This applies mostly on RE patch, where the majority of Germany's games are won from overwhelming their opponents' armies in early-mid fortress with a large mass of Uhlan/Skirm while still forcing the enemy off of hunts and mines on the side with a couple of spare Uhlans.
On the current version of the ESOC Patch (3.0) Uhlans have -5hp in Colonial (-6hp in total in Fortress), and are just slightly weaker than they used to be. Skirm/Uhlan is still quite strong, and works most of the time. Germany players need to be careful not to overdo it, though, as their frontline is slightly softer than before. Good scouting and adaption will usually compensate for this nerf and still lead to a win if done well, but the German army is not quite as overwhelming as on RE Patch.
Strengths
Unlike Germany's most comparable counterpart, France, whose strength relies on them being above-average at nearly everything while excelling at none, Germany does a few things really well while still remaining average or even below-average at others. The things they do well in, however, they usually do far better than any other civ.
Spoiler
- - Settler Wagons (SW) provide the backbone of Germany's economy. Each SW is equivalent to 2 Settlers, but do have some advantages over regular Settlers that occasionally prove useful. For example: SWs construct buildings significantly faster than Settlers; tasking more than 1 Settler to building a building only increases the construction time by 25%, rather than doubling it. This means that if you were to use 2 Settlers to build a building you would only construct it at 125% the of the normal speed. SWs, however, construct buildings 300% faster than an ordinary Settler, which means you are actually saving time by using a SW than a normal settler. This is a small thing, but overtime you will save yourself some Villager Seconds by using SWs to construct buildings over Settlers, so long as you don't spend too much time walking to and from your resources to do so. This can also save you a lot of grief if you're about to pop a batch of units and use a SW to construct the house instead of a Settler. Additionally, you can transition to mills and plantations more efficiently than other civs, because you can essentially place the equivalent of 20 Settlers on a single mill or plantation. This rarely comes into play, but it can be helpful nonetheless. To top it all off, the fact that SWs have 30% ranged resistance and take a lot of time to kill makes them useful in holding important timings and blocking enemy unit pathing around your Town Center.
- Raiding: Uhlans don't really fit the traditional role of hand cavalry, which is to tank a lot of damage while your ranged units deal the majority of the damage from the safety of the backline. Instead, Uhlans sacrifice hitpoints for damage, and as a result they put out a lot more damage than other hand cavalry for their cost. This makes Uhlans exceptional raiders, as it costs you very little to send 2 or 3 Uhlans to go raid, and they kill villagers extremely fast. This, coupled with the fact that you will ALWAYS have Uhlans, regardless of the situation, makes raiding a lot easier and less costly for Germany than other civs.
- Germany's early colonial is surprisingly strong, for a civ that doesn't have muskets. With proper scouting and build choice, their early mass can easily hold off the majority of rushes, even if they age slowly.
Germany has generally "safer" FF and semi-FF builds than other civs, because they tend to get out of lot of units from their early shipments and first couple of batches and can usually keep their opponent in their base while they prep an age up, or at least hold early aggression pretty easily.
- Germany's shipments improve with each age, and if Germany manages to get a trading post very early and the game and keep that trading post into the fortress age, the subsequent shipment spam gives them one of the scariest fortress age masses in the game.
- Germany has a lot of potential to snowball out of control if they win just one or two fights. They get a lot of XP for winning fights, and that XP gets converted into more shipments, which are significantly stronger for Germany than other civs.
Spoiler
- - Germany has a relatively weak age 1. They often have idle time, or require an 18th villager before aging. They have only one explorer, and as a result they often struggle to contest treasures, or sometimes cannot even AFFORD to contest treasures because it's extremely important that they keep their explorer alive for two reasons: 1) Germany needs a TP in order to be strong. If they don't manage to get that TP at the beginning of the game, they have to get it in transition to Colonial. However, if they lose their explorer in age 1, they are forced to either build that TP with a SW, ransom their explorer, or just not build a TP at all. Sometimes their explorer may even be low enough HP that the opponent can just zone Germany off of the trading post for a few minutes until they reach colonial and get a few uhlans out. 2) Germany can sometimes get caught off guard by extremely aggressive builds, and if they aren't able to scout and properly prepare for it it can cost them. While they do have a very strong early colonial, sometimes doing the cookie-cutter 3SW first FF builds can cost you against all-in type play.
- Germany is a very shipment reliant civ. Their shipments cost 10% more XP than other civs, and on non-TP maps they become one of the weaker civs in the game unless they happen to get a few decent XP treasures. If unable to get a TP and are really unlucky, sometimes they don't even have enough XP to send their first colonial shipment for 15-20 seconds, which hurts more than you might think, especially since the next shipment after that will be painfully slow.
- Germany's late colonial is weaker than most. If Germany is forced into a long colonial brawl, they're not likely to do well. While Xbow/Pike (and sometimes Dopp/Uhlan) does well early game, the lack of a musket-type unit starts to hurt the longer they stay colonial. Dopplesoldners can compensate a bit, but the larger the armies get the less relevant they become.
- Germany's Fortress Age composition is predictable, and Uhlans don't do particularly well vs other cav units, especially the extremely tanky versions. They can often overcome this weakness through sheer numbers, but sometimes it's just not enough, and Germany's forced to mix a few War Wagons into their army. War Wagons are costly, slow, and have one of the worst turn rates in the game, which makes kiting a nightmare. They also have melee resistance, which can prove useful in some situations, but since you're usually fighting behind a line of Uhlans or against other Skirm/Goon unit compositions, it often proves pretty useless. This makes War Wagons an undesirable but sometimes necessary unit, and the most common way to lose a game with Germany is to either make too many or too few War Wagons. Black Riders can provide a good alternative to War Wagons, but it's sometimes difficult to save enough gold to send the card, and since it's a mercenary card it also takes an extra 20 seconds to arrive compared to a regular shipment.
- Gold-Hungry: if the opponent manages to successfully zone a fortress-age Germany off of gold mines, regardless of what age the opponent is in, the game can get very tricky for German. If they don't manage to break out of their base and onto a gold mine in their next push, they are very likely to lose the game.
- Germany's lategame scaling is poor compared to other civs. If the opponent manages to outlive their shipment spam, or the game goes past age 3 into age 4 and sometimes even age 5, Germany starts to fall off pretty hard. Their economy is somewhat passable, but unlike other civs, Germany tends to exclude economic upgrades from their deck because they need the extra military shipments to increase the duration of their power-spikes. Their units become awkward, as uhlans start to become more or less useless since their high damage output becomes less useful than high hitpoints, and they're overall just weaker per population than units like Hussar. Keeping just the right number of war wagons becomes difficult as well, because their melee resistance becomes even less desirable, and they cost a lot of population. Making too many of them will lose you the skirm war. Not to mention you don't really have upgrades for your skirmishers (though you do have royal guard upgrades, which is something, at least).
This is the deck I use in the majority of my games. The only cards I would consider swapping around are Heavy Infantry Hitpoints or 2 SW in age 2 for something like 5 uhlan, 700f, or 2 caravels, and maybe 1000c for a frigate or 5 dopps depending on the matchup. But for the most part these cards aren't really interchangeable.
You can also swap out 2 heavy cannons for an age 1 or age 4 card of your choice. Whichever card you choose is honestly not likely to see the light of day, however, so it doesn't really matter much.
2.1 - Crates
Germany has 5 possible crate spawns, 3 with 300f and 2 with 200f. You have some options depending on which it is.
In general the rule of thumb is to get either a TP or a market from your starting crates if possible.
300f 200w - Ideal crate spawn. Build a TP and move all 3 SWs to wood until you have wood for your house, then to food.
300f 100w - Market start usually, unless early wood/food treasures help you grab a TP. Can chop 200w for a TP in some matchups, but risks aging later.
300f 100w 100c - Same as above.
200f 200w - TP start. Perfect vill spread is 1 SW to food, 2 to wood. 1st vill goes to food. When the 2nd vill is about to pop move 1 of the 2 wood SWs to wood and the new vill to wood. You should get wood for your house without idle time and just in time for your shipment.
200f 100w 100c - Worst possible start. Market start if possible, but consider waiting until transition.
In some situations you may want to consider delaying your age up (18 pop instead of 17 pop) and chopping 200w for an early TP at the beginning of the game. For some semi and naked FF builds this is worth it, as the extra XP will really help with your early-mid Fortress powerspike. This is mostly matchup dependent, as there are some matchups (Russia, Otto) where you simply can't afford to age late.
2.2 - Discovery Age Planning
Spoiler
Germany's age 1 is not the strongest. They are very reliant on getting an early TP, and since this is often not easy to do until transition to Colonial, they need to play pretty conservatively against civs with multiple scouts or stronger explorers.
On some maps you can get away with losing their explorer without much of a loss: for example, on maps like Great Plains, Kamchatka, certain spawns of Saguenay, etc. that have safe TPs practically inside their base, Germany can use a SW to construct a TP if needed. This isn't ideal as they do lose out on ~40w by doing so, but in some cases dying to steal a big treasure would make this very worth it. On maps where the TP is further away from the base this becomes more of an issue, to the point that you should probably ransom your explorer if he died too far away from your base to rescue upon hitting Colonial.
As such, if you have not yet constructed a TP you should probably be prepared let your opponent have that small 60xp treasure if he has more hp or scouts than you do.
You should also be careful if your opponent ends up getting a lot of pets or native treasures, as a smart opponent will try to camp your TP socket to deny you your TP if he realizes your explorer is low. Sometimes it's worth building a TP that is further away from your base and less defensible, but goes up safely and draws attention away from your base.
Germany also has a difficult time aging to Colonial without TC idle time on some starts. Depending on whether or not you think your opponent will play aggressively, it might be worth it to idle, or you might consider training an 18th villager just to be as efficient as possible with your TC. For this same reason, it might be worth delaying a market until transition if you're playing against a civ that can put a lot of pressure on really early, such as Russia or Iroquois. You should consider whether or not you can afford to age late at the beginning of the game and make decisions based on that information.
Once you're transitioning to Colonial and you've established a TP, you should turn your attention to scouting. As civ that likes to FF or Semi-FF in most games, the thing that can often give you the most trouble if it catches you by surprise is an aggressive forward base. Most of Germany's builds are very flexible, and can be tailored to fit almost any situation, so don't be afraid to change your plan or build based on what you see.
On some maps you can get away with losing their explorer without much of a loss: for example, on maps like Great Plains, Kamchatka, certain spawns of Saguenay, etc. that have safe TPs practically inside their base, Germany can use a SW to construct a TP if needed. This isn't ideal as they do lose out on ~40w by doing so, but in some cases dying to steal a big treasure would make this very worth it. On maps where the TP is further away from the base this becomes more of an issue, to the point that you should probably ransom your explorer if he died too far away from your base to rescue upon hitting Colonial.
As such, if you have not yet constructed a TP you should probably be prepared let your opponent have that small 60xp treasure if he has more hp or scouts than you do.
You should also be careful if your opponent ends up getting a lot of pets or native treasures, as a smart opponent will try to camp your TP socket to deny you your TP if he realizes your explorer is low. Sometimes it's worth building a TP that is further away from your base and less defensible, but goes up safely and draws attention away from your base.
