Rise of Nations Strategy Guide
Version 1.00
This strategy guide has been compiled by Dibyajyoti Deb<ddeb@cmi.ac.in>.
Most of the stuff are taken from the Microsoft site which offers excellent
strategy guides on the various nations.
The various nations are classified as follows:
Economic
Offensive
Defensive
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---------
---------
Bantu
Aztecs
Russians
British
Bantu
Romans
Maya
Germans
British
Chinese
French
Chinese
Egyptians
Japanese
Egyptians
French
Turks
Germans
Greek
Mongols
Greeks
Inca
Romans
Inca
Nubians
Koreans
Spanish
Nubians
Koreans
Spanish
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1.0 RESOURCES
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Resource Types
Rise of Nations has 6 resource types: Food, Timber, Wealth, Metal, Oil, and
Knowledge. Each of these resource types has a very distinct purpose. To help
you plan out your economy, this section also describes which resources are
necessary to improve your economy. It takes money to make money, and after
reading this section you'll know what resource types are necessary to increase
the income of each resource.
Food
-------
This resource will be important for growing your economy and most of it will
go back into creating more Citizens. Only slightly less important are the
technologies you'll research which use Food: Age Advancements, Civic Techs,
Lumber Mill upgrades, and Temple techs, among others. Lastly, Infantry-based
armies (except Archers) will require food to train, so Food can be an important
resource for those seeking to train early armies.
Fishing is the most efficient way of increasing your Food income. It only
requires Timber to construct Fishing Ships, which gather both Food and Wealth
(Food and Metal in the case of Whales). Spending a moderate amount of Timber
to gather +10 of two resource types is very efficient, especially early in
the game. Many players research Science I first, then Civic I. If you have
water near your capital City, it may be better to research Commerce I instead
of Civic I since you'll be able to quickly and cheaply increase Food and
Wealth income.
Farming requires both Timber and Food (since you'll need to create a Citizen
to work the Farm). It's definitely the most common method of gathering Food
and while not as efficient as Fishing, it's much safer since you'll build
your Farms right next to your City thus allowing your Citizens to run inside
the City should they come under attack - Fishing Ships don't really have
a means of fending for themselves unless you actively control the seas.
Timber
----------
This is another very important resource for growing your early economy. Most
of your early Timber will go into producing the many Farms you'll need to
get your Food income off the ground. It also goes into Markets and creating
Merchants that harvest rare resources.
Once Classical Age is reached, you'll have a lot of things you'll want to
spend Timber on but the most important of these is making a University in
each of your Cities (you should have a 3rd City at or around the time you
reach Classical Age). Soon after your Universities go up, you'll probably
want to invest in some military training buildings like Barracks and Stables,
which also cost Timber.
Starting in Medieval Age, University upgrades will also become available
for a significant amount of Timber. These are extremely important for your
Knowledge income.
Increasing your Timber production will primarily require Food, both to create
Citizens to work at the Woodcutter's Camps and to build the camps themselves.
Keeping your Timber income maxed is helpful, so ensure that you always spend
your extra Food on filling Woodcutter's Camps.
Wealth
----------
Wealth is a much harder resource to gather than Food or Timber, at least
throughout the early portions of the game. For this reason, it's very important
that you get a Market and Caravan up very early in the game (usually immediately
after you create a 2nd City).
One of the most important places to spend Wealth is on Scholars, which are
built from Universities and increase your Knowledge income. Science techs,
Archers, and market trading also require Wealth.
Market trading in particular is a valuable tool in the flexibility of your
economy, as it allows you to immediately get whatever resources you need.
Timber will be the primary requirement for increasing your Wealth income.
Markets require Timber; Caravans require Timber and Food. Temples give you
a one-time bonus of Wealth, but this bonus is usually somewhat less than
the current price Timber will sell for at the Market.
The last information you'll need to know about increasing your Wealth income
is that Caravan trade route profit is based partially on how many buildings
are at each of the two Cities. This means that once a trade route is established
each building created at that City will increase the income brought in by
the trade route.
Metal
--------
Metal will come into play after Classical Age is reached and is necessary
for heavy infantry, heavy cavalry, and many post-Industrial Age military
vehicles. Forts and military techs at the Library also require Metal. Even
if you plan on doing an economic boom, it's generally a good idea to put
some resources into collecting Metal, since it's usually great to sell for
Wealth (which will let you create more Scholars). Check prices though, as
Metal can get so cheap it's not worth selling.
Later in the game, you'll need Metal for almost any military strategy you
choose, so be sure to mine each of the mountains in your territory by the
time you hit Industrial Age - you'll want it for the Tanks and Airplanes,
among other things.
A moderate amount of Timber is necessary to create a Mine, and then you must
use Food to create the Citizens necessary to work the mine. Building Smelters
costs Food and Timber and will increase the gather rate of any Mines within
that City's radius.
Oil
-----
Once you hit Industrial Age, one of your first priorities should be constructing
Oil Wells at most, if not all of the oil patches in your territory. Oil is
necessary for the last two age advancements and many important military units
and buildings, not to mention Nuclear Missiles once you reach Modern Age.
Oil tends to be very limited in quantity and it's often a good idea to simply
buy a large quantity of it once you reach Industrial Age. Even with Oil coming
in at the Commerce Limit, buying more is often wise because there are so
many powerful things to do with it.
Timber and Metal are necessary to construct the Oil Wells, and the ramping
cost is pretty steep. You'll only need a single Citizen to work the Oil Well,
but if your Food or Timber incomes are maxed at this point in the game (which
they should be) you can simply pull an existing Citizen off of those tasks
to make and work at the well.
Knowledge
---------------
Knowledge directly affects how fast your nation will make advances. Most
players agree it's the most important resource in the game. It's also the
hardest gather rate to increase since Scholars require Wealth, and Wealth
comes in slowly throughout the early parts of the game. This means that you
should immediately construct Universities at each of your Cities once you
reach Classical and you should attempt to keep your Wealth income high as
well, to afford those costly Scholars.
An interesting way to save Knowledge costs is to research many Library techs
before reaching Classical Age. Prior to Classical Age techs in columns 2-8
of the Library don't cost any Knowledge. On the other hand, the non-knowledge
price is always much higher. For example, you can choose to research Commerce
2 in Ancient Age for a very steep Food and Timber cost, or you can research
Classical Age earlier and construct two Universities. The one-time Knowledge
boost from these two Universities will be enough for you to afford Commerce
2, even though it costs Knowledge. The first method often results in better
Food and Timber incomes while the second method gives you a headstart on
Knowledge income (while they were researching Commerce 2, you were going
up an Age). It's debatable which method is better, though many experts feel
that getting Commerce 2 in Ancient Age is the best way to go.
Wealth and Timber will be necessary to construct Universities, which allow
you to create Scholars which gather Knowledge. Scholars cost Wealth and later
in the game have a very steep ramping cost - your first 7 will be relatively
cheap, but they'll keep getting more and more expensive. 7, of course, is
the number of Scholars which fit in each University.
Supremely important in increasing your Knowledge income are the University
upgrade techs such as Literacy. These techs increase the rate that each of
your Scholars collects Knowledge, but will cost a lot of Timber to research.
These upgrades become available as you research Science and Age Advancement
technologies, so if you're trying to race through the Ages you'll want to
plan ahead with that in mind.
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2.0 LIBRARY TECHNOLOGIES
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Library Techs
---------- --------
Age technologies:
--- ------------
Age technologies represent your nation's march through history. These researches
are powerful advances in technology that make available new units and buildings.
There are a few important things to remember with Age technologies. First,
you will need a certain amount of other Library techs before you're able
to research the next Age technology. You don't have to research the other
techs in a straight line, you just need a certain amount of them. If you
need 3 more Library techs to advance an Age, these could be all Science techs
or a mix of 3 different tech lines. The pattern you research these techs
is completely up to you. Move the mouse over the next Age advance to find
out how many other Library techs you need to research to advance to that
Age.
Note: In Conquer the World scenarios, your Age advancement is often limited
to a single Age advance within that scenario.
Military technologies:
-------- ------------
Red military technologies advance your nation militarily. This makes new
unit upgrades available (as long as you also have the equivalent Age research)
and increases the population limit, meaning you can field a larger army and
have more citizens working. Additionally, each Military tech you research
above your current Age will reduce the cost of your military units and upgrades.
How can I effectively utilize Military technologies?
Unit Upgrades: First, you'll want to make sure you have the military technology
that matches your current Age. This will allow you to upgrade your military
units to the most current, quite important if you intend on avoiding destruction
at the hands of an opposing nation!
Population limit: Population limit will often constrict your ability to produce
citizens or a large army. Ideally, you'll want to try to predict things ahead
of time and research a Military tech before you get cramped by population
limit and find yourself unable to build additional units.
Cheaper units and upgrades: Lastly, you have the option of pushing your Military
tech line ahead of your current Age level. This will reduce the cost of your
units and upgrades by about 5% per Military tech above your current Age (Example:
If you're in Age 3 with Military 5, you'll have a 10% cost reduction of the
base cost for your military units). This is particularly useful for nations
like the Turks, who have much cheaper Military technology than other nations.
Civic technologies:
----- ------------
Blue civic technologies allow your nation to support an additional City.
Civic technologies also increase national borders and make available some
technologies like Attrition advances at the Tower.
How can I effectively utilize Civic technologies?
Cities: Constructing more Cities opens up many options for increasing your
nation's strength. Cities will be absolutely vital to your success as a nation
and neglecting to construct new cities can stunt your nation's economic growth
(in particular, your Wealth and Knowledge incomes are very limited if you
don't build additional Cities). Generally it's a good idea to build Cities
close to the edge of your existing borders to maximize the amount of new
territory that City yields.
Territory: Sometimes a little extra territorial force can net you control
of a key resource or allow you to place a new city farther forward. This
extra territory push will extend outward from each source of border push
you currently own (both Cities and Forts exert border push). If your border
is already pressing against another nation's border, an extra Civic tech
alone generally won't shove them back too far. However, an extra Civic tech
combined with a new City and/or a new Temple upgrade can really put the squeeze
on them!
Attrition and Temple technologies: Attrition technologies at the Tower usually
require a Civic prerequisite tech. If you're planning on playing defensively
with attrition to aid in your defense, you'll want to get Civic 2 fairly
quickly in order to ensure you can research the 2nd level of Attrition. Temple
upgrades and taxation technologies, both researched at the Temple, are generally
not worth researching immediately when they become available. Temple upgrades
yield extra border push, increased durability, and increased attack range
for Cities with Temples - research them when you want to inch your border
forward slightly or if your city comes under attack. Taxation technologies
generate Wealth based on the percentage of territory you control, as well
as increasing the income generated by Rare Resources. It's usually best to
delay researching Taxation in favor of amassing more Citizens, Markets, Universities,
Farms, and Woodcutter's Camps. The benefits of researching Taxation immediately
when it becomes available are pretty small unless: (a) you own a large percentage
of territory already, (b) you control 5+ rare resources, or (c) you are the
British, who get double Taxation wealth.
Commerce technologies:
-------- ------------
Green commerce technologies increase Commerce Limit and increase Caravan
Limit by 1. Commerce Limit is the maximum rate at which you can gather any
given resource type. Wonders can increase Commerce Limits for individual
resource types and Knowledge is not affected by Commerce Limits (the limit
for Knowledge is always +999).
How can I effectively utilize Commerce technologies?
Commerce Limit: A good rule of thumb is that if 2 or more resources are being
gathered at the maximum rate, it's time to research a Commerce tech to improve
your Commerce Limit. The trick here is to research Commerce techs at the
right time. Researching too early means that you may have needed that Timber
for additional Farms, Markets, or other economic buildings. The Knowledge
could also potentially be better spent on other researches (Science research
in particular can open up new economy-enhancing upgrades at the Granary,
Lumber Mill, and Smelter). On the other hand, don't hold off too long on
upgrading since you'll be unnecessarily limiting your economy!
Caravan Limit: Caravan Limit caps the maximum number of trade routes you
can have at one time. One trade route may exist between any two cities, but
you can never have more trade routes than your Caravan Limit. Generally this
is only a secondary consideration in researching a Commerce technology, since
creating another trade route won't be worth the hefty price of the tech.
Wealth is a dire resource though, so increasing the Caravan Limit is important
- it just takes a back seat to increasing your overall Commerce Limit.
Science technologies:
------- ------------
Yellow science technologies make other technologies cheaper, increase the
distance scouts see, and increase the benefit of exploring ruins. The more
science techs you get, the cheaper your other researches will become.
How can I effectively utilize Science technologies?
Cheaper technologies: While it's possible to research nearly every tech in
the game without any Science technologies, it's painfully difficult. There's
a balance to be struck between spending on Science research however. It's
true that if you had enough time you could get all the science researches
first and then spend very little on the remaining researches - overall you
would, in fact, pay much less than other players. However since you're constrained
by time you'll have to make some strategic choices about when to research
your Science technologies, since they could cost you 300 Knowledge that would
be spent on Commerce techs and drastically increase your economy. Increasing
your economy is somewhat like reducing your technology costs (if you have
a huge food income, it's much easier to research techs that cost food because
it won't take you very long to save those resources). That's not to say Science
techs aren't worthwhile at reducing your technology costs - you just have
to make some strategic decisions on what to research first.
Ruins bonus: When the game begins, you'll only gain 25 resources per ruin
you find. For each Science research you have this increases by 25. Getting
the first and second Science researches very early in the game can allow
you to get much better benefit from the ruins you explore. Extra Science
techs also increase the distance your scouts see, so they'll usually find
more resources with more science research. On Sea maps, fewer ruins are placed
so you often don't have quite as much need to research the 2nd science tech
level early.
**- The Nation Powers
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3.0 NATIONS
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--------------------------------
AZTECS - The Power of Sacrifice |
--------------------------------
The Aztecs are an aggressive nation that survives through military might.
Because of this, good Aztec players will develop strong armies early in the
game, sometimes sacrificing all of their economic growth in order to train
a few extra units. As an Aztec player, your strategies should revolve around
producing large early armies and aggressively engaging the enemy. Playing
a standard game is viable, especially if facing another nation with somewhat
weak economic bonuses. One such strategy is to tech up to Gunpowder Age before
amassing a large army, since that maximizes the Resources per Kill bonus
and the Free Barracks Troops bonus. When doing this strategy, sending a small
Horse Archer raid is usually a good idea - both to slow the opponent's economy
and gain extra resources yourself.
Since you'll be relying so much on military (and most likely be disadvantaged
economically), the units you decide to make will be an important choice.
Units that cost Food/Timber like Light
Cavalry and Light Infantry are common choices, allowing the Aztec player
to increase his army size using resources that would've been spent on Farms,
Woodcutter's Camps, and Citizens. Horse Archers are another very good unit
choice to invest at least a little into since they are often able to rack
up at least a few Citizen kills. The primary emphasis here is to ensure you
have a solid offensive force capable of getting unit kills and then spend
time using it properly (assigning cavalry to attack enemy light infantry
and archers, for example), for without unit kills the Aztec nation falls.
**Gain 15 resources per Age when your Barracks, Stables, and Dock units slay
an enemy (up to a maximum of 60 resources per kill).
Why is it important?
This has some serious implications in what choices you make between economy
and military. Instead of spending resources increasing their economy, they
often spend these resources on military instead. When their army clashes
with their opponent's army, they will receive plenty of resources to make
up for this lost economy. These resources are in addition to the fact that
you just killed off a significant amount of his units.
This bonus puts you in an interesting position. Winning a battle solidly
will cement a huge advantage (not only will your opponent's army be defeated,
but you'll have earned a large bounty of extra resources!). On the other
hand, losing a battle often means very few resources were gained and your
army was just defeated, leaving you in a world of hurt. So keep on the offensive
in an attempt to prevent your opponent from advancing ages above you or fielding
a larger army with his nation powers.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Be aggressive: You can't use this bonus if you don't kill units, and opposing
nations will be wary to enter your territory and throw their army away because
they'll know the Aztec player will get a huge amount of resources if they
attack recklessly. This is your only economic bonus, so you must use it if
you plan on staying even with other more powerful economic nations.
Raid: Raiding is a good way to generate extra income from citizen and merchant
kills. Build some Horse Archers and try to find some unguarded areas
Don't let your opponent retreat units to heal: Human opponents will often
pull wounded units back to heal against an Aztec player to attempt to prevent
units from dying. Don't let this happen if you can help it! Chase those units
down with faster units like Cavalry and make sure you get those kills
**Plunder from enemy buildings increased by 100%.
Why is it important?
