1v1 Arabia

In this post I will try to give my experience and how I play a 1v1 Arabia especially with Huns,then I will extrapolate it to other civilizations.First part of the post will be about micro-management of the resources, and the next part will be scouting and other minute details like map etc.

Micro-Management of Resources
As the game starts,my first move is always H-CCC,queuing vils in my tc.Next will be to find the 4 nearest sheep. Initially, I will take wood with the 3 vils or explore with 1 vil for a sheep.As soon as I get the 4 sheep,I will explore with 2 sheep and bring the other two to my tc.Drop all the wood in the tc and start having sheep beneath the tc.Next 3 vils also eat sheep.Next vil goes to the nearest forest,builds a lumbercamp.next 3 vils go to have wood near the lumber.Here the micro is 6-4.Next vil goes to lure the boar,while loom is researched.next four vils go for berries with a mill.Now the micro is 6-4-4.Continue queuing vils on boar and the next boar should be lured when the present boar has 100 food left.Meanwhile I will build a farm as soon as I get 60 wood with the injured vil.After I reach pop=20 I will start queuing vils for a second LC and keep four more for it.Also I will make 3 more farms with injured vils.with pop 24 I click feudal age.
I described the 24 pop feudal above which is easy to execute.You might opt for a different pop feud but that entirely depends on the map and other factors such as what the opponent is doing etc.

Scouting
I prefer to number the scout as 1 and the tc as 2.In the beginning,I scout and look for basic resources like nearest forest,2 boars,gold and stone mines for the first 4-5 mins. I will see which of the resources are forward,the terrain and go for the forest that is backward.Forward mines are always vulnerable to a forward attack especially the stone mines.After the first 4-5 mins I will look for the enemy at directly the opposite side.If I find a big mine,then the enemy is near.I will carefully move my scout keeping it at a safe distance from enemy tc.I will look for his mines,whether I can do for a forward,the terrain etc.Also I will look at what resources he is taking.Whether he is going for gold or for more farms than expected etc.

Map and other Micros
As soon as you click feudal age,I will scout for enemy forwards and also look at what kind of army he is going for.This can be found out by scouting his army buildings.I will make the exact counter for the army he has.In case I detect a forward,then i will go for 1 rax + 2 archery ranges and protect myself as well as possible.If my map is wall-able,then I will wall,make 1 rax and a stable,Go for 4-5 scouts and try a fast castle.Otherwise the army I make will depend on what the enemy is doing,but I personally prefer 1 rax+1 stable+1 archery.Keep raiding his vils time to time and defend yourself by walling or making tower at forward gold etc.I will do wheelbarrow around 17 mins and build a smithy around the same time.Do researches according to the army.Army micros are very important at this stage and they need to used carefully.Scouting is very important part during this time as you will know when and where to attack .

Actually there are innumerable strategies you can try out.I have just given a brief idea of how I approach a 1v1 arabia.

14

Age of Empires Strategy:The Scout Rush

Scout Rush strategy increasingly gained importance after the advent of Age of Empires 1.0e.Scout rush is mainly done in Age of Empires multiplayer 1v1 games.But in my opinion it can be done in any type of game,be it 2v2,3v3 or 4v4.In this post an in depth analysis of the scout rush is provided.

Civilizations favorable for Scout Rush
The most favorable civilization is the mongols.This is because you can do a faster scout rush with mongols as compared to any other civ.Huns is another good option.Other cavalry civs including persians,saracens etc. are also preferred.

How to do it?
Step:1 Making the economy
I have seen people doing a 25 pop scout rush with 4 farms,although very stable,this is very slow as the time taken to attack is around 13 mins.This gives the opponent the time to defend himself with spears.That is why a 22 pop advance with 2 farms and then a scout rush is preferred.
Follow a 22 pop flush strategy initially but try to get at least 2 deer for extra food.As soon as feudal age research is completed,build a stable and start making scouts.Then make farms with the new vils because you need more food.6-7 scouts are enough for initial rush.

Step:2 The Raiding
Scout raiding is most effective on those vils who are away from the town centre.Scouts are vulnerable to arrows so care needs to be taken so that they dont get too close to the town center.The advantage of scouts is,that they are quick and are very effective in hit and run.

