Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 5 Week 7: Japanese vs Saracens

Battle of the only two civs that have 100% complete Archery Range tech trees!... and neither are "archer civs" ornluaLUL

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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 Byzantines vs Turks, and next up is the Japanese vs Saracens!

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Japanese: Infantry^{and Naval} civilization

• Fishing Ships 2x hp; +0/+2 armor; +5/10/15/20% work rate in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
• Mills, Lumber Camps, and Mining Camps cost -50%
• Infantry attack +33% faster starting in Feudal Age
• TEAM BONUS: Galleys +50% LoS
• Unique Unit: Samurai (Infantry with very fast attack and bonus vs other UUs)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Yasama (Towers fire +2 additional arrows)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Kataparuto (Trebuchets fire +33% faster; pack 4x faster)

Saracens: Camel and Naval civilization

• Markets cost -75w; trade only costs 5%
• Transport Ships 2x hit points and +5 capacity
• Galleys fire +25% faster
• Cavalry Archers +4 attack vs buildings
• TEAM BONUS: Foot Archers +2 attack vs buildings
• Unique Unit: Mameluke (Camel with short-ranged melee attack)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Madrasah (Killed Monks return 33% of their cost)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Zealotry (Camels and Mamelukes +30 hp)

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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!

• So obviously Japanese are usually considered better across the board blah blah blah - that's not thinking creatively! It strikes me that both of these civs are considred fairly strong on Arena, although not nearly top tier. Both have excellent smushes, while Japanese have better halbs and Saracens have better siege. Whom do you prefer?
• So on water maps... Japanese are pretty much universally considered a top 3 water civ, whereas Saracens, while being pretty good, aren't usually at that level. Is there any hope for Saracens on the water vs Japanese?
• As a pocket civ in a team game, do you prefer the better early eco, halbs, and towers of the Japanese, or do you value the slow to get going, but immense strength of the Saracens in the late game?

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

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Previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2