Often, players who face Aztecs will make a few extra Forts and Towers since
these can wear down an Aztec army without giving the Aztec free resources
from unit kills. Destroying enemy Forts is particularly valuable, as you'll
be rewarded with a huge sum of Metal. This bonus gives Aztec players extra
incentive to start knocking down enemy buildings with Siege units.
Killing things like Farms and Lumber Mills is still rather low priority,
since it wastes time you could be spending killing more valuable things (namely
capturing the City that contains those buildings). However, you may occasionally
find yourself in a position where capturing the City isn't possible quite
yet. In this case, it may be worthwhile to let your siege attack outlying
buildings so long as it is within the safe covering fire of a nearby Tower
or Fort, with an army nearby, and a Siege Factory close by to garrison in.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Aztec rush: One strategy you can utilize with the Aztecs starts with an aggressive
early attack. You should concentrate on trying to kill his Citizens, but
once he garrisons you can try to locate any outlying Farms or Woodcutter's
Camps outside of the defensive fire of his City. These buildings have relatively
low hitpoints, so you'll be able to destroy them reasonably fast. This costs
your opponent time and resources to replace the building, and gives you a
plunder bonus.
Don't neglect siege: Remember to bring units along that are efficient at
attacking buildings. Often players facing Aztecs will avoid most combat while
they advance in age. By bringing siege, you're bringing the capability to
do more permanent damage to your opponent by destroying an expensive Fort
or capturing a City - forcing your opponent to react to you or lose the game.
As always, don't make the mistake of building too much siege and not enough
army to protect it. The plunder bonus is secondary to the bonus you get from
unit kills and the importance of keeping your army alive.
**Receive free Light Infantry whenever you build a new Barracks (one at start,
two with Classical and Military I, three with Gunpowder and Military III)
Why is it important?
Particularly while utilizing Aztec rushes and early aggressive attacking,
receiving these extra units is a nice extra boost to your early army. It's
a small bonus, but discerning players will use it to boost the size of their
early army. Remember that it's difficult for Aztec players to keep up with
other nations economically, so this bonus is key in helping Aztec players
to gain a larger early army than their opponent.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Mass up an army early: Once you reach Classical or Medieval Age, construct
3-4 Barracks and then make plenty of Heavy Infantry. Heavy Infantry and Atl-Atls
complement each other nicely as a large early army that can take out cities.
It's also convenient that Heavy Infantry won't cost Timber - that way your
Timber can go into building a few extra Barracks.
Anti-rush defense: Some Aztec players prefer to advance to Medieval before
getting their first Barracks. If the Aztec player is rushed in the meantime,
he just has to place a couple Barracks down rapidly and he has an instant
anti-rush army!
Unique Units:
------------
~ATLATL - Light Infantry, Ancient Age (I)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Quicker and tougher than Slingers.
~ROYAL ATLATL - Light Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Quicker and tougher than Javelineers.
~XOPILLI ATLATL - Light Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Quicker and tougher than Elite
Javelineers.
~JAGUAR INFANTRY - Modern Infantry, Modern Age (VII)
->Faster and with a stronger attack than ordinary Modern Infantry.
~JAGUAR ASSAULT INFANTRY - Modern Infantry, Information Age (VIII)
->Faster and with a stronger attack than ordinary Modern Infantry.
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-------------------------------
BANTU - The Power of Migration |
-------------------------------
Bantu players have elements of Russia's territorial dominance (particularly
early in the game) but with more of an economic bonus. The extra City the
Bantu receive opens up a number of economic advantages (listed below), not
the least of which is the fact that they'll have territorial access to more
resources early on than other nations.
Bantu players are fairly flexible, able to choose between using their quick
military units to harass their opponent or to utilize their early economic
bonus to accelerate their tech to a strong Gunpowder or Enlightenment Age
attack. They also are able to field the largest end game armies, provided
they have the economy to afford it all.
**+1 City Limit (must research at least one Civic) and 75% cheaper Cities.
Why is it important?
This allows Bantu players to get 3 Cities construct very early. Not only
does this allow them to claim a large amount of territory very early in the
game, it also is a cheap way to raise early income levels (since Cities innately
produce +10 Food and Timber). Bantu players are also generally able to get
their 2nd trade route started before other nations.
Not only will this early economic advantage help the Bantu player boom quite
well, the bonus will still be felt later in the game when the Bantu dominates
more of the map and has more 'buffer cities' to protect the crucial inner
economic Cities.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build the extra City. It's a no-brainer to construct this City, yet it can
be easy to forget to build it. Building a 3rd City very early adds valuable
Food and Timber income for cheaper than the cost of a Farm or Woodcutter's
Camp. �
Maximize early territorial control. Early territorial control can lead to
many later benefits, such as controlling Mountains, Forests, and key Rare
Resources (simultaneously robbing them from opposing nations) Exert territorial
dominance. The other end of the spectrum is continuing to play a territory-control
game in order to keep your opponent starved for resources and to maximize
the benefits of Taxation techs (which you'll certainly want to research when
you have a large chunk of the land). Just don't underestimate your opponent's
ability to produce an army; you can overextend yourself quite easily.
One way to avoid letting your opponent exploit your weak points is to put
pressure onto one of his major economic Cities (his capital is best, if possible)
with a forward Fort or Tower and some military buildings. Once he realizes
that one of his major economic Cities is threatened, he'll have to put all
his resources into defending it and will have a very hard time splitting
off to take one of your more vulnerable Cities. If he does split his resources
and take one of your Cities, it's very likely that your force will be able
to capture his City - and the City he took will hurt you much less than the
important City you took.
**+100% population limit. May exceed population limit by 25%.
Why is it important?
Bantu players are much less limited by the population limit than other nations.
They can have a significantly larger army than their opponent at any point
in the game, particularly in the late game when they're able to field 25%
more forces than their opponent. The resources saved researching that military
tech can instead go into other purchases instead.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Spend resources on units instead of Military techs: Instead of getting Military
techs to increase your population limit like other nations, spend those resources
on a few extra units knowing you won't have to research the Military tech
until later. By the time you need to research it, it won't seem nearly as
expensive.
**Barracks units and Citizens move 25% faster.
Why is it important?
One of the bigger ways this bonus becomes apparent is in how much quicker
your Scout moves. This gives you an opportunity for extra ruins. Faster Citizens
are harder to kill and while not a very large bonus it's helpful that they'll
get to building construction sites and gather buildings faster.
Faster Barracks units have a wide range of uses too. Faster Heavy Infantry
means that they'll get into position to attack faster and be able to catch
cavalry more easily as well. Fast ranged units means you can potentially
use your infantry to harass the enemy, and then disappear into the wilderness
with little worry of being caught by anything but cavalry units.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Light Infantry/Heavy Infantry combo. This works well with the Bantu. Their
Umpikati unique Light Infantry line can be massed to force your opponent
to go Cavalry, and Heavy Infantry are trickled into the mix. Since your Heavy
Infantry are fast, they're both able to reach Cavalry quickly and avoid Archers.
Infantry raiding. The Bantu have a definite advantage if they try to use
Barracks units to raid. Archers and Light Infantry don't kill Citizens that
fast, but if you send them in early enough you can cause severe irritation
to your opponent (and possibly convince them to waste valuable resources
turtling while you tech ahead of them!)
Steal ruins. If you're up to the challenge, try finding the enemy Scout and
stealing all of their ruins before they can grab them. It takes a lot of
micromanagement prowess, but it can be done if you're fast! Simply have your
Scout follow as close to the enemy Scout as possible and then dart in front
of him when you spot a ruin. Simultaneously robbing the enemy of extra early
resources and gaining resources yourself!
**Unit upgrades do not require Military research.
Why is it important?
This bonus is a second reason that Bantu are able to hold off on researching
Military technologies until later in the game. As soon as you get to the
next age, unit upgrades are already available. This saves you the time and
cost of researching the Military tech, potentially giving your army a significant
technology advantage for a limited time.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Upgrade quickly: Immediately use this advantage if you're fighting heavily
with your opponent. The increase in attack power and hitpoints may very well
end the battle in your favor.
Skimp on Military research: Save resources for units and don't get Military
techs until you need them. Primarily, Bantu players will research Military
techs to fullfill the prerequisite for an Age Advancement, but rarely research
them aside from this.
Unique Units:
------------
~UMPAKATI - Light Infantry, Ancient Age (I)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Slightly stronger than Slingers;
faster to
create.
~YANGOMBI UMPAKATI - Light Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Slightly stronger than Elite Javelineers;
faster to create.
~IMPI UMPAKATI - Light Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Quicker and more accurate than
Elite
Javelineers.
~HAWK FIGHTER - Fighter, Modern Age (VII)
->More powerful against enemy aircraft and ground troops than normal
Fighter.
~EAGLE FIGHTER - Fighter, Information Age (VIII)
->More powerful against enemy aircraft and ground troops than normal
Jet
Fighter.
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------------------------------
BRITISH - The Power of Empire |
------------------------------
The British are primarily an economic powerhouse, though initially their
economic advantage will be small. Playing British is most interesting because
of the types of choices that need to be made. While it's true that if you
are left alone your economy will be that of a roaring superpower, this is
balanced by your need to invest into many more Citizens than other nations
in order to attain those higher levels of income.
You'll also have to ensure that you don't get stuck defending and reacting
to an aggressive opponent. Just because you can boom well doesn't mean you
should - playing aggressively and causing your opponent to react to your
strategy is an important aspect of any game. Time they spend dealing with
your attacks is time they aren't spending devising their own attacks. Often
players get into a defensive mindset, meaning they get so caught up in defending
your attacks that when you stop attacking and suddenly increase your economy,
they're still stuck building more Towers and Forts on defense and you're
able to establish a large economic advantage. While you have great economic
potential, you should strive not to allow your opponent to be the one who
decides where the first battle happens. In short, don't play so defensively
that you never attack.
A solid British army composition is Heavy Cavalry and Longbowmen. The advantage
of this combo for the British is that they can survive on fewer Longbowmen
than other nations need Archers. While it's true that the Wealth you spend
on these unit types will reduce your ability to create more Scholars, you
will probably do quite well on the battlefield and force your opponent to
stop his teching in order to counter your attack. When using this combination,
ensure that you mass Heavy Cavalry against anything your opponent throws
at you except his Heavy Infantry, which will be shortly dealt with by your
Longbowmen. If your opponent uses Heavy Cavalry against you, oftentimes you
can simply outproduce him and beat him with numbers. However if he starts
massing close to the numbers you're fielding it's generally a good idea to
trickle some Heavy Infantry of your own.
**+25% Commerce Cap
Why is it important?
At every stage of the game, you'll find your resources limited by Commerce
Limit. Since the British have a significantly higher limit, you can have
a much larger economy before you need to research more Commerce technologies.
The catch here is that it will cost a lot of resources to get your income
levels high enough to use your advantage. This means you'll always want to
keep your Food income very high so you can afford the extra Citizens you'll
need. While it's true that you'll also need more Timber for Farms and Mines,
those resources usually fall right into place - whereas Food is a resource
British players will want to make a concerted effort at gathering quickly.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Keep food income high: You'll need more citizens to utilize the higher Commerce
Limit, so be sure to keep your food income higher than you do with other
nations. Keep spending the Food on Citizens. It's always a bad idea to have
resources sitting around doing nothing for you, but it's especially bad in
the case of the British.
Research Commerce techs only as needed: You might get into a pattern of researching
Commerce techs at a certain point with other nations, but be sure you're
not spending resources on these techs earlier than you have to as British.
**Receive double income from taxation.
Why is it important?
It increases the importance of researching Taxation and adds to an already
great economy by generating additional Wealth. Unless your territory is relatively
small, researching Taxation allows your nation to produce a fair amount of
extra Wealth.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Research Taxation: You have to research Taxation at the Temple in order to
gain the benefit of this power.
Expand your territory: Taxation is based on the percentage of the territory
you own, so increasing your territory will increase the amount of wealth
generated. However, researching Civic techs or constructing Forts solely
to increase income from Taxation is an inefficient way of gathering Wealth.
It's too expensive for the minor wealth returns you'll gain. But that doesn't
mean this bonus or Taxation in general is without merit. You can easily exert
a solid territorial push without breaking the bank, and this will result
in some nice Wealth returns (particularly after the 2nd Taxation tech). Perhaps
instead of "expand your territory" it would be clearer to say, "don't get
pushed into a tiny ball of territory, and make extra territory pushes where
you can".
**Ships created 33% faster
Why is it important?
On naval maps, 33% faster ship construction speeds can help reduce the need
to build extra Docks (thus saving Timber for more ships). This includes Fishing
Boats, allowing a small boost to your early economy provided you have enough
Timber to afford them.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Don't build too many Docks: You won't need as many Docks to construct a good
sized armada with the British, though you'll probably still need more than
a single Dock if you're planning on making a significant effort to control
the seas.
Build a Dock early and fish: Even your Fishing Boats are made faster, so
this nation power helps you spread out and harvest the ocean's bounty quicker
than other nations.
**Receive Foot Archer upgrades for free.
Why is it important?
The British don't just have any old foot archers; they have the unique Longbowmen
line, which gets a bonus against Heavy Infantry. Having this line upgraded
for free saves time and resources and gives you an immediate edge in combat
situations. The only time you'll have to worry about upgrading this line
is when you reach Highlanders. Remember Archers cost Wealth, so making too
many of them will cut into your ability to produce Scholars (and thus your
Knowledge income will be hurt).
That brings up another important aspect of the Longbowmen line, which is
that it continues to be a unique line of units up until Modern Age with Black
Watch infantry. This means you won't have to worry about your investment
into unique units turning back into a normal unit type after an upgrade -
at least not until Modern Age. Quite a useful series of units!
How can I maximize this nation power?
Use your unique unit Archer line: It's generally a good idea to use any unique
unit and this nation power is even more reason to utilize the British Longbowmen
unique line of archers. The added fact that they merge into Highlanders later
in the game is even better. Remember that he probably knows you're British
and he'll be likely to make the counters if he thinks you're training many
Longbowmen. Also keep in mind that making Archers slows you technologically
because Archers cost both Wealth and Timber. Both of these resources are
important to increase Knowledge production, for training new Scholars and
researching University upgrades respectively.
**Forts and Towers +2 Range
Why is it important?
Defensively, against raiding units in particular, this bonus allows you to
cover a larger area with your Towers and Forts. Offensively, this bonus allows
you to place towers with fantastic range to cover your Siege and potentially
to attack enemy buildings as well.
How can I maximize this nation power?
Defensively: The bonus will automatically take effect for you defensively,
allowing you to place towers as normal, but to cover a larger area with those
towers. This will make it a little more painful to raid you.
Offensively: Probably the best utilization of this bonus is for you to make
offensive towers, built right at the edge of your border. In rare cases,
you may be able to hit enemy buildings. Woodcutter camps are a particularly
good target early in the game, if you can border push near the opponent's
2nd City and his 2nd Woodcutter's Camp happens to be in range. Most of the
time, offensive towers are used in conjunction with an army and siege in
order to secure a forward point. Towers are rather hard to kill when a supporting
army is nearby and if your opponent's army is larger than yours, you can
garrison and take very few casualties - while you build more units and your
tower puts out a fair amount of damage.
Upgrade Range at Forts: Research Fort upgrades (which also increase the range
of Forts and Towers) to create Forts and Towers with some amazing range!
Also remember that placing a General into a Fort, Tower, or City will increase
that building's range by an additional +1.
**Anti-aircraft units and buildings 25% cheaper and 33% quicker to build
Why is it important?
Once you reach Industrial Age, you have quicker, cheaper access to anti-aircraft
capabilities. This makes it much more difficult for your enemies to use air
units against you. This bonus often goes unnoticed, but is nevertheless a
solid late game bonus.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build anti-air: There's not much trick to utilizing this bonus. Your units
are cheaper and built more rapidly, so it's easier for you to counter air
units.
Last Minute AA Units: While it's generally advisable to create at least one
anti-aircraft unit to take with your army, as the British you can create
anti-air units much quicker and cheaply, so it's less necessary to immediately
ramp up your anti-air defense immediately upon reaching Industrial Age. Just
make sure to have one or two Factories available to produce your quick-building
anti-aircraft guns if your enemy surprises you with a swarm of Bombers in
Modern Age!
Unique Units:
------------
-LONGBOW - Foot Archer, Classical Age (II)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; cheaper than Archers,
more
effective against enemy Heavy Infantry.
~KING'S LONGBOW - Foot Archer, Medieval Age (III)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; cheaper than Crossbowmen,
more effective against enemy Heavy Infantry.
~KING'S YEOMANRY - Foot Archer, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Long-ranged, cheap foot infantry with little armor; extremely
effective
against enemy Heavy Infantry.
~HIGHLANDERS - Gunpowder Infantry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Particularly effective against all forms of enemy infantry.
~BLACK WATCH - Gunpowder Infantry, Industrial Age (VI)
->Particularly effective against all forms of enemy infantry.
~LANCASTER BOMBER - Bomber, Modern Age (VII)
->More powerful against enemy cities and buildings than normal
Bomber;
somewhat inaccurate.
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-------------------------------
CHINESE - The Power of Culture |
-------------------------------
The Chinese have the rather unique ability to create Citizens, Merchants,
and Caravans instantly. This gives them a very unique feel, and also accelerates
their economy. While other nations are waiting for these units to be constructed,
the Chinese player already has them out and moving to get to work. Chinese
players generally take advantage of their great early economy and more defensive
Large Cities instead of making early attacks. However, overall their play
style isn't cemented into economic booming like some nations and they're
able to launch effective attacks starting in Medieval Age (particularly because
of Fire Lances, their unique line of Light Infantry).
Chinese are a great nation for using the Border Flank strategy described
in the Strategies section. Your newly created Cities immediately become Large
Cities, which have a greater influence on national borders. Additionally,
the ability to create a few extra Citizens to help quickly build Forts and
military buildings is very helpful.
**Science research at the Library is 20% cheaper
Why is it important?
This allows Chinese players to rack up some great savings in their other
technology costs. It also allows them to get some great bonus resources from
discovering ruins.
This ability also stacks well with the Papyrus rare resource, which reduces
your Science costs even more!
How do I maximize this nation power?
Early 2nd Science tech: Immediately get both Science I and Science II at
the start of the game. This not only saves you some resources on the other
early Library techs, but gives you scout a much larger line of sight, allowing
him to collect more ruins which each give you 75 resources! It's not always
the best way to go, but the Chinese have the option and it can occasionally
pave the way for some really spectacular early starts - occasionally it is
even possible to get the 3rd Commerce tech before going Classical Age (if
you find enough ruins).
Keep Science research advanced: As any nation, researching Science techs
reduces the cost of all other technologies. Keeping a high level of scientific
research as the Chinese is much cheaper than for other nations, meaning your
Science research should almost always be a level or two above your other
technologies.
**Receive Herbal Lore, Medicine, and Pharmaceuticals upgrades for free.
Why is it important?
These technologies allow your units to heal faster, as well as be created
faster. Since Chinese nations receive these upgrades instantly (when the
appropriate prerequisite techs are researched, of course) you will be able
to quickly take advantage of better healing and faster unit creation. These
technologies certainly aren't the most expensive techs, but it's great to
get them for free since they're so useful!
How do I maximize this nation power?
Heal units: About the only way to actively utilize this nation power is to
ensure you take advantage of the faster healing rate by garrisoning your
damaged units.
**Start with a Large City. New Cities you found become Large Cities.
Why is it important?
This makes your cities less vulnerable to early attacks and also slightly
increases the city radius (the distance from the city where you can place
economic buildings). Large Cities also have a larger capacity, meaning you'll
be able to keep more citizens safe during an attack. Lastly, Large Cities
have a more powerful border push than Small Cities.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build cities at the edge of borders: To make the most of your stronger border
push, construct cities as close to your border as possible, so that your
borders will extend over the largest amount of territory.
Rush Defense: While it's inadvisable to go completely without defense, you
can often get by with a little less military to guard your cities because
it will take opposing nations a little longer to besiege and capture any
of your cities.
**Citizens, Caravans, and Merchants created instantly.
Why is it important?
The best nation power of the Chinese is instant Citizens/Caravans/Merchants
creation. It allows you to ramp up your economy without any of the build
time normally associated with those units. It allows Chinese players to instantly
fill up new Woodcutters Camps, Mines, or Farms - as long as they have the
Food to afford it. It can also be helpful while using an offensive border
push strategy.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Early economy: Ensure that you use this power while growing your early economy.
You can establish a good economic advantage because of your ability to instantly
produce citizens while other nations are waiting for them to be created.
Throughout the game, you will constantly save a lot of time on Citizen build
time.
Gather points: Some players queue up units and then set the gather point.
With the Chinese, be sure to set the gather point first, or your units may
end up going somewhere you don't want them to go. This is particularly important
while creating Merchants.
Offensive Border Push strategy: Later in the game, you can opt to build a
city near an opponent's flank. When that city is finished, immediately construct
a bunch of citizens so that you can have 6-8 citizens fast-build a Castle
to push the border even further - and perhaps create a new set of Barracks/Auto
Plants/Factories in order to construct an army in that area.
Keep Food incomes high: To make the most out of this power, you should try
to always have a solid Food income to afford new Citizens.
Unique Units:
------------
~FIRE LANCE - Gunpowder Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->liest gunpowder unit; moves slowly, but effective against Heavy
Infantry.
~HEAVY FIRE LANCE - Gunpowder Infantry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Early gunpowder weapons with significant range; better range
than ordinary
Gunpowder Infantry.
~MANCHU MUSKETEER - Gunpowder Infantry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Musketeers with excellent range and speed; they are also cheap
and quick
to create.
~MANCHU RIFLEMAN - Gunpowder Infantry, Industrial Age (VI)
->Rapid fire, small arms with excellent firepower; fast and cheap
to create.
~MANCHU INFANTRY - Modern Infantry, Modern Age (VII)
->Rapid fire, small arms with excellent firepower; fast and cheap
to create.
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----------------------------------
EGYPTIANS - The Power of the Nile |
----------------------------------
Egyptians are a strong economic nation with a flair for building Wonders
of the World. To make the most of them you will no doubt wish to construct
at least one Wonder, preferably 2 or more. In particular, the Terra Cotta
Army wonder can augment your normal military production nicely, since the
Egyptians can build this wonder so much earlier than other nations. Egyptians
can also play a standard game quite well. Their abundant Food income throughout
the game allows them to either produce extra Citizens to max their income
levels quicker or alternatively can be spent on extra Food-based military
units to augment your forces.
That extra Food also comes in handy when creating more Citizens to help fast-build
a Wonder by placing many workers on it at once.
A unique strategy the Egyptians can utilize is a very early Chariot rush
using only one starting City. The advantage of this rush is that your opponent
won't have Light Cavalry available to him yet (which is the best counter
to Chariots and Horse Archers). He'll be stuck defending with Archers. Max
out your 7 starting Farms and research Commerce I, Military I, then Classical
Age and Military II. At this point you will have a respectable early Wealth
income from your Farms and plenty of Wealth saved from not researching Science
I. You are then able to use all your Timber income on a Stable and a bunch
of Chariots to raid your opponent heavily. After this rush is in motion,
concentrate on ensuring your Chariots do maximum damage while at the same
time working on increasing your economy (Civic I and your 2nd City should
be a high priority after the rush starts).
**Start with a Granary and receive Granary upgrades for free.
Why is it important?
With this combination of bonuses, the Egyptians have a great Food income
throughout the game. Just be sure to protect your Farmers.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build 2nd Granary relatively early: Be sure to construct a Granary at your
2nd City once you have about 11 Farms total, since the Granary upgrades make
this quite effective.
Build all 7 Farms at your capital: The free Granary stacks rather conveniently
with the ability for Egyptians to build 7 Farms per City. Instead of just
5 Farms getting the benefit of the nearby Granary, all 7 will gain the production
bonus!
**May build 7 Farms per City.
Why is it important?
This ability stacks with the free Granary and Granary upgrades, allowing
Egyptian nations to have nearly unmatched Food income throughout the early
parts of the game. It also centralizes your farming, which is helpful defensively
because the less spread out your buildings are, the easier it is to defend
them.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Centralized farming: You'll be able to last through much of the game with
2 cities full of Farms. This can be a double-edged sword if your opponent
manages to capture one of these two important cities and take a large chunk
of your Food income, but usually it works out in your favor since you're
able to protect these cities easier than you would if your farms sprawled
over several different cities.
Stacks with Granary bonus: Be sure to build 7 Farms at your capital City
to take advantage of the Granary you already have there - each Farm will
produce more food.
**Wonders cost 25% less, can be built an age early, and may build two per
City.
Why is it important?
Since wonders themselves provide some great bonuses, the Egyptian player
has the ability to "customize" his nation powers. Whether you decide to go
for the Pyramids or the Colossus early on - or even wait for a later Wonder
- the choices you make will give you Wonder bonuses that are not unlike nation
powers. In this way, Egyptian nations are a bit more flexible than other
nations. It's best to devise your Wonder-building plans early as the Egyptians,
so that immediately upon reaching a new age you have the right resources
to build a specific wonder.
In team games, building the Terra Cotta Army early in the game can provide
an excellent source of fresh troops throughout the game. Even if you're not
aggressively attacking, the extra troops help in a pinch!
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct Wonders: Don't shy away from building wonders as Egypt.
Fast-build your Wonders: When constructing a Wonder or any building, each
additional citizen working on that building helps complete that building
faster. However each new citizen that helps out will help less and less (2
citizens won't complete a building twice as fast and 3 citizens won't complete
a building anywhere near three times as fast). You also should realize that
while your citizens are helping construct a building, they're not producing
resources for you. In essence, this raises the cost of Wonders since you
would've gathered extra resources if those Citizens were working. A good
rule of thumb to create buildings rapidly is "use 4 citizens". You won't
sacrifice too much economy and the 4th citizen is still helping build fast
enough to be worth it.
**+10% food commerce limit
Why is it important?
With free Granary upgrades and 7 Farms per City, the Egyptian player would
normally find himself capped at a maximum food income earlier than other
players but hardly earn that much more food than them overall. With this
extra 10% food commerce limit, Egyptian players are able to more effectively
utilize their other two bonuses.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Single City Chariot Rush: The Egyptians are able to get their Food income
to around +100 early in the game by skipping Science I and using the extra
Timber to max their capital City at 7 Farms. Research Commerce I, then Military
I, then Classical (the food for Classical should come in quite rapidly).
When you reach Classical, get Military II. Build a Stable and begin constructing
Chariots (with a few Light Horse to fend off attacks by enemy Archers or
Light Horses). Then raid your opponent heavily while you tech up in the background
(cease making raiding units after you see your opponent spending a lot of
resources on defenses; at this point you've caused him to sink a lot of resources
into defense and slow up his technological and economic growth)
**Farms produce +2 Wealth
Why is it important?
This is yet another bonus that works as a great combination with the other
Egyptian Farm bonuses. Wealth is one of the hardest resources to increase,
especially early in the game, so this bonus is rather significant (especially
while pulling off a Single City Chariot Rush).
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build Farms: It's very simple to utilize this nation power, since you're
going to be building Farms anyway. It does help to actively acknowledge that
you're getting the extra Wealth though, as players tend to forget that they
have a huge early stockpile of 250 Wealth that could be used to buy Food/Timber
to drastically increase your early economy.
It's generally not worth it to produce Farms specifically for increasing
Wealth production, since Markets give you +10 Wealth income for much less
Timber and Caravan trade routes are even cheaper than that, if you still
have free routes to establish. Wealth from Farms is more of an extra secondary
benefit.
Unique Units:
------------
~CHARIOT - Ranged Cavalry, Classical Age (II)
->Fast, ranged cavalry who can fire even while moving; particularly
effective against all other Ranged Cavalry.
~HEAVY CHARIOT - Ranged Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Fast, ranged cavalry who can fire even while moving; particularly
effective against all other Ranged Cavalry.
~MAMELUKE - Ranged Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Excellent gunpowder-armed raiders who can fire while moving.
~ROYAL MAMELUKE - Ranged Cavalry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Excellent gunpowder-armed raiders who can fire while moving.
~LIGHT CAMEL - Light Cavalry, Classical Age (II)
->Effective as scouts, and against enemy raiders, siege weapons,
and mounted
troops.
~CAMEL WARRIOR - Light Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Effective as scouts, and against enemy raiders, siege weapons,
and mounted
troops.
~ELITE CAMEL WARRIOR - Light Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Effective as scouts, and against enemy raiders, siege weapons,
and mounted
troops.
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---------------------------------
FRENCH - The Power of Leadership |
---------------------------------
The French have a great spread of bonuses, probably the most useful of which
are their Timber harvesting capabilities. Other nations generally max their
Timber income easily, but always find themselves needing more of it (at least
up until Industrial Age). Therefore, it's extremely beneficial to have the
French's +10% Timber Commerce Limit, which when combined with their +2 Workers
per Woodcutter's Camp bonus allows them a significant Timber advantage -
especially on maps where Timber is limited.
French Chevaliers are stronger than other Heavy Cavalry and so many French
players use them in their armies, combined with Archers. They are also fairly
good raiding units, able to survive many shots from Towers or Cities while
doing good damage to Citizens.
**Supply Wagons heal your troops
Why is it important?
The French are the only nation in the game with the ability to heal their
troops in the field. This allows French armies to last a great deal longer
than normal armies, as long as a Supply Wagon is near
How do I maximize this nation power?
Always try to bring supply wagons with your army: Even if it means delaying
an attack, bringing a supply wagon to heal during battle can sometimes mean
the difference between victory and defeat.
Protect your supply wagons: Opposing nations will attempt to counter your
healing by sending some Light or Heavy Cavalry to flank and destroy it. Keep
plenty of Heavy Infantry around and maneuver the Supply Wagons into a safe
position where they still cover the brunt of your army.
Research the secondary Smelter upgrades: This line of techs increases the
radius of your Supply Wagons (as well as decreasing damage from enemy attrition
outside of supply wagon radius). The bigger the radius, the better!
**Receive a free Supply Wagon each time you build a new Siege Factory or
Factory.
Why is it important?
Free units are always great, and free Supply Wagons (which also heal, thanks
to Power #1) are no exception!
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct a 2nd Siege Factory instead of manually creating a 2nd Supply Wagon:
For a similar cost to creating a new Supply Wagon, you can have another Siege
Factory. Other than the first 2 Siege Factories, it's usually best to simply
make your Supply Wagons the old fashioned way unless you need to construct
a new Siege Factory closer to where the battles are.
**Siege Factory and Factory units created 25% cheaper and 50% faster. They
also move faster.
Why is it important?
You'll be able to create siege faster when you need it, as well as producing
more of it since it's cheaper. The speed bonus isn't too crucial, although
any extra speed for these slow-moving units is certainly helpful.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct less Siege Factories: While constructing new Siege Factories does
result in free Supply Wagons, it's best to stick to just 1 or 2 Siege Factories,
since your units are constructed cheaper and faster. The extra Wood and Metal
you save will go into producing more Siege units instead!
**Start with a Lumber Mill. Receive Lumber Mill upgrades for free.
Why is it important?
This is one of the most significant bonuses of the French, since Timber is
a crucial resource all the way until Industrial Age, where it begins to taper
down. With this bonus, simply upgrading to the appropriate Age and Science
tech will result in a greatly increased Timber production (and in many cases
will take you to the current Commerce Limit).
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct Lumber Mills: Often your capital City isn't the best Timber harvesting
City you have, so ensure that you construct a Lumber Mill at each City that
has a significant Timber harvesting operation.
**Woodcutter's Camps accommodate +2 citizens.
Why is it important?
This is another very significant French bonus, allowing them to maintain
their strong Timber advantage over the other nations throughout the game.
It's particularly helpful on low-Timber maps where other nations would normally
only be able to use 3 or 4 Citizens at their starting Woodcutter's Camp.
In general, it allows you to spend less Food constructing new Camps, instead
spending that Food on Citizens to work at existing camps.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct less Woodcutter's Camps: There's not a whole lot of thought that
needs to go into this power. Simply make less Camps than you normally do
and fill them to the brim with Citizens.
Super Effective Woodcutter's Camps: Another potential use for this power
is to place many Camps at a single clump of trees, maximizing the +2 bonus.
For example, if you have a forest which would normally allow 3 Citizens to
work there, the French player can accommodate 5 Citizens instead. However,
if the French player places 3 Woodcutter's Camps at the same spot, but each
Camp only takes up 1 of the trees, he is able to accommodate a total of 9
Citizens there.
This may seem like a wildly effective way of harvesting timber off of a very
small amount of trees, but it's usually not that effective. The Food costs
for making many extra Woodcutter's Camps are so high that you would only
want to utilize the power this way if you were very pinched for land and
had a ridiculously small amount of Timber in your territory.
**Timber Commerce Limit +10%.
Why is it important?
The last of the 3 Timber-oriented French powers cements their Timber dominance
with a solid +10% Commerce Limit for Timber. It's a slight bonus that adds
up over the course of the game - and keeping your Timber income maxed is
easier for a French player than for any other nation.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Keep your Timber gather rate at the Commerce Limit: Unless your Timber income
is above your current Commerce Limit, you won't notice this bonus at all.
It's a smaller nation power, but one that will add up if you utilize it correctly.
Unique Units:
------------
~CHEVALIER - Heavy Cavalry, Classical Age (II)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units; stronger, tougher, and
faster than
ordinary Heavy Cavalry.
~HEAVY CHEVALIER - Heavy Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units; stronger, tougher, and
faster than
ordinary Heavy Cavalry.
~HORSE GRENADIER - Heavy Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units; stronger, tougher, and
faster than
ordinary Heavy Cavalry.
~HORSE GUARD GRENADIER - Heavy Cavalry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units; stronger, tougher, and
faster than
ordinary Heavy Cavalry.
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--------------------------------
GERMANS - The Power of Industry |
--------------------------------
The Germans are an economic powerhouse, but a little more military intensive
than other economic nations. Unlike nations like the British, who must spend
large amounts of Food on Citizens to fully utilize their economic strength,
the German bonuses cost less to take advantage of. This allows Germans a
much easier path to military might than many of the other economic nations.
They also have more unique units than any other nation.
Germans do well at just about every style of strategy in the game, though
perhaps not as well as nations that specialize in each style of play. While
they receive few significant military bonuses, their ability to field large
amounts of troops makes up for this weakness.
**Granary, Lumber Mill, and Smelter upgrades are 50% cheaper and available
sooner.
Why is it important?
These upgrades are important for any nation to keep their resource production
maxed at the Commerce Limit. For Germans, these upgrades are 50% cheaper
and available 1 Science tech earlier than normal. This means that Germans
have a much easier time maxing their resource income.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use it: It's very simple to use this nation power - just remember to research
these upgrades as soon as they become available except in circumstances where
the given resource type is already maxed at the Commerce Limit. If that happens,
one of two things is true: either you have too many resources invested into
the producer building (Farms, Woodcutter's Camps, and Mines) or you haven't
kept your Commerce research up. Remember that creating a strong economy is
about efficiency. If you can get an extra +100 food income by researching
a cheap Granary tech, that's many times better than spending lots of Food
and Timber on Citizens who will create new Farms.
**Cities gather an additional +10 Food, Timber, and Metal.
Why is it important?
You'll be creating a number of Cities, so it's helpful that each one provides
a larger amount of innate income. This is also income that is impossible
for your opponent to raid, short of capturing the City - no small feat.
How do I maximize this nation power?
There's no real way to maximize this power. Simply make Cities as you normally
do and you'll gain a steady flow of extra resources.
**Building completion bonuses +50%
Why is it important?
You may notice when you're playing that completing many buildings like Farms,
Woodcutter's Camps, and Universities provides a one-time resource bonus.
For Germans, this bonus is increased 50%. This is particularly significant
early in the game, when the player is creating a lot of new Farms and similar
economic buildings.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct more buildings than usual at each City: Generally you'll want to
have certain types of buildings at each City (such as Markets and Universities)
along with buildings you'll want a lot of but only at your rear economic-heavy
Cities (such as Farms, Mines, and Woodcutter's Camps). With the knowledge
that constructing each of these buildings brings larger one-time bonuses
than normal, you can probably see why it's a good idea to ensure each of
them gets constructed. This has a pseudo side effect of reducing the price
of your buildings - sure your buildings cost the same as everyone else's,
but you're getting more bonus out of them than they are.
**Submarines and Fireships build 33% faster and 25% cheaper
Why is it important?
This is a relatively minor bonus, yet certainly helpful for sea battles as
your Submarines and Fireships will be cheaper and created faster.
How do I maximize this nation power?
On sea maps, use a Light Ship/Fire Ship combo: Since you'll have a lot of
cheap counters to enemy heavy ships, you can spend less resources on Heavy
Ships and concentrate on Light Ships instead, knowing that you can easily
counter the Heavy Ships your opponent will use against you.
**Air units created 33% faster.
Why is it important?
It allows players to create air units significantly quicker than other nations.
This is another relatively minor bonus, only helping in specific situations.
One thing it does do well is add an incentive for German players to use air
units.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use air units: Another no-brainer here. While this bonus is small, it's always
good to utilize any advantage you have over your opponent.
**Receive 2 free Fighters with each Airbase.
Why is it important?
Combined with the ability to make air units faster, it makes a lot of sense
to create Airbases with the Germans. Remember to use these free fighters
- they can be especially brutal if you make an Airbase immediately after
reaching Industrial Age and harass the enemy army with them. They are particularly
effective against enemy siege and supply wagons, so if you're under attack
by those types of units you can quickly deal with them.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Construct Airbases: Immediately constructing an Airbase or two in Industrial
Age will result in a nice early air force capable of harassing enemy military
units or easily taking out enemy supply wagons or siege. This is another
one of those bonuses where the only way to really maximize it is by using
it, "use it and it will be useful".
Unique Units:
------------
~SOLDURI - Heavy Infantry, Ancient Age (I)
->Powerful, slow melee units; tougher and faster to build than
normal
Hoplites.
~BARBARIAN - Heavy Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Powerful, slow melee units; tougher and faster to build than
normal
Phalanx.
~VANDAL - Heavy Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Powerful, slow melee units; tougher and faster to build than
normal
Pikemen.
~LANDSKNECHT - Heavy Infantry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Powerful, slow melee units; tougher and faster to build than
normal Elite
Pikemen.
~MG42 - Machine Gun, Modern Age (VII)
->Moves slowly; devastating against enemy foot troops.
~VOLKSGRENADIER - Modern Infantry, Modern Age (VII)
->Fast, powerful, rapid-firing foot troops; slightly tougher and
faster than
normal Infantry.
~TIGER TANK - Tank, Modern Age (VII)
->Armored and substantially more powerful than ordinary Tanks.
~LEOPARD TANK - Tank, Information Age (VIII)
->Heavily armored and substantially more powerful than ordinary
Tanks.
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--------------------------------
GREEK - The Power of Philosophy |
--------------------------------
The Greeks specialize in technology and Knowledge and are able to gain a
significant Knowledge advantage. While they have to work just as hard as
any other nation to increase their other resource gather rates, their ability
to get Universities up at the start of the game should not be underestimated
- Knowledge income directly affects how fast you're able to get up through
the ages. The Greeks are a great tech nation because of this. Their vulnerability
to rushes is offset by their ability to get an Age ahead of their opponent
and cause extra attrition through Attrition technologies (when you're an
age ahead of your opponent, they receive extra damage from Attrition techs).
Certainly don't make the mistake of thinking the Greeks are a flimsy economic
nation. While it's true their armies will often be smaller than their opponents,
they also tend to be an age more advanced. One Greek strategy even revolves
around a very quick tech to Medieval Age and aggressive raiding with Royal
Companions during a time when other nations are limited to raiding with Light
Cavalry or Horse Archers. Being an age behind, there is very little that
your opponent can do to counter your raiding except garrison his citizens
(since Heavy Infantry are far too slow to catch Royal Companions; the Greek
Companion unique line of Heavy Cavalry is even faster than normal Heavy Cavalry).
**Library research 10% cheaper (except Knowledge) and 100% faster
Why is it important?
Library techs are some of the slowest to research in the game, especially
later in the game. The ability to research them twice as fast as any nation
is a useful bonus that allows them to start taking advantage of Library research
much sooner than the other nation. Also, their techs cost 10% less non-Knowledge
resources. Combined with their early Knowledge advantage over their opponents
(which takes care of the Knowledge cost of those library techs) they are
often able to remain at an advantage in technology over their opponents throughout
the early part of the game.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Take advantage of your Knowledge head start: The best way to use this nation
power is to make good use of your other nation power, the ability to make
Universities at the start of the game. If you have an early head start on
Knowledge and a solid income of the other resource types, you'll be able
to maintain a technology advantage over your opponents through a large part
of the game. This will go a long ways towards helping your somewhat smaller
army deal with opponents.
Research attrition techs and use Light Cavalry to raid Supply Wagons: The
indirect way to take advantage of your technology-oriented bonuses is to
use Age-ahead attrition
**Can build Universities and collect Knowledge from the start of the game
Why is it important?
This gives the Greeks a jumpstart on Knowledge production that no other nation
can match. Since Knowledge affects that pace by which they can travel through
the ages, this bonus lets a good Greek player consistently remain an age
or more ahead through the entire game.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Immediately build a University at each City as soon as you can: Even if you
don't have very much Wealth to spend on Scholars to fill it up, the intrinsic
Knowledge generation of the building makes it easily worth the price paid.
**Libraries and Universities 50% cheaper
Why is it important?
While you probably won't be building many additional Libraries, cheaper Universities
are helpful since you'll be building them much earlier than the other nations.
This will allow you to ramp up your Knowledge income without seriously sacrificing
the rest of your economy.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build universities: Greek players have no excuse for not building a University
in every City they own.
Unique Units:
------------
~COMPANION - Heavy Cavalry, Classical Age (II)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units. Faster than normal Heavy
Cavalry.
~ROYAL COMPANION - Heavy Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units. Faster than normal Heavy
Cavalry.
~STRATIOTAI - Heavy Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units. Faster than normal Heavy
Cavalry.
~ROYAL STRATIOTAI - Heavy Cavalry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Powerful, armored, shock melee units. Faster than normal Heavy
Cavalry.
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-------------------------
INCA - The Power of Gold |
-------------------------
The Incans have a great economic power that usually translates to great military
power. Their economic power doesn't kick in until Classical Age but when
it does you'll have a huge supply of
Wealth (and typically only Knowledge is harder to collect than Wealth at
that point in the game). This affords them a number of interesting strategies.
For starters, they can make extensive use of the Market with all that Wealth.
Incan Knights are a force to be reckoned with, as mining provides both the
resources required for these expensive units and you'll receive a 25% refund
when each of them dies. Lastly, spending all of the Wealth on Scholars will
allow the Incan player to advance in ages very quickly.
The simple way to utilize an Incan Knights strategy is to start your economy
off just as you normally do, progressing up to Classical Age a little faster
than usual. Once you reach Classical Age, immediately create Mines at mountains
and fill them with Citizens until you've reached your Wealth and Metal commerce
limits. Around the same time, construct 2 Stables and begin training as many
Knights as possible. Add in a few Archers and perhaps some siege, and you'll
quickly have an overwhelming amount of Knights to make your attacks with.
The icing on the cake is that when your units die, you'll receive a 25% refund!
**Your mines make Wealth as well as Metal.
Why is it important?
As the defining bonus of the Incans, this bonus allows Citizens that you
place on Mines to be doubly effective at harvesting resources, since they
harvest +10 Metal and +10 Wealth (before upgrades). The wealth advantage
enjoyed by Incan players allows them a myriad of strategies unheard of by
other nations.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Occupy all the mountains in your territory: Always look for more mountains
to occupy and add workers to your mines if you don't already have your Metal
and Wealth incomes maxed at the Commerce Limit.
Mine immediately upon reaching Classical Age: The sooner you can take advantage
of this great nation power, the better!
Control the mountains: Mountains are often found near the center of the map
and it's very important that you maintain control of those mountains. If
your opponent border pushes you off a mountain, it will reduce your Metal/Wealth
production significantly. You'll have plenty of Metal and Wealth, so build
1-3 Forts if you have to.
**Wealth commerce limit +33%
Why is it important?
This enhances the ability of the Incans to gain a Wealth advantage over their
opponents. Not only do their mines help them reach high levels of Wealth
income rapidly, their Wealth commerce limit is 33% higher!
How do I maximize this nation power?
Make good use of mining and don't neglect Caravans: Caravans (and Markets,
to a lesser extent) are still fairly cost-effective ways of increasing your
Wealth income, so just because you get a lot Wealth from your Mining operations,
that doesn't mean you shouldn't actively try to reach your 33% higher Wealth
commerce limit as often as possible. Remember that Wealth is the easiest
resource to turn into other types (through Market trade), so more is always
better!
**When one of your units is killed by an enemy, you receive a 25% refund
Why is it important?
This reduces the pain of losing units. It's especially useful when using
Heavy Cavalry, since those units are already very expensive.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Queuing units: There's a trick to maximizing this nation power. Units that
are queued up count towards the current price of that unit and the refund
you receive is based directly off of this current price. This means that
although you only paid 60 metal, 60 wealth for that first Heavy Cavalry,
the refund could be much higher than 25% of that price if you have made many
more Heavy Cavalry before it dies.
Unique Units:
------------
~INTI CLUBMEN - Light Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Fast, cheap melee troops effective against enemy mounted troops.
~INTI MACEMEN - Light Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Fast, cheap melee troops effective against enemy mounted troops.
~MORTAR - Artillery, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Expensive and slow-moving; particularly effective at long range
against
enemy buildings and foot troops.
~SIEGE MORTAR - Artillery, Industrial Age (VI)
->Expensive and slow-moving; particularly effective at long range
against
enemy buildings and foot troops.
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------------------------------
JAPANESE - The Power of Honor |
------------------------------
The Japanese are a military heavy nation that focuses on infantry. Their
Barracks units get cheaper with each Age increase, provided they also have
the equivalent Military research. Japan's heavy infantry unique unit line
also receives this bonus,
making them some of the cheapest available unique units. Their strategies
often revolve around choosing an age to strike in, booming until they get
near that point, and then flooding the battlefields with huge numbers of
cheap infantry. This could either be an early Ancient Age rush with 5-6 Bushi
(unique heavy infantry) and some Slinger support, or it could come as late
as Gunpowder Age with a huge flood of Arquebusier with Samurai and Bombard
support.
The Japanese are particularly effective with rare resources like Salt and
Sugar, which further reduce the cost of their infantry.
Japanese players also have a great economy to work from. With cheaper, more
productive Farms Japanese players are able to create plenty of Citizens to
work their gather buildings while still creating an infantry-based army.
Often this extra Food trickles into new Woodcutter's Camps and enhanced Timber
income because Japanese players don't have a commerce limit bonus like many
other nations. With that extra Timber and a good Knowledge income, Japanese
players will generally try to keep their Commerce technologies a bit higher
than normal.
Another technology Japanese players often utilize is plunging their Military
tech line. Each Military research above their current Age stacks an additional
5% reduction in military costs onto their already cheap units.
**Barracks units created 7% cheaper and 10% faster, for each Age plus Military
research.
Why is it important?
This bonus allows Japanese players to field large armies, and to create them
much faster than other nations.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Focus on infantry: When choosing which units you want to build, focus on
infantry. If you choose to add cavalry to the mix, Light Cavalry will probably
be your best bet because you should have plenty of Food, and because you'll
want most of your Metal to go into your unique units which are Heavy Infantry.
**Barracks units do 5% more damage vs. Buildings for each Age plus Military
research.
Why is it important?
Not only do the Japanese have plenty of infantry, those infantry deal bonus
damage against buildings. This allows their Heavy Infantry to function as
full-fledged siege units in many situations. Archers and Light Infantry still
do fairly weak damage against buildings, even with this bonus.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use Heavy Infantry for sieging Cities or Forts: Heavy infantry already receives
bonus damage when attacking buildings. The Japanese damage bonus, combined
with the normal heavy infantry bonus damage, and the fact that the Japanese
have a unique heavy infantry unit up through Enlightenment Age makes them
particularly lethal to buildings.
Ancient Age Rush: This bonus helps out the Japanese ancient age rush, though
the bonus is minor during Ancient Age.
**Ships are 10% cheaper and Aircraft Carriers created 33% faster.
Why is it important?
This is a small, but useful bonus for Japanese players on sea maps. The bonus
also applies to their Fishing Ships, which is helpful for gathering resources
early in the game. The bonus is fairly helpful in creating a large fleet
of ships, though this bonus alone won't carry you to victory.
Building Aircraft Carriers faster is another rather small bonus with limited
applications. It's still helpful to get Aircraft Carriers constructed that
much quicker, but it's doubtful that the bonus will spell the difference
between victory and defeat in all but the rarest of circumstances.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Early fishing: Regardless of your nation, early fishing is a very good way
to jumpstart your economy. With 10% cheaper fishing ships, you should always
get Commerce 1 and build a Dock before getting your 2nd City on sea maps.