Tackling spears:-If you have 6-7 scouts then you can easily tackle upto 2 spears.The best micro will be to move the scout away from the spear he is hitting and attacking him with other scouts.This way none of them dies.
Another way is to surround him and attack.This exploits the weak AI of the Age of Empires script.The spear is confused as to whom to attack and is half dead by the time it decides on one of your scouts.This method can only be used if he has one spear.
Another good trick is to look at villagers' hit points, if you have already hit one villager but spears chase you off, lure that spearman in some other direction with a scout while the others hit that villager. You might take a couple of hits but it's worth it to kill that vil. If you are attacking vils and you see spearmen coming, check the hit points on the vil, if it's close to death don't run until you kill it.

Dealing with different situations

Scenario 1:If the opponent sees you building a stable,then he knows that you will be going for a scout rush.So he will go for 5-6 spears.In this case I still prefer a scout rush but with 4-5 skirms. This will take care of his spears and then he gets very vulnerable as he does not have any more army.

Scenario 2:If the opponent is very aggressive and does a forward attack.In this case just defend yourself with a wall and tower and attack his base with 4-5 scouts.As he is doing a forward attack he wont have any enemy at base and you can easily raid.

The main point in scout rush is the micro.They are very vulnerable to spears and will die away cheaply if proper care is not taken.

Age of Empires Civilization:Mongols

The newer version of Age of Empires i.e. 1.0e proved to be the most beneficial for the Mongols civilization.The Scout Cavalry now has 2 additional hit points in the feudal age which makes it the deadliest unit for raiding.The Mongols are basically a cavalry civilization in Age of Empires with mangudai and hussars being the most preferred.Lets scrutinize them in detail.

Civilization Bonuses for Mongols

• Cavalry archers fire 20% faster.

• Light cavalry,Hussars +30% hit points.

• Hunters work 50% faster.



Cavalry archers fire 20% faster

This advantage for Mongols can be exploited only after castle age.Cavalry archers instead of Knights can be used for raiding. Mongols,use 3 archery ranges for effective raiding .Collect atleast 10 cavalry archers before you go for a raid.But unlike the Huns civilization,Mongols' cavalry archers are not cheaper and require a lot of gold and wood.So collect resources appropriately.

Light cavalry,Hussars +30% hit points

Age of empires provides one of the best advantages to Mongols in team games.Hussars instead of paladins can be used for raiding continuously.First,they are the cheapest unit one can get in the imperial age and second they have greater resistance to arrows because of increased hit points.But, they are as vulnerable as ever to helbs,so use them carefully.

Hunters work 50% faster

This bonus is exploited by Mongols in the feudal age and a strategy known as AK-47 Mongol Rush is entirely based upon this bonus.Due to faster archers, Mongols have 3-4 deer quickly and make 5-6 scouts in the feudal age faster than any other civilization in Age of Empires.Due to the speed of the attack this strategy is often referred to as AK-47 Mongol Rush.

Team Bonus:Scout Cavalry,Light Cavalry and Hussars have +2 line of sight

This advantage empowers the Mongols civilization in Age of Empires to quickly explore your enemy territory.In a team game generally the Mongols are the first to explore the whole of the enemy territory.This helps in a team game when you want to point who is where so that the team strategy can be modified accordingly.

Unique technology:Drill(Siege Units move 50% faster)

This advantage enables Mongols to use Rams extensively even in 4v4 games.Of course this technology can only be done in imperial age.This is the reason gamers prefer to use rams instead of trebeuchets in mongols.This research provides a quicker and more economical way of destroying buildings.


Unique Unit:Mangudai(Cavalry Archer)

This civilization possess a good castle unit named Mangudai.Mangudais possess a bonus attack over siege units.The Ram + Mangudai make a deadly combo for Mongols.They are also good at raiding.The important researches for Mangudai are the range and armor researches from the smithy and the parthian tactics research from the archery range.Their counters include helbs,archers,skirmishers and paladins.

