Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 10 Week 13: Britons vs Italians (3-year anniversary!!)

3 years straight of doing these weekly threads! Quick message at the bottom of the post :)

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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 Saracens vs Vikings, and next up is the Britons vs Italians!

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Britons: Foot Archer civilization

• Town Centers cost -50% wood starting in Castle Age
• Archer-line and Longbowmen get +1/+2 range in Castle/Imperial Age
• Shepherds work +25% faster
• TEAM BONUS: Archery Ranges work +20% faster
• Unique Unit: Longbowman (Powerful long-range foot archer)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Yeoman (+1 foot archer range; +2 Tower attack)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Warwolf (Trebuchets 100% accurate; deal blast damage)

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Italians: Archer and Naval civilization

• Advancing in Age costs -15%
• Dock techs cost -50%
• Fishing Ships cost -15%
• Gunpowder units cost -20%
• TEAM BONUS: Condottiero available at Barracks in Imperial Age
• Unique Unit: Genoese Crossbowman (Anti-cavalry foot archer)
• Unique Unit: Condottiero (Fast-moving, anti-gunpowder infantry)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Pavise (Foot archers and Condos get +1/+1 armor)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Silk Road (Trade units cost -50%)

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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!

• Alright, so here we go, this would seem a tough one for Italians but let's put our thinking caps on! For 1v1 on open maps, Britons are generally considered a very powerful civilization, despite the relative buff to melee units vis-à-vis better pathing. Italians meanwhile, are not so much a bad civ as an underwhelming one. The cheaper age up is nice, but that is about all they have going for them until late-game - other than a broad tech tree. Despite being outranged by Briton archers, can Italians find a way to make use of their more flexible tech tree to grant them victory?
• On closed maps, Britons can utilize their excellent boom, as well as not worry as much about the immobility of their army - and on maps like Arena and BF, maximize the limited area you need to attack/defend. Italians, meanwhile, can make certain aggressive plays happen with their cheaper age up, and potentially even go for a fast-Imp. Can a timing attack from Italians stop Britons before they get rolling?

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Thanks as always for participating! Next week we will continue our discussions with the Aztecs vs Portuguese. Hope to see you there! :)

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Previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

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Hey everybody - just wanted to say a quick thank you for being so active in your support for these threads! A lot of you may know me as that-other-caster-guy-you-watch-when-T90/Nili/Memb-aren't-online, but I actually started doing these threads *before* I ever started streaming. In fact, it was the initial success of these threads that led me to stream in the first place!

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Tbh, these threads do take a good 20 minutes of work to make each week, and although it's not that much, I wouldn't be doing this for 3 years if people weren't always very positive and active with thoughtful discussion. So yeah, thanks everyone - I am not stopping these anytime soon :) <3

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P.S. Bonus pic of my spreadsheet for these discussions. Blue = done, Red = not done, Purple = upcoming