Germany also has a difficult time aging to Colonial without TC idle time on some starts. Depending on whether or not you think your opponent will play aggressively, it might be worth it to idle, or you might consider training an 18th villager just to be as efficient as possible with your TC. For this same reason, it might be worth delaying a market until transition if you're playing against a civ that can put a lot of pressure on really early, such as Russia or Iroquois. You should consider whether or not you can afford to age late at the beginning of the game and make decisions based on that information.
Once you're transitioning to Colonial and you've established a TP, you should turn your attention to scouting. As civ that likes to FF or Semi-FF in most games, the thing that can often give you the most trouble if it catches you by surprise is an aggressive forward base. Most of Germany's builds are very flexible, and can be tailored to fit almost any situation, so don't be afraid to change your plan or build based on what you see.
**Special cases are matchups where the build may be effective but needs to be adapted into a different build depending on the information acquired by scouting.
Uhlan Semi-FF
Effective Against: France, British, China, German, Port, Dutch
Weak Against: India (Forward Agra), Aztec, Sioux
Acceptable Against: Japan, Spain
**Special Cases: Otto, Russia, Iroquois, India (In-Base Wonder)
Spoiler
Card Order(s):
(1)
3SW (Age 2)
700w (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military/Mercenary Units or 1000w (Age 3)
(2)
700w (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military/Mercenary Units or 1000w (Age 3)
(3)
3SW (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military Units or 1000w (Age 3)
This is arguably Germany's bread-and-butter build in almost all situations. It applies a lot of raiding pressure early on while still reaching Fortress at a reasonable time with a shipment ready and an adequate army to defend timings. It's also relatively easy to adapt into a more Colonial-focused build if needed.
Age 1
- Age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
- Switch 5 SW and 2-3 settlers to wood, and gather enough resources to build either your market or TP or both (depending on what you got at the beginning of the game), and Hunting Dogs + Placer Mines.
- Depending on the matchup and which variation of the build you wish to do, you may choose to gather anywhere from 25 to 325 additional wood before switching your wood vills to coin. For variations (2) and (3) you should generally only gather between 25-125w, and never more. For variation (1) 225-325w is sometimes necessary if you don't get a TP start, or for whatever reason don't have a TP yet. It will allow you to continue training Uhlans without getting housed before you get your 700w, but you will need to delay your first batch of Uhlans by 10-15 seconds in order to get a full batch.
Age 2
- With your 400w get Steel Traps, a Stable, and a house—or 2 houses, if you want to wait until 700w for Steel Traps.
[color=color#008000]**Special Cases:[/color]
(1)
3SW (Age 2)
700w (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military/Mercenary Units or 1000w (Age 3)
(2)
700w (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military/Mercenary Units or 1000w (Age 3)
(3)
3SW (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military Units or 1000w (Age 3)
This is arguably Germany's bread-and-butter build in almost all situations. It applies a lot of raiding pressure early on while still reaching Fortress at a reasonable time with a shipment ready and an adequate army to defend timings. It's also relatively easy to adapt into a more Colonial-focused build if needed.
Age 1
- Age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
- Switch 5 SW and 2-3 settlers to wood, and gather enough resources to build either your market or TP or both (depending on what you got at the beginning of the game), and Hunting Dogs + Placer Mines.
- Depending on the matchup and which variation of the build you wish to do, you may choose to gather anywhere from 25 to 325 additional wood before switching your wood vills to coin. For variations (2) and (3) you should generally only gather between 25-125w, and never more. For variation (1) 225-325w is sometimes necessary if you don't get a TP start, or for whatever reason don't have a TP yet. It will allow you to continue training Uhlans without getting housed before you get your 700w, but you will need to delay your first batch of Uhlans by 10-15 seconds in order to get a full batch.
Age 2
- With your 400w get Steel Traps, a Stable, and a house—or 2 houses, if you want to wait until 700w for Steel Traps.
[color=color#008000]**Special Cases:[/color]
Effective Against: British, China, Port, Dutch
Weak Against: India (Forward Agra), Otto, Russia, Iroquois, Aztec, Sioux, Spain, German? (<- Needs testing)
Acceptable Against: Japan, Aztec (FF or FI)
**Special Cases: India (In-Base Wonder)
Spoiler
Card Order(s):
700w (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military Units or 1000w (Age 3)
This build is one of the greedier builds you can do as Germany, and is not without risk even against the civs it's normally effective against. When you can get away with it though, it gives you a pretty strong mid fortress.
Age 1
- Age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
Switch most vills to wood and begin building those TPs. The goal is to have 2 TPs and a market + Hunting Dogs by the time you hit Colonial. Don't get Placer Mines or gather for Steel Traps unless you had ridiculously good treasures and really believe you can get away with it.
Note: One of the downsides to this build is that you are forced to spend a lot of time buildings TPs instead of scouting, so be aware that you are very susceptible to aggressive builds when doing this, and try to be aware of the subtle cues that you're opponent may be looking to cheese you (earlier than normal age up time, lack of TPs, native TPs, etc.).
Age 2
- Use your 400w for a Stable + 2 houses. Don't be afraid to delay your first batch of Uhlans by 5-10 seconds if you feel you can't get a full batch out otherwise.
- Send 700w. Once it arrives, begin getting Steel Traps and Placer Mines and add 3 houses and a Barracks.
————————————
Note/Special Cases**: At this point you have some decisions to make. If you've determined that you're getting rushed or something similar, you can adapt into a crossbow/pike defense before you age or an early Colonial timing. You should have just enough wood from the 700w for a batch of Crossbow or Pike if you continue to delay your market upgrades. Send 600w as your 2nd card (unless you really really need 8 Crossbow to defend) and use the wood for more Bows/Pikes and your delayed market upgrades.
Your other options are against defensive civs where you feel you won't be pushed or won't be able to accomplish anything with your Uhlans. You can cancel your Uhlans in this situation and prepare to naked-FF rather than semi, saving an extra shipment for Fortress. Send 3SW and gather to age. If you're feeling really greedy, you can even afford to send 2SW.
————————————
- Send 3SW. Continue raiding/scouting. You may add a batch of Dopps if you feel it would be better than Uhlans.
- Send 700c. Age with the Exiled Prince (Fast Age).
Transition
You have slightly less population space with this build than other semi-FF builds, and you don't really have the wood to spare for Vet Uhlan once you reach Fortress. You'll need to switch about 5-6 vills to wood and research Gang Saw, unless you plan on sending 1000w.
Depending on the situation, you may also opt to switch the majority of your vills to coin and send an early Mercenary Shipment to throw your opponent off.
Age 3
At this point in your build cater your shipments to your needs.
9 Uhlan is a great shipment if you think your opponent may be trying to follow you up to Fortress and you want to apply some pressure as they age up.
8 Skirm or 3 WW will help you hold timings.
1000w followed by 8 skirm or 1000c will give you some much needed infrastructure and some additional XP, and results in a very strong mid-fortress.
9 Black Riders can be a great alternative to 9 Uhlan if you want to apply early Fortress pressure in tandem with your Uhlan mass, and also rounds out your composition a bit more. You will likely house yourself, however.
700w (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
Military Units or 1000w (Age 3)
This build is one of the greedier builds you can do as Germany, and is not without risk even against the civs it's normally effective against. When you can get away with it though, it gives you a pretty strong mid fortress.
Age 1
- Age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
Switch most vills to wood and begin building those TPs. The goal is to have 2 TPs and a market + Hunting Dogs by the time you hit Colonial. Don't get Placer Mines or gather for Steel Traps unless you had ridiculously good treasures and really believe you can get away with it.
Note: One of the downsides to this build is that you are forced to spend a lot of time buildings TPs instead of scouting, so be aware that you are very susceptible to aggressive builds when doing this, and try to be aware of the subtle cues that you're opponent may be looking to cheese you (earlier than normal age up time, lack of TPs, native TPs, etc.).
Age 2
- Use your 400w for a Stable + 2 houses. Don't be afraid to delay your first batch of Uhlans by 5-10 seconds if you feel you can't get a full batch out otherwise.
- Send 700w. Once it arrives, begin getting Steel Traps and Placer Mines and add 3 houses and a Barracks.
————————————
Note/Special Cases**: At this point you have some decisions to make. If you've determined that you're getting rushed or something similar, you can adapt into a crossbow/pike defense before you age or an early Colonial timing. You should have just enough wood from the 700w for a batch of Crossbow or Pike if you continue to delay your market upgrades. Send 600w as your 2nd card (unless you really really need 8 Crossbow to defend) and use the wood for more Bows/Pikes and your delayed market upgrades.
Your other options are against defensive civs where you feel you won't be pushed or won't be able to accomplish anything with your Uhlans. You can cancel your Uhlans in this situation and prepare to naked-FF rather than semi, saving an extra shipment for Fortress. Send 3SW and gather to age. If you're feeling really greedy, you can even afford to send 2SW.
————————————
- Send 3SW. Continue raiding/scouting. You may add a batch of Dopps if you feel it would be better than Uhlans.
- Send 700c. Age with the Exiled Prince (Fast Age).
Transition
You have slightly less population space with this build than other semi-FF builds, and you don't really have the wood to spare for Vet Uhlan once you reach Fortress. You'll need to switch about 5-6 vills to wood and research Gang Saw, unless you plan on sending 1000w.
Depending on the situation, you may also opt to switch the majority of your vills to coin and send an early Mercenary Shipment to throw your opponent off.
Age 3
At this point in your build cater your shipments to your needs.
9 Uhlan is a great shipment if you think your opponent may be trying to follow you up to Fortress and you want to apply some pressure as they age up.
8 Skirm or 3 WW will help you hold timings.
1000w followed by 8 skirm or 1000c will give you some much needed infrastructure and some additional XP, and results in a very strong mid-fortress.
9 Black Riders can be a great alternative to 9 Uhlan if you want to apply early Fortress pressure in tandem with your Uhlan mass, and also rounds out your composition a bit more. You will likely house yourself, however.
Effective Against: German
Weak Against: India
Acceptable Against: France, British, China, Dutch, Spain
*Special Cases: Everything else
Spoiler
Card Order:
700w (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
2SW or 600c or Nothing (Age 2)
9 Black Riders or Military Units (Age 3)
This is a build which I think should only be used in the German mirror, but it can work in other matchups... sometimes. The general idea of the build is to maximize unit production in very early Colonial—as Germany can spend the 700w and 700c all at once with a big batch of Dopps and Uhlans—and surprise and overwhelm an opponent who may have sent vills with a larger mass and force them to commit more of their time and resources into Colonial play (in order to defend), at which point you age.
Age 1
- Age with 17 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician. If you're aging with 18v you probably shouldn't be doing this build.
Transition
Gather enough for a TP and a Market + Hunting Dogs and Placer Mines. Only gather an additional 25w.
Age 2
- Use your 400w for a Stable or Barracks (which you build first depends on whether you want more Uhlans or Dopps when you push), 1 house, and Steel Traps.
- Send 700w. Use this wood to add a Barracks and get your houses up in time for your Uhlan batch.
- **IMPORTANT: Try to herd your hunts in such a way that they end up between your gold mine and your TC, if you have any livestock, position them next to your gold vills.**
- Send 700c. Switch about 50% - 80% of your gold vills to livestock/hunts while you gather the crates and queue your batch of dopp/uhlan.
