Basic building for 1v1 or 2v2 map with medium/high recourses available. If you dont know what my terms mean play the game a bit on freebuild singleplayer or a custom skirmish and youll get it, otherwise xfire me or something.
Deathmatch, full AI advantage (there wont be any AI so it just gives the humans 3000 gold) 20 minutes of peace time basic match rules being: no setting fire to things, no catapults/stone firing weapons and what to do if towers are allowed or not by the match creator.
Extend your stockpile tiles (industry tab) until you cant build any more.
Build 4 granaries next to your grass area (NOT ON IT just near it)
Build 20 or so woodcutter huts, then build 10 hovels on a cliff (some maps have a cliff for each player or a seperated non reachable area of the map to place hovels as to save space for your own castle buildings)
Place a market near your stockpile
Buy 300 wood at the market, build about 30 more woodcutter huts by the trees
Build 3 hop farms on the grass MAKE SURE TO MAXIMIZE AVAILABLE SPACE TO BUILD FARMS AS YOU CAN ONLY BUILD THEM ON GRASS!
Build as many apple farms that can fit and if theres any remaining space place wheat farms to fill it up
Be sure to do this as quickly as possible, you dont want to waste the 20 minute peace time
Build 8 breweries for ale from the hop farms, build about 10 inns to start with, being sure to place them in lines of too kindof like this to maximize space used
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| being an inn
When youre getting the +8 max bonus from the inn raise taxes to -8
Build a cathedral and church right next to eachother for another +3 popularity bonus
If you have enough food raise rations to extra (+4) and raise taxes to -12
Buy wood as needed, build as many stone quarries as possible, and about 5 ox tethers for each one, build as many iron mines as possible being sure to not waste space.
Around this point you should be getting wood by the hundreds, place about 30 more hovels
Build 3 wheat mills next to the stockpile, and 20 bakeries next to the granary
Build another 10 woodcutter huts if you want anytime during this period
You should have half the peace time left after this on the counter at the top right of the screen. Depending on the map you HAVE to work with your ally to set up the walls and if hes a fucking idiot, youre fucked. Build small gatehouses with drawbridges on each end, DO NOT place the wall right on the gatehouse as shown in the picture, so assassins cant take your gatehouse, place them closer to the drawbridge on the front end, in the military tab go to the gatehouse tab and click the dig moat icon, map out your moat placement on the inside of your castle first, then the outside, so when the peace time ends you can build 50 slaves to dig the moat fast as possible so you dont get rushed.
Time to build population boosters. Build about 30 water pots (they have 3 peasents working each) and just leave them for now.
Build 20 blasksmiths, 20 armorers, and 4 armories all near eachother.
Build a blacksmith, mercenary post, and engineers guild. This is important.
Build about 40 stables anywhere on the "non reachable" part of the map if there is room, that will give you 120 horses. Swords and armor should be coming in so you should have 120 swords+armor ready when the war starts.
When the timer is about to end, click the Zzz button on your woodcutters, and water pots to superboost your recruitable population.
Build 50 engineers, 50 slaves, 100 horse archers, and as many knights as you can as quickly as possible. Slaves first, send them to dig the moat on both ends of the gatehouse RIGHT AWAY.
Use the 50 engineers to build 50 portable shields, this may be a bit time consuming to practice so you can click quick enough and get it done faster. When you have about 150 horse archers, 120 knights, and 50 horse archers move them around. Group the horse archers and shields together (Ctrl+1) so the shields make them pretty much invincible to ranged attack. Unsleep your water pots. Wait 3 minutes and they should be all working again (sitting there doing nothing) sleep them again and create as many assassins as possible. Group the assