Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition brought some changes into certain civilisations trash war, some of which were not so good before and are now worth considering.
For obvious reasons I'm not going to rank the following civs trash war potential due to the fact most people are very subjective on the matter. Some prefer mobility like hussar, others prefer meat shields like halbs and I guess some like a range unit, the elite skirm. You can rank these yourself. If you see a ^SR in the civs listed below. It means they have siege ram, another unit seen in trash wars. A second post may be made for honourable mentions.
Spanish: They still have access to fully upgraded Hussar + Elite Skirmisher + Halberdier. None of the new AOE2 DE civs have taken this away from the Spanish. ^SR
Byzantines: Skirms and Halbs still cost -25% less although their Hussars lack bloodlines. They also lack blast furnace but overall they are still cost effective to use. ^SR
Magyars: Their Unique Unit; the Magyar Huszar can become trash after mercenaries is done. Overall still a solid trash unit albeit castle tied. But very worth the price in trash wars especially as a siege sniper. Magyars also have 15% cheaper Hussars as a backup, FU Elite Skirms but sadly their Halbs miss both Squires and Plate Mail Armour. Despite this, Magyar trash war is still formidable.
Malay: Forced Levy 2h Swordsmen. Although they got nerfed going from 60 food to 65 food, and although they lack champion. Overall this unit can counter Halbs, Eagles and Skirms extremely well, can potentially counter gothic huskarls, however you may be a bit troubled against FU Hussars. Especially if the Hussars have any civ bonuses (part of the reason I want them to be 60f again).
While goldless 2h swordsmen is nice. Malay lack any good mobile trash unit, given that their light cav misses both bloodlines and chain barding. They do have access to FU Elite Skirm and Halb however, so if mobility isn't an issue. Malay can be quite a powerful contender.
Persians: previously they had an okay trash line, FU Hussar + FU Halb but Bracerless Elite Skirms (but they had thumb ring). With boiling oil gone, Kamarandan takes its place, and this tech removes the gold cost of their Crossbowman line and doubles their base 25w wood cost to 50w. Even if they lack bracer. At 0 gold, bracerless xbow can be a lovely addition to trash wars. Most people seem to think skirms are a mere soft counter to halbs and that the skirms need a little bit of meat shield vs halbs to trade evenly. Crossbow completely mitigate that need and deal with halbs pretty effectively at any numbers. I personally feel this is one of the stronger trash war civ contenders. But I've yet to see it in play. ^SR
Lithuanians: Spearmen and Skirmishers move 10% faster. After Squires is researched, Lithuanians have the fastest Halbs in the game alongside the fastest Elite Skirms. They also potentially have the highest attack Hussars (which could even pass farimba light cavalry) but this is assuming you have relics (for each relic all mounted units gain an additional attack). But relic control very much depends on the outcome of the game. Despite that though they have a decent trash line option where even their unique tech Tower Shields gives halbs + skirms an extra 1 piece armour giving their skirms 0+3/4+5 armour. This semi negates the missing armour (maxing out 3 PA) Lithuanian halbs get (0+2/0+3) since they do not get plate mail armour, but their melee armour remains at 2 max which can matter vs units such as Elite Cataphract. Overall a contender for trash wars nonetheless.
Cumans: many of you may be sick of seeing this civ, and that's understandable but they also do get notable bonuses. Their hussar moves an additional 10% faster ontop of husbandry making them the fastest cavalry trash unit in the game. Ontop of that Steppe Husbandry allows LCav + HCA to be made 80% faster. They also get access to Halberdiers which are FU and their Elite Skirms miss Bracer. Cumans are already deemed to be a strong 1v1 civ so how scary is it when they're out of gold they're still a viable civ late game? ^SR
Bulgarians: FU Hussar + FU Halb but ESkirm misses final armour up (has thumb ring). UT Stirrups makes Scout line attack faster. ^SR
For obvious reasons I'm not going to rank the following civs trash war potential due to the fact most people are very subjective on the matter. Some prefer mobility like hussar, others prefer meat shields like halbs and I guess some like a range unit, the elite skirm. You can rank these yourself. If you see a ^SR in the civs listed below. It means they have siege ram, another unit seen in trash wars. A second post may be made for honourable mentions.
Spanish: They still have access to fully upgraded Hussar + Elite Skirmisher + Halberdier. None of the new AOE2 DE civs have taken this away from the Spanish. ^SR
Byzantines: Skirms and Halbs still cost -25% less although their Hussars lack bloodlines. They also lack blast furnace but overall they are still cost effective to use. ^SR
Magyars: Their Unique Unit; the Magyar Huszar can become trash after mercenaries is done. Overall still a solid trash unit albeit castle tied. But very worth the price in trash wars especially as a siege sniper. Magyars also have 15% cheaper Hussars as a backup, FU Elite Skirms but sadly their Halbs miss both Squires and Plate Mail Armour. Despite this, Magyar trash war is still formidable.
Malay: Forced Levy 2h Swordsmen. Although they got nerfed going from 60 food to 65 food, and although they lack champion. Overall this unit can counter Halbs, Eagles and Skirms extremely well, can potentially counter gothic huskarls, however you may be a bit troubled against FU Hussars. Especially if the Hussars have any civ bonuses (part of the reason I want them to be 60f again).
While goldless 2h swordsmen is nice. Malay lack any good mobile trash unit, given that their light cav misses both bloodlines and chain barding. They do have access to FU Elite Skirm and Halb however, so if mobility isn't an issue. Malay can be quite a powerful contender.
Persians: previously they had an okay trash line, FU Hussar + FU Halb but Bracerless Elite Skirms (but they had thumb ring). With boiling oil gone, Kamarandan takes its place, and this tech removes the gold cost of their Crossbowman line and doubles their base 25w wood cost to 50w. Even if they lack bracer. At 0 gold, bracerless xbow can be a lovely addition to trash wars. Most people seem to think skirms are a mere soft counter to halbs and that the skirms need a little bit of meat shield vs halbs to trade evenly. Crossbow completely mitigate that need and deal with halbs pretty effectively at any numbers. I personally feel this is one of the stronger trash war civ contenders. But I've yet to see it in play. ^SR
Lithuanians: Spearmen and Skirmishers move 10% faster. After Squires is researched, Lithuanians have the fastest Halbs in the game alongside the fastest Elite Skirms. They also potentially have the highest attack Hussars (which could even pass farimba light cavalry) but this is assuming you have relics (for each relic all mounted units gain an additional attack). But relic control very much depends on the outcome of the game. Despite that though they have a decent trash line option where even their unique tech Tower Shields gives halbs + skirms an extra 1 piece armour giving their skirms 0+3/4+5 armour. This semi negates the missing armour (maxing out 3 PA) Lithuanian halbs get (0+2/0+3) since they do not get plate mail armour, but their melee armour remains at 2 max which can matter vs units such as Elite Cataphract. Overall a contender for trash wars nonetheless.
Cumans: many of you may be sick of seeing this civ, and that's understandable but they also do get notable bonuses. Their hussar moves an additional 10% faster ontop of husbandry making them the fastest cavalry trash unit in the game. Ontop of that Steppe Husbandry allows LCav + HCA to be made 80% faster. They also get access to Halberdiers which are FU and their Elite Skirms miss Bracer. Cumans are already deemed to be a strong 1v1 civ so how scary is it when they're out of gold they're still a viable civ late game? ^SR
Bulgarians: FU Hussar + FU Halb but ESkirm misses final armour up (has thumb ring). UT Stirrups makes Scout line attack faster. ^SR
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