Note: If you're doing this build in a German mirror, build your Barracks in front of your base. It's going to be your least important building once you reach Fortress, and if your early aggression forced them to stay age 2 a while longer and they counter-push it will buy you time while you age. Not to mention having it in front decreases the reinforcement time of your early batches.
If executed well, you should have either 12-14 Uhlan and 5 Dopp or 10 Dopp and 7-9 Uhlan by 7:20ish, depending on whether you chose to build a Stable or a Barracks as your first military building. Push with this army and try to catch your opponent off guard, most people won't expect you to have quite so many units by this time and can often get baited into fighting half your army while the other half is still out of vision.
Follow up by sending 3SW and gathering to age up. If you need to you can train another batch or two of Uhlans or Dopps, and send 600c after 3SW to age up. If you got a good trade with your army and didn't need to train additional units, you may also send 2SW after 3SW to further consolidate your lead (although it's debatable whether this is better than saving it for an additional Fortress shipment).
If you're playing this out in a German mirror:
Transition
If you have the mines for it, switch most of your vills to gold and get ready to send a Mercenary Shipment in early Fortress, get Gang Saw if you can spare the food, you'll need it later. If you're doing this build in the German mirror, you may lose your Barracks to some kind of counter-push while you're aging, but fear not: you won't be using it anyway.
Age 3
- Send 9 Black Riders. Once queued, switch about 10-13 vills to wood and research Gang Saw if you haven't already. If you have the pop space, try to train another batch of Uhlans before your BR arrive and queue Vet Uhlan as you push. If you don't have the pop space just aim for Vet Uhlan.
- Play very aggressively and send 9 Uhlan or 3 WW next.
- Continue massing Uhlan/WW and keep your opponent in his base. If he's massing WW or sending BR you should just be able to outmass him if you were successful in Colonial or aged before him. You shouldn't need to add Skirms unless your build kind of failed in Colonial and he managed to age safely and decided to go Skirm/BR/WW with no Uhlans, but if this is the case then you've probably already lost anyway.
If you're not playing this out in a German mirror:
Transition
- Research Gang Saw and switch 5-7 vills to wood for houses and Vet Uhlan in early Fortress.
Age 3
- Normal Age 3 German stuff.
- Send Military Shipments. Scout your opponent to determine whether or not you'll need WW or BR, otherwise focus on Skirm/Uhlan.
700w (Age 2)
700c (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
2SW or 600c or Nothing (Age 2)
9 Black Riders or Military Units (Age 3)
This is a build which I think should only be used in the German mirror, but it can work in other matchups... sometimes. The general idea of the build is to maximize unit production in very early Colonial—as Germany can spend the 700w and 700c all at once with a big batch of Dopps and Uhlans—and surprise and overwhelm an opponent who may have sent vills with a larger mass and force them to commit more of their time and resources into Colonial play (in order to defend), at which point you age.
Age 1
- Age with 17 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician. If you're aging with 18v you probably shouldn't be doing this build.
Transition
Gather enough for a TP and a Market + Hunting Dogs and Placer Mines. Only gather an additional 25w.
Age 2
- Use your 400w for a Stable or Barracks (which you build first depends on whether you want more Uhlans or Dopps when you push), 1 house, and Steel Traps.
- Send 700w. Use this wood to add a Barracks and get your houses up in time for your Uhlan batch.
- **IMPORTANT: Try to herd your hunts in such a way that they end up between your gold mine and your TC, if you have any livestock, position them next to your gold vills.**
- Send 700c. Switch about 50% - 80% of your gold vills to livestock/hunts while you gather the crates and queue your batch of dopp/uhlan.
Note: If you're doing this build in a German mirror, build your Barracks in front of your base. It's going to be your least important building once you reach Fortress, and if your early aggression forced them to stay age 2 a while longer and they counter-push it will buy you time while you age. Not to mention having it in front decreases the reinforcement time of your early batches.
If executed well, you should have either 12-14 Uhlan and 5 Dopp or 10 Dopp and 7-9 Uhlan by 7:20ish, depending on whether you chose to build a Stable or a Barracks as your first military building. Push with this army and try to catch your opponent off guard, most people won't expect you to have quite so many units by this time and can often get baited into fighting half your army while the other half is still out of vision.
Follow up by sending 3SW and gathering to age up. If you need to you can train another batch or two of Uhlans or Dopps, and send 600c after 3SW to age up. If you got a good trade with your army and didn't need to train additional units, you may also send 2SW after 3SW to further consolidate your lead (although it's debatable whether this is better than saving it for an additional Fortress shipment).
If you're playing this out in a German mirror:
Transition
If you have the mines for it, switch most of your vills to gold and get ready to send a Mercenary Shipment in early Fortress, get Gang Saw if you can spare the food, you'll need it later. If you're doing this build in the German mirror, you may lose your Barracks to some kind of counter-push while you're aging, but fear not: you won't be using it anyway.
Age 3
- Send 9 Black Riders. Once queued, switch about 10-13 vills to wood and research Gang Saw if you haven't already. If you have the pop space, try to train another batch of Uhlans before your BR arrive and queue Vet Uhlan as you push. If you don't have the pop space just aim for Vet Uhlan.
- Play very aggressively and send 9 Uhlan or 3 WW next.
- Continue massing Uhlan/WW and keep your opponent in his base. If he's massing WW or sending BR you should just be able to outmass him if you were successful in Colonial or aged before him. You shouldn't need to add Skirms unless your build kind of failed in Colonial and he managed to age safely and decided to go Skirm/BR/WW with no Uhlans, but if this is the case then you've probably already lost anyway.
If you're not playing this out in a German mirror:
Transition
- Research Gang Saw and switch 5-7 vills to wood for houses and Vet Uhlan in early Fortress.
Age 3
- Normal Age 3 German stuff.
- Send Military Shipments. Scout your opponent to determine whether or not you'll need WW or BR, otherwise focus on Skirm/Uhlan.
Effective Against: China, Japan, British, France, India (In-Base Wonder), Spain
Weak Against: India (Forward Agra), Sioux, Aztec, Iroquois, Russia, German, Dutch
Acceptable Against: Port
**Special Cases: Otto, Japan (Club Rush), All-in Aggression
Spoiler
The basic idea behind this build is to get to the Fortress Age relatively quickly with all of your necessary infrastructure established backed by a solid economy. The major advantage to this build over semi-FF builds is that you don't need to use the 700c shipment to age, which leaves you with an extra card to use on a much more valuable Age 3 shipment. This build is most effective against civs that tend to play passively or semi-FF as it allows you to still harass and scout with your 2-4 shipment Uhlans, or defend reasonably well against cavalry raids or cavalry timings with explorer/TC fire/minutemen to back up the Uhlans.
Basic Card Order:
3 SW (Age 2)
700w (Age2 )
Military/Mercenary Shipments or 1000w in any order (Age 3)
Age 1
Depending on your crate start you usually want to try to get an early TP even if you have to force it by chopping 200w and delaying your age up slightly. Age with 18 vills if you have to, this will barely slow your Fortress time down as you will not be waiting for crates to age, and the extra villager in transition will help acquire these resources.
Ensuring you have an early TP regardless of the crate start will net you more shipments in early Fortress—when you are strongest—and also free up your explorer in transition to Colonial to scout for aggressive builds (which you are particularly weak to with this build compared to other builds) and allow you to adapt out of this build into Colonial play or a semi-FF if need be.
- Place first house defensively, somewhere difficult to pressure.
- Avoid TC idle time, age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
- Once aging, switch 5 SW and 1-2 settlers to wood and get a market + hunting dogs. Place market in front of your base to shield hunts or mines.
- Switch 5 SW and 1-2 settlers to coin and begin gathering to reach Fortress.
- Make active use of your explorer to deduce your opponent's plan.
Age 2
*Special Cases: at this point in the build you may still choose to adapt into a safer or more defensive build order. If you've scouted your opponent doing something aggressive with a forward base or something similarly troublesome, you may choose to buy wood in order to place either a stable or a rax and adapt into an Uhlan semi or Xbow/Pike defense. This does not hurt your economy as buying wood is efficient until ~130 gold per 100 wood, but it does deplete your gold mines more quickly than it otherwise would have.
- Send 3 SW
- Use 400w for Steel Traps + Placer Mines and 2 houses
- Pay close attention to your villager distribution. Try to arrange it so that you hit 1200f and 1000c at the same time.
- Send 700w. Do not gather wood crates until you start aging unless you plan on building a 2nd TP with—which you should almost never do unless you can get away with sending 1000w as your first card in Fortress.
- Use Uhlans to scout/harass, but try not to lose them. It's unlikely you'll be able to do any damage with only 2-4 Uhlans against a skilled opponent, instead just focus on keeping your opponent in his base and buying yourself time to age safely.
- Age to Fortress with the Exiled Prince (fast age).
Transition
- Gather your 700w. If you're anticipating some kind of push from your opponent, try to build your stable/rax relatively defensively, and use your houses to create a shield for any skirms or WW you train in early Fortress. Otherwise, build the rax/stable in front of your base for better army reinforcement in mid-Fortress.
- Alternatively, you may also choose to switch most of your vills to coin and forego the stable until later, and send Black Riders as your first shipment in Fortress.
- If you're anticipating a push, research Great Coat (35% villager hitpoints) and be ready to use your SWs to to tank in any fights if you need to. Be careful not to lose them though!
- Research Gang Saw and switch 3-6 villager population to wood for housing throughout Fortress (unless you plan to send 1000w early).
Age 3
You should reach Fortress relatively comfortably anywhere between 7:40 - 8:40...ish. From here you want to mass primarily Skirm/Uhlan with a few WW if necessary—keep in mind there are always exceptions, make WW or ship BR if you need to. You usually only want to send unit shipments, but 1000w can give you a strong mid-game in exchange for slowing down your early Fortress. DO NOT use your 1000w for a 2nd TC. Ever. There are very very few situations where a 2nd TC will actually pay off for Germany. Stagecoach TPs, on the other hand, feel free to grab those if you feel you can defend them.
Notes: There is a slightly greedier version of this build you can do, but it's far less adaptable and rarely worth it, but if you are interested in trying it out you can also age with The Philosopher Prince (500f) to Colonial in order to reach Fortress more quickly, and ship 3 SW 1000w as your first 2 cards, this will net you a few hundred extra resources, but also leave you more open to raids and early aggression or timing pushes.
Basic Card Order:
3 SW (Age 2)
700w (Age2 )
Military/Mercenary Shipments or 1000w in any order (Age 3)
Age 1
Depending on your crate start you usually want to try to get an early TP even if you have to force it by chopping 200w and delaying your age up slightly. Age with 18 vills if you have to, this will barely slow your Fortress time down as you will not be waiting for crates to age, and the extra villager in transition will help acquire these resources.
Ensuring you have an early TP regardless of the crate start will net you more shipments in early Fortress—when you are strongest—and also free up your explorer in transition to Colonial to scout for aggressive builds (which you are particularly weak to with this build compared to other builds) and allow you to adapt out of this build into Colonial play or a semi-FF if need be.
- Place first house defensively, somewhere difficult to pressure.
- Avoid TC idle time, age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
- Once aging, switch 5 SW and 1-2 settlers to wood and get a market + hunting dogs. Place market in front of your base to shield hunts or mines.
