Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 3 Week 7: Byzantines vs Malians

The civ with the largest Castle Age tech tree (Malians) vs the civ with the largest Imperial Age tech tree (Byzantines)!

Hello and welcome back for another Age of Empires 2 civilization match up discussion! This is a series where we discuss the various advantages, disadvantages, and quirks found within the numerous match ups of the game. The goal is to collectively gain a deeper understanding of how two civilizations interact with each other in a variety of different settings. Feel free to ask questions, pose strategies, or provide insight on how the two civilizations in question interact with each other on any map type and game mode. This is not limited to 1v1 either. Feel free to discuss how the civilizations compare in team games as well! So long as you are talking about how the two civilizations interact, anything is fair game! Last week we discussed the Ethiopians vs Vikings, and next up is the Byzantines vs Malians!

Byzantines: Bloodlines civilization

• Buildings +10/20/30/40% hit points in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
• Camels, Skirmishers, Pikemen cost -25%
• Fire Ships +20% attack
• Advance to Imperial Age costs -33%
• Town Watch free

• TEAM BONUS: Monks heal +50% faster

• Unique Unit: Cataphract (Heavy cavalry with attack bonus vs infantry)

• Castle Age Unique Tech: Greek Fire (Fire Ships +1 range)

• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Logistica (Cataphracts cause trample damage)

Malians: Infantry (and just about everything else) civilization

• Buildings cost -15% wood
• Barracks units +0/+1 armor per age (starting in Feudal Age)
• Gold Mining upgrade free

• TEAM BONUS: Universities research +80% faster

• Unique Unit: Gbeto (Fast, fragile, powerful, ranged infantry)

• Castle Age Unique Tech: Tigui (Town Centers fire extra arrows, even when not garrisoned)

• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Farimba (Cavalry +5 attack)

Below are some match up-specific talking points to get you all started. These are just to give people ideas, you do not need to address them specifically if you do not want to!

• Both of these civs are incredibly versatile and viable on a wide variety of map types. This means our discussion here can go in just about any direction! I think these two civs are at least relatively evenly matched on Arabia, Arena, Water Maps, and Closed Maps. The only clear cut cases of civ advantage in my opinion is that Malians are a decisively better civ on Nomad and in team games.
• In the event that the Byzantine players gets to fully upgraded Cataphracts, is there any unit in the Malian arsenal that can stop them?
• How can a Byzantine player keep up in the early game with the incredibly powerful Malian economy bonuses?

Thank you as always for participating! Next week we will continue our discussions with the Magyars vs Mayans. Hope to see you there! :)

Links to previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2