Top 10 Arb + Siege push civs

Hi all! This is a top10 for civs that could excel or at least, have good bonuses towards the early Imperial Age Arbalester + Siege push. This strategy is based on the huge power spike Xbows get just upon hitting Imperial when they are upgraded to Arbalesters (+1 attack, +5HP) and Bracer is researched (+1 attack, +1 range). When you go Arb + Siege, you should have massed as many Xbows as possible by the time you hit Imperial. That’s why it’s very important to keep them alive while advancing. Siege will always be needed, due to the slow building razing of Arbalesters. Siege Rams raze buildings and are a diversion for enemy ranged units (especially Skirmishers and enemy Archers). Onagers shred enemy ranged units, Scorpions, Rams and enemy Onagers. BBCs raze buildings, other Siege units and groups of units and Trebuchets destroy buildings. I wrote “early Imperial” because once your enemy researches Plate Barding Armor, upgrades to Paladin, high pierce armor UUs/Eagles, their Siege or masses enough Skirmishers, this push loses both the surprise effect and effectiveness.

This top 10 is purely subjective, and thus can, as always, be discussed on comments. Those comments are welcome and will give everybody a bit to think about regarding this strategy. The criteria I used were: availability of FU Arbalesters and bonuses towards them, economy bonuses to get faster to Imperial Age, siege options + bonuses towards siege + siege counters (including Redemption + Block Printing Monks) and mid-Imperial options if the push fails. I’ll start with two honorable mentions for civs who didn’t make it to the list:

Honorable mention 1: Saracens. With a complete Archery Range and Siege Workshop (only lacking Heavy Scorpion), Saracens could carry out this strategy. They have the chance to go 1 TC, selling the starting 200 stone and the first 300-400 stone they mine for higher gold availability to buy the Imperial Age or Xbows. A straight bonus towards these units is missed here (I can’t really count on the Foot Archer +2 attack vs buildings).

Honorable mention 2: Vietnamese. The anti-archer civ could perfectly well do an Arb + Siege push, with their tankier Arbalesters (48HP) and the chance to transition at any time into anti-range Rattans. Their siege is generic, with Onagers and BBCs being useful there. I still feel that civs that made it to the top 10 are better, though.

10th Portuguese: The gold discount is the main reason for Portuguese to be here. They’re usually chosen by pros at 2v2 Bo5 or Bo7 civ drafts as the Archer civ. With FU Arbalesters costing only 36 gold, every 5 of them you create will save you gold for another one. Any support non-trash unit will also be discounted (Onagers 108 gold instead of 135, Trebs 160 gold instead of 200, BBCs 180 gold instead of 225, Cavaliers 60 gold, Monks 80 gold,…), which can be crucial to afford more units, save gold for upgrades and delay gold scarcity. Regarding the momentum, Ports have here a bonus that shines (Techs are researched 30% faster), which can be the difference for upgrades (Arbalester, Bracer, CHEMISTRY,…) to be researched faster and be able to take a fight before the opponent gets upgrades. If the Arb + Siege push fails, Ports will continue saving gold for other units, and the Feitoria option will leave them above any civ without gold. Their main weakness is precisely getting to Imperial Age unharmed, against any other civ with an eco bonus.

9th Chinese: After the 2 vill advantage is not anymore important due to all the rushes that happened in Feudal and Castle Age, Chinese have a great ease in Imperial Age when getting to their Arb + Siege: Researching Arbalester, Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Chemistry and Onager or Siege Ram means saving 690 resources. You add the savings to the early eco and the Chinese versatility and you get a civ that can do an effective Arb +Siege push. Later they could transition to Chukonus against stronger Archer civs and mix in any FU unit to support them (which will also be easier to tech into). Their main weakness is called BBC. Without a “Siege eater” (best option seems FU Cavalier) and lacking both their own BBCs and Redemption Monks, BBCs counter badly Chinese.

8th Koreans: This is another civ that needs to “buy time” to get to their full potential. With free archer armor upgrades, Koreans are also regarded as an anti-archer civ, with Skirmishers (28 wood) being more viable to be mixed with Archers against pure Archer civs. The Archer line is also discounted (20 wood), although the discount is modest when compared to that of Portuguese gold discount. I put them over the last two due to many reasons: First, their eco bonus is oriented to Stone buildings, which favors both Korean Towers (Map Control, stop Xbow pushes, FU 13 range = BBC with Siege Engineers) and Castles (Map control, War Wagons and Unique Techs that affect Towers and Onagers). Second, Koreans save 900 resources from techs (Archer armors) that will DEFINITELY need. Third, they get both BBC and insane Onagers to protect their push. And fourth, a late transition into War Wagons, when eco is stronger, means death for many civs. The Hussar or Halb + War Wagon + BBC combo is very difficult to stop. The Korean weakness is again, needing the time to get to that army composition. That’s why a Trush or m@a into Skirms opening are so important for Koreans.

7th Byzantines: With 600 resources saved when advancing to Imperial Age, if you let Byz get unharmed to the last Age, you’ll have a hard time. First, Byz will surely try to defend form attacks with their discounted units (Camels, Skirmishers and Pikemen), but, with 667 Food and 533 Gold, they will have bought the chance not only to upgrade these units, but also to get a head start in the Arb + Siege push. They get access to Siege Ram, Onager and BBC, can mix in any cheap counter, and, if that fails, can spam counters until they tech into Cataphracts, which are so damn difficult to deal with. A general rule is not to let Byz get to Imperial Age, and thus their weakness is the early game.

6th Italians: Here and there you can find bonuses and techs that will help you get to the Arb + Siege push. First, the cheaper Age advancing cost. They won’t save as much as Byzantines, but the savings are available earlier (75 + 150 + 270 resources), and that has a lower impact on the mostly weak (if there’s no water) Italian early game. Then, BBCs are discounted (180 wood 180 gold), which is still better than Portuguese only gold discount. They also get discounts on techs that are necessary for the push (Ballistics and Chemistry for a total of 322 resources). Finally, they have a Unique Tech (Pavise) that increases Arbalester armor. Later they can transition against Camel/Cavalry civs to Genoese Crossbowmen or add FU Hussars for a pretty good late game composition.

5th Malay: One of the oddest civs to play due to the faster age advance time, once you know how to play with them they could become deadly. They have the least tanky elephants, but the most viable as well, FU Arbalesters, a trash trash-killer and a mosquito which is the nightmare for meso civs. The advice for noobs here is: Instead of advancing early and finding yourself with low resources to spend, advance a couple of vills later and get to the next Age at the same time as your opponent but with more vills. Malay don’t have, as I said, high quality troops (except Arbalesters), but rely on their bonuses and numbers to shred many “strong” civs. The surprise factor would be, obviously, a faster advance to Imperial Age to get to their Arbalesters and Onagers. Then, they can add BBCs and FU Halbs (as a meatshield especially against Cavalry/Camels). That’s the momentum for Malay. If that push fails, Malay still could research Forced Levy and face any trash unit that could be spammed by the enemy with their only food costing 2-Handed Swordsmen. Malay weaknesses are, precisely, the weakness of their Stable units for mid-late game, and the good usage of their faster advancing.

4th Ethiopians: It’s a matter of quality to decide whether Ethiopian Archers are the best in the game. The 18% faster firing of these units, if massed, can become a deathball for enemies. With their extra food and gold for Age advance (with huge impact in early game and lower impact for Imperial Age), they can start massing Archers that will later become Arbalesters. Their high quality means that, many times, enemies have to rely on Skirmishers or Cavalry due to the superior performance of Ethiopian Archer line (and that delays Age advancing). Although they have no bonus towards the Imperial Age, the aggression can become the eco advantage for Ethiopians. In Imperial Age, they also can mix in high quality Siege units (complete Siege Workshop) with Torsion Engines, a costly Unique Tech that will give still more power to Siege. The only issue about Ethiopians is that, lacking many infantry and cavalry options, if the Arb + Siege push fails, there’s no plan B.