- Switch 5 SW and 1-2 settlers to coin and begin gathering to reach Fortress.
- Make active use of your explorer to deduce your opponent's plan.
Age 2
*Special Cases: at this point in the build you may still choose to adapt into a safer or more defensive build order. If you've scouted your opponent doing something aggressive with a forward base or something similarly troublesome, you may choose to buy wood in order to place either a stable or a rax and adapt into an Uhlan semi or Xbow/Pike defense. This does not hurt your economy as buying wood is efficient until ~130 gold per 100 wood, but it does deplete your gold mines more quickly than it otherwise would have.
- Send 3 SW
- Use 400w for Steel Traps + Placer Mines and 2 houses
- Pay close attention to your villager distribution. Try to arrange it so that you hit 1200f and 1000c at the same time.
- Send 700w. Do not gather wood crates until you start aging unless you plan on building a 2nd TP with—which you should almost never do unless you can get away with sending 1000w as your first card in Fortress.
- Use Uhlans to scout/harass, but try not to lose them. It's unlikely you'll be able to do any damage with only 2-4 Uhlans against a skilled opponent, instead just focus on keeping your opponent in his base and buying yourself time to age safely.
- Age to Fortress with the Exiled Prince (fast age).
Transition
- Gather your 700w. If you're anticipating some kind of push from your opponent, try to build your stable/rax relatively defensively, and use your houses to create a shield for any skirms or WW you train in early Fortress. Otherwise, build the rax/stable in front of your base for better army reinforcement in mid-Fortress.
- Alternatively, you may also choose to switch most of your vills to coin and forego the stable until later, and send Black Riders as your first shipment in Fortress.
- If you're anticipating a push, research Great Coat (35% villager hitpoints) and be ready to use your SWs to to tank in any fights if you need to. Be careful not to lose them though!
- Research Gang Saw and switch 3-6 villager population to wood for housing throughout Fortress (unless you plan to send 1000w early).
Age 3
You should reach Fortress relatively comfortably anywhere between 7:40 - 8:40...ish. From here you want to mass primarily Skirm/Uhlan with a few WW if necessary—keep in mind there are always exceptions, make WW or ship BR if you need to. You usually only want to send unit shipments, but 1000w can give you a strong mid-game in exchange for slowing down your early Fortress. DO NOT use your 1000w for a 2nd TC. Ever. There are very very few situations where a 2nd TC will actually pay off for Germany. Stagecoach TPs, on the other hand, feel free to grab those if you feel you can defend them.
Notes: There is a slightly greedier version of this build you can do, but it's far less adaptable and rarely worth it, but if you are interested in trying it out you can also age with The Philosopher Prince (500f) to Colonial in order to reach Fortress more quickly, and ship 3 SW 1000w as your first 2 cards, this will net you a few hundred extra resources, but also leave you more open to raids and early aggression or timing pushes.
Effective Against: Semi-FF
Weak Against: Mid Colonial or Early Fortress timing (~9 min)
Acceptable Against: Eco-heavy civilizations
**Special Cases: Otto, Japan (Club Rush), All-in Aggression
Saloon Briefing
A short explanation about the saloon is necessary here, as it is a very peculiar building, and not very well known by many players.
The saloon lets you produce, in the Colonial Age, units called "outlaws". Those units generally take a lot of population space (until 7 sometimes!), are cheaper than they should be (to compensate for the insane population needed), cost only gold (like all saloon units), and have a very awkward shooting animation (at least for infantry outlaws), making it almost impossible to hit-and-run. Outlaws are NOT mercenaries! They will not be countered by spies or ninjas, and they will not benefit from the Advanced Mercenaries card.
It is also important to point out that they do not spawn randomly. Every map has a given pair of outlaws (though a few maps will let you produce only one kind of outlaw). Outlaws can only be infantry (pikeman-, musketeer- or skirmisher-type units) or ranged cavalry. Most maps have at least one anti-cavalry outlaw. Knowing which outlaws will spawn on a given map will help you a lot; indeed, you don't want to spend 200 wood in Colonial on a saloon that might actually be useless in a given match-up. This wiki page lists the outlaws and their respective maps, so if you're not sure which outlaws spawn on a map, you know what to do now.
However, outlaws aren't the only units you can find in the saloon. Upon Fortress and/or Industrial Age, you will be able to produce two mercenaries in there. Those mercenaries spawn randomly, regardless of the map. You can find the list here (if you wish to find further information about a mercenary, just click on its link). Please note that you need to send a card in order to make Ronins; they will never spawn in the saloon. Moreover, you won't be able to produce Jat Lancers, Iron Troops and Yojimbos, as they are available to asian civilizations only.
I am now going to briefly present the mercenaries:
- Mamelukes, Elmetis and Li'l Bombards are unlocked upon Industrial Age. As it is highly unlikely that you ever reach that age, we might as well forget about those guys and focus on the Fortress mercs. For the record, don't ever train Li'l Bombard, you would regret it.
- Arsonists are bugged. They don't have that "Mercenary" tag. Therefore, they will not benefit from the "Advanced Mercenaries" card, making them even worse than they already are. Don't produce those guys.
- Landsknechts are just bad, they're too slow to do anything. Winning a game with them is a very infuriating challenge. Same for ninjas, they're a niche unit countering other mercs as well as explorers, which is barely useful in most games.
- All other mercs are at least half-decent, though it depends a lot on the match-up. Jaegers, highlanders, manchus, black riders, stradiots and hackapells are the best mercenaries you can hope for.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that you can make only one saloon, and that the training time for most mercenaries/outlaws is rather long.
The saloon lets you produce, in the Colonial Age, units called "outlaws". Those units generally take a lot of population space (until 7 sometimes!), are cheaper than they should be (to compensate for the insane population needed), cost only gold (like all saloon units), and have a very awkward shooting animation (at least for infantry outlaws), making it almost impossible to hit-and-run. Outlaws are NOT mercenaries! They will not be countered by spies or ninjas, and they will not benefit from the Advanced Mercenaries card.
It is also important to point out that they do not spawn randomly. Every map has a given pair of outlaws (though a few maps will let you produce only one kind of outlaw). Outlaws can only be infantry (pikeman-, musketeer- or skirmisher-type units) or ranged cavalry. Most maps have at least one anti-cavalry outlaw. Knowing which outlaws will spawn on a given map will help you a lot; indeed, you don't want to spend 200 wood in Colonial on a saloon that might actually be useless in a given match-up. This wiki page lists the outlaws and their respective maps, so if you're not sure which outlaws spawn on a map, you know what to do now.
However, outlaws aren't the only units you can find in the saloon. Upon Fortress and/or Industrial Age, you will be able to produce two mercenaries in there. Those mercenaries spawn randomly, regardless of the map. You can find the list here (if you wish to find further information about a mercenary, just click on its link). Please note that you need to send a card in order to make Ronins; they will never spawn in the saloon. Moreover, you won't be able to produce Jat Lancers, Iron Troops and Yojimbos, as they are available to asian civilizations only.
I am now going to briefly present the mercenaries:
- Mamelukes, Elmetis and Li'l Bombards are unlocked upon Industrial Age. As it is highly unlikely that you ever reach that age, we might as well forget about those guys and focus on the Fortress mercs. For the record, don't ever train Li'l Bombard, you would regret it.
- Arsonists are bugged. They don't have that "Mercenary" tag. Therefore, they will not benefit from the "Advanced Mercenaries" card, making them even worse than they already are. Don't produce those guys.
- Landsknechts are just bad, they're too slow to do anything. Winning a game with them is a very infuriating challenge. Same for ninjas, they're a niche unit countering other mercs as well as explorers, which is barely useful in most games.
- All other mercs are at least half-decent, though it depends a lot on the match-up. Jaegers, highlanders, manchus, black riders, stradiots and hackapells are the best mercenaries you can hope for.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that you can make only one saloon, and that the training time for most mercenaries/outlaws is rather long.
Build Order
Card Order(s):
Palatine Settlements (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700w (Age 2)
Advanced Mercenaries or 1000g (Age 3)
This non-standard build relies entirely on a single military building: the saloon. The idea is to safely reach the Fortress Age, while being very greedy in Colonial, in order to produce only upgraded mercenaries. This build abuses the fact that most mercenaries are stronger than regular units, and that they benefit from a very strong homecity card (Advanced Mercenaries) granting them an extra 20% HP and attack, scaling on their (already scary) Fortress stats. Moreover, mercenaries cost gold exclusively, making the macro for this build very easy and efficient; although it requires a lot of mapcontrol, since the mines will run out of gold extremely fast.
Age 1
- Age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
You want to have a TP and a market with Hunting Dogs + Placer Mines, as well as 125w banked.
Age 2
- Use your 400w + 125w for a Saloon and 3 houses. Keep the 25w for later (so you actually don't need to chop that while aging up, but it's just easier to chop all the wood at once, and usually won't hurt your first batch of units).
- Send Palatine Settlements. This card will make your houses contain 30 population space instead of 10. You now have 130 population space.
- Queue an outlaw in your saloon. As soon as Palatine Settlements comes in, you'll be able to finish your batch.
Usually, the outlaws you want to produce are Renegados/Thugees (skirm-type units), Comancheros (dragoon-type unit) or Pistoleros/Dacoïts (musk-type units). Some maps will let you produce two of these guys; you will choose depending on the match-up.
All other outlaws are more or less garbage.
After Palatine Settlements, ship 3 SW, then 700w. From this wood, you can get Amalgamation and Steel Traps, as well as another TP. You will have an extra 200w: this wood can be used for a stagecoach on some maps (in which case you might delay Amalgamation and another TP instead), or to rebuild/repair buildings after a push. Just keep it if you have no use for it at the moment, it will most likely be useful later.
You can usually train between 5 and 15 outlaws, depending on what your opponent is doing. For example, if he goes for a simple hussar semi-FF, a 5 comancheros semi-FF should be enough to get some free kills and age up safely. On the other hand, against a musk/huss rush, you would rather mix comancheros/renegados and age up a bit later. Either way, if you don't make more than 15 outlaws, you usually gather all the resources to age up to the Fortress Age; otherwise, you can afford to ship 700g and still have a shipment ready upon Fortress Age.
Transition
Keep 4 villagers on food, and switch all others to gold. This will let you produce villagers constantly, while getting the optimal mass of mercenaries out. If you feel like your opponent will push you soon, escape some of your villagers/SW on some other goldmines on the map, so that you can still gather if your opponent comes in your base.
Age 3
- Start producing the mercenary of your choice.
- Ship Advanced Mercenaries if you think you will be able to get away with it. Otherwise, ship 1000g.
At this point, you're likely to get pushed, because you aged up pretty slowly (usually without 700g) and with only a few outlaws. Therefore, you might need to ship 1000g to fuel your mass, because some of your villagers will be idled in your towncenter (even if you escaped a few, you need to keep some in your base, so that your opponent doesn't come in an empty base and realize your villagers are spread on the map). Thanks to these gold crates, you should be able to queue a big batch of mercenaries, or even to ship a mercenaries shipment (usually hackapells, jaegers or blackrider, depending on what you need) if you're not satisfied by the mercenaries available in the saloon.
