The Britons
The Britons were a popular and strong
civilization in AoK. With the release of the Expansion Pack (Xpack), the
Britons' TC bonus (one of the strongest of the game) has been muted. Yet, there
still remain many aspects to the Britons that keep them a strong and flexible
civilization for most players. Overall, the Britons continue to be very well
rounded civ to play.
The Britons continue to play as a fast civ in several
respects; they age early and they can boom early. During the early going,
Britons have one of the best gathering bonuses in the game; the faster work
rate of shepherds.
Militarily, the Britons continue to remain a powerful
civ. In addition to their dominating foot archers, the Briton arsenal includes
fully upgradeable infantry lines and adequate cavalry. Short of a weakness in
gunpowder units, the Britons do not have a glaring weakness in any functional
area.
Civilization Bonuses
The bonuses that the Britons receive are as follows:
- Shepherds work 25% faster
- Town Center cost 50% less wood
- Foot Archers gain +1 range in Castle Age and an
additional +1 in the Imperial Age (for +2 total)
- Team Bonus - Archery units produced 20% faster
Shepherds work 25% faster
With the faster sheep-gathering rate, a Briton
sheepherder collects food at the same rate that other civs hunt. This is a
powerful bonus for several reasons. First, it comes in the Dark Age and is
usable 100% of the time (everyone eats sheep; or turkey as the case may be). As
it is an early bonus, the benefits compound with time; it enhances your whole
game by giving you a head start. Second, it gives the Briton player an
availability to wood that other civs cannot tap into. Because they work faster,
a Briton player needs few early villagers on their sheep. This means that you
can set villagers on alternative resources earlier as the game dictates.
Theoretically, four shepherds could keep a Briton TC at constant production; in
the real world, five are required to maintain the food stream.
Early economic bonuses are often translated loosely
into the concept of a free villager. In the Britons' case, the bonus is roughly
equivalent to getting a free villager. So what does that one extra villager net
you? It begins with the extra wood, which later begins to translate into
earlier farms or boats, then into more food, a slightly larger military, a much
larger economy, and the cascade continues. Don't underestimate what this one
seemingly unimportant villager can do. Very handy if you are boat booming or
want to integrate early farming into your strategy.
The Briton player can maximize this advantage by
playing sheep rich maps like Continental, Yucatan, Ghost Lake, and Oasis.
Town Center cost 50% less wood
The Britons used to benefit from arguably the
strongest civ bonus of all; a 50% discount on town centers. The short build
time and low impact on wood supply of the AoK Briton TC allowed a decent player
to drop TCs very easily. However, with the XPack increased build time,
undiscounted stone cost and decreased defensive power of the TC itself have
made dropping multiple TCs early in the game riskier. The offensive military
implications of disposable forward TCs have also been neutered with the
modified characteristics of the XPack TC.
Yet, while it may seem like the Briton TC bonus has been
severely impacted, it still remains a relatively strong bonus in the game. Wood
saved in Castle Age translates directly into an earlier military building (Ram
or War Galley), more expansive farming, or simply another TC. In some cases,
all three options are simultaneously available depending on the circumstances
of a specific game. For many other civs, farm production is delayed while the
player takes time to stock up on wood.
One of the highest priorities of a Briton player used
to be to gather as much wood as possible, for multiple TCs. The TC used to act
as a terrific defense against enemy raiding parties and attacking troops -
particularly when organized as an internetworking weave of cross-firing
bunkers. With practically every range unit now outranging TCs, reliance on TCs
for total defense is foolhardy. A forward TC can still be useful as part of
your forward base as it will give your raiding forces, with the help of Monks,
a safe place to recuperate from raids. A forward TC also continues to server as
a source for more forward builders. The cheaper cost of the Briton TC slightly
counters the longer build time to make a forward TC more practical.
Additional Foot Archer Range
The primary Briton military bonus is their foot archer
range bonus. Briton foot archers get +1 range in Castle Age, and a +2 range in
Imperial Age. The complete set of range upgrades that are available to the
Briton foot archer result in the creation of a far reaching and mobile standoff
weapon that is somewhat unique to the Britons.
