France - Cards for Team Games

[iNterstellaR]

Hi guys, I am new here. I have recently picked up AOE3 for a bit of fun after playing competitive SC2 and becoming burnt out a bit. I am a pretty mechanically sounds player (or at least I trust I will be once I learn the game...) but I have never prided myself on being particularly intuitive or creative, or even particularly knowledgeable to the extent of being able to analyse builds, etc...

Due to this, you can imagine I am struggling a little bit to pick up the game with all of it's match ups and builds and home city cards.

In particular, I was wondering if you could share some tips or advice on what cards are essential for team games, and perhaps a bit of insight into what cards are appropriate when. I noticed on the TAD guide posted by Goodspeed that resource crates are emphasised as more proficient then vill drops, as they have a more immediate effect - does this only apply to 1v1? Should I be trying to get as many vills out as soon as possible in order to boom in team games (presuming the colonial fighting is minimal), or are crates still best? Are there any team gathering-improvement cards as France I should be on the look out for, and should I bother with eco cards (i.e. improving my mills or my plantation farming, etc...)? Are military shipments important considering team games often slow down quite a bit after people wall-up/have a bit of an army?

I am hoping to build my France HC (all my HC's are between 10-15, so a lot of this advice will come in handy later when I actually have cards), but any general advice is appreciated.

Cheers, and thanks for having me!

[milku3459]

I have recently picked up AOE3 for a bit of fun after playing competitive SC2...

Glad to see you have come into the true path and the real king of RTS

As France you never send resource crates in discovery as the 3 Coreur du Bois shipment gives you too much of an advantage. Other civs get 3 vills at most, and because CDB are 25% better than vills, your 3 CDB puts you ahead by a lot. I would also include 8 xbow (to hold off rushes), 700 wood, 700 gold, 4 CDB, cav Attack and cav HP for Colonial. For fortress, I would include 7 and 8 skirms, 2 falcs, refrigeration and royal mint, 1000 wood 3 cuir. For IV You must have factories.
Someone teach him samwise build or share your pro deck?
@Kaiserklein

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@urmom69

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[Gear_Head]

Also, you can use the XP Mod (found here viewtopic.php?f=33&t=219 ). It will level up your home city so you can get all of the cards you need. You'll need a partner to execute it, so be sure to post in that topic of drop milku or myself a line whenever you're ready. Takes 5 mins.

Welcome and happy trails!

[milku3459]

drop milku or myself a line whenever you're ready. Takes 5 mins.

Welcome and happy trails!

I don't have TAD....so not me

[pecelot]

GoodSpeed's guide refers mainly to 1v1s, although some of his tips may be useful in team games, too. A general rule of thumb is that you ship vills if you need military in a couple of minutes, resources if you want your troops in a minute and military if you need them immediately. I don't have that much experience in team, but such games — from what I've seen, at the very least — tend to be a bit more eco-oriented than usual 1v1 skirmishes. The former are more likely to go into late game, when your resource base does matter; it's also harder to synchronise shipped units with your teammate for a timing. I'd imagine military transports don't see much use, unless in early age 2 fights, when you push hard or have to defend.
For eco-play villagers are of course better, but they take longer to pay off, whereas resource crates can be used for enhancing your military production in case of emergency. Also, they are rarer — France has only 3 & 4 CDBs, and later in age IV 10 — crates are available for them in every age, on the other hand. To sum up, I'd say your shipment choice depends on with how much you can get away. Economic upgrades will put you on a disadvantage immediately after sending them in comparison with players that could potentially ship crates or military, but if you will manage to survive until the late game, you'll receive the benefits of it.
Moreover, team cards are obviously better to send if they are going to be ever used, therefore if you can afford a slot in your deck for them, don't hesitate and put them in!

[sdsanft]

Generally as France in team game ill send usually go 3cdb 4cdb 700w 700c. After that it depends. You can send 600w for more infrastructure, 600c for more mass, cav upgrades or you can age. Generally you want to after the first couple cards you want to start sending military upgrades and then start sending your eco upgrades. As France you usually are making cav in team so you rarely send military shipments (3huss and 3 cuir are both pretty lackluster compared to 700/1000c or cav upgrades)

[iNterstellaR]

Thanks guys, this is great!

[japanesegeneral]

(3huss and 3 cuir are both pretty lackluster compared to 700/1000c or cav upgrades)

I dont agree on the skipping the 3 huss shipment in a team game it is an extremly valuable card which gives you either the possibility to hold an aggressive push or do an 8 huss start which can also be a good idea in certain situations.

For fortress, I would include 7 and 8 skirms, 2 falcs, refrigeration and royal mint, 1000 wood 3 cuir.

7 Skirms is a card you dont really want to send in any teamgame. I would not even recommend having it in your deck. Refrigeration, royal mint, 1000w , 2 falcs are the core cards you need in fortress the rest is baiscally optional. The idea of teamgames is playing as greedy as you can without dieing. That concludes to you trying to stack as many upgrades as you can while not falling too far behind. This can be either economical upgrades or military upgrades.

[sdsanft]

@japanesegeneral

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you're right, 3 huss can be good of your team is rushing so you should ofc keep it in deck just in case, but generally 4v, 700c and 700w are just so much more valuable and the later you wait, the less value 3 huss has. Ofc if you've been fighting non-stop the whole time and armies are still small then 3 huss can still be great, even if it's like your 3rd or 4th card in colo. 3cuir however I think is still bad. Ofc you should have it in deck, but I don't send it often.