However, the card that you ultimately want to ship is Advanced Mercenaries, because it makes your mercenaries way scarier. Try to fight only once this card was sent, in order to get the best possible trades with your mercenaries. If you shipped 1000g and/or a mercenaries shipment, send Advanced Mercenaries right after.
Consider shipping Royal Mint after that, as it will grant you a 25% gathering boost on gold, which is ahuge boost when most of your vils are on coin, and will still work if you have switch to plantations later on. Also consider shipping Land Grab when you have to switch to plantations, as it will let you save 320w per plantation, and you might need 3 or 4 of them.
Palatine Settlements (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700w (Age 2)
Advanced Mercenaries or 1000g (Age 3)
This non-standard build relies entirely on a single military building: the saloon. The idea is to safely reach the Fortress Age, while being very greedy in Colonial, in order to produce only upgraded mercenaries. This build abuses the fact that most mercenaries are stronger than regular units, and that they benefit from a very strong homecity card (Advanced Mercenaries) granting them an extra 20% HP and attack, scaling on their (already scary) Fortress stats. Moreover, mercenaries cost gold exclusively, making the macro for this build very easy and efficient; although it requires a lot of mapcontrol, since the mines will run out of gold extremely fast.
Age 1
- Age with 17-18 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician.
Transition
You want to have a TP and a market with Hunting Dogs + Placer Mines, as well as 125w banked.
Age 2
- Use your 400w + 125w for a Saloon and 3 houses. Keep the 25w for later (so you actually don't need to chop that while aging up, but it's just easier to chop all the wood at once, and usually won't hurt your first batch of units).
- Send Palatine Settlements. This card will make your houses contain 30 population space instead of 10. You now have 130 population space.
- Queue an outlaw in your saloon. As soon as Palatine Settlements comes in, you'll be able to finish your batch.
Usually, the outlaws you want to produce are Renegados/Thugees (skirm-type units), Comancheros (dragoon-type unit) or Pistoleros/Dacoïts (musk-type units). Some maps will let you produce two of these guys; you will choose depending on the match-up.
All other outlaws are more or less garbage.
After Palatine Settlements, ship 3 SW, then 700w. From this wood, you can get Amalgamation and Steel Traps, as well as another TP. You will have an extra 200w: this wood can be used for a stagecoach on some maps (in which case you might delay Amalgamation and another TP instead), or to rebuild/repair buildings after a push. Just keep it if you have no use for it at the moment, it will most likely be useful later.
You can usually train between 5 and 15 outlaws, depending on what your opponent is doing. For example, if he goes for a simple hussar semi-FF, a 5 comancheros semi-FF should be enough to get some free kills and age up safely. On the other hand, against a musk/huss rush, you would rather mix comancheros/renegados and age up a bit later. Either way, if you don't make more than 15 outlaws, you usually gather all the resources to age up to the Fortress Age; otherwise, you can afford to ship 700g and still have a shipment ready upon Fortress Age.
Transition
Keep 4 villagers on food, and switch all others to gold. This will let you produce villagers constantly, while getting the optimal mass of mercenaries out. If you feel like your opponent will push you soon, escape some of your villagers/SW on some other goldmines on the map, so that you can still gather if your opponent comes in your base.
Age 3
- Start producing the mercenary of your choice.
- Ship Advanced Mercenaries if you think you will be able to get away with it. Otherwise, ship 1000g.
At this point, you're likely to get pushed, because you aged up pretty slowly (usually without 700g) and with only a few outlaws. Therefore, you might need to ship 1000g to fuel your mass, because some of your villagers will be idled in your towncenter (even if you escaped a few, you need to keep some in your base, so that your opponent doesn't come in an empty base and realize your villagers are spread on the map). Thanks to these gold crates, you should be able to queue a big batch of mercenaries, or even to ship a mercenaries shipment (usually hackapells, jaegers or blackrider, depending on what you need) if you're not satisfied by the mercenaries available in the saloon.
However, the card that you ultimately want to ship is Advanced Mercenaries, because it makes your mercenaries way scarier. Try to fight only once this card was sent, in order to get the best possible trades with your mercenaries. If you shipped 1000g and/or a mercenaries shipment, send Advanced Mercenaries right after.
Consider shipping Royal Mint after that, as it will grant you a 25% gathering boost on gold, which is ahuge boost when most of your vils are on coin, and will still work if you have switch to plantations later on. Also consider shipping Land Grab when you have to switch to plantations, as it will let you save 320w per plantation, and you might need 3 or 4 of them.
Timing Push
Effective Against: Sioux
Weak Against: India, Port, German, Iroquois(?)
Acceptable Against: China, France, British, Japan, Aztec, Spain(?), Russia, Dutch
*Special Cases: Otto
Spoiler
(?) = I haven't done the build enough in that matchup to know for certain how effective it is.
Card Order(s):
3 SW
700w
8 Xbow
600w, 700c, or Military
8 Xbow
3 SW
700w
600w, 700c, or Military
Card Order(s):
3 SW
700w
8 Xbow
600w, 700c, or Military
8 Xbow
3 SW
700w
600w, 700c, or Military
Effective Against: Russia, Aztec
Weak Against: Semi-FFs
Acceptable Against: Forward bases in general
*Special Cases: Otto
Spoiler
Card Order
8 Xbow
700w
700c
3 Dopp, 5 Uhlan, 600c, or 3SW
8 Xbow
700w
700c
3 Dopp, 5 Uhlan, 600c, or 3SW
Effective Against: Sioux, Japan
Weak Against: Russia, India, Iroquois, Ottomans, Aztecs, Spain, France
Acceptable Against: China, British, Portuguese, Dutch
**Special Cases: Germany
Spoiler
Card Order(s):
8 crossbows (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700w (Age 2)
700g (Age 2)
3 doppelsöldners (Age 2) or Military (Age 3) or 1000w (Age 3)
The point of this non-standard build is to apply a strong pressure early on, relying on one of the best units shipments (8 crossbows + 2 uhlans) shipped in a forward tower, while still having a nice follow-up thanks to Germany's strong economy and shipments. It can catch off-guard some civilizations that would expect Germany to go for a Fortress build order.
Age 1
- You will need to invest 250w into a tower during the transition to Colonial, making it much harder to get your TP and market up during transition. Therefore, the age 1 TP/market is even more important for this build.
- Age with 17 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician. If you need to age up with 18 villager population, you should probably not tower rush.
Transition
- If you built an early market: keep your villagers on food, and get gang saw, then switch most of your villagers to wood.
- If you didn't: directly switch your villagers to wood and build a market, and get gang saw (if you have some coin banked from treasures, you can also get hunting dogs).
- Build a forward tower as close to your opponent's base as possible; also, try to place it next to a hunt/gold mine.
Note: Don't try hard to get your tower up before you hit colonial! It will not speed up your build anyway. You can queue the 8 crossbowmen shipment even if your tower is not finished; however, you need to build your barracks in order to start queuing units. Therefore, if your tower is not up when you hit Colonial, you should let it unfinished and start building your barracks as soon as possible. This way, you can queue your units faster, and finish building the tower (easily) in time for the 8 crossbowmen to pop.
Age 2
- Ship 8 Crossbowmen. Do not forget to set the homecity waypoint to your tower!
- Build a barracks and 2-3 houses, and queue either 5 pikes or 5 crossbows (depending on the match-up and on what military building(s) you scouted).
- If you already have a TP (200w start), put a couple vils/SW on gold to get hunting dogs or steel traps.
- If you don't have a TP, then build one from the 400w age up to build one.
Note: If you don't get steel traps now, it's not the biggest deal, you can mine some gold for it a bit later.
Ship 3 SW next; you really don't want to skip that card, unless your opponent is already sieging under your tower, in which case you will ship 3 doppelsöldners in his army.
Note: Ship the 3 SW at your tower. That way, you will both have the 2 free uhlans faster, and a total of 4 SW next to your tower, to tank if needed. With the great coat market upgrade, 4 SWs tank approximately as much as a Mameluke, which is huge.
Now ship 700w (Do not forget to set the homecity waypoint to your town center!), from which you can get a stable and houses. In some match ups and on some maps, you can also get a stagecoach boom instead. 700g comes next; you have two ways to use this gold:
(1) Stop making units, keep any extra shipment you might have, and age up to Fortress. Your opponent is likely to try and break your forward base after you aged up; therefore, you will ship Military units in your tower, to try and hold the push. However, if you're confident that your opponent won't push, you can also ship 1000w instead, for Uhlans veterancy, houses, any other building you would need, Amalgamation...
(2) Mass doppelsöldners and uhlans simultaneously. Then, ship 3 doppelsöldners in your tower. You should now have a large mass of crossbowmen/doppelsöldners/uhlans, for a solid timing push. A lot of civilizations might be aging up just at that point (around 9 minutes usually), or push out to grab their next hunt, which is why it is an interesting timing. After that timing, just adapt, depending on how well the push worked: either age up from 600g, mass more from crates, send Military upgrades...
8 crossbows (Age 2)
3SW (Age 2)
700w (Age 2)
700g (Age 2)
3 doppelsöldners (Age 2) or Military (Age 3) or 1000w (Age 3)
The point of this non-standard build is to apply a strong pressure early on, relying on one of the best units shipments (8 crossbows + 2 uhlans) shipped in a forward tower, while still having a nice follow-up thanks to Germany's strong economy and shipments. It can catch off-guard some civilizations that would expect Germany to go for a Fortress build order.
Age 1
- You will need to invest 250w into a tower during the transition to Colonial, making it much harder to get your TP and market up during transition. Therefore, the age 1 TP/market is even more important for this build.
- Age with 17 villager population and the Quartermaster (400w) politician. If you need to age up with 18 villager population, you should probably not tower rush.
Transition
- If you built an early market: keep your villagers on food, and get gang saw, then switch most of your villagers to wood.
- If you didn't: directly switch your villagers to wood and build a market, and get gang saw (if you have some coin banked from treasures, you can also get hunting dogs).
- Build a forward tower as close to your opponent's base as possible; also, try to place it next to a hunt/gold mine.
Note: Don't try hard to get your tower up before you hit colonial! It will not speed up your build anyway. You can queue the 8 crossbowmen shipment even if your tower is not finished; however, you need to build your barracks in order to start queuing units. Therefore, if your tower is not up when you hit Colonial, you should let it unfinished and start building your barracks as soon as possible. This way, you can queue your units faster, and finish building the tower (easily) in time for the 8 crossbowmen to pop.
Age 2
- Ship 8 Crossbowmen. Do not forget to set the homecity waypoint to your tower!
- Build a barracks and 2-3 houses, and queue either 5 pikes or 5 crossbows (depending on the match-up and on what military building(s) you scouted).
- If you already have a TP (200w start), put a couple vils/SW on gold to get hunting dogs or steel traps.
- If you don't have a TP, then build one from the 400w age up to build one.
Note: If you don't get steel traps now, it's not the biggest deal, you can mine some gold for it a bit later.
Ship 3 SW next; you really don't want to skip that card, unless your opponent is already sieging under your tower, in which case you will ship 3 doppelsöldners in his army.
Note: Ship the 3 SW at your tower. That way, you will both have the 2 free uhlans faster, and a total of 4 SW next to your tower, to tank if needed. With the great coat market upgrade, 4 SWs tank approximately as much as a Mameluke, which is huge.
Now ship 700w (Do not forget to set the homecity waypoint to your town center!), from which you can get a stable and houses. In some match ups and on some maps, you can also get a stagecoach boom instead. 700g comes next; you have two ways to use this gold:
(1) Stop making units, keep any extra shipment you might have, and age up to Fortress. Your opponent is likely to try and break your forward base after you aged up; therefore, you will ship Military units in your tower, to try and hold the push. However, if you're confident that your opponent won't push, you can also ship 1000w instead, for Uhlans veterancy, houses, any other building you would need, Amalgamation...
(2) Mass doppelsöldners and uhlans simultaneously. Then, ship 3 doppelsöldners in your tower. You should now have a large mass of crossbowmen/doppelsöldners/uhlans, for a solid timing push. A lot of civilizations might be aging up just at that point (around 9 minutes usually), or push out to grab their next hunt, which is why it is an interesting timing. After that timing, just adapt, depending on how well the push worked: either age up from 600g, mass more from crates, send Military upgrades...
Aztec
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s):
Against Colonial play: Uhlan/Crossbow
Against FF/FI play: 3 SW 700w Naked FF, Uhlan Semi-FF, 2-TP Uhlan Semi-FF
Aztec can be a tricky civ to play against. For the most part Germany should hold the advantage, but they have to play very precisely in order to win. Sometimes Aztec can throw you off if they change up their build, and that's where the matchup can get difficult.
The safest way to play against Aztec as Germany is to prepare to do a normal Uhlan/Crossbow defense & timing, and adapt into a naked FF if you scout an FF or FI, but if you get a scout treasure or otherwise determine that your opponent is going for an FF/FI early enough, something like the 2-TP FF or Semi-FF is more optimal.
Against Colonial Play: Follow the normal Uhlan/Crossbow build path with 5-10 pikes to dissuade Coyotes and for siege, but be ready to add some dopps depending on his unit composition. Keep in mind:
Uhlan/Crossbow > Puma/Mace
Puma/Coyote > Uhlan/Crossbow
Uhlan/Crossbow/Dopp > Puma/Coyote
Basically you want to mix dopps if he's decided not to make as many mace. Your plan should be to either defend and then age up and win with your tech advantage, or to prep for a timing push and kill his fb before you age. Which you choose to do should usually depend upon how many resources you have in base: if you have enough to safely reach fortress and still power up for a minute or two afterwards then you should age, if you don't, you should setup for a timing.
Be careful though, if you stay in Colonial too long his army will start to beat yours. Once he's able to get a large enough mass of Puma/Coyote AND Mace, no composition you make will really cut it, as puma shred uhlans too quickly, and mace shred dopps too quickly, leaving the coyotes to decimate your crossbows.
Against FF/FI Play: This can be tricky to play against. If you scouted it early enough and adapted accordingly you should be fine though, as you will hit Fortress 1-3 minutes before he does and have some time to power-up and then punish him. For the most part just mass Uhlan/Skirm, as you shouldn't really need WW or Black Riders against this style of Aztec play.
Try to apply pressure to his villagers or firepit if you can, but don't commit under his base too heavily. If he needs to he can pop a lot of units on top of you all at once with a couple of big buttons, a shipment, skull knight age up, and a batch of units. Even the Warrior Priests do decent damage and tank a lot once he hits fortress, and it doesn't really hurt him to fight with them. This is why I recommend investing into something you normally would never want to invest in in other matchups: either veteran Dopps or Cannons.
1000w 1000c can give you easy access to 2-3 falcs, and provide some extra XP for follow up shipments as well, giving you a strong 9-10 minute timing and the ability to siege at a safe distance. You have to watch out for that warchief though, if your opponent chose to age with the Warchief Politician he'll come close to 1-shotting your falcs, and then you're in trouble. If you play well you should be ok, but mixing 2-5 spies just to deal with that warchief (especially on RE patch) is not a bad idea.
Dopps are easier to play with and don't run into the same risk with the warchief. The only problem is that you need to invest into a Vet upgrade AND train dopps, which costs a lot of time at your Barracks and you will sacrifice your skirmisher count in exchange, which makes it difficult to poke/harass or kite away if you need to.
Most of the time you should be able to force him to stay Fortress, or kill him before he reaches Industrial. If, for some reason, you fail and he manages to reach Industrial and he's not dead then you're probably in trouble. If this happens you'll need to consider getting an Arsenal and researching Counter Infantry Rifling just to deal with the Skull Knights effectively, and keep a close eye on his resources, always raiding his hunts/mines with 2-4 Uhlans. But it will be hard to win from here, so try to avoid this situation if you can.
Against Colonial play: Uhlan/Crossbow
Against FF/FI play: 3 SW 700w Naked FF, Uhlan Semi-FF, 2-TP Uhlan Semi-FF
Aztec can be a tricky civ to play against. For the most part Germany should hold the advantage, but they have to play very precisely in order to win. Sometimes Aztec can throw you off if they change up their build, and that's where the matchup can get difficult.
The safest way to play against Aztec as Germany is to prepare to do a normal Uhlan/Crossbow defense & timing, and adapt into a naked FF if you scout an FF or FI, but if you get a scout treasure or otherwise determine that your opponent is going for an FF/FI early enough, something like the 2-TP FF or Semi-FF is more optimal.
Against Colonial Play: Follow the normal Uhlan/Crossbow build path with 5-10 pikes to dissuade Coyotes and for siege, but be ready to add some dopps depending on his unit composition. Keep in mind:
Uhlan/Crossbow > Puma/Mace
Puma/Coyote > Uhlan/Crossbow
Uhlan/Crossbow/Dopp > Puma/Coyote
Basically you want to mix dopps if he's decided not to make as many mace. Your plan should be to either defend and then age up and win with your tech advantage, or to prep for a timing push and kill his fb before you age. Which you choose to do should usually depend upon how many resources you have in base: if you have enough to safely reach fortress and still power up for a minute or two afterwards then you should age, if you don't, you should setup for a timing.
Be careful though, if you stay in Colonial too long his army will start to beat yours. Once he's able to get a large enough mass of Puma/Coyote AND Mace, no composition you make will really cut it, as puma shred uhlans too quickly, and mace shred dopps too quickly, leaving the coyotes to decimate your crossbows.
Against FF/FI Play: This can be tricky to play against. If you scouted it early enough and adapted accordingly you should be fine though, as you will hit Fortress 1-3 minutes before he does and have some time to power-up and then punish him. For the most part just mass Uhlan/Skirm, as you shouldn't really need WW or Black Riders against this style of Aztec play.
Try to apply pressure to his villagers or firepit if you can, but don't commit under his base too heavily. If he needs to he can pop a lot of units on top of you all at once with a couple of big buttons, a shipment, skull knight age up, and a batch of units. Even the Warrior Priests do decent damage and tank a lot once he hits fortress, and it doesn't really hurt him to fight with them. This is why I recommend investing into something you normally would never want to invest in in other matchups: either veteran Dopps or Cannons.
1000w 1000c can give you easy access to 2-3 falcs, and provide some extra XP for follow up shipments as well, giving you a strong 9-10 minute timing and the ability to siege at a safe distance. You have to watch out for that warchief though, if your opponent chose to age with the Warchief Politician he'll come close to 1-shotting your falcs, and then you're in trouble. If you play well you should be ok, but mixing 2-5 spies just to deal with that warchief (especially on RE patch) is not a bad idea.
Dopps are easier to play with and don't run into the same risk with the warchief. The only problem is that you need to invest into a Vet upgrade AND train dopps, which costs a lot of time at your Barracks and you will sacrifice your skirmisher count in exchange, which makes it difficult to poke/harass or kite away if you need to.
Most of the time you should be able to force him to stay Fortress, or kill him before he reaches Industrial. If, for some reason, you fail and he manages to reach Industrial and he's not dead then you're probably in trouble. If this happens you'll need to consider getting an Arsenal and researching Counter Infantry Rifling just to deal with the Skull Knights effectively, and keep a close eye on his resources, always raiding his hunts/mines with 2-4 Uhlans. But it will be hard to win from here, so try to avoid this situation if you can.
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s): 3 SW 700w Naked FF, Uhlan Semi-FF, 2-TP Uhlan Semi-FF
This is an interesting matchup because you can actually use almost any build vs British to an extent, none of them straight-up lose, but none of them straight-up win either. Colonial play isn't terrible as long as you don't plan on staying in Colonial, and British do have some aggressive builds that can force you to stay Colonial for a while, but you should find FF or Semi-FF play to be the most effective way to play against most Brit players, especially since so many of them love to go Virginia Company lately.
The matchup should be pretty standard for the most part though. Just apply pressure to his vills with your Uhlans, keep him inside his base as much as possible without losing units for free, and age up behind it. Once in Fortress you'll want to mass mostly Uhlan/Skirm with 5-8 WW or a Black Rider shipment and just contain him to his little corner of the map. Eventually he will have to try to fight you for the map, and that's where you will win most of the time.
Try to fight on open ground, choke points or cramped areas are really good for Brit to abuse their cannons/longbows, and virtually nullify your Uhlans.
Don't underestimate Colonial Brits either, their Musk/Huss mass + upgrades are nothing to scoff at, and longbows can still shred your WW from a safe distance.
This is an interesting matchup because you can actually use almost any build vs British to an extent, none of them straight-up lose, but none of them straight-up win either. Colonial play isn't terrible as long as you don't plan on staying in Colonial, and British do have some aggressive builds that can force you to stay Colonial for a while, but you should find FF or Semi-FF play to be the most effective way to play against most Brit players, especially since so many of them love to go Virginia Company lately.
The matchup should be pretty standard for the most part though. Just apply pressure to his vills with your Uhlans, keep him inside his base as much as possible without losing units for free, and age up behind it. Once in Fortress you'll want to mass mostly Uhlan/Skirm with 5-8 WW or a Black Rider shipment and just contain him to his little corner of the map. Eventually he will have to try to fight you for the map, and that's where you will win most of the time.
Try to fight on open ground, choke points or cramped areas are really good for Brit to abuse their cannons/longbows, and virtually nullify your Uhlans.
Don't underestimate Colonial Brits either, their Musk/Huss mass + upgrades are nothing to scoff at, and longbows can still shred your WW from a safe distance.
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s): 3 SW 700w Naked FF, Uhlan Semi-FF, 2-TP Uhlan Semi-FF
This matchup is pretty straightforward, just follow the normal FF or Semi-FF build paths and you should be fine. Don't be too greedy though, trying to grab the entire TP line and stagecoaching may seem tempting but it's easily punished if China adapts into a semi-FF with 9 pike and some units from the Barracks. If you really want to grab stagecoach then you're better off waiting until you're already in Fortress, so you don't risk wasting your wood.
This matchup is also one where I would recommend not going very heavy on the Uhlans early on. Most China players will be sending cards like Intervention for 9 Redcoats and massing cav. Some will even ship 9 Manchu, anticipating a large Uhlan mass. The best way to play this matchup, in my opinion, is to focus on Skirm/WW with 9 Black Riders on top of it. Once you hit the critical mass of WW/BR you can kite him forever, and since it's difficult for China to really mass skirmishers you shouldn't really ever be at risk of losing the skirm battle either.