Archery Units produced 20% Faster
While the benefits of faster producing military
buildings are partially mitigated by simply placing more military buildings,
the effects of this Briton bonus can be noticeable. The actual Briton
production times are the normal times divided by 1.2. This means that the
Britons can produce 6 archers in the time it takes other civs to produce 5,
which is a 20% bonus.
Depending on the particular circumstances, production
of an archer unit can range from 14 to 35 seconds. The XPack modified base rate
of archer production is 35s without any production bonuses. That goes back down
to 27s with the Crossbowman upgrade; again with no bonuses. An Aztec player
with a Briton partner can produce an archer unit in :19. For instant archer
armies, nothing beats the Aztec player w/ Briton ally after researching
Conscription for a very fast :14 build time. Another tactical implication of
the production bonus is the ability to respond with a skirmisher reaction force
in a shorter time.
Comments:
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19.10.06 00:05 -
dave |
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very useful information |
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03.01.07 12:28 -
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briton are really good |
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18.04.07 13:14 -
mike |
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britons are really good civ, but you don't mention much bout civs that can really shut down britons, such as goths which can overproduce any briton archer army (with perfusion and anarchy abilitiesto make huskarls at barracks and increased speed) and decimate it due to its 7 pierce armor or somthing (haven't played for ages) or aztec mass eagle warriors that can cut the archer army down with a little skirmisher support. |
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12.07.07 19:59 -
Calado |
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a few knights with longbowmans can stop easily a eagle warrior whith skirmishers attack!! |
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20.07.07 21:01 -
Someone |
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Completely upgraded longbowmen (30) [in three groups of 10 or 5 groups of 6] + halberdiers (10) + Cavaliers (10) + 3-5 monks
will finish off almost any army that invades. (Upto a size of 25-30)
[works for me against the computer on hardest ;) :P ]
You can add the support of a castle or a few towers.
Weaknesses : bombard cannons and trebuchets and mabye a massed cavalry attack
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21.07.07 19:10 -
Dhruv |
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Love the britons... thee most amazing civilizations. Though they have been cut down on ability in the Xp, they still are lots of fun and very very reliable. |
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21.07.07 19:11 -
Dhruv |
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My usual attack force is
30 longbowmen
6 covaliers
4 monks
that completes the max selectable set of 40.
add 3 trebuchets to the tally and its a very strong attack force. |
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09.10.07 18:23 -
krishna |
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what is the best way of tackling the longbowmen , skirmisher's and mangudai's (40) weren't good enough against 40 elite longbowmen and 20 paladins |
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14.10.07 03:14 -
fnwofwo;\' |
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well krishna obviously skirms and mongudai can't take paladins |
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25.10.07 03:14 -
someone=idoit |
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army of 55 stoping army of 25-30 no shit you'll win |
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04.11.07 02:18 -
juho |
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my dfence against britons are onagers.
They can wipe an entire leigion when you have like 4 upgraded onagers.
Celts and koreans are the answers to longbowmen
I think brits are good against noobs and brooks, or people that dont trust massed seige weopons.