Use sea power: Make use of your advantage on the seas, so long as there is
opportunity to damage your opponent's assets on the land. If he has no important
structures that can be bombarded from the sea, it might not be a good idea
to make many military ships - aside from just enough ships to secure your
fishing enterprises.
**Farms are 50% cheaper. Farms and Fishermen produce +25% resources.
Why is it important?
This bonus significantly helps Food income throughout the game and also saves
Japanese players a lot of early Timber. Farms are so cheap that it's often
useful to complete extra Farms before you have the Citizens to man them,
simply to get the one-time Food bonus (often helpful in researching Classical
Age a little quicker).
On sea maps, Japanese players have no excuse not to get onto the seas and
take advantage of their excellent fishing capabilities. Remember that fishing
ships aren't very expensive and gather 2 separate resources at once. This
makes them much more efficient than Citizens at harvesting resources in the
early stages of the game (when squeezing efficiency out of your economy is
most important).
How do I maximize this nation power?
Early fishing: There are very few situations where you won't want to take
advantage of this nation power early on a sea map. Unless you plan on attacking
extremely early, you should strongly consider researching Commerce 1 before
Civic 1 and start creating fishing ships.
Build extra farms at your second city: The farms at your first city will
get built only slightly ahead of schedule with the cheaper cost. The farms
at your second city should be built much sooner than normal. Build 4-5 farms
at the second city, even if you don't have the Commerce Limit or citizens
to make use of them all immediately. The extra Food you'll get from building
the farms will be helpful for affording library techs earlier than normal.
Keep Food income close to Commerce Limit or maxed: With this bonus, you should
keep close tabs on your Food income and ensure that it's always either maxed
at your current commerce limit or very close to maxed.
Unique Units:
------------
~ASHIGARU - Heavy Infantry, Ancient Age (I)
->Powerful, slow melee units; stronger and tougher than normal
Hoplites.
~BUSHI - Heavy Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Powerful, slow melee units; stronger and tougher than normal
Phalanx.
~ELITE BUSHI - Heavy Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Powerful, slow melee units; stronger and tougher than normal
Pikemen.
~SAMURAI - Heavy Infantry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Powerful, slow melee units; stronger and tougher than normal
Elite Pikemen.
~GUN SAMURAI - Heavy Infantry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Slow, powerful short-ranged gunpowder units; stronger and tougher
than
normal Fusiliers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
KOREANS - The Power of Tradition |
---------------------------------
Koreans have a great starting economy, as well as solid defensive capabilities.
Their most potent nation power is that they receive free citizens when constructing
new cities. This allows them to instantly fill up Farms or Mines that are
constructed at that City, or simply get many buildings constructed around
the new city very quickly.
**Start with a Temple and receive Temple upgrades for free
Why is it important?
Korean players receive temple upgrades for free, including taxation technologies.
This means your temples will automatically provide the maximum bonus to your
cities' hitpoints and border push. Note that this bonus still only occurs
at cities that have a temple. Taxation techs, however, don't require a temple
at each city and simply generate wealth income based on the percentage of
the world territory you control. Korean taxation takes effect much earlier
than other nations would even think about researching the technology (not
because it isn't available to research, but because it's so costly that early
in the game and yields fairly minor benefits). It usually provides a small,
but helpful early wealth income. Taxation techs also increase the income
generated by rare resources and the wealth generated by fishing.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build temples at cities you think will be attacked: Any nation should follow
this advice, but it's particularly helpful for Koreans since they receive
the upgrades for free. Also build temples at cities that you want to get
more border push from.
Expand territory and harvest rare resources: Taxation provides only minor
increases to wealth and rare resource income. This means you shouldn't go
all out trying to increase your territory just to generate extra taxation
wealth, nor should you specifically get rare resources to utilize the extra
income. Instead, you should factor this nation power in as an 'extra bonus'
for doing those things a little sooner than usual, when you find yourself
torn between two places to spend your resources.
**Start with an extra citizen, receive 3 more when you build your next City,
and 5 more for each City after that.
Why is it important?
Extra citizens help the Koreans fill up their early gather buildings much
faster than other nations can (except perhaps the Chinese). This allows the
Koreans to reach early commerce limits quickly, and often hastens their progress
towards a Classical or Medieval Age attack.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use the extra citizens to fill up gather buildings: Most of the time you
won't find yourself building new cities exclusively to get new citizens,
but since your 3rd city will generate 5 free citizens it's often a good idea
to place that city near a mountain and fill up a mine. Using the new citizens
to create any new buildings (market, university, temple, farms, etc) you'll
want at the city is also a good idea, since these construction jobs will
be finished very quickly when all of them are constructed at once. Remember
that it's faster to construct 5 buildings with 1 citizen each than to use
all 5 citizens on one building at a time.
**Repair is 50% faster. Your Citizens can build and repair buildings that
are under fire without penalty
Why is it important?
The Koreans would probably take a backseat to the Chinese were it not for
their great defensive bonuses. This bonus allows Korean cities or forts to
hold out extended lengths of time while being repaired, and hastens the repair
of damaged buildings (cities that the Korean player is assimilating are quick
to repair with this bonus). Normally when a building is under attack and
citizens are at work repairing that building, the building is repaired at
a much slower rate and the citizens will also take damage if the ranged unit
attacking the building is also in range of the citizen. The Koreans aren't
affected by these restrictions and are able to repair at full speed (50%
faster, even) without their citizens potentially taking damage.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Repair cities or forts that are under siege: This nation power is great for
holding out until reinforcements can be trained - or simply aid in delaying
the enemy's advance long enough so that other cities can be saved.
Repair captured cities: With just a few Korean citizens, you can restore
a captured city's hitpoints rapidly, making it very difficult for your opponent
to reclaim the city. When your army is in tatters after a difficult siege,
every little bit counts.
**Receive the Militia, Minutemen, and Partisan upgrades for free
Why is it important?
These upgrades are great for defense, and occasionally useful on offense
as well.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Offensive militia: Offensive militia are tricky to use and there are only
a few situations where you'll want to sacrifice useful citizens in a mediocre
attack role. One such situation is if you've just created a new Korean city
near the front line. This will gain you 5 citizens, which can be used as
militia to raid the enemy base if he has undefended citizens working at a
nearby city. However, it's strongly advised that you don't enter enemy territory
with militia if your opponent has attrition researched - militia take huge
attrition damage!
Remember to use militia on defense: When your army's size is nearly equal
with the invading army, every last man is necessary to defend your homeland
- so don't forget to convert your nearby citizens into militia! This is particularly
helpful early in the game, as militia do excellent against pre-medieval military
units (except Heavy Cavalry).
Unique Units:
------------
~HWARANG - Foot Archers, Ancient Age (I)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; stronger, tougher
than
normal Bowmen.
~ELITE HWARANG - Foot Archers, Classical Age (II)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; stronger, tougher
than
normal Archers.
~KORYO HWARANG - Foot Archers, Medieval Age (III)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; stronger, tougher
than
normal Crossbowmen.
~CHOSON HWARANG - Foot Archers, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; stronger, tougher
than all
normal bow-armed units.
~FLAMING ARROW - Artillery, Ancient Age (I)
->Expensive and slow; more effective against enemy buildings than
Catapult.
~HEAVY FLAMING ARROW - Artillery, Medieval Age (III)
->Expensive and slow; more effective against enemy buildings than
Trebuchet.
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---------------------------------
MAYA - The Power of Architecture |
---------------------------------
The Maya are a defensive nation with a couple significant economic bonuses.
Mayan buildings are not only 50% tougher and built 50% faster, they also
cost 33% less Timber. Additionally every Mayan building that shoots (Forts,
Cities, etc) gains the ability to fire additional shots - including cities
that don't have anything garrisoned inside. All of these abilities neatly
compliment each other, making Mayans one of the toughest nations to crack
as well as giving them solid economic bonuses.
**Cities, Towers, Forts fire extra arrows - including ungarrisoned Cities
Why is it important?
This bonus provides extra firepower for all buildings that shoot. This means
that it's extra important for your opponents to have to bring siege equipment
when dealing with those buildings, as infantry or cavalry will take even
more damage than usual when dealing with your buildings (on top of the fact
that your buildings are much tougher than normal anyways). This also helps
out against would-be raiding parties, since your cities will fire at them
even before they're garrisoned. You'll still want to garrison citizens to
keep them safe, though.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Garrison only the citizens that are in danger of being killed by a raid:
Since your city will shoot on its own anyway, there is less reason to garrison
huge amounts of citizens. Only garrison the citizens which are at risk of
being shot at by the raiders and you'll keep half of your workforce gathering
resources for you while putting the hurt on enemy raiding units.
Utilize Forts and Towers effectively: This means using a Fort or two to aggressively
push the national border and function as a location to heal wounded troops
and secure the nearby Barracks, Stables, and Siege Factories. Constructing
these building types within a Fort's radius is always a good idea. When possible,
have siege units fire from within a Fort's range so the Fort provides covering
fire - the siege unit might still die, but at least enemy units will take
damage in doing so.
For Towers, ensure that you use them offensively when possible. When they
can't be constructed close enough to physically shoot enemy buildings, they
should be constructed close to a spot near the border that you're going to
launch an attack from. When units are wounded, they can retreat to this tower
and the tower will provide constant covering fire for any enemy units forced
to get near it - and they will be forced to get near it if you use siege
units to attack their buildings from a location next to the tower. Towers
are great for securing chunks of land directly between borders because they
take so long to destroy (even regular towers are often difficult to destroy).
**Buildings 50% tougher and 50% faster to build
Why is it important?
Mayan buildings are very hard to destroy. This is important, as it means
that your opponent will have to take extra long to capture cities and penetrate
your defenses. This extra time can be used to create enough units to fight
back. Sure, your opponent may be creating extra units as well, but his units
will most likely have more travel time than yours.
Mayans also create buildings 50% faster. This gives them the ability to beat
just about anybody in a race to build a wonder (provided they have the right
resources). This also gives them a great advantage in buildings that usually
take a long time to construct, like Forts, Towers, and Cities. Let's not
forget that over the course of the game the time your citizens spend creating
farms, mines, and woodcutter's camps stacks up - and Mayans will have less
of this accumulated downtime over the course of the game.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Stack it with Architecture upgrades: This will add even more health and further
hasten the speed at which your buildings are constructed.
Use a Border Flank strategy: The Mayan bonuses are great for using a Border
Flank strategy. See the strategies section for details.
Last-second Fort defense: Mayans have a better window of opportunity for
constructing last-second emergency forts behind their cities. Remember that
oftentimes the best location for a fort isn't directly on the frontlines
where it's isolated and vulnerable to siege. Often it's better to place a
fort directly behind a city. This forces the opponent to move his siege units
within range of your city when he wants to attack, often taking plenty of
damage. Military units will also have difficulty getting into a position
to attack, since the city occupies all of the space in front of the fort.
Lastly, forts (and towers) placed directly near cities assist in preventing
that city's capture. A fort counts as about 5 infantry units placed near
your city, when determining who gains or retains control of a city that's
been reduced to 0 health.
**Buildings 33% cheaper Timber costs (except Wonders)
Why is it important?
This is the primary economic bonus of the Mayan and it's a fairly useful
one since most buildings cost timber. The savings from farms alone makes
this bonus worth it, as they can duplicate the Japanese strategy of building
extra farms in order to get more of the one-time food bonuses.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build extra Farms: Similar to the Japanese, the Mayans can build farms before
they can use them (either because they don't have citizens to work them yet,
or because they are already capped at commerce limit). This is usually most
helpful at your 2nd city, when you're saving food for Commerce 2 or Classical
Age and want to gain an extra advantage over your opponent.
Build Markets more often: Building markets can often take a backseat to other
buildings or units, because of early game timber shortages. The Mayans don't
have this problem, so are often able to get a market constructed at each
of their cities. This helps out a lot in early wealth income.
Unique Units:
------------
~BALAMOB SLINGERS - Light Infantry, Ancient Age (I)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Extremely effective against enemy
light
infantry.
~ROYAL BALAMOB - Light Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Extremely effective against enemy
light
infantry.
~EAGLE BALAMOB - Light Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Fast, cheap, and short-ranged. Extremely effective against enemy
light
infantry.
~RECOILLESS GUN - Heavy Infantry, Modern Age (VII)
->Particularly effective against all types of vehicles.
~DRAGON AT - Heavy Infantry, Information Age (VIII)
->Particularly effective against all types of vehicles.
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---------------------------------
MONGOLS - The Power of the Horde |
---------------------------------
The Mongols revolve primarily around cavalry armies, particularly Horse Archers.
They are an aggressive nation who excel in the hands of players who are able
to multitask numerous raids simultaneously. Mongol players don't have a lot
of economic bonuses to rely on, so they must concentrate on utilizing raiding
to slow their opponents down.
One particularly brutal strategy the Mongols utilize is a rush directly through
the Library techs to Classical Age and Military II. At that point, they lay
down as many Stables as possible (usually 2 or 3) and use the resulting units
to raid your opponent's citizens. You will also have to continue to improve
your economy in the background. Remember, the trick to making any raiding
effective is that you have to do more damage to your opponent's economy than
it costs you to field that raiding party. If you spend your early resources
setting up a brutal raid, that raid has to at least allow you to catch up
in resource production or it won't have been worth it.
**Receive 1 free horse archer when you build a Stables, 3 after Military
II is researched.
Why is it important?
This power provides a very large source of raiding units. It's best used
early, when the raiding units are much harder to counter.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Early raiding: Use a similar strategy to the one listed above to get some
early raiding done on your opponent.
Horse Archers and Knights: As an alternative to a very early raid, you can
use a strategy where you create 2 stables in Classical Age and begin to create
large amounts of Cataphracts while keeping your horse archers garrisoned.
Eventually you'll reach Medieval Age and upgrade this army. At that point,
also construct 2-3 additional stables for many more horse archers (you didn't
want them beforehand since it would raise the ramping cost of your Cataphracts).
Use the resulting army to wreak havoc on your opponent's economy, using Knights
to annihilate any Light Cavalry that tries to kill your Horse Archers and
using the Horse Archers to kill pikemen. Don't stay too near buildings that
shoot, as they will gradually wear down your army. Instead, continually keep
your opponent's citizens either dying or garrisoned inside a city - all the
while increasing your own economy above theirs in the background.
**Mounted units created 10% cheaper and 20% faster
Why is it important?
This allows Mongol players to field larger cavalry-based armies. The bonus
itself is fairly small, but considering Mongol players are already receiving
plenty of free cavalry units anyway it's still quite useful.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Avoid losing resources to unnecessary ramping cost: The more cavalry units
you have, the more each new cavalry unit will cost. With this in mind, be
sure that you don't rack up too many free horse archers while constructing
new cavalry units. If you plan on taking advantage of your free stables units,
do it after you've already trained a sizable cavalry army. You'll save resources
and end up with a larger army.
Use cavalry units: Make good use of this bonus and it will save you a lot
of resources over the course of the game. You can and should still use infantry,
but cavalry is the strongpoint of the Mongol military and you shouldn't neglect
it.
**Receive +1 Food for each 1% of the world you control (times half the number
of players in the game)
Why is it important?
This bonus provides a great income of food through most of the game, especially
in team games. As the only economic bonus of a very military-heavy nation,
it's not going to win the war for you but it's another reason to keep increasing
your territory.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use Mongols in team games: In team games with many players, this bonus will
become much more noticeable and keep your food income easily maxed at the
commerce limit with only a minimal amount of farms.
Control slightly more territory than normal: As with some of the other weaker
economic bonuses, this bonus alone shouldn't make you want to increase your
territory. However, it gives more incentive to keep your territory slightly
larger than normal - researching civic techs a little earlier and constructing
new cities and forts slightly earlier than normal to take advantage of some
extra food income.
**Attrition damage to your units is reduced by 50%
Why is it important?
As a raiding nation, you'll spend long periods of time in enemy borders.
This means you'll be subject to attrition for extended periods of time. Luckily,
Mongols only take 50% of normal attrition damage. This means they can survive
much longer in enemy territory.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Raid, raid, raid: This nation power allows you to raid without worrying about
attrition (unless you're facing extreme amounts of it, such as a Russian
player two ages ahead with Colosseum). With the knowledge that your units
suffer far less attrition that other nations, you should feel quite at home
in your opponent's soil, generally wreaking havoc upon his poor economy.
**Receive Forage/Supply/Logistics research for free.
Why is it important?
The first tech allows your units to take no attrition damage while not moving
in enemy territory. Each of the techs improves the radius and hitpoints of
your supply wagons and further reduces attrition (yes, in addition to your
units already being quite resilient to attrition damage).
How do I maximize this nation power?
Utilize Forage if necessary: It's easy to forget that with Forage researched
your units take zero attrition damage while stopped and not attacking in
enemy territory, but it's a handy bonus in some circumstances.
Unique Units:
------------
~NOMAD - Ranged Cavalry, Classical Age (II)
->Fast, ranged cavalry who can fire even while moving; they are particularly
effective against enemy Light Infantry.
~STEPPE NOMAD - Ranged Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Fast, ranged cavalry who can fire even while moving; they are
particularly
effective against enemy Light Infantry.
~HORDE - Ranged Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Fast, gunpowder-armed cavalry who can fire even while moving;
effective
against enemy Light Infantry and Musket Infantry.
~GOLDEN HORDE - Ranged Cavalry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Fast, gunpowder-armed cavalry who can fire even while moving;
effective
against enemy Musket Infantry.
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-----------------------------
NUBIANS - The Power of Trade |
-----------------------------
The Nubians are a strong, very flexible economic nation. They are masters
of the market, trade, and rare resources. The reason they are so flexible
is that they can use their efficient market trade at any point to get the
resource they need. Most nations face a lot of inefficiency when using the
market to trade for resources, making it useful, but inefficient for prolonged
usage. The Nubians have drastically reduced market inefficiency and are able
to make extensive use of trade to get the resources they need. This comes
in particularly helpful when a Nubian player finds himself without the appropriate
resources to produce correct counter units. Instead of relying just on his
or her innate food/metal income to produce heavy infantry, the Nubian player
is able to convert all of his resources into foot/metal and produce a much
larger army of heavy infantry should the need arise.
When playing against a Nubian, realize that a large chunk of their resources
are coming from their rare resources. This raises the importance of raiding
those rare resources, even if their merchants are cheaply replaced. It also
slightly increases territorial dominance, since robbing the Nubian player
of those resources is important.
In large team games, Nubians are able to take advantage of even more rare
resources than usual, so keep military pressure on Nubian players when possible
or expect a devastating late game nuclear barrage from them!
The Porcelain Tower is a useful wonder (it adds to the resources each rare
resource provides), but particularly powerful in the hands of a Nubian player
who already has most or all of the rare resources in friendly territory.
**Always see all of the rare resources in explored territory.
Why is it important?
This allows the Nubians to immediately scout 1-2 rare resources for early
game harvesting, as well as allowing Nubian players to discover new ones
they hadn't previously explored as their border expands.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Harvest rare resources: Information is only as powerful as what one does
with it, so ensure you use the knowledge of rare resource locations to harvest
as many as possible - and harvest the important ones first.
Flare rare resources for teammates in team games: Allied territory counts
as 'explored territory'. If your ally has a particularly helpful rare resource
in his territory, ensure that you flare it and tell him of it!
**Merchants collect an additional +50% resources.
Why is it important?
This is a very effective economic boon for Nubian players and the primary
reason their economy is strong.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Take advantage of every rare resource possible: As a Nubian player, you should
send a merchant to every rare resource you find that isn't in enemy territory.
This bonus is your primary economic advantage and merchants are very efficient
resource harvesters, so it would be a mistake to not take advantage of it.
Control the best resources: Don't allow your opponent to push you off of
the best rare resources through border pushing. Sometimes players even construct
a fort or city directly on top of a rare resource that is near the center
of the map, as this not only keeps the resource very secure but also provides
useful border push.
Immediately replace raided merchants: It's often easy to forget to replace
a slain merchant, but it's an important thing to do. If you see a merchant
getting raided and know you won't be able to save him, queue up a new merchant
and set the rally point to that resource (even before the first one is done
dying).
**You start with a Market and can always trade resources.
Why is it important?
This is significant because it allows Nubian players to produce twice as
many economic units at once in the early game. Not only do they produce citizens
like everyone else in the early stages of the game, they are able to create
merchants to go out and start collecting rare resources. Between their merchants
costing less than normal and rare resources often providing +20 total resources
(usually split between two resource types) this is very efficient income
you should take advantage of right from the game start.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Scout well: While you will see any rare resources in explored territory,
it's very likely there won't be more than 1-2 in your territory to start
out. This means it's vital for you to scout well and discover the location
of the remaining resources.
Immediately set up as many merchants as possible when the game begins: Your
first 2-3 merchants should attempt to be good resource producers (ie, avoid
rare resources that provide metal or knowledge since you can't harvest those
resource types until classical age). With that in mind, you should absolutely
take advantage of as many knowledge or metal rare resources as possible just
before you enter into classical age. If you have 5 rare resources in your
territory and can take advantage of all of them prior to reaching classical
age, that's great.
**+1 Caravan Limit.
Why is it important?
This will allow you to get an extra caravan up and running significantly
earlier than the other nations can (provided you choose to get Civic 2 and
create a third city before you get Commerce 2). If you keep the maximum amount
of caravans throughout the game, you will gain a slight wealth advantage
over your opponent.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Always use the most caravan routes allowed: Nothing complicated here, just
ensure you use the extra caravan route - especially in team games. Just remember
that you'll need enough cities to take advantage of the extra trade routes.
**Merchants, Caravans, and Markets 50% cheaper.
Why is it important?
This bonus saves you significant amounts of resources, especially since the
Nubian player will be using more of these buildings and units than other
nations. In particular, the savings on creating new markets is great since
typically players choose to spend their precious timber on other more important
things early in the game. With this bonus, the Nubians are able to get a
market in every city without the timber cost hurting their economy or military
much. Cheaper merchants means that it'll be easy for you to afford sending
a merchant to each resource, and cheap to replace them if they get raided.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Create a market at each city soon after that city is created: Markets shouldn't
take priority over necessities like farms, but they should be constructed
almost immediately after your third city is created and at each new city
thereafter.
Harvest all rare resources: There's very little reason for a Nubian player
not to make excellent use of every rare resource that isn't controlled by
the enemy. Starting from the beginning of the game, take advantage of as
many of them as you can.
Keep caravan routes maxed: Lastly, keep your caravan routes maxed throughout
the game. Occasionally you may find it useful to queue up a caravan before
you have enough Caravan Limit available. The resulting caravan will not be
created until after you research a new Commerce tech at the library, but
once that tech is researched it will automatically pop out. Once the build
time for that caravan is finished, the same market can even produce new merchants
if needed!
Unique Units:
------------
~KUSHITE - Foot Archer, Classical Age (II)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; highly effective
against
all enemy archers.
~ROYAL KUSHITE - Foot Archer, Medieval Age (III)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; highly effective
against
all enemy archers.
~APEDEMAK KUSHITE - Foot Archer, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Medium-ranged foot infantry with little armor; highly effective
against
all enemy archers.
~CAMEL ARCHERS - Ranged Cavalry, Classical Age (II)
->Excellent raiders who can fire while moving; particularly effective
against enemy Light Infantry.
~HEAVY CAMEL ARCHERS - Ranged Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Excellent raiders who can fire while moving; particularly effective
against enemy Light Infantry.
~CAMEL RAIDERS - Ranged Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Excellent gunpowder-armed raiders who can fire while moving.
~CAMEL CORPS - Ranged Cavalry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Excellent gunpowder-armed raiders who can fire while moving.
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-----------------------------
ROMANS - The Power of Caeser |
-----------------------------
The Romans are a defensive nation that has the ability to exert excellent
territorial control in the beginning of the game. They also have Legions,
which are a great unique unit that excels at killing other heavy infantry.
This means they don't have to invest as much into archers to counter other
heavy infantry (which is a big plus because archers require timber and wealth,
two very dire technology-oriented resources).
The Roman border push strategy can be utilized by first creating a second
city as normal. Construct a fort at the edge of this border. By the time
the fort is finished, you should be about ready to afford Civic 2 and another
city. Again, build this city as far forward as possible. Ensure that you
have trade routes established - you'll need the wealth. After this point,
the intent is to get a second fort set up very close to one of your opponent's
major economic cities that will become the staging ground for some brutal
assaults. Affording this second fort is difficult, but can be accomplished
in a few ways. First of all you can raze the existing fort to make the new
one cheaper and recoup a bit of the cost (since you already have a second
city set up, you still have that forward border push established so this
rear fort is no longer necessary). The other way is to save up the resources
in either Ancient or Classical Age. If done in Classical Age, you'll need
to place a couple Mines and wait a bit to get enough metal. If done in Ancient
age, your economy will take a hit as all of your timber and wealth goes into
this new fort.
Once this forward fort is established, set up barracks and stables. Start
creating an army and try to judge whether your opponent is going to attack
you at that location (you should raid him slightly to gain his attention)
or whether he's going to wait it out and take advantage of the technology
advantage he probably has. If he is going to rush your fort, you'll have
the advantage since you just have to build military units. If he decides
to play more defensive and tech to gain a greater advantage, you'll have
to get siege to force a conflict (preferably with a forward tower).
**Forts exert +3 National Borders
Why is it important?
Roman forts exert a moderate amount of extra border push. This border push
is most helpful when your forts are constructed at the edge of your current
border, though you certainly don't need to construct all of your new forts
at the border's edge (constructing a fort right next to your capital city
is often a good move if you think there's a chance it will be attacked).
How can I maximize this nation power?
Construct forts that directly press against enemy borders: This means placing
a fort right on the current borderline in order to maximize the amount of
border push you get from the fort's presence.
Research fort upgrades: Fort upgrades increase the range of forts and towers
as well as further increasing the border push of forts. If you're interested
in controlling territory, stacking these upgrades with your
**Forts and Towers 25% cheaper and can be built from the start of the game
Why is it important?
These buildings are some of the most expensive in the game, so the savings
is rather important. As long as you balance the cost for these buildings
against the cost of building an army, you can make excellent use of forts
as Romans.
How can I maximize this nation power?
Utilize this bonus in an early border push strategy: In the hands of a capable
player who can survive on a limited early economy, it can be quite devastating
(in 1v1s).
**Receive free Heavy Infantry when a Barracks is constructed (one at start,
two with Gunpowder Age and Military 3, three with Industrial Age and Military
5)
Why is it important?
This bonus provides free units when each new barracks is constructed. The
single free unit is great for ancient age rushing, or simply bolstering a
classical age attack. One thing to note about this bonus is that it only
applies to each new barracks you create. This means if you raze a barracks
(or the enemy destroys one, a favorite strategy against nations with free
bonus units) and rebuild a new barracks, you won't receive free units. Be
careful of population limit as well, since you can't receive free units that
push you above your current population limit.
A particularly useful way to utilize this bonus is to only utilize cavalry
units until gunpowder age and Military 3 research. By going with just 1 barracks
or without a barracks at all, you'll be able to create a whole bunch once
gunpowder and military 3 research are completed - resulting in many more
Roman Legions than you would otherwise receive. If you choose this strategy,
you can also use a method that works for the Mongols - create 2 barracks
and train many infantry from them before creating the remaining 3-5 barracks.
By doing things this way, the free units you receive from the barracks don't
interfere with the ramp cost of your infantry as much, allowing you to create
an even larger army for cheaper.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Utilize the extra units in a rush: Perform the standard 5-heavy infantry
ancient age rush, except with an extra unit (20% more firepower to make that
city fall extra fast). Remember to trail in slinger support after the 6th
heavy infantry is created so you can handle enemy bowmen.
Save the bonus until gunpowder/military 3 research: Use either one or no
barracks at all until you've got the prerequisite techs for getting 2 free
units per barracks, then build several barracks all at once. Use stables
units for your military until you reach gunpowder - horse archers for raiding
are a good bet.
Keep your barracks alive: Try not to allow the opponent to destroy your barracks;
you only get free units for each new barracks you make - and if your 4th
barracks dies and you rebuild it, that doesn't count as a 'new' barracks.
**Heavy Infantry created 10% faster and 10% cheaper
Why is it important?
This nation power hastens the training of new heavy infantry units, allowing
the Romans to field many heavy infantry quickly when needed. It's a relatively
small time saver, but still quite helpful since Romans have a heavy infantry
unique unit line that lasts through the first half of the game. Of course,
the bonus doesn't become worthless at that point - late game heavy infantry
like Bazookas and Anti-Tank Missiles are some of the best late game units
available.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Create heavy infantry: Not much trick to making use of this bonus - just
ensure you're aware of it and take advantage of it when possible.
Unique Units:
------------
~LEGION - Heavy Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Powerful, slow, melee units. Extremely effective against enemy
Heavy
Infantry.
~CAESAR'S LEGIONS - Heavy Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Powerful, slow, melee units. Extremely effective against enemy
Heavy
Infantry.
~PRAETORIAN GUARDS - Heavy Infantry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Powerful, slow, melee units. Extremely effective against enemy
Heavy
Infantry.
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-----------------------------------
RUSSIANS - The Power of Motherland |
-----------------------------------
The Russians are a very unique defensive nation whose primary strength lies
in controlling a lot of territory and making excellent use of attrition to
destroy their foes. Not only does Russian attrition do double damage to unsupplied
enemy units, the Russians receive all attrition upgrades for free. Russian
players also have access to a great line of unique light cavalry. This is
significant because light cavalry is the best counter to supply wagons (which,
in turn, are the best counter to your Russian attrition).
This set of nation powers allows the Russians to perform a boom much better
than other nations. By keeping their national boundaries expanded and patrolling
those boundaries with light cavalry, Russian players are able to concentrate
almost solely on economy. When an attack comes, they utilize their fantastic
attrition damage by eliminating enemy supply wagons with their light cavalry
- then running the light cavalry to safety while attrition takes its toll.
They can enhance this attrition further by constructing wonders like the
Colosseum or Kremlin, making it even more painful to be unsupplied in Russian
territory. Unfortunately this strategy does have a weak point. Since Russian
players receive no economic bonuses, they can be out-boomed economically
if their opponent doesn't rush in to attack. This means that occasionally
it's worth it to bait your opponent into attacking you to bring his army
into your territory where your attrition can crush it.
Russians also have a great spy bonus that can be used to further disrupt
enemy attacks.
**Attrition damage to enemy units in your territory increased by 100%.
Why is it important?
As you probably know, attrition does gradual damage to any enemy units in
your territory without a supply wagon. Russian attrition is particularly
effective at wiping out enemy units because it does twice as much damage.
This allows Russian players to rely much more upon attrition as a strong
defensive mechanism, provided they are able to handle enemy supply wagons
with their light cavalry.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use attrition to cover your fast tech: One method of using attrition is to
try the above strategy of booming while using a small force of 3-5 light
cavalry unique units to raid the supply wagons of any player who attacks
you. Tactical placement of forts and towers can prolong this strategy's lifespan,
but eventually you'll have to switch from hard teching to making a military
of your own.
When possible, utilize age-ahead attrition: Attrition becomes even more painful
for your opponents if you're an age ahead of them. Of course, it's very difficult
to do this given that Russians recieve no economic bonus until Industrial
Age - but it can happen.
When possible, construct attrition-related wonders of the world: Both the
Colosseum and Kremlin provide bonuses to attrition that will make for even
deadlier Russian attrition damage.
**Attrition upgrades are free.
Why is it important?
Not only is Russian attrition painful, it also automatically upgrades as
Civic techs are researched (Civic techs are the prerequisite for attrition
technologies). This takes effect even without building a tower (though there's
hardly ever a game where you wouldn't want to build at least one tower).
How do I maximize this nation power?
Research Civic technologies: Attrition levels each have a Civic technology
prerequisite. By researching Civic techs, attrition levels will automatically
be researched for you. For example, when you research Civic 3, the second
attrition tech will take effect.
**National Borders +1 per Civic research
Why is it important?
This bonus allows Russian players to exert a huge amount of territorial dominance
over the map, much more so than any other nation could accomplish if it's
used well. The important thing with this ability is to maximize the amount
of territory you control and use your powerful border push to crush your
opponent's territory into a small ball in the corner. By doing this you'll
have more access to resources like forests and mountains while robbing them
of those same resources.
Even better, this bonus makes Russian attrition that much more effective.
Attrition for other nations can sometimes be bypassed by sieging key buildings
like cities from within the safety of your own territory, but it's very rare
that the border is close enough to a Russian city for this situation to occur.
