Age of Empires units - strategies

Special Units - Infantry - Archers - 2nd part (Cavalry, Siege Weapons, Ships)

Special Units

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Research cost	HP	Damage	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Priest	T	Bronze	125	-	25	-	10	-	slow	Temple

Description: this unit cannot attack, but heal your units and convert enemies.
Strongest against: slow units with a shorter range: Elephants, infantry
Counterattack: Chariots (they have special bonuses), Catapults (higher range), Archers

Tips:

• To convert unguarded Siege Weapons, move the Priest close to the Catapult so the Catapult cannot fire on the Priest any longer.
• The Priest will not automatically be attacked when he is just healing, but he can help you a lot doing so.
• Researching monotheism lets you conquer enemy bases instead of destroying them.
• To learn more about converting enemies, go to my conversion page.

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Research cost	HP	Damage	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Villager	C	Stone	50	-	25	3	-	-	medium	Town Center

Description: the peasants of AoE. Used for all the dirty work that the other units do not want to do :-)
Strongest against: they are good Catapult killers but otherwise useless in combat and merely a last defense
Counterattack: anything except unguarded catapults

Tips:

• This is the unit that has to be protected at any cost! Your production is crippled if you lose too many villagers.
• Jihad ("Holy War") gives villagers a 65 hit points (but still no armor) and a very high speed, but your production will drop by about 75%. A good point when to use Jihad is with a Wonder strategy when you do not have many soldiers: upgrade your villagers with Jihad when you are about to be attacked (the upgrade does not take much time).

Basic infantry

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Upgrade cost	HP	Damage	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Clubman	T	Stone	50	-	40	3	-	-	medium	Barracks
	Axeman	T	Stone	50	100	50	5	-	-	medium	Barracks

Description: the Grunts of AoE. The only attack force at the Stonge Age and the only infantry at the Tool Age. Not very strong, but better than villagers
Strongest against: Villagers, Archers, Catapults
Counterattack: Archers (protected by Infantry), better units

Tips:

• The axeman upgrade is a real bargain, get it as soon as you have advanced to the Tool Age! An Axeman is twice as strong as a Clubman
• After upgrading to Axemen, go for the armor upgrade first (read my combat equation section to see why).
• Combine Axemen with a few archers to make them more effective. Do not worry about losing them, they will be replaced by better units once you arrive at the Bronze Age.

Standard infantry

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Upgrade cost	HP	Damage	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Short Swordsman	S	Bronze	35 15	120 50	60	7	-	1	medium	Barracks
	Broad Swordsman	S	Bronze	35 15	140 15	70	9	-	1	medium	Barracks
	Long Swordsman	S	Iron	35 15	160 50	80	11	-	2	medium	Barracks
	Legion	S	Iron	35 15	1400 600	160	13	-	2	medium	Barracks

Description: the best light Infantry units, but not nearly as strong as Hoplites
Strongest against: Villagers, Archers, Catapults, Cavalry
Counterattack: Archers (protected by Infantry), Hoplites, War Elephants

Tips:

• I do not like these units very much because Hoplites will rip them apart. You should still get some Broad Swordsmen until you have one or two Academies going that produce Hoplites.
• I hardly ever upgrade them, even the "super unit" Legion is killed by a Hoplite.
• These units are good in maps with really little gold; as long as you do not reach the unit limit, you can get two Swordsmen instead of one Hoplite (use at least two Barracks).
• To kill ballistas, walk in a zigzag line so the arrows will miss. This needs some experience.

Elite infantry

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Research/Upgrade cost	HP	Damage	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Hoplite	T	Bronze	60 40	-	120	17	-	5	slow	Academy
	Phalanx	T	Iron	60 40	300 100	120	20	-	7	slow	Academy
	Centurion	T	Iron	60 40	1800 700	160	30	-	8	slow	Academy

Description: the Knights of AoE. Available at the Bronze Age, and by far the strongest Infantry in AoE. Their weakness is their slow speed and their lack of piercing armor
Strongest against: pretty much everything if they can reach it :-) except perhaps Priests (they can usually convert a Hoplite before they are killed)
Counterattack: Archers (protected by Infantry), Horse or Chariot Archers, Priests, Ballistas

Tips:

• Hoplites are perfect guards for catapults, being about equally slow and almost unbeatable. Nothing will come to your catapult if you place a few hoplites in front of it.
• Combine them with Cavalry because otherwise, the fast Chariot Archers will make short work of your Hoplites.
• They are about the only non-siege unit that can destroy buildings at a reasonable speed.
• Even though they cost pretty much gold, try to get them in masses (trade food for gold) and get the Phalanx upgrade!

Archers

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Upgrade/Research cost	HP	Dam.	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Bowman	T	Tool	40 20	-	35	3	5	-	medium	Archery Range
	Improved Bowman	A	Bronze	40 20	140 80	40	4	6	-	medium	Archery Range
	Composite Bowman	A	Bronze	40 20	180 100	45	5	7	-	medium	Archery Range

Description: the first children of our Archer family :-)
Strongest against: Infantry units (most be covered by Infantry, though)
Counterattack: Cavalry, Ballistas

Tips:

• Bowmen are a valuable addition to your Axemen attack force. They need protection; in melee combat, they will die quickly.
• The Improved Bowman is not an upgrade from the standard Bowman, but a separate unit; Chariots are better and require no gold, though. I usually skip this unit in favor of Chariots

Cavalry Archers

	Unit	?	Age	Cost	Upgrade cost	HP	Dam.	Range	Armor	Speed	Train at
	Chariot Archer	R	Bronze	40 70	-	70	4 (x3 vs Priest)	7	resistance to conversion	fast	Archery Range
	Elephant Archer	E	Iron	180 60	-	600	5	7	-	slow	Archery Range
	Horse Archer	C	Iron	50 70	-	60	7	7	2 piercing	fast	Archery Range
	Heavy Horse Archer	C	Iron	50 70	1750 800	90	8	7	2 piercing	fast	Archery Range

Description: Archers on top of animals :-) their speed makes them very versatile against slower targets
Strongest against: Infantry units, Priests (Chariot Archer)
Counterattack: Cavalry, Hoplites (Elephant Archers

Tips:

• Because they are so fast, you do not have to protect these units unless you have more of them than you can control properly. Just keep the distance.
• Go for the wheel upgrade quickly! It will not only increase the productivity of your villagers, but also allow you to get chariot archers that are fast and very versatile units (and perfect Priest killers).
• Keep in mind that the range of towers is usually equally high (if the upgrades are the same).
• Elephant Archers require entirely different strategies: they should be protected by Infantry like the normal Archers.