Persians vs. Malians

I know I am going to get 20 entirely unhelpful replies that are variants on "beat them before they get built up", but I will ask anyway, how do you beat the Malians 1 v 1 on a land map as Persians?

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(It would be nice if anyone who replies had actually played this match-up a couple of times.)

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I really feel like the Malians are just better versions of the Persians (that rhymes!). In fact, it seems like the sound track for this matchup should be the song "anything you can do, I can do better".

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Let's break it down:

Monks: Malians are MUCH MUCH better than Persians.

Infantry: Sure, the Persians have Halbs (and Malians don't), but the Malians have Champskarls and Gbetos to absolutely decimate Persian infantry (Translation, Malians are MUCH MUCH BETTER than Persians in terms of Infantry).

Archers: Okay, so the Malians miss Bracer, but SO DO the Persians, and the Malians have Arbalest whereas the Persians don't. Malians have everything else the Persians have except Parthian Tactics. Big deal. Persian Cav Archers would hardly be worth it in this match-up (they only barely have the advantage vs. Malian Elite Gbetos and would lose to Champskarls and Malian Heavy Camels quite easily). The Malians are CLEARLY BETTER than the Persians here too.

Cavalry: Cavalry is the Persian's wheelhouse, and the Malians lack Paladin and Hussar upgrades and the last +2 attack upgrade. But with Farimba, even the Malian Cavaliers hold with Persian Paladins, not to mention the Malians Light Cavalry BEAT Persian Hussars. If, by some miracle, the Persians could actually make Elite War Elephants, they would get a boost there, since Malians lack Halbs, but the Malian monks are amazing, so that would be a terrible idea anyway (Malian monks have every tech except for Illumination). So, the Malians are EVEN BETTER than Persian cavalry!!! (And throw in the amazing Malian Heavy Camels for good measure).

Siege: Both civs lack siege engineers, and the Malians get Siege Onagers! Persians do get Heavy Scorps and Siege Ram, but against the aforementioned Malian cavalry and the Elite Gbetos with SIX range, neither one can really make much difference here. Again, BIG ADVANTAGE to the Malians!

Fortifications: Persians and Malians both have Architecture upgrade. Persians get tougher Town Centers, but Malian Town Centers fire arrows. And of course Malians also get Keeps, treadmill crane, and fortified walls, so again, BIG ADVANTAGE to Malians here also.

Economy: Persians start well with +50 wood and +50 food, and have faster Town Centers starting in the Feudal Age, but the Malian -15% wood bonus is quite strong, and they also get free Gold Mining. Persians do get the last Wood Chopping upgrade, but by then the Malians have already long since secured their wood advantage. Maybe this category could be called a push, maybe.

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I just don't see how (given equal skill between players) the Malians wouldn't be able to counter EVERYTHING that the Persians can dish out and then do them one better in nearly every area.

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Exactly why were the Malians given Fortified Walls, Siege Onagers, Heresy, and much better monks than the Persians? Even if you took all those things away from the Malians it would still be a dog fight. Maybe a better question for this thread is, if you took away the Malian's Fortified Walls, Siege Onagers, Heresy, and much better monks, would they still have the advantage vs. Persians on 1 vs. 1 land maps?