Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 9 Week 7: Berbers vs Saracens

Battle of the camel + naval civs!

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 Lithuanians vs Malay, and next up is the Berbers vs Saracens!

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Berbers: Cavalry and Naval civilization

• Villagers move +10% faster
• Stable units cost -15/20% in Castle/Imperial Age
• Ships move +10% faster
• TEAM BONUS: Genitour available at Archery Range from Castle Age
• Unique Unit: Camel Archer (Powerful anti-cav archer cav archer)
• Unique Unit: Genitour (Mounted skirmisher available at Archery Range)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Kasbah (TEAM Castles work +25% faster)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Maghrebi Camels (Camel units regenerate)

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Saracens: Camel and Naval civilization

• Markets cost -100w; trade cost is only 5%
• Transport Ships 2x hp; +5 carry capacity
• Galleys attack +20% faster
• Archery Range units (except Skirms) +1/2/3 attack against buildings per Age
• TEAM BONUS: Foot Archers (including Skirms) +2 attack vs buildings
• Unique Unit: Mameluke (Expensive camel unit with powerful short-ranged attack)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Madrasah (Monks return 33% of their cost upon dying)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Zealotry (Camel units +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!

• For your 1v1 on open maps, both are civs that really want to feel good... but just aren't... quite... there. Berbers feel really blah until Castle Age, where they suddenly become a monster for pretty much the rest of the game (except vs Halb/Ram but that is a moot point in this match up). Meanwhile, Saracens always have their Market bonus to play around with, and their archers can certainly put some dents into buildings. However, they just don't have a super consistent military or economic bonus to accompany these nifty tools. What do you think?
• On closed maps like Arena, BF, and Hill Fort, Saracens can use some neat Market tricks to get to a quick Castle Age time and then do some work with archers, monks, and siege. Meanwhile, Berbers have a pretty generic FC, but upon reaching that Age, they have two extremely powerful options with either stable units or camel archers. Whose army comp is stronger vs the other when we take Feudal fights out of the picture?
• Both civs excel in camels, a camel UU, and navy. Which civs bonuses for those units do you prefer? Berber cheap camels vs generic ->zealotry camels, camel archers vs mamelukes, and speedy ships vs fast attacking ships. Seems pretty situational, no?

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

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Previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3