Britons do have bonus in sheep meat, so they should attack early with normal archers to kill vils |
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21.01.08 22:48 -
Kay |
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I can't get any fire ships, cannon galleons, or demo ship. why? |
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08.02.08 01:23 -
Someone |
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Britons have the full dock minus cannon galleons (which sucks cause you can't attack on land by sea)
Britons have an excelltnt sea defence |
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21.06.08 08:53 -
juho=bullshit |
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everyone knows that the goths will take down the brits any day bitch. any day. |
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22.06.08 19:53 -
Ma2ReeD |
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thank you for making this guide. im a complete noob at RTS's but i love playing coms in AOE2. im gonna LAN with a friend soon so i wanted to know some basics, which you covered very nicely |
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24.06.08 23:00 -
AOE FREAK |
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juho. Goths actually couldnt take down the brits. Add a few cavvy in the front on on attack stance and its a perfect barrier. The goths cant even get to brits. The 12 range also takes out onigers. Their best counter is 2 rams to take hits going in front, and a few onigers sneaking behind it. |
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15.09.08 03:22 -
someone |
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that only works if your opponents not watching the rams. Skirms need to outnumber to win leaving cavalry (hussar and paladins) to counter. Full pallys beat pally and bows, and can work vs pikes and bow. Eagles should own anything but heavy infantry while huskarls own bows. |
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17.10.08 08:17 -
turtle ship |
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Umm, I think u were wrong. The strongest foot archer in Age of King was chu ko nu, not longbowaman, cos chu ko nu can fire multiple arrow in one attack, although he has shorter range |
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31.12.08 10:07 -
ADD |
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Just like any civ or unit, there is a nemesis for the Briton archer. (in this case the Huskarls) This is why it is always important to have a well balanced army with plenty of units to be able to defend the archers. (mangonels behind them with halberdiers in front, etc.) |
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06.06.09 17:19 -
a |
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don't fight byzantines using britons, they got nothing to stop cataphracts |
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06.06.09 17:20 -
wasd |
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wasdvjfhnv |
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07.06.09 17:19 -
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What is TC? |
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07.06.09 17:19 -
Rollun |
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What is TC? |
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11.06.09 20:20 -
lobgo |
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towncenter |
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06.07.09 14:59 -
Homer |
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How to tackle Palladins and Castles. My enemy makes a lot of Castles and Palladins. I love archers. So can archers in any civilization fight palladins? If yes then whic? |
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09.07.09 23:02 -
Indigo |
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Longbowmen when in groups of 40 can beat most anything. i faced an AI using the goths againt me and by the time he got into to close for comfort range on my archers there were only 4-5 remaining. if they use Castles and palladins that usually means they are using the franks which is kinda sad becuz the britons can wipe out throwing axemen at really far range. and when i use britons i use longbowmen and cavaliers as my major force to attack anybody |
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25.07.09 06:59 -
carpe |
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yea the britons are the best, strong through the whole game from dark to imperial.It sux about the cannon galleons tho |
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19.08.09 21:26 -
i hate britons.. |
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if u r a goth take some 4-5 rams full of huskrls..
i.e.20-25 units...
its easy to reach themb'cazbri.archers takes a lot time to kill rams.meantime u can reach bri.arch and takeout heskrls to finish archera..
or u can use some cavilary to divert them.... |
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12.09.09 05:34 -
wulf |
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brits obliterate goths just go champs longbows and a few onagers will decimate anything goths throw at you and if they go 100% husks just go 100% champs
not as if goths can go cavalry either they have to go inf which brits decimate. |
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20.12.09 17:12 -
bill |
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cool |
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15.03.10 02:18 -
2010 comment wewt |
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ffffffffffffffff |
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23.03.10 23:18 -
homo |
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pillu |
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31.03.10 00:08 -
joe |
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britions are the best in every LAN match i just spam cavalier and longbow men it wins every time which kind of makes it unfair because no other army can counter this force/spam |
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01.04.10 11:42 -
nimesh |
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goths can take down britons but others cant beat them. and goths can be easily beaten by other civilizations. |
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08.04.10 14:15 -
Rory Gibson |
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if you focus on food with mongols you can just mass loads of hussars they have good peirce defence and are cheap if you have loads of farms or loads of golds and alow food/wood price |
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24.04.10 18:41 -
Jallen |
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Cheers for the guide. I've been trying to decide on my civ, after getting decimated on non-water maps as the vikings.
Played as the britons today with the champion / longbowman mix and I found it to be unstoppable.
Mixed with cavaliers and trebs I destroyed the enemy base so fast it was ridiculous (I even took out the bases surrounding towers with longbowmen :D )
Not only are they awesome fun, they are also well suited to me because I'm english :D |
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22.05.10 04:50 -
Ct |
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Byzantines, aztecs can neat goths. But goths pown everyone else, especially brits and mayans |
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04.06.10 23:16 -
ess10 |
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Anyone got a good unite that can take Yeomen's that is protected by palladin's? |
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08.06.10 06:11 -
c0rsana |
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I'm trying to find a good turtling tactic, and the britains seem the right choice with their versatility and long range archers. Any other turtling suggestions? It be my favorite tactic. :) |
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13.06.10 01:03 -
Rennuek |
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Hi I have a problem and I wondered if any of you have an Idea.
My favorite race is the Britons but I’ve been playing a guy who always plays the Persians with postimperial Deathmach and rushes with Elite warelephants I’ve tried halbutters but you need 3/1 odds and since elephants have an area attack and can stack (a little), groups of ten or more you need 5/1 odds to even have a chance. Onigers have potential but its hard to keep them alive long enough to do much good. Walls slow them down a little but not much. And con take down a castle in just a couple of minutes. The real problem is that they come in armies of 25 or so and before the first army is gone the second is on the way and they just keep coming until your overwhelmed.
My next Idea is a fortress like this: ---- = wall, ===== = double wall, o =castle( with walls around it), ^ = attacking elephants, ~ = long bows.
Any ideas or improvements?
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13.06.10 01:16 -
Rennuek |
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Fortress: ~~ ~~ ~~
-------------
O O O
============= |
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13.06.10 01:18 -
Rennuek |
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That didn't work. |
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21.06.10 19:31 -
PalpaT |
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2 ideas. <br> - Dont let him mass all this power, harass his economy (send bowmans to kill villagers), from at least 2 sides at same time, force him to make something faster to counter your harass ; <br> - to counter the incoming elephants, make spears / upgrade them, try to circle his attack group to minimize area effect (attack from 2 sides) :) |
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24.06.10 05:58 -
|
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Alright civ, but skirmishers easily kill longbowmen. I perfer the spanish or aztec |
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26.06.10 23:10 -
Rennuek |
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PalpaT thanks for the advise I’ll give it a try :).
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26.06.10 23:15 -
Ronsferd |
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“Alright civ, but skirmishers easily kill longbowmen. I perfer the spanish or Aztec”
Properly managed Longbow men can cream skirmishers Any day of the week!
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26.06.10 23:17 -
Ronsferd |
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(Alright civ, but skirmishers easily kill longbowmen. I perfer the spanish or Aztec)
Properly managed Longbow men can cream skirmishers Any day of the week!
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29.06.10 05:39 -
Robin Hood |
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The answer to War Elephants is monks. Make an army of monks, convert one elephant+continuous healing = invincible elephant. Convert some more. Hooray. |
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10.07.10 17:49 -
Genghis Khan |
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1 Onager > 20 Longbowmen
<br />
80 Longbowmen > 1 Onager |
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18.07.10 08:10 -
zac |
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good information
could you explain the rest of civs
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29.07.10 05:30 -
John |
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Rennuek- just make the archers walk away to a safe distance, a little micromanagement might be annoying but will kill them, also try converting them, i love converting persian elephants to use them as rams instead of paying for rams |
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03.08.10 19:09 -
Andrew |
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I find the Byzantines and the Huns to work fairly well against the Britons. But any Cavalry Civilization should be able to take the Britons Longbowmen. |
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07.08.10 20:30 -
Ronsferd |
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Andrew-remember that the British have good pike class units. I fight the Spanish all the time and even there paladin/conquistador armies don’t stand a chance agents a good Longbow/pike mix. |
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08.08.10 00:29 -
Sasori |
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britons sheep bonis makes them efficent for getting resources faster |
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08.08.10 12:08 -
sasori |
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actually britons would be a poor choice vs mayans cause eagles stop longbows and knights |
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01.09.10 05:41 -
John |
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longbows with champs/cavs or halberds are almost unstoppable. against mangudai you're done for though |
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12.10.10 08:31 -
Formaggio |
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The ultimate weapon againt Longbowman is the Huskarl, they are almost imune to arrows and kill longbowman in two shots. couples with halberies Goths can kill Britions anyday |
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24.12.10 06:21 -
random guy |
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clearly i had no idea about the potential of britons... i played with em a couple of times, noticed that a group of 140 longbow men, 5-ish monks, 5 trebutchers and 10 rams will beat amything... almost |
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24.02.11 20:35 -
anonymous |
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spanish beat brits a** |
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20.10.11 22:23 -
elite longbowman |
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u stupid asshole, my max. range is 12.
you jack ass |
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03.11.11 00:32 -
Salidin |
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Elite longbowmen only actually have a range of 6+5 you D***head |
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16.12.11 22:12 -
Text Book |
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Depending on the particular circumstances, production of an archer unit can range from 14 to 35 seconds. The XPack modified base rate of archer production is 35s without any production bonuses. That goes back down to 27s with the Crossbowman upgrade; again with no bonuses. An Aztec player with a Briton partner can produce an archer unit in :19. For instant archer armies, nothing beats the Aztec player w/ Briton ally after researching Conscription for a very fast :14 build time. Another tactical implication of the production bonus is the ability to respond with a skirmisher reaction force in a shorter time. |
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16.12.11 22:25 -
SURF GOOD |
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I CAN NOT BELIVE AOE 2 HAS TURNED TO BE A POPULAR GAME AND SO IN MULTIPLAYER EVERYONE SEEEMS TO PICK BRITONS WHY? I THINK THE BEST THING ABOUT BRITONS IS THE LONGBOWMEN YOU CAN PUT IN THE CASTLE AND MORE ARROWS WILL FIRE OUT OF YOUR CASTLE THE MORE YOU PUT IN THE FASTER YOU CAN KILL YOUR ENEMY'S ON THE DARK AGE YOU SHOULD BUILD A DOCK DELETE YOUR TOWN CENTRE THEN BUILD A TRANSPORT SHIP AND MOVE AWAY AND BUILD ANOTHER CAMP SOMWHERE ELSE THE BRITONS SEEMS TO BE A STUPID CIVILESATION BECOUSE THEY CAN ONLY GET TRANSPORT SHIPS IN THE FUALDAL AGE! |
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16.12.11 22:33 -
ATTENTION ALL AOE 2 PLAYERS |
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GO ONTO THE ATTILA THE HUN CAMPAIGN ON THE (CONQUERS ONLY) THEN PRESS BLEADA THE HUN THEN TYPE 'C' THEN PRESS ATTILA THEN TYPE 'BRITONY'S MATE BEER'THEN TYPE C AGAIGN THEN SOON 400 VILLAGERS SHOULD COME TO THE HUNS CAMP IF NOT REAPEAT DOING WHAT I TOLD YOU BEFORE IF IT DOESANT WORK CONTACT ME UNDER THIS COMMENT IN THE STAGEY CENTRE AND I WILL SHOW YOU MORE TIPS CHEATS AND TIPS!
MAKE A SCARIO AND GO TO TRIGGERS AND NEW EFFET THEN GO TO PLACE FOUNDATION IT WILL KEEP CREATING THAT UNIT IN THE SPOT FOREVER! AND WITH A BATTLE WILL NEVER END PUT MILLIONS OF THEM AND SOON THE BATTLE WILL COME ENOURMAUS! |
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14.01.12 13:39 -
adam |
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archers are excellent when used as a tactic spread them around in a flank but they are much more effective when fully upgraded |
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02.02.12 12:05 -
Thomas |
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very nice article |
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19.02.12 03:08 -
Someone |
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Yup, they are a very good civ., also a good choice if you choose an archer tactic, cuz the longbowmans fully upgraded have the best range and is the best to have a long ranged archer unit. |
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19.02.12 13:01 -
POTE |
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Good civ that must utilise speed to make up for post-imp inamptness.
Hard to push- excellent for support though in TGs. |
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26.03.12 00:08 -
Riverdawn |
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Mike is right but still they can sometimes beat the goths just by using castles towers briton archers and infantry will run them down plus the britons would beat them anyways becuase the archers wont have to break a wall Looser ;) |
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26.03.12 00:15 -
Riverdawn |
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Mike is right but still they can sometimes beat the goths just by using castles towers briton archers and infantry will run them down plus the britons would beat them anyways becuase the archers wont have to break a wall. XD |
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20.04.12 22:25 -
Anonymous |
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And I rated them 4th best to me.... |
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12.08.12 08:10 -
pari |
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well i love hun than britons,they r homeless men!it is easy to play with them and their cavalry and cav.arcehrs are good |
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03.09.12 23:14 -
you suck |
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stupid losers dumb info |
gmail.com
