Some have expressed interest in this build. So I thought I'd post the build and a game recording to go along with it. Please keep in mind it's a very memey build and very tight so don't expect too much from it. The whole build revolves around the element of surprise.
Also a note about the game recording, I'm obviously not a great player so there are definitely areas where the build can be improved. I lost the starting scout in this game, we were a lot closer than expected. Despite that it still worked.
In theory it shouldn't work BUT there are 3 factors that can get it over that hump in some cases:
Here's the build order
Fastest up time I managed was 8:15. I believe I can probably improve it by a few seconds, maybe a pro can get that under 8 minutes even. One of the issues is a bit of TC idle time while waiting for food to hit 500. Maybe better players can manage to reduce or eliminate that gap altogether. In fact in the game I attached where I lost the scout I made 1 more villager because I had the pop space and still managed an up time of 8:28...since a villager takes 25 seconds to create I believe getting to that magical 8:00 minute mark is possible.
Dark age:
I build 2 houses and don't build the 3rd one until feudal. Then I task villagers 1-10 on food. I get both boars asap but try to have at least 3 villagers on sheep at all times. Villagers 11-14 go to build a lumber camp. As soon as the lumber camp is up I send one of the food villagers over to collect berries and eventually build a mill as soon as I have 100 wood. The mill and 500 food should happen nearly simultaneously around the 6 minute mark.
Aging to Feudal:
Then put 4 to 5 food villagers on stragglers to gather wood for a barracks. Around 25% up to feudal, the mill villager would start making the trek over to the enemy base which hopefully you've scouted already. Barracks is to be built by a food villager at home around the 50% up to feudal point.
Feudal age:
By the time you hit feudal you should have enough wood for a stable and should be close enough to the enemy to plop a stable down. In the meantime at home task a villager to build a house to have pop room. You can attack as soon as you hit feudal actually, just make sure you find an isolated villager. But as soon as more scouts come out you can just pile on the pressure. Also I take the forward villager and build a sneak tower...in the game attached I planted it behind one of his main woodlines denying wood. They will wall so this is an integral part of the strat. Also make sure to build a blacksmith to eventually get the armour upgrade, this is important because they will make spears. And eventually get bloodlines too so put a couple of villagers on gold at some point. I usually make a 2nd stable as well and turn up the pressure more and more.
Eco management at home:
Once villagers run out of boar/sheep put them on berries. The great part is that you should still have all your berries so food income should be consistent. The straggler tree villagers start building farms or houses as needed. And like that you slowly build up your farm eco and continue alternating between scouts and villager production. Will you be able to sustain both scout and villager production at home? Not at first but soon it shouldn't be an issue. Remember this strat is designed to claw the opponent back to your level with scout pressure.
Remember this is a very all in strat...castle age is a possibility but you're looking to finish them off in feudal. In the attached game you can see I missed several opportunities to get more vill kills but overall the pressure and the panic caused plenty of damage.
I'm open to criticism of course, but I'm not a very high level player so go easy on me. Any feedback is welcome. And if you're one of the victims of this strat, I apologize I know it's frustrating to play against.
Also a note about the game recording, I'm obviously not a great player so there are definitely areas where the build can be improved. I lost the starting scout in this game, we were a lot closer than expected. Despite that it still worked.
In theory it shouldn't work BUT there are 3 factors that can get it over that hump in some cases:
- walking the villager to enemy base reduces scout travel time - scouts pop out and are instantly in the fray. this is supported by the Magyar 1 hit-kill vs wolves meaning wolves will not slow down your villager. This actually happened in the game I attached so it's a great example.
- cheaper scouts - while they're not a massive discount, it still helps take some pressure off that early eco and the more scouts you make the more you dip into that bonus. with Magyars it's important to really lean into their strengths and bonuses. Mongols get you up faster but don't save you any food, Magyars do.
- free forging - having that early power spike is so important. even 2 scouts can make quick work of a couple of exposed villagers. Mongol scouts are out quick, but with my strat so are Magyar scouts but they hit harder.
Here's the build order
Fastest up time I managed was 8:15. I believe I can probably improve it by a few seconds, maybe a pro can get that under 8 minutes even. One of the issues is a bit of TC idle time while waiting for food to hit 500. Maybe better players can manage to reduce or eliminate that gap altogether. In fact in the game I attached where I lost the scout I made 1 more villager because I had the pop space and still managed an up time of 8:28...since a villager takes 25 seconds to create I believe getting to that magical 8:00 minute mark is possible.
Dark age:
I build 2 houses and don't build the 3rd one until feudal. Then I task villagers 1-10 on food. I get both boars asap but try to have at least 3 villagers on sheep at all times. Villagers 11-14 go to build a lumber camp. As soon as the lumber camp is up I send one of the food villagers over to collect berries and eventually build a mill as soon as I have 100 wood. The mill and 500 food should happen nearly simultaneously around the 6 minute mark.
Aging to Feudal:
Then put 4 to 5 food villagers on stragglers to gather wood for a barracks. Around 25% up to feudal, the mill villager would start making the trek over to the enemy base which hopefully you've scouted already. Barracks is to be built by a food villager at home around the 50% up to feudal point.
Feudal age:
By the time you hit feudal you should have enough wood for a stable and should be close enough to the enemy to plop a stable down. In the meantime at home task a villager to build a house to have pop room. You can attack as soon as you hit feudal actually, just make sure you find an isolated villager. But as soon as more scouts come out you can just pile on the pressure. Also I take the forward villager and build a sneak tower...in the game attached I planted it behind one of his main woodlines denying wood. They will wall so this is an integral part of the strat. Also make sure to build a blacksmith to eventually get the armour upgrade, this is important because they will make spears. And eventually get bloodlines too so put a couple of villagers on gold at some point. I usually make a 2nd stable as well and turn up the pressure more and more.
Eco management at home:
Once villagers run out of boar/sheep put them on berries. The great part is that you should still have all your berries so food income should be consistent. The straggler tree villagers start building farms or houses as needed. And like that you slowly build up your farm eco and continue alternating between scouts and villager production. Will you be able to sustain both scout and villager production at home? Not at first but soon it shouldn't be an issue. Remember this strat is designed to claw the opponent back to your level with scout pressure.
Remember this is a very all in strat...castle age is a possibility but you're looking to finish them off in feudal. In the attached game you can see I missed several opportunities to get more vill kills but overall the pressure and the panic caused plenty of damage.
I'm open to criticism of course, but I'm not a very high level player so go easy on me. Any feedback is welcome. And if you're one of the victims of this strat, I apologize I know it's frustrating to play against.
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