Since enemy units are forced into your territory to fight, you are able to
use attrition much easier.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use a border flank strategy: Russians are particularly effective at using
their border to flank their opponent and force a conflict near a major enemy
city - away from the important economic cities of the Russian player.
Dominate world territory: As a Russian player, you should cause your opponents
to feel caged and starved for resources. Not only will he starve for resources,
you'll have access to most of the map's rare resources.
**Oil gathering +20%
Why is it important?
This provides the Russians with a significant late game economic bonus to
a resource that is often difficult to gather at the commerce limit for other
nations. This bonus actually benefits from the national border bonus, as
more oil patches will be present in your territory (and less in your opponent's).
So most Russian players don't have a problem quickly reaching the commerce
limit for oil income. This means they can quickly make use of their unique
line of tanks. The Russian player will undoubtedly have many mountains under
his control, so metal for the tanks shouldn't be an issue either.
This extra oil doesn't have to be spent on tanks, of course. Air units are
quite useful for striking at enemy supply wagons (Russian attrition is still
just as powerful in the late game). Nuclear weapons are useful for striking
at just about anything.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Keep oil income maximized at the commerce limit: It's much cheaper to max
oil income as Russians, so you should take advantage of that fact. Oil has
a tremendous amount of uses and at the very least it will fetch a high price
at the market should you choose to sell it.
**Spies produced 50% cheaper and stay hidden after using a special ability
Why is it important?
It provides yet another great way for Russian players to prevent enemy players
from easily attacking them. While you can't bribe supply wagons, you can
cause a lot of havoc by bribing enemy siege units as they begin to attack
your cities, forts, or towers. The ability to stay hidden after using a special
ability means that Russian spies have a much longer lifespan than the average
spy.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use spies to harass enemy attacks: Spies are a great way to decimate an unprepared
attack force. Not only are spies extremely cheap for Russian players, they
have the effect of converting an enemy unit to your side. This is, in effect,
"killing" that unit and giving you a free unit (a unit which costs more than
the spy himself). The balance to all this is the unfortunate fact that scouts
allow your opponent's army to counter your spies - and counter them hard.
If your opponent starts making a lot of scouts, it won't be worth it to keep
making spies. It's best to stop making new spies after 2 good attacks with
them, since at that point your opponent will be spending resources on scouts.
If you switch to making a military unit instead, his scouts will be largely
useless in the third battle, giving you a definite advantage in military
power.
Unique Units:
------------
~RUSSINY LANCER - Light Cavalry, Medieval Age (III)
->Extremely fast and lightly armed melee troops; useful for catching
enemy
raiders; cheaper and faster to build than normal Light
Cavalry.
~COSSACK - Light Cavalry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Extremely fast and lightly armed melee troops; useful for catching
enemy
raiders; cheaper and faster to build than normal Light
Cavalry.
~DON COSSACK - Light Cavalry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Extremely fast and lightly armed melee troops; useful for catching
enemy
raiders; cheaper and faster to build than normal Light
Cavalry.
~RED GUARD - Modern Infantry, Modern Age (VII)
->Fast, powerful, rapid-firing foot troops; slightly cheaper than
normal
Infantry.
~SHOCK INFANTRY - Modern Infantry, Information Age (VIII)
->Fast, powerful, rapid-firing foot troops; cheaper and stronger
than normal
Assault Infantry.
~KATYUSHA ROCKET - Artillery, Modern Age (VII)
->Powerful, long-range rocket; its wide explosive effect makes
it very
effective against enemy ground troops.
~T80 TANK - Tank, Information Age (VIII)
->Heavily armored, extremely powerful; hard to destroy except with
heavy
weapons. Cheaper than normal Main Battle Tank.
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---------------------------------
SPANISH - The Power of Discovery |
---------------------------------
The Spanish get a huge early economic boost through their ruins bonus, but
no powerful lasting bonuses. With this early lead they can choose to mount
a powerful early attack, boom slightly
and launch a larger attack, or boom heavily and get to Gunpowder Age before
anyone, where their Tercios unique units afford them a huge advantage against
cavalry (as the only heavy infantry unit in gunpowder age with a ranged attack).
Regardless of the path the Spanish player chooses, he has to maintain the
advantage he gets early in the game because he has no lasting bonus.
**Start with the map explored and an extra Scout
Why is it important?
The Spanish are able to make the best choices in where to scout early in
the game, and able to scout the most ground the fastest. This not only uncovers
plenty of rare resources (allowing them to pick which ones they wish to harvest
first), it affords them helpful tactical options such as knowing where the
good resources are located (particularly important on maps with limited forests
or mountains). This allows Spanish players to push their territory out towards
these areas sooner than other nations are able to. The other benefit of superb
Spanish scouts is, of course, the extra ruins they will pick up.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Manually scout: Learning to manually scout - and do it well - is a very important
skill if you plan on playing the Spanish often. The Auto-Explore AI generally
does its job well, but it won't know tricks like checking the corners for
the ruin that's almost always found there.
**Scout line receives +3 line of sight, is upgraded for free, and uses abilities
faster
Why is it important?
Not only do the Spanish start with two scouts, their scouts see farther and
are automatically upgraded. Often you won't make too many scouts beyond your
starting scouts (except to counter spies) and so generally the automatic
upgrading and abilities portions of this bonus go unnoticed. They're still
helpful, but this bonus is primarily worthwhile because the extra line of
sight lets you capture more ruins - and perhaps spot enemy army movements
easier. After the map is entirely explored, it's often a good idea to move
your scouts into a location near the enemy border to keep an eye on what
he's up to. When they upgrade automatically into explorers, they'll actually
remain hidden while not moving! This allows them to provide great scouting
of the enemy without revealing themselves.
**Until Industrial Age, receive a free Heavy Ship when you build a Dock
Why is it important?
This augments the ability for the Spanish to control the seas. Ensure that
you compare the price for a new dock with the price to make a heavy ship
- after a couple docks, they actually become much more expensive than simply
creating the heavy ships at your existing docks!
How do I maximize this nation power?
Early sea dominance: Because this heavy ship is instantly created when your
dock is finished, it is often very helpful for scouting the seas and (more
importantly) attacking your opponent's early fishing ventures. An early heavy
ship gives you a great naval advantage early in the game when your opponent
is more concerned with creating 3-4 fishing ships than making military vessels.
**Receive 35 resources from Ruins, +35 for each Science tech
Why is it important?
It's undeniably the best Spanish bonus and every Spanish player should make
full use of it. With the vast resources collected from ruin exploration,
the Spanish player will be catapulted ahead in the early game. The only trick
is maintaining the early advantage this nation power provides. Once the ruins
are gone, you're on your own.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Research the first two Science technologies immediately: Research the first
Science technology right away, get a single ruin (1-2 ruins are usually visible
in your territory at the start of the game), then construct a Temple. This
will give you enough wealth to research the second Science technology. It's
important to note that your first ruin will only provide wealth if that is
your lowest current resource - so don't make too many farms or citizens at
the start. After the second science tech is started, scout like a madman!
Each ruin will give you 105 resources! Depending on the game and how many
ruins have already been collected, it may even be effective to research a
third Science technology at the library early in the game, further reducing
the cost of your early technologies and further increasing the value of whatever
remaining ruins you manage to scavenge.
Unique Units:
------------
~SCUTARI - Heavy Infantry, Classical Age (II)
->Powerful, slow, melee units; extremely effective against mounted
troops.
~ROYAL SCUTARI - Heavy Infantry, Medieval Age (III)
->Powerful, slow, melee units; extremely effective against mounted
troops.
~TERCIO - Heavy Infantry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Slow, powerful, short-ranged gunpowder units; extremely effective
against
mounted troops.
~ROYAL TERCIO - Heavy Infantry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Slow, powerful, short-ranged gunpowder units; extremely effective
against
mounted troops.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
TURKS - The Power of Siege |
---------------------------
The Turks are a military nation with the best siege units in the game. Even
though only two of their siege units are unique units, which incidentally
appear in Gunpowder
and Enlightenment Age , all of their siege benefits greatly from +3 range.
Their siege is also automatically upgraded, often affording them large advantages
in the middle of a battle as their already great siege weapons become much
better. Added to this great siege bonus are a number of other useful bonuses,
including 33% cheaper military research, 33% cheaper citizens, and enemy
cities assimilate 200% faster when captured.
During playtesting for Rise of Nations, one playtester became famous for
strangely attempting to counter a huge bloodthirsty army by getting absolutely
nothing else except two catapults. The failed attempt was labeled "tech to
catapults" and was joked about for some time afterwards. Even more entertaining
was the fact that the Turks do have a very effective tech to catapults -
they just have to have an army to back up those powerful early siege units.
In 1v1 games, "tech to catapults" can be accomplished by advancing rapidly
through Military 1, Classical Age, and Military 2, and working on your economy
just enough to be able to afford 2 siege factories, a stables, and as many
early cavalry units as you can field - usually light cavalry. The Turk player
then attacks with this army of catapults and light cavalry, trickling in
as many reinforcement cavalry as possible (you'll probably want some horse
archers to be able to counter heavy infantry effectively). The savings in
food costs of the military techs cause this rush to be slightly faster than
the norm, and the 4 catapults make quick work of early buildings. The cavalry
army is usually fairly small, yet is large enough to handle most early opposition.
Raiding citizens while sieging is encouraged if the enemy is trying to get
a barracks up to counter the rush, or simply to further hurt the enemy economy.
Once a city is taken, that city will assimilate 200% faster. When it's done
assimilating, feel free to create a few citizens at that city to repair it
or work nearby farms (remember that you can work enemy gather buildings like
farms at a city you capture, even before assimilation).
In team games, "tech to catapults" can be part of a brutal dual rush strategy.
The Turk player agrees to provide the siege and concentrates solely on producing
siege factories for free siege units. The other player concentrates on his
best early military unit(s). When the large double rush reaches one of the
enemy players they will be eliminated very quickly - it simply takes too
long for his ally to aid him if the rush wasn't expected. The downside to
this rush is that the two attacking players have relatively weak economies
immediately following the rush. If they manage to take out a player, it's
usually worth it.
**All Siege, Bombardment, and Artillery units have +3 range and +3 Line of
Sight
Why is it important?
Turk siege has fantastic range, able to strike enemy buildings from much
farther away than other nations. This can allow Turk players to siege from
a much safer range, perhaps with the aid of an offensive tower. By doing
this, Turk siege units are more difficult to destroy because they can stay
farther back and be guarded easier.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Use offensive towers: Offensive towers can cover sieges that occur at or
near your own border. They provide helpful cover fire and a spot for frontline
troops to heal when they get low on health (with the added benefit of helping
the tower shoot faster in most cases).
Defend siege with your army: Obviously offensive towers only work in situations
where you're breaking an outer city. In situations where you're not attacking
a city next to your border, ensure that your army forms a natural wall around
your siege units. This is easier with the extra siege range because there's
more room for you to place that army without being shot at by buildings like
forts or cities. Ideally you should keep the back of the siege protected
by your wall of units, as well as the front. Remember that cavalry flanking
is a favored tactic for killing siege, so heavy infantry are often a good
unit choice for siege defense duty.
**Receive 2 free siege units whenever you build a Siege Factory
Why is it important?
This saves lots of time and resources on creating siege units, allowing 2
siege units to be created simply by constructing a siege factory (or a factory,
in post-industrial ages). This bonus is used extensively in nearly every
strategy the Turks employ.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Tech to catapults: Follow the descriptions above and try it out!
Gunpowder age power strike: Of course, this bonus isn't just useful in Classical
Age. Another strategy revolves around creating a large Gunpowder Age army
with heavy Basilica Bombard support. To use this strategy, concentrate on
economy until you approach Gunpowder Age. Cheaper Turk citizens help their
economy immensely in this case. Your target army will be composed of mainly
janissaries, with pikemen and light cavalry support, but you'll have to start
constructing them in early-mid Medieval Age if it's going to be a big enough
army by the time you reach Gunpowder Age. Try to have military techs advanced
1-2 columns ahead of your current age - each column results in a 5% cost
reduction in military upgrades and units. Your siege should be created last,
by plopping down 2-4 siege factories which will yield 4-8 basilica bombard
cannons.
During the attack, as with any attack made in Rise of Nations, you should
continue to concentrate on military reinforcements, increasing your economy,
and of course managing your military units. The trick is finding the correct
balance between spending your resources on reinforcements and increasing
your economy. Too large an army can sometimes be a bad thing if your opponent
manages to secure a large technology advantage. The other side of the coin
- not spending enough on military - can result in your current army being
massacred on the field of battle. It's a balancing act that relies on your
ability to recognize what your opponent is doing and to adapt accordingly.
This includes taking in factors like (a) how much damage your attacks are
doing, (b) the state of your current economy, and (c) your opponent's nation
and the probable state of his current economy. Expert players are those who
can go over these things automatically in their head and change their strategy
far in advance.
**Citizens 33% cheaper
Why is it important?
The amount of food spent on citizens over the course of the game is staggering.
This nation power cuts the cost of citizens by a significant amount, providing
the Turks a great economic bonus - even though they are primarily a military
nation.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Militia: It's hard to maximize this nation power in any specific way. An
enhanced use of militia is probably one of the few ways a player could specifically
use this nation power. Even so, most of the time it won't be effective to
use militia to bolster your attack forces. It's best to simply let the food
savings pile up in the background as you pay less for each citizen than other
nations would.
**Conquered Cities assimilate 200% faster
Why is it important?
This is a great unique bonus that the Turks have which allows captured cities
to be used much quicker than other nations. This works well with their siege
and cheaper citizen bonuses. A Turk army can siege a city, wait around briefly
for that city to be assimilated, then create cheap citizens at that city
to repair it and begin working at any existing gather buildings.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Build defenses around recently assimilated cities: Quite often it is very
difficult to assimilate a city and guard it. This is primarily because the
enemy's reinforcements are coming from nearby while your own reinforcements
have a long distance to travel. Other nations may capture a city briefly
only to have that army destroyed a couple minutes later when the enemy army
marches in. The Turks have some pretty great advantages in this situation.
The city will have been assimilated in the meantime - and while your reinforcement
army is still marching across the map to help out, some citizens created
at that city are already working on creating a tower and repairing the city
before the enemy even arrives. Additionally, because the city is assimilated
you have friendly territory in the area. This means attrition damage to the
enemy army and the option to entrench your troops if you have a general.
Between all of these advantages, this makes securing cities much easier.
**Siege units upgrade for free
Why is it important?
Turkish siege will automatically upgrade when the appropriate military and
age prerequisites are met. This saves time and resources and frees up the
siege factories to continue constructing new siege units if necessary.
**Military research 33% cheaper
Why is it important?
Military technologies at the library are necessary for unit upgrades and
also provide a cost reduction of 5% per military tech you have above your
current age. For the Turks, this means they can utilize the bonus of keeping
military techs ahead of their current age much easier than other nations.
It also affords them the ability to use fairly brutal rush tactics, particularly
when paired with cheaper citizens. Even if the Turk player decides not to
plunge his military research beyond his current age, he will still save a
significant amount of resources that can be spent on either military units
or other library techs.
How do I maximize this nation power?
Plunge military techs: Researching military techs ahead of your current age
can save a lot of resources if done just before you create a large army.
Rush your opponent: Utilize one of the rushes already mentioned above, try
a 5-hoplite ancient age rush, or devise your own rushing strategy that makes
use of their extremely cheap military tech.
Unique Units:
------------
~JANISSARY - Gunpowder Infantry, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Stronger, faster, and more accurate than ordinary Gunpowder Infantry.
~ROYAL JANISSARY - Gunpowder Infantry, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Stronger, faster, and more accurate than ordinary Gunpowder Infantry.
~BASILICA BOMBARD - Artillery, Gunpowder Age (IV)
->Expensive and slow-moving; extremely effective at long range
against enemy
buildings and foot troops.
~BASILICA CANNON - Artillery, Enlightenment Age (V)
->Expensive and slow-moving; particularly effective at long range
against
enemy buildings and foot troops.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
********************************************************************************
4.0 TECHNOLOGIES
********************************************************************************
There are four types of technologies in order to progress further to obtain
stronger military, further line-of-sight, more cities, increase population
limit,increase commerce limit and everything else. This is the key of
everything. If you can manage to keep your research flowing while you are
expanding smoothly, victory will likely be yours.
I. Ancient Age
II. Classical Age
(R) The Art of War: Barracks, Stable, and Tower may be constructed.
(B) City State: Allegiance and Taxation upgrades.
(G) Barter: Dock and Market may be constructed.
(Y) Written Word: Temple may be constructed. Units can cross seas.
III. Medieval Age
(R) Mercenaries: Siege Factory and Fort may be constructed.
(B) Empire: Religion upgrade.
(G) Coinage: May buy/sell resources at Market. May colonize other continents.
(Y) Mathematics: Granary and Lumber Mill may be constructed. Herbal Lore
and
Construction upgrades.
IV. Gunpowder Age
(R) Standing Army: Tactics and Fortification upgrades.
(B) Feudalism: Oath of Fealty and Vassalage upgrades.
(G) Trade: Your Caravans may trade with peaceful nations' Cities.
(Y) Chemistry: Smelter may be constructed. Medicine, Agriculture,
Architecture, Carpentry, Forage, and Literacy upgrades.
V. Enlightenment Age
(R) Conscription: Operations and Bombardment upgrades.
(B) Divine Right: Monotheism upgrade.
(G) Mercantilism: Only general commerce benefits received.
(Y) Laws of Nature: Crop Rotation, Logging Industry, Printing Press, and
Metal
Alloys upgrades.
VI. Industrial Age
(R) Levee en Masse: Only general military benefits received.
(B) Constitution: Patriotism and Social Contract upgrades.
(G) Finance: Only general commerce benefits received.
(Y) Electricity: Pharmaceuticals, Engineering, Scientific Method, Supply,
and
Cold Casting upgrades.
VII. Modern Age
(R) Nation-in-Arms: Strategy and Strategic Reserve upgrades.
(B) Great Power: Existentialism and Income Tax upgrades.
(G) Assembly Line: Only general commerce benefits received.
(Y) Electronics: Refinery may be constructed. Food Industry, Papermill, Steel,
and Institutional Research upgrades. Entire map becomes
explored.
VIII. Information Age
(R) Selective Service: Only general military benefits received.
(B) International Law: Nationalism upgrade.
(G) Globalization: Only general commerce benefits received.
(Y) Computerization: Logistics and Supercomputer upgrades. All buildings
and
units in your territory revealed.
Future Technologies
(R) Missile Shield: Enemy missiles cannot target you. Armageddon Clock turned
back by 2.
(B) World Government: All victory timers and assimilations are instantaneous.
(G) Global Prosperity: Resource gathering bonus. Commerce and Population
Limit
to maximum.
(Y) Artificial Intelligence: Units produced instantly.
This is the general benefits of all four researches. Research shown as
in game from top to bottom. :-
(R) Military - Increases Population Limit and allows new military units or
upgrades
(B) Civic - Increases maximum number of Cities and expands National Borders
(Y) Commerce - Increases Commerce Limit and Caravan Limit
(Y) Science - Decreases cost & time of other research, and increases
some units' Line-of-Sight
(R) = Red
(B) = Blue
(G) = Green
(Y) = Yellow
********************************************************************************
5.0 WONDERS
********************************************************************************
The various wonders in the game that can be built are:
Pyramids
--------
Available after researching Classical Age
Wonder point = 1
~Increase Commerce limit for Food & Wealth +50
~Increase City limit by +1
~Increase Food gather rate by 20%
Colossus
--------
Available after researching Classical Age
Wonder point = 1
~Increase Wealth income rate by 30%
~Raise Population limit +50
~Commerce limit for Wealth & Timber +50
Terra Cotta Army
----------------
Available after researching Medieval Age
Wonder point = 2
~Free foot units every 30seconds (+1/2 second(s) for every infantry unit
you
control)
Colosseum
---------
Available after researching Medieval Age
Wonder point = 2
~Increse National Border by +3
~Attrition damage on enemy increase 50%
~Forts & Towers are 20% cheaper
Temple of Tikal
---------------
Available after researching Gunpowder Age
Wonder point = 2
~Timber gather rate +50%
~Raise Commerce Cap of Timber +100
~Increase Temple effects (on National Border, hit points, attack range) by
50%
Porcelain Tower
---------------
Available after researching Gunpowder Age
Wonder Point = 2
~Ships create 50% faster
~Increase income of Rare Resource & Market 200%
~Bonus of all Rare Resources in territory even there is no Merchant there
Angkor Vat
----------
Available after researching Enlightenment Age
Wonder Point = 3
~Increase Metal gather rate 50%
~Raise Commerce limit for metal by 100
~Cost of Barracks, Stable & Dock units decrease 25%
Versailles
----------
Available after researching Enlightenment Age
Wonder Point = 3
~All non knowledge research cost 50%
~All Supply Wagon heal units (French's Supply Wagon double heal rate)
~Siege, Artillery & Supply Wagon move 25% faster
Statue of Liberty
-----------------
Available after researching Industrial Age
Wonder point = 4
~All ground unit & airbase free upgrade
~Reduce Attrition damage taken -100%
~Reduce Bombers & air defence building cost by 33%
Kremlin
-------
Available after researching Industrial Age
Wonder point = 4
~Increase Commerce limit for Food, Timber & Metal +200
~Increase attrition damage on enemy 100%
~Spies instant build plus an extra spy that cost no population and rebuilt
for
no cost if die.
Taj Mahal
---------
Available after researching Modern Age
Wonder point = 6
~Increase building hit point 100%
~Wealth income increase 100%
~Increase Commerce limit for Wealth +300
Eiffel Tower
------------
Available after researching Modern Age
Wonder point = 6
~Increase Oil production by 100%
~Increase Commerce limit for Oil +200
~Increase National Border +6
Supercollider
-------------
Available after researching Infomarion Age
Wonder point = 8
~The cost to buy goods at Market are always <125 & sell >50
~All technologies research instantneously
Space Program
-------------
Available after researching Infomarion Age
Wonder point = 8
~You can see all units, building, & terrain on map
~Aircraft & missiles build 100% faster & 50% cheaper
~You are immune to Nuclear Embargo
********************************************************************************
6.0 Rare Resources
********************************************************************************
Rare resources benefit can be earn by sending a merchant over to the resources
on land but for sea you'll need a fisherman's boat. Sea's rare resources
doens't look rare to me because there are plenty of them on map with vast
sea
area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Land Rare Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Aluminium: +20 Metal, +20 Oil
Aircraft costs reduced by 15% / speed increased by 25%
Amber: +10 Wood, +10 Gold
Market sell prices +10 and buy prices -10
Bison: +20 Food
Granary research costs reduced by 33%
Citrus: +10 Food, +10 Wood
Ships at sea heal automatically
Coal: +15 Knowledge, +15 Metal
Reduces all Timber costs by 25%
Copper: +30 Metal
Factory and Dock units receive +20% hit points
Cotton: +20 Wood
Barrackks, Stables, and Dock production times reduced by 25%
Diamonds: +20 Gold
Raises Commerce limit by 10%
Dye: +10 Food, +10 Knowledge
Cost of Civic research reduced by 25%
Furs: +10 Food, +10 Metal
Cost of Military reduce by 25%
Gems: +10 Gold, +10 Knowledge
National Borders +2
Horses: +15 Food, +15 Metal
Cost of Stable units reduced by 15%
Marble: +10 Food, +10 Metal
Cost to build Wonders reduced by 10%
Obsidian: +10 Knowledge, +10 Metal
Archers, Towers, Forts, and Cities qain +1 attack
Parypus: +10 Wood, +10 Knowledge
Cost of Science research reduced by 25%
Peacocks: +15 Gold, +15 Metal
+10% population limit
Relics: +20 Knowledge
Reduces research and upgrade times by 33%
*Rubber: +20 Wood, +20 Oil
Cost of Auto Plant units reduced by 15%
Salt: +10 Wood, +10 Metal
Cost of Commerce research reduced by 25%
Silk: +10 Wood, +10 Gold
Cost of Commerce research reduced by 25%
Silver: +10 Gold, +10 Metal
Age advancement cost reduced by 15%
Spice: +10 Food, +10 Knowledge
Caravan income increased by 20%
Sugar: +10 Food, +10 Wood
Reduces all Food costs by 10%
Sulphur: +15 Gold, +15 Metal
Cost of Siege/Artillery units reduced by 20%
*Titanium: +20 Food, +20 Oil
Attrition in enemy territory reduced by 50%
Tobacco: +10 Gold, +10 Knowledge
Citizens construct buildings and wonders 10% faster
*Uranium: +20 Knowledge, +20 Oil
Nuclear missiles 10% faster and 5% cheaper
Wine: +10 Food, +10 Knowledge
Cost of units upgrades reduced by 20%
Wool: +10 Wood, +10 Knowledge
Citizens produce 33% faster and 15% cheaper
Note: Someone mailed me bout this but I can't access into my email now. I'll
get this done by next update.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sea Rare Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fish: +10 Food, +10 Gold
Whales: +10 Food, +10 Metal
Increases sailing ship speed by 20%
******************************************************************************
7.0 BONUS CARD
******************************************************************************
Bonus card only can be use in Conquer the World Map. Cards are divided in
two
categories, ie. some can only use during battle and some can only be use
on
world map.
Blue Cards - Cards for battle only
Red Cards - Cards can only be use on World Map
Eureka Card (Blue Cards)
Start one battle with extra technology
- Start battle with extra 1 already researched technology for all technology
Civic/Commerce/Military/Science Eureka Card (Blue Cards)
Start one battle with extra technology
- Start battle with extra 2 already researched technology depending on which
card
Food/Knowledge/Metal/Timber/Wealth Economic Boom Card (Blue Cards)
Receive a 5% boost in production for this resource in one battle
- 5% is quite a lot for long battle but this card is not so useful to me
Cultural Dominance (Blue Cards)
Enemy nations are deprived of their nation powers for one battle
Skill Bonus (Blue Cards)
Start one battle with bonus +219/+187??? of each resource. The amount depends
on the number of your troops that survive a Field Battle or Tactic Scenario
- I'll do some research bout this card
Sabotage (Red Cards)
Reduce the territory strength of an enemy territory by two levels
- Drop a city til level 4 then use Treachery is my favourite method. Use
it to
lower high number City before attack. One of my favourite card.
Partisans (Blue Cards)
Invading enemy troops take 50% more attrition damage during one battle
- Good against toughest Babarian at Gates style battle. Useful in normal
battle
especially against toughest AI early rush.
Mercenaries (Blue Cards)
Begin one battle with extra troops
- Use this card against 1 army defending a low number city for an early rush.
Logistics (Blue Cards)
Units heal 100% faster and are immune to atrittion damage during one battle
- A great card but I believe I need to garrison my armies in buildings
whenever I'm not using French or didn't build Versailles.
Treachery (Red Cards)
Gain any non-capital territory without a fight. Target territory must be
adjacent to your nation and have a strenth of four or lower
- This card combined with Sabotage card open up a straight path to my way
to
my enemies' capital.
Wonder of the World (Red Cards)
Build a Wonder from this Age or an earlier Age in any occupied territory
- Let you build a Wonder of any available for current and past Ages.
Propaganda (Blue Cards)
Gain the use of the enemy nation power for one battle
- Nothing's better than fighting fire with fire.
Trade Embargo (Blue Cards)
Enemy nations gain no benefit from their strategic resource in one battle
- This card cripple a large nation but it's useless against a nation without
any resources.
Merchant Guild (Blue Cards)
Goods at the market are 20% cheaper to buy and earn 20% more when sold during
one battle
- Not sure how good is it but 20% is a lot. I don't really use the market
except in certain occasion.
Great Thinker (Blue Cards)
All research in the next battle is 20% faster and 20% cheaper
- Faster and cheaper research equals to easier battle
******************************************************************************
8.0 STRATEGIES
******************************************************************************
My strat goes according to my style so it won't be easy to follow each step.
I've beat the toughest AI with this strat but not always successful.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
STRATEGIES FOR CONQUER THE WORLD MAP:
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Some people might think that 21 turns are not enough to conquer the whole
world but I'm positive that it's possible because I've conquered the world
map
18 turns that is the 1st turn of Information Age. Tough difficulty not
toughest, will try :)
1. Expand to as many unoccupy land as possible but plan and choose where
you
should occupy 1st in order to get the most Supply Center, Rare
Resources
and even cards!!!
2. Use your battle cards wisely, never use on battle that is against only
1
enemy without reinforcement especially on City size 1-4. Not
worth it.
3. Try to make overrun attack whenever possible.
4. Conquer as many nation as possible before reaching Industrial Age. It's
harder to take over a high numbered City while you need to gather
so many
types of resources.
5. Always target enemy's Capital. This is the key to success.
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
STRATEGIES FOR BATTLE:
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Early game rush
Using Japanese/German against 1 Toughest AI
1. Move 2 peasants from Woodcutter's Camp to build 2 Farms. Train 3
peasants
and research Military technology. Scout explore.
2. First 2 peasants from City to Timber, last build a Barracks near
City.
3. Once Barracks done, peasants will automatically move to Woodcutter's
Camp.
Train 4 Ashigaru Spearmen then 1 Slinger.
4. Start attacking with 4 Ashigaru Spearmen and 1 slinger.
5. Research Science then Civic. Train 3 peasants.
6. 1 peasant build a new City, the other 2 peasants build a Tower.
7. Once new City done build Woodcutter's Camp. Research Attrition damage
once
Tower is done. Research Classical Age.
8. Build Mine once Classical Age research done. And keep on pumping
a
considerable amount of peasants to occupy Woodcutter's
Camp and Mine.
Upgrade Ashigaru Spearmen to Bashi. Build a University.
9. Build farm, market and research Commerce. Build another university.
10. Train some Bashi, few Slingers, and 1-2 archer. Move 1 peasant to repair
assimilating City.
11. Build Stable, Granary, Ore Refinery and another Tower near new City.
12. Build more farms and keep on training spearman, slinger and horsie +
upgrade whenever possible.
13. Build Siege Factory whenever possible incase enemy successfully build
a
tower.
Note:
You must know how to manage your army properly and don't give enemy a chance
to build a tower. If they have army coming out of their Barracks, move all
army to kill them 1st. Garrisoned City is not a threat due to their low
damage. If the first group of army died before they are able to capture a
City, don't move only 1 or few units as reinforcement or to continue their
attacks, make a large group before attacking. After several experiment, I've
concluded that you can only beat 1 toughest AI with this strat in Arena map
size. The key of this strat is capture the Capital 1st then slaughter those
peasants especially those building Barracks or Towers.
#I've master this strat and I'm able to beat toughest AI in 7mins time that
is before I'm able to research Attrition Damage.
******************************************************************************
9.0 HINTS & TIPS
******************************************************************************
There are many points that I've learn from experience and experimenting:-
1. City's attack rate and damage will always be the same no matter how many
peasants or foot units is garrisoned in it.
2. Slingers and Archer are both ranged unit but 2 Slingers is needed in a
Tower or Fort to do 1 Archer's work.
3. Don't pile up resources for no reason. Use all of it to train army,
research, or build buildings if possible.
4. Building an Ore Smelter in an area of City that has no Mine is useless.
It's the same with Granary and Lumber Mill but Oil Refinery's
affect all of
your oil resources.
5. Build new City near resources so you can later build resource enhancement
building to benefit you resource gather rate. Resource building
must be in
the economic radius circle in order to gain this benefit.
6. Oil Refinery's effect do stack so build a few to maximize your Oil income.
For example, 1 Oil Refinery increase 33% Oil production rate
while 2 will
increase 66% and so on.
7. Try to upgrade your military units according to age in order to get the
maximum potential. Try to overcome enemy's with better military.
For
example, Medieval units can kill Classical units easier.
8. Do not forget Air Defences once you enemy reach Industrial Age. One Air
Defence is not enough so build as many as possible. Air defences
are cheap
and can be constructed fast.
9. Siege Units are extremely useful. They can layer buildings extremle fast
from a far distance. It's not effective to use against enemy
units but
there is some exception. eg. Rocket Artillery can destroy tank
easily and
can take quite a large chunk of damage.
10. Your siege units splash damage will affect your on units.
11. Use pause button (P) in solo game whenever you need it or when you want
to
search for a strategic location to build City or buildings.
12. Spies and Generals are extremely useful. They can turn the tide of a
battle to your favor if used properly. At least 2 generals
and 4 spies
are advisable as support units in battle.
13. Mass Bomber and Air Fighter is one of the easiest way to win a battle
or
to destroy a massive amount of buildings and weakening
ground units.
Shall be adding more in the near future.
copyright: Dibyajyoti Deb 2004