Civilization Match-up Discussion Round 11 Week 4: Bulgarians vs Goths

"So which Roman Empire did you fight?"

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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 Ethiopians vs Malians, and next up is the Bulgarians vs Goths!

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Bulgarians: Infantry and Cavalry civ

• Militia-line upgrades free
• TCs costs -50% stone
• Blacksmith and Siege Workshop upgrades cost -50% food
• Can build Kreposts
• TEAM BONUS: Blacksmiths research +80% faster
• Unique Unit: Konnik (Heavy cavalry that becomes an infantry when felled)
• Unique Building: Krepost (Cheaper, smaller, weaker Castles that can only train Konniks)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Stirrups (Cavalry attack +33% faster)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Bagains (Militia-line gain +5/+0 armor)

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Goths: Infantry civilization

• Infantry cost -20/25/30/35% per Age
• Infantry +1/2/3 attack vs buildings in Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age
• Villagers +5 attack vs wild boar; hunters carry +15 meat
• Loom can be researched instantly
• +10 maximum population in Imperial Age
• TEAM BONUS: Barracks work +20% faster
• Unique Unit: Huskarl (High pierce armor infantry with attack bonus vs archers)
• Castle Age Unique Tech: Anarchy (Can create Huskarls at Barracks)
• Imperial Age Unique Tech: Perfusion (Barracks work +100% faster)

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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!

• Alrighty everybody - time to recall our minds from complaining about First Crusade and Coustilliers ;). So for these civs on 1v1 Arabia, Goths are usually fairly lowly rated by higher-level players, however they always have the potential to run you over in the early game with laming, and in the late game with Goths.exe. Bulgarians used to be thought of rather poorly as well, but after some buffs a little while back, people seem to be experimenting around with them a bit more. Missing Xbow is normally a huge deal... but less so vs Goths. Bagains might be very useful here too. What do you guys think?
• Okay since they are in the map pool now, on *really* aggressive maps like Atacama and Seize the Hump Mountain, both of these civs are very strong. They both possess excellent early Feudal Age M@A play, and then have some strong options from there. Which civ do you think has the edge in those early Feudal Age infantry fights, and which civ has the better transition to midgame?

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

Previous discussions: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3