The only thing to watch out for is a potential age up. Age 4 China can counter that composition pretty easily so make sure you're on top of your scouting and don't give him too much time to breathe once you have enough anti-cav to prevent him from hard-engaging on you. Most China players won't invest very heavily in cav if they plan to go Industrial, so if the cav count is significantly lower than you'd expect, he may be trying to age. Add Uhlans in this case.
This matchup is pretty straightforward, just follow the normal FF or Semi-FF build paths and you should be fine. Don't be too greedy though, trying to grab the entire TP line and stagecoaching may seem tempting but it's easily punished if China adapts into a semi-FF with 9 pike and some units from the Barracks. If you really want to grab stagecoach then you're better off waiting until you're already in Fortress, so you don't risk wasting your wood.
This matchup is also one where I would recommend not going very heavy on the Uhlans early on. Most China players will be sending cards like Intervention for 9 Redcoats and massing cav. Some will even ship 9 Manchu, anticipating a large Uhlan mass. The best way to play this matchup, in my opinion, is to focus on Skirm/WW with 9 Black Riders on top of it. Once you hit the critical mass of WW/BR you can kite him forever, and since it's difficult for China to really mass skirmishers you shouldn't really ever be at risk of losing the skirm battle either.
The only thing to watch out for is a potential age up. Age 4 China can counter that composition pretty easily so make sure you're on top of your scouting and don't give him too much time to breathe once you have enough anti-cav to prevent him from hard-engaging on you. Most China players won't invest very heavily in cav if they plan to go Industrial, so if the cav count is significantly lower than you'd expect, he may be trying to age. Add Uhlans in this case.
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s): Uhlan Semi-FF, 3 SW 700w Naked FF, 2-TP Uhlan Semi-FF
Traditionally, this matchup has been very German-favoured. The standard semi-FF builds are usually enough to beat Dutch players even if they're significantly better than yourself, but recently people have gotten better at playing Dutch and playing AGAINST Germany.
You should avoid naked-FFing unless you know he's going to pike-semi, and even then the Uhlans are probably still worth it. The early pressure will often force him into investing into units/shipments he doesn't really want to send. In an ideal world, Dutch just wants to build 4-5 banks and reach fortress with enough safety to follow up with 1000w and military upgrades.
Your goal should be to deny him this as much as possible. Play aggressively, don't be afraid to go under his town center unless you expect 8 pike to be popping out. Siege buildings on the outskirts of his base, houses preferably, but even sieging a market or a bank isn't bad. Try to force that Minutemen call. Once you start aging is when you want to back off for a bit, as he can actually outmass you if he stays Colonial, but don't stray too far from his base unless you have to. Once he ages up you want to begin applying pressure again and try to force a 9 ruyter shipment instead of 1000w, as this will slow him down a lot. Sending 9 Uhlan as your first Fortress shipment can help a lot here.
If all has gone well, you should be in a pretty good spot. Your next plan of action should be to deny him gold mines outside of his base with your superior mass, and eventually starve & overpower him.
Things to watch out for in this matchup include:
- A super early 8 Pike shipment.
- Huss/Ruyter cheese: Many players will go for this vs Germany, as most German players like to avoid training WW as much as possible, and it can be deadly if not scouted. Don't be afraid to sacrifice your explorer or pick up scout/pet treasures to scout with in early Fortress.
- 12 Swiss Pike shipment: don't underestimate this card, with good positioning Swiss Pikes can shred your uhlans and destroy your army. Always check your opponent's deck for this card.
- A church: If you should scout a church in his base at any time, this could mean he's either trying to be super-greedy by adding on a couple more banks, or even going Industrial for the 30 Guard Musks and Heavy Cannons. Either way, consider playing more aggressively if you scout this.
Traditionally, this matchup has been very German-favoured. The standard semi-FF builds are usually enough to beat Dutch players even if they're significantly better than yourself, but recently people have gotten better at playing Dutch and playing AGAINST Germany.
You should avoid naked-FFing unless you know he's going to pike-semi, and even then the Uhlans are probably still worth it. The early pressure will often force him into investing into units/shipments he doesn't really want to send. In an ideal world, Dutch just wants to build 4-5 banks and reach fortress with enough safety to follow up with 1000w and military upgrades.
Your goal should be to deny him this as much as possible. Play aggressively, don't be afraid to go under his town center unless you expect 8 pike to be popping out. Siege buildings on the outskirts of his base, houses preferably, but even sieging a market or a bank isn't bad. Try to force that Minutemen call. Once you start aging is when you want to back off for a bit, as he can actually outmass you if he stays Colonial, but don't stray too far from his base unless you have to. Once he ages up you want to begin applying pressure again and try to force a 9 ruyter shipment instead of 1000w, as this will slow him down a lot. Sending 9 Uhlan as your first Fortress shipment can help a lot here.
If all has gone well, you should be in a pretty good spot. Your next plan of action should be to deny him gold mines outside of his base with your superior mass, and eventually starve & overpower him.
Things to watch out for in this matchup include:
- A super early 8 Pike shipment.
- Huss/Ruyter cheese: Many players will go for this vs Germany, as most German players like to avoid training WW as much as possible, and it can be deadly if not scouted. Don't be afraid to sacrifice your explorer or pick up scout/pet treasures to scout with in early Fortress.
- 12 Swiss Pike shipment: don't underestimate this card, with good positioning Swiss Pikes can shred your uhlans and destroy your army. Always check your opponent's deck for this card.
- A church: If you should scout a church in his base at any time, this could mean he's either trying to be super-greedy by adding on a couple more banks, or even going Industrial for the 30 Guard Musks and Heavy Cannons. Either way, consider playing more aggressively if you scout this.
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s): Uhlan Semi-FF, 3SW 700w Naked FF
Like British, most builds are viable against France as well: as you are playing Germany you will likely find the most success in Fortress, but the odd Colonial build can change things up and throw your opponent off.
The action begins from age 1 in this matchup, shoot that scout whenever you see him and run in the opposite direction if he ever runs at you. France is one of the few civs that can hunt down and kill your explorer if they really want to, and losing your explorer before you manage to build your TP is a disaster. This means that unless you got your TP at the very beginning of the game you need to be careful which treasures you choose to go for, as losing the ability to make a TP is basically GG in this matchup. If you do happen to lose him, send a SW to build one or ransom your explorer, depending on how far the TP is. You lose some extra resources, but depending on the treasure you died for it might be worth it sometimes.
In early Colonial try to scout for his military buildings or which resources he's gathering. You want to try to identify whether he's forward based or not, whether he has a Stable or a Barracks or both, and his first card (4 CDB, 700w, or 3 huss).
In general:
- vs huss start and 4 cdb first, just do the standard 3-card Uhlan Semi-FF and outmass his cav in Colonial.
- vs musket semi either naked FF or add some crossbows into your semi-FF to defend your TP and catch him off guard. 3 SW 700c into unit shipments can also be a good way to punish this build, but getting a Barracks, Vet Uhlan, and houses up in fortress will be difficult.
- vs the Samwise 5 huss 5 musk start, do 3 SW 700c into either Military Shipments to hold the timing, or 1000w if he's trying to age as well. If you sent 700w first instead of 3 SW, consider adding a batch of dopps before aging with 700c as your third card.
- vs any kind of musk/huss or pike/huss forward base pressure, setup for a Colonial timing on his forward base with some dopps and 8 Crossbow, and possibly even minutemen to backup the push even harder.
If you end up in a Fortress war, play relatively aggressively and try to maintain control of the gold mines. Skirm/Uhlan is ideal, but depending on his composition you may need to train WW or send BR in order to deal with Cuirs or Falcs.
Things to watch out for:
- If he ages earlier than you and you didn't age late, be aware of the early 8 huss timing. Get Great Coat and make sure you have resources for Minutemen, those huss can arrive before you even get your uhlans out. If you overgathered wood, it's not a bad idea to invest it in wall segments if you anticipate this sort of thing.
- If he's still gathering a lot of wood in early Colonial and you don't see a stable in base, there's a good chance you're getting dual rax crossbow/pike rushed. Don't panic, add a Barracks with your 700w, send 8 crossbow, and adapt into Uhlan/Crossbow, with a few dopps if he continues going Crossbow/Pike instead of transitioning to muskets.
Like British, most builds are viable against France as well: as you are playing Germany you will likely find the most success in Fortress, but the odd Colonial build can change things up and throw your opponent off.
The action begins from age 1 in this matchup, shoot that scout whenever you see him and run in the opposite direction if he ever runs at you. France is one of the few civs that can hunt down and kill your explorer if they really want to, and losing your explorer before you manage to build your TP is a disaster. This means that unless you got your TP at the very beginning of the game you need to be careful which treasures you choose to go for, as losing the ability to make a TP is basically GG in this matchup. If you do happen to lose him, send a SW to build one or ransom your explorer, depending on how far the TP is. You lose some extra resources, but depending on the treasure you died for it might be worth it sometimes.
In early Colonial try to scout for his military buildings or which resources he's gathering. You want to try to identify whether he's forward based or not, whether he has a Stable or a Barracks or both, and his first card (4 CDB, 700w, or 3 huss).
In general:
- vs huss start and 4 cdb first, just do the standard 3-card Uhlan Semi-FF and outmass his cav in Colonial.
- vs musket semi either naked FF or add some crossbows into your semi-FF to defend your TP and catch him off guard. 3 SW 700c into unit shipments can also be a good way to punish this build, but getting a Barracks, Vet Uhlan, and houses up in fortress will be difficult.
- vs the Samwise 5 huss 5 musk start, do 3 SW 700c into either Military Shipments to hold the timing, or 1000w if he's trying to age as well. If you sent 700w first instead of 3 SW, consider adding a batch of dopps before aging with 700c as your third card.
- vs any kind of musk/huss or pike/huss forward base pressure, setup for a Colonial timing on his forward base with some dopps and 8 Crossbow, and possibly even minutemen to backup the push even harder.
If you end up in a Fortress war, play relatively aggressively and try to maintain control of the gold mines. Skirm/Uhlan is ideal, but depending on his composition you may need to train WW or send BR in order to deal with Cuirs or Falcs.
Things to watch out for:
- If he ages earlier than you and you didn't age late, be aware of the early 8 huss timing. Get Great Coat and make sure you have resources for Minutemen, those huss can arrive before you even get your uhlans out. If you overgathered wood, it's not a bad idea to invest it in wall segments if you anticipate this sort of thing.
- If he's still gathering a lot of wood in early Colonial and you don't see a stable in base, there's a good chance you're getting dual rax crossbow/pike rushed. Don't panic, add a Barracks with your 700w, send 8 crossbow, and adapt into Uhlan/Crossbow, with a few dopps if he continues going Crossbow/Pike instead of transitioning to muskets.
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s): Dopp/Uhlan Aggression/Semi-FF, Uhlan Semi-FF
The German mirror is unique among mirror matchups because it is the only mirror where almost any build can work. Forward rax dopp pressure, Semi-FF, Naked FF, Dopp/uhlan timings, or even a Comanchero semi-FF into mercs or a normal unit composition can work. Certain variations of crossbow/pike aren't necessarily bad as a counter to some of these builds, either.
That being said, however, in my experience the Uhlan or Dopp/Uhlan Semi-FFs tend to be more consistent than other builds simply because they're harder to counter than other builds.
The German mirror is unique among mirror matchups because it is the only mirror where almost any build can work. Forward rax dopp pressure, Semi-FF, Naked FF, Dopp/uhlan timings, or even a Comanchero semi-FF into mercs or a normal unit composition can work. Certain variations of crossbow/pike aren't necessarily bad as a counter to some of these builds, either.
That being said, however, in my experience the Uhlan or Dopp/Uhlan Semi-FFs tend to be more consistent than other builds simply because they're harder to counter than other builds.
Spoiler
Recommended Build(s): Xbow Semi-FF, Uhlan Semi-FF, 3 SW 700w Naked FF
I would say that this matchup is normally pretty good for Germany if you play it right, even on non-TP maps. India can play a couple of different styles you need to know how to deal with:
Forward Agra:
- Setup for an Xbow Semi-FF if you scout a forward Agra.
- If you see an Agra, you can usually tell whether they're 10/10ing you or not just by looking at the time it was placed or how close it is to completion. A 10/10 will usually place the Agra around 2:00, and be up around 3:50 - 4:10, whereas a normal start will be placed around 3:00 - 3:20, and be up around 4:40 - 5:20 depending on how many vills they put on the wonder. If it's a 10/10, you can probably expect an early 12 sepoy push, but if it's a slower age up keep an eye out for a consulate, as the consulate push will come a lot later than a 12 sepoy rush.
- If you expect an early push with 12 sepoy, send 8 Xbow first. Otherwise, send 3 SW. A general rule of thumb to follow is to send 8 Xbow if India ages before you, and send 3 SW if you age before them. You should be able to hold any early push with 13 bows and 2 uhlans, but you can call minutemen if you need to.
- Send either 8 Xbow or 3 SW as your second card, depending on which card you sent first. Continue massing mostly bow with a few pikes, even if you only get batches of 2-3 out, and begin researching placer mines. Switch a couple SWs and a vill or two to gold.
- Send 700c and try to age. If you'll have a shipment ready when you reach Fortress, fast age. If not, age with 6 skirms.
Transition
- Switch most wood vills to gold and begin training dopps, it's very likely that the Indian player will try to push you a 2nd time while you're aging and the dopps will be very helpful. If you want to be greedy you can keep the dopps in queue, but cancel & requeue them when they reach around 40% - 50% completion: if you get pushed, finish the batch, otherwise use the gold for an early Black Rider shipment.
- Research Great Coat if you haven't already, and be ready to use your SWs to tank if you aren't sure you can beat the timing.
Age 3:
- Once you've reached Fortress, begin training skirms & send 8 skirm or 3WW (unless you're sending Black Riders).
- If you have the wood, try to get a stable up and eventually research vet uhlan, but it's honestly not very important in early Fortress. Most Indian players will just mass sepoy brainlessly anyway, and uhlans won't be particularly useful.
- Once you have a decent skirm mass and 1-2 Fortress shipments in, you can start pushing out of your base and harassing their army with your skirms. If you know you have the stronger army, push under his agra and begin sieging it down. From here on, just continue massing Skirm/WW or Skirm/WW/Uhlan, and you should be able to win relatively easily.
Karni Mata
I would say that this matchup is normally pretty good for Germany if you play it right, even on non-TP maps. India can play a couple of different styles you need to know how to deal with:
Forward Agra:
- Setup for an Xbow Semi-FF if you scout a forward Agra.
- If you see an Agra, you can usually tell whether they're 10/10ing you or not just by looking at the time it was placed or how close it is to completion. A 10/10 will usually place the Agra around 2:00, and be up around 3:50 - 4:10, whereas a normal start will be placed around 3:00 - 3:20, and be up around 4:40 - 5:20 depending on how many vills they put on the wonder. If it's a 10/10, you can probably expect an early 12 sepoy push, but if it's a slower age up keep an eye out for a consulate, as the consulate push will come a lot later than a 12 sepoy rush.
- If you expect an early push with 12 sepoy, send 8 Xbow first. Otherwise, send 3 SW. A general rule of thumb to follow is to send 8 Xbow if India ages before you, and send 3 SW if you age before them. You should be able to hold any early push with 13 bows and 2 uhlans, but you can call minutemen if you need to.
- Send either 8 Xbow or 3 SW as your second card, depending on which card you sent first. Continue massing mostly bow with a few pikes, even if you only get batches of 2-3 out, and begin researching placer mines. Switch a couple SWs and a vill or two to gold.
- Send 700c and try to age. If you'll have a shipment ready when you reach Fortress, fast age. If not, age with 6 skirms.
Transition
- Switch most wood vills to gold and begin training dopps, it's very likely that the Indian player will try to push you a 2nd time while you're aging and the dopps will be very helpful. If you want to be greedy you can keep the dopps in queue, but cancel & requeue them when they reach around 40% - 50% completion: if you get pushed, finish the batch, otherwise use the gold for an early Black Rider shipment.
- Research Great Coat if you haven't already, and be ready to use your SWs to tank if you aren't sure you can beat the timing.
Age 3:
- Once you've reached Fortress, begin training skirms & send 8 skirm or 3WW (unless you're sending Black Riders).
- If you have the wood, try to get a stable up and eventually research vet uhlan, but it's honestly not very important in early Fortress. Most Indian players will just mass sepoy brainlessly anyway, and uhlans won't be particularly useful.
- Once you have a decent skirm mass and 1-2 Fortress shipments in, you can start pushing out of your base and harassing their army with your skirms. If you know you have the stronger army, push under his agra and begin sieging it down. From here on, just continue massing Skirm/WW or Skirm/WW/Uhlan, and you should be able to win relatively easily.
Karni Mata
Spoiler
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Spoiler
3 SW 700w Naked FF
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Recommended Build(s): 3 SW 700w Naked FF*/Adapt into Defensive Timing
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Recommended Build(s): Uhlan Semi-FF, 3 SW 700w Naked FF, 2-TP Uhlan Semi-FF
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Recommended Build(s): Uhlan Semi-FF, Defensive Timing Push
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Recommended Build(s): Colonial Timing Push
Sioux can be annoying to play against because Germany's best build is easily countered by Bow Riders. Where Germany would normally love to Uhlan semi in almost all matchups, this is the one matchup where you are certain to get punished if you try to go for it. On top of that, Sioux can easily shut you down in age 1 with a couple of good treasures/guardians to deny your TP, while taking 1-3 TPs of their own with little chance of being punished. Even if you do reach Fortress, your army is going to be pretty immobile compared to Sioux's, and the lack of a good goon unit to stop raids (WW are too slow) will leave you unable to defend your mines and hunts as soon as your army is elsewhere.
These factors severely limit your options, but the matchup is far from lost. Sioux ultimately want to reach Fortress, but also lack the same defensive bonuses other civs have to hold timings such as minutemen, walls, or good building placement (because they don't build houses). This means that a well-timed Colonial push can be very difficult to hold as Sioux.
How to play:
Age 1:
- If you can't get a TP at the very beginning and you know that there are some good native treasures or lots of outlawn riflemen on the map for the Sioux player to steal, be careful with your explorer. Losing your explorer will hurt you a lot, so don't be afraid to concede some smaller treasures if you have to, but don't be afraid to contest larger treasures still, and be careful with how you use your crackshot in case you need to use it on a rifleman. Build a TP with a SW if you have to.
Transition/Age 2:
- Pay close attention to his age up time; if he ages up before 4:00 there's a good chance he used his fast age politician and is planning something aggressive like an early 4 Axe Rider shipment combined with either 5 Bow Riders or 5 Axe Riders: simply train 5 pike and send 8 xbow first to deal with this. Also keep in mind if he does try this you have a lot of time after that first push to get ready for a timing, as he has sacrificed a lot of time to try to catch you off guard and won't really be able to reach Fortress.
- If he doesn't try to cheese you, open with 1 rax, train 5 pike 5 xbow, and ship 3SW first. Send 700w next and add a 2nd rax and start massing xbow/pike. If he ever tries to rush into your base and overwhelm you, don't be afraid to trade some resources at the market for minutemen. Send 8 Xbow 3rd and try to push out: if you discover he's staying age 2, you may need to kite back and wait until you have some dopps before you try to push out again.
- Once you've reached the 9 or 10 minute mark, you'll need to start adding dopps into your composition. Research Placer Mines and switch a few vills to gold and use your 700c and 600c shipments to fuel Dopp production. Send Heavy Infantry HP if you ever have a mass of 30+ pike/dopp.
Tip: Anytime you have vills near choke points on the map, adding a few wall segments can buy you a lot of time and save you a lot of vills if he's trying to raid a lot, especially since you won't be able to catch any raids with cav of your own.
Sioux can be annoying to play against because Germany's best build is easily countered by Bow Riders. Where Germany would normally love to Uhlan semi in almost all matchups, this is the one matchup where you are certain to get punished if you try to go for it. On top of that, Sioux can easily shut you down in age 1 with a couple of good treasures/guardians to deny your TP, while taking 1-3 TPs of their own with little chance of being punished. Even if you do reach Fortress, your army is going to be pretty immobile compared to Sioux's, and the lack of a good goon unit to stop raids (WW are too slow) will leave you unable to defend your mines and hunts as soon as your army is elsewhere.
These factors severely limit your options, but the matchup is far from lost. Sioux ultimately want to reach Fortress, but also lack the same defensive bonuses other civs have to hold timings such as minutemen, walls, or good building placement (because they don't build houses). This means that a well-timed Colonial push can be very difficult to hold as Sioux.
How to play:
Age 1:
- If you can't get a TP at the very beginning and you know that there are some good native treasures or lots of outlawn riflemen on the map for the Sioux player to steal, be careful with your explorer. Losing your explorer will hurt you a lot, so don't be afraid to concede some smaller treasures if you have to, but don't be afraid to contest larger treasures still, and be careful with how you use your crackshot in case you need to use it on a rifleman. Build a TP with a SW if you have to.
Transition/Age 2:
- Pay close attention to his age up time; if he ages up before 4:00 there's a good chance he used his fast age politician and is planning something aggressive like an early 4 Axe Rider shipment combined with either 5 Bow Riders or 5 Axe Riders: simply train 5 pike and send 8 xbow first to deal with this. Also keep in mind if he does try this you have a lot of time after that first push to get ready for a timing, as he has sacrificed a lot of time to try to catch you off guard and won't really be able to reach Fortress.
- If he doesn't try to cheese you, open with 1 rax, train 5 pike 5 xbow, and ship 3SW first. Send 700w next and add a 2nd rax and start massing xbow/pike. If he ever tries to rush into your base and overwhelm you, don't be afraid to trade some resources at the market for minutemen. Send 8 Xbow 3rd and try to push out: if you discover he's staying age 2, you may need to kite back and wait until you have some dopps before you try to push out again.
- Once you've reached the 9 or 10 minute mark, you'll need to start adding dopps into your composition. Research Placer Mines and switch a few vills to gold and use your 700c and 600c shipments to fuel Dopp production. Send Heavy Infantry HP if you ever have a mass of 30+ pike/dopp.
Tip: Anytime you have vills near choke points on the map, adding a few wall segments can buy you a lot of time and save you a lot of vills if he's trying to raid a lot, especially since you won't be able to catch any raids with cav of your own.
Spoiler
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