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The Britons

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Unique Unit: THE LONGBOWMAN

The AoK Longbowman was considered the king of archers. The Mayan Plumed Archer has taken that title for archer-to-archer combat, but the Longbowman still remain a potent unit. Once massed they are still a force to be reckoned with for any civ. With the longest range in the game for a non-siege unit, these are the ultimate standoff weapons. They mass quickly (Build Time :19) and are cheap (35W,40G). While their true power comes in the Imperial Age with the Elite upgrade and when you have the economy to mass them; the Castle Age Longbowman can be an effective unit in Castle Age to escort Rams, protect Knights and disrupt Villager operations.

Unique Technology: YEOMAN

British Free Men, or Yeomen, were especially skilled as archers and are presented in the game by the addition of +1 range to foot archers and +2 attack to towers. At a cost of 750W/450G, this tech is in the middle compared to the range of unique technology costs. Yeoman, in addition to the other range upgrades gives the Briton foot archer a +6 range bonus. Arbalests (with a base of 5) max out at 11 range while Elite Longbowmen max out at 12 range.

While the effects of this incredible range are somewhat muted by the lack of 100% accuracy (Thumb Ring) and the correlation between increased range and decreased accuracy, the complete field of fire is staggering. There is also the question of whether the additional range allows any extra shots to be fired, and if not, if the decreased accuracy of the first shot actually results in less damage on approaching enemy. Still, the appearance of even longer-range archers can only magnify the usefulness of archers as a standoff unit.

A Briton player may give some additional consideration to Yeoman and its +1 range in a standoff situation. For example, where tribes/armies are potentially going back and forth over a crossing with little real progress. The +1 range keeps enemy forces that much farther back and gives that much more warning of Onager movements. As long as the archers are do not get wiped out or are kept alive by good barriers (i.e. Halberdiers or terrain), there should be some measurable payback for this unique technology. But again, this is sort of a last-to-research archer technology.


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Comments:
19.10.06 00:05 - dave
very useful information
03.01.07 12:28 -
briton are really good
18.04.07 13:14 - mike
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.
12.07.07 19:59 - Calado
a few knights with longbowmans can stop easily a eagle warrior whith skirmishers attack!!
20.07.07 21:01 - Someone
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
21.07.07 19:10 - Dhruv
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.
21.07.07 19:11 - Dhruv
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.
09.10.07 18:23 - krishna
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
14.10.07 03:14 - fnwofwo;\'
well krishna obviously skirms and mongudai can't take paladins
25.10.07 03:14 - someone=idoit
army of 55 stoping army of 25-30 no shit you'll win
04.11.07 02:18 - juho
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
21.01.08 22:48 - Kay
I can't get any fire ships, cannon galleons, or demo ship. why?
08.02.08 01:23 - Someone
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
21.06.08 08:53 - juho=bullshit
everyone knows that the goths will take down the brits any day bitch. any day.
22.06.08 19:53 - Ma2ReeD
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
24.06.08 23:00 - AOE FREAK
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.
15.09.08 03:22 - someone
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.
17.10.08 08:17 - turtle ship
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
31.12.08 10:07 - ADD
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.)
06.06.09 17:19 - a
don't fight byzantines using britons, they got nothing to stop cataphracts
06.06.09 17:20 - wasd
wasdvjfhnv
07.06.09 17:19 -
What is TC?
07.06.09 17:19 - Rollun
What is TC?
11.06.09 20:20 - lobgo
towncenter
06.07.09 14:59 - Homer
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?
09.07.09 23:02 - Indigo
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
25.07.09 06:59 - carpe
yea the britons are the best, strong through the whole game from dark to imperial.It sux about the cannon galleons tho
19.08.09 21:26 - i hate britons..
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....
12.09.09 05:34 - wulf
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.
20.12.09 17:12 - bill
cool
15.03.10 02:17 - dfsf
f
15.03.10 02:18 - 2010 comment wewt
ffffffffffffffff
23.03.10 23:18 - homo
pillu
31.03.10 00:08 - joe
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
01.04.10 11:42 - nimesh
goths can take down britons but others cant beat them. and goths can be easily beaten by other civilizations.
08.04.10 14:15 - Rory Gibson
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
24.04.10 18:41 - Jallen
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
22.05.10 04:50 - Ct
Byzantines, aztecs can neat goths. But goths pown everyone else, especially brits and mayans
04.06.10 23:16 - ess10
Anyone got a good unite that can take Yeomen's that is protected by palladin's?
08.06.10 06:11 - c0rsana
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. :)
13.06.10 01:03 - Rennuek
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?
13.06.10 01:16 - Rennuek
Fortress: ~~ ~~ ~~ ------------- O O O =============
13.06.10 01:18 - Rennuek
That didn't work.
21.06.10 19:31 - PalpaT
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) :)
24.06.10 05:58 -
Alright civ, but skirmishers easily kill longbowmen. I perfer the spanish or aztec
26.06.10 23:10 - Rennuek
PalpaT thanks for the advise I’ll give it a try :).
26.06.10 23:15 - Ronsferd
“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!
26.06.10 23:17 - Ronsferd
(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!
29.06.10 05:39 - Robin Hood
The answer to War Elephants is monks. Make an army of monks, convert one elephant+continuous healing = invincible elephant. Convert some more. Hooray.
10.07.10 17:49 - Genghis Khan
1 Onager > 20 Longbowmen <br /> 80 Longbowmen > 1 Onager
18.07.10 08:10 - zac
good information could you explain the rest of civs
29.07.10 05:30 - John
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
03.08.10 19:09 - Andrew
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.
07.08.10 20:30 - Ronsferd
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.
08.08.10 00:29 - Sasori
britons sheep bonis makes them efficent for getting resources faster
08.08.10 12:08 - sasori
actually britons would be a poor choice vs mayans cause eagles stop longbows and knights
01.09.10 05:41 - John
longbows with champs/cavs or halberds are almost unstoppable. against mangudai you're done for though
12.10.10 08:31 - Formaggio
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
24.12.10 06:21 - random guy
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
24.02.11 20:35 - anonymous
spanish beat brits a**
20.10.11 22:23 - elite longbowman
u stupid asshole, my max. range is 12. you jack ass
03.11.11 00:32 - Salidin
Elite longbowmen only actually have a range of 6+5 you D***head
16.12.11 22:12 - Text Book
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.
16.12.11 22:25 - SURF GOOD
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!
16.12.11 22:33 - ATTENTION ALL AOE 2 PLAYERS
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!
14.01.12 13:39 - adam
archers are excellent when used as a tactic spread them around in a flank but they are much more effective when fully upgraded
02.02.12 12:05 - Thomas
very nice article
19.02.12 03:08 - Someone
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.
19.02.12 13:01 - POTE
Good civ that must utilise speed to make up for post-imp inamptness. Hard to push- excellent for support though in TGs.
26.03.12 00:08 - Riverdawn
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 ;)
26.03.12 00:15 - Riverdawn
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
20.04.12 22:25 - Anonymous
And I rated them 4th best to me....
12.08.12 08:10 - pari
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
03.09.12 23:14 - you suck
stupid losers dumb info