Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 11 Week 12: Sicilians vs Slavs

Our first week with the Sicilians!... oh boy... 11

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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 Huns vs Malay, and next up is the Sicilians vs Slavs!

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Sicilians: Infantry civilization

• Castles and Town Centers built +100% faster
• Land military units (except siege) receive -50% bonus damage
• Farm upgrades provide +100% additional food
• Can build Donjon in Feudal Age
• TEAM BONUS: Transport Ships +5 carry capacity; +10 anti-ship armor
• Unique Unit: Serjeant (Heavy infantry that can build Donjon)
• Unique Building: Donjon (Powerful tower that can train Serjeants)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: First Crusade (Each TC (max. 5) spawns a one-time batch of 7 Serjeants)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Scutage (Each team member receives 15g per military unit they own)

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Slavs: Infantry and Siege civilization

• Farmers work +10% faster
• Supplies free
• Siege Workshop units cost -15%
• TEAM BONUS: Military buildings provide +5 pop space
• Unique Unit: Boyar (Heavily armored cavalry)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Orthodoxy (Monks +3/+3 armor)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Druzhina (Infantry deal 5 trample damage)

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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!

• Okay, let's see what we've got here. For 1v1 Arabia, Slavs are usually considered to be fairly strong, if not quite top-tier. Their excellent eco, infantry, cav, and siege are only hampered by their mediocre archers. Sicilians, meanwhile, are still a somewhat unknown quantity. They do pretty much everything decently, but do not excel in any one area. Their bonus damage reduction is quite handy though. What do you guys think?
• Similarly, on closed maps, Slavs are generally seen as a very powerful pick. They have a fantastic boom, as well as a deadly late game army of infantry and siege, or maybe even Boyars! Sicilians are pretty resilient and can spam lots of Donjons, but would appear to lack any real power unit. How do you see this one going?

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

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Previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3