Playing with Mongols

As I said before AK-47 Mongol rush strategy can be highly effective in feudal age.In fact this strategy sometimes even faster than the Huns flush.Use the scouts to raid the lumberjackers.Dont go near the town center as they are vulnerable to arrows.The main drawback of this strategy is that it does not allow for any delay.Delaying means the opponent gets time to make spearman which is a very good counter for scout rush.
Once in castle age use the bonus of faster firing cavalry archers and make a combination of cavalry archers and knights for raiding.
In imperial age use mangudai +ram combo for army to army fight.For raiding use hussars instead of cavaliers.

Any suggestions regarding Mongols are most invited.

Age of Empires :International Gaming Zones

1.What is International Gaming Zones?
IGZ or International Gaming Zone provides a client oriented method to play many online games(including Age of Empires).

2.How to Play Age of Empires?
First and foremost you need to sign up for an account with International Gaming Zones.Then you need to download the client.

3.Joining a game
After downloading the client provided from International Gaming Zones just connect using your username and pwd.Then join a lobby of your choice according to the type of game you want to play(RM,DM or CS).After you have joined a lobby,you will see many players already playing a game or waiting to launch a game.You can join any game of choice or host a game by clicking on quick host.

4.Ranking
When you start playing on International Gaming Zones you are given 1600 points.As you keep on losing or winning games points are added or subtracted according to the rating calculator.As you can see,different points are given for different types of games.The Best player in IGZ currently is L_Clan_Chris with 2504 points.

5.Connection Problems
Common connection problems encountered are
a)Firewall Problems:-If you have this type of problem then you cannot even connect to the International Gaming Zones.To tackle this check the ISP to see if it has an integrated firewall.If yes then disable it by contacting the ISP.Some anti-virus also consist of firewalls which can be configured in order to allow International Gaming Zones manually.

b)Launching Problems:-This problem occurs when you press the launch button of a game or when the game is not launched.It occurs due to non registered version of AoE or older version of AoE.Download the latest version of AoE i.e. AoE1.0e and launch the SETUPREG.EXE file to register the Age of Empires to your computer.

c)Unable to connect:-This problem occurs when the router through which you connect blocks the ports required open by Age of Empires.To solve this problem you need to know something called as port forwarding. You need to specifically know your router name and model to perform this.Once you get this info then go to portforward.comand identify your router model.Then select Age of Empires II and do as said by the site to open the specific ports.

d)Lag:-Lag either occurs due to a slow internet connection or busy connection due to downloading.Do not download anything else while playing and close unnecessary processes to tackle this problem.

e)Connection lost:-While playing the game might hang and you get disconnected to the other players.You should always choose the option save n exit or else you will lose points.This happens when you have lost your internet connection in between.

6.Why is it better than hamachi?
Unlike hamachi where you need to connect to a specific server to play a game,International Gaming Zones allows you simultaneous access to many lobbies.Also you can join a game of your choice and play with players of your level.The popularity of IGZ has steadily increased over the previous years with more than 1000 players playing at peak hours.

Any more queries regarding International Gaming Zones are most invited.

Age of Empires Civilization:The Huns

After the advent of 1.0e version of Age of Empires, Huns civilization has become a hot-favorite of every player.In fact, the flush strategy is based primarily on huns. The primary army of this civ is cavalry and only cavalry.It’s perhaps the best civ for 1v1 combat.Lets see how huns fare against the rest.

Civilization Bonuses

• Do not need houses but start with -100 wood.

• Cavalry Archers cost -25% in castle age,-30% in imperial age.


• Trebuchets are 30% more accurate.

Do not need houses but start with -100 wood

This is perhaps one of the best bonuses of Huns. This enables them to save wood and makes them superior in feudal age. One of the disadvantages is that huns cannot detect the enemy’s forwards with house bugs(though they can do the farm bug which costs 30 more wood).This bonus can be best exploited in the feudal age by attacking fast(Flush).

Cavalry Archers cost -25% in castle age,-30% in imperial age

This bonus can be used in combination with the flush strategy, in which at least two archery ranges are mandatory. As soon as castle age research is complete,cavalry archers can be created to raid the enemy from time to time.They are best used in combination with knights.The range research is important in this regard in absence of which they become vulnerable to pikeman.

Trebuchets are 30% more accurate

This is an advantage which can be exploited only in the imperial age.The more accuracy allows the trebs to attack even infantry and units which occupy more surface area(very effective against group of War Wagons,onagers and BBCs from a large distance).Of course they need to be guarded by army.Even more effective after ballistics and chemistry.

Team Bonus:Stables work 20% faster

This bonus makes their cavalry even better. Knights can be very effective in castle age due to their higher speed of production.


Special Unit: Tarkan

The Castle unit of Huns is a Cavalry unit named Tarkan.It has an attack bonus vs. buildings which is not much of an advantage because you never destroy buildings with the army often.I haven’t seen many people playing with tarkans.So the castle unit is not much of a bonus for Huns.

Playing with Huns

As I have said before, Huns are a hot favourite in 1v1 combat. While playing with Huns the only strategy that comes in mind is flush of which the 22 pop flush is most popular. For micro you may refer to the Flush strategy. They don’t have much of an advantage in the imperial age,so try to finish the game at the earliest preferably in feudal itself.Attacking variations in feudal age include two archery range +1 barrack flush, 1 archery range+ 1 stable +1 barrack flush. Of these I wish to point out one strategy in particular.Start with a scout rush so that the opponent makes spearman. Meanwhile make archers to take his spearman by surprise.

Protecting your base is also important.One of the disadvantages of Huns is that they cannot make a house wall.So you need to either protect them with pallaside or with army buildings.

Knights are the most effective unit in castle age.For Huns they can be used in conjunction with the cavalry archers.So while advancing to castle age make 3 stables.If you have your feudal age army intact then I would advise upgrading them.In castle age try to raid as much as possible with cavalry archers and knights(keep them protected from pikemen).

Age of Empires Strategy:Army Control

Controlling the army is a very important aspect in Age of Empires.If you are not alert while attacking and looking elsewhere, your opponent may exploit this opportunity and they will die away cheaply. You should try out different stances and formations that suit the army. I prefer keeping each army numbered and making them attack on their counters only. Moving back is also effective when the opponent is not alert at the moment. His army will follow yours to the base where you can take on them with your greater number.

In feudal age while flushing you have 4 units; spearman, skirmisher, scout and maybe archer later on. These units are comparatively weak and are vulnerable to even vils when alone. So don’t attack unless you have a group (at least 7-8).The counters for this age are

1. Spearman for scouts,

2. Scouts for skirmisher and

3. Skirmisher for archers

4. Skirmishers are effective against spearman from a distance. For example keep scouts on
skirmishers and spearman on scouts.

If you don’t have a counter for a particular unit at that time, then moving back your army would be a wise choice.

If you are not so confident, you can defend your base first by making army at the base and then taking them for attack. The advantage is that in case of an attack on your base, you can still defend but the disadvantage is that it will take you more time to attack in which case the opponent may protect himself with pallaside.

If you want to play aggressive then make your military buildings in the opponent's base(make sure he doesn’t see you).You may improvise by pallasiding his buildings and even gold mines.
What happens if you have your army in his base and he has his in yours?You might want to bring yours back to your base. I would prefer to keep mine in his base,at the same time keep defend myself with vils. While defending attack one unit with one vil(because they stop attacking after they have killed their target) and keep making army at your base. Take care that the vils don’t follow up to a very large distance.

In castle age, the most powerful unit is knight. The meso civs(Aztecs and mayans) are at loss here though they have the option of the eagle warrior. You may use archers or cavalry archers in combination with knights. Again, guard your knights and cavalry archers from pikeman and raid continuously.You may also go for rams to raze his town center.

If the game stretches up to imperial age then you must look for special units. Assuming that you have boomed well, play at pop limit, make many military buildings etc. The good units in imperial age are the castle units, BBCs, Paladins, Elite EWs. The use of trebs is restricted in open maps and rams are advised in such a case.Dont stop raiding even at this stage .

The Smithy researches required depend on the type of units you are making. For cavalry most important ones are cavalry armor and attack. For archers armor and range researches are important and same thing holds for infantry also.

This is just a basic guide for army control.You want to improvise on the strategies enumerated above.Please pour in your suggestions.

By
[DZ]Blitzkreig