3rd Britons: Briton Arbalesters compete with Ethiopians for the title of the best in the game. While some people may argue for the high damage output of Ethiopians, others will argue for the 11 range of FU Arbalesters (even though they lack Thumb Ring). Britons are the fastest Archer-line spammers, with Archery Ranges working 20% faster. They also get an early eco bonus for shepherds (1 vill advantage while herdables are being exploited) and another one for mid-game (2x1 in terms of wood for Castle Age TCs). This allows them to put early pressure and boom faster. In Castle Age they’ll get an important military bonus with 8 range xbows, which, as happened with Ethiopians, nearly forces the opponent to go for Xbow counters. When advancing to Imperial Age, Xbows get another +1 range before researching Bracer, and Yeomen (though expensive) is worthwhile due to the extra +1 range it grants to foot Archers. Britons, due to range, have the foot archers that are less vulnerable to Onager shots, and a critical mass can kill Onagers before Onagers get in range to shoot. Briton Siege is average, but Warwolf Trebuchets can act as BBC (in fact, the area damage of Trebs, 11 range Arbalesters and 12 range Longbowmen are the best BBC counters for Britons), especially against enemy Siege and piled Skirmishers. A late transition into Longbowmen (+1 attack +1 range, -5 gold per unit) is possible, but Britons are overall very oriented to foot Archers. Their main weakness are Rams, who absorb arrow damage while letting the rest of the enemy units get close to the Briton Archer mass.

2nd Mayans: Archers cost 23 wood 41 gold in Feudal Age, 20 wood 41 gold in Castle Age and 18 wood 32 gold in Imperial Age. Are they enough savings for this strategy to be available? Mayans, as a meso civ, have also the least food dependent economy, so, apart from eco upgrades, military upgrades and a couple of Eagles/Pikes, all the food they can gather could be used for advancing to Imperial Age. They also have a very good eco bonus on the starting extra vill and longer lasting resources, which helps a lot not only with mines depleting later, but with lumber camps needing to be relocated less frequently. Massing archers will be cheaper as the game goes on and, although lacking BBCs, they get Siege Ram and Onagers to deal with Skirmishers. If the enemy masses enough Archer counters, Mayans can switch into El Dorado Eagles, who eat Siege and Ranged units (except for gunpowder) and raid efficiently, or Plumed Archers, who, with their HP, pierce armor and fast moving, become Arbalesters in steroids. Mayans’ weaknesses are BBCs (which need to be killed with Eagles or Plumed Archers) and Heavy Cavalry in general, which forces the Mayans to tech into Halbs to protect both Archers and Siege.

1st Vikings: These guys have generic FU Arbalester and no bonus towards siege, but get the best eco bonus in the game and they can afford nearly anything if their economy grows steadily. Free Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart is undoubtedly the power spike for a civ that misses many techs and upgrades that become power spikes. This bonus is so strong, that you could even consider Knight rushing with Vikings even if they lack Bloodlines. Vikings are one of the few civs that could stand a high infantry production in Castle Age. And of course, they could boom faster than any other civ to advance to the Imperial Age and afford the upgrades. The Viking Arb + Siege push is nearly an all-in, since their options if it fails become a little less powerful. Chieftains is dead useful against Cavalry/Camel civs, and a transition into Berserks (who are expensive to upgrade) or Champions could be a last stand for Vikings.

So here’s the list! What do you think about it? Would you put Britons or Ethiopians (who get the best Arbalesters) top2? I know I gave a lot of importance to economy, but, in this case, I feel it helps a lot reaching the point where the push is viable with enough eco strength. If you disagree, feel free to point it out in comments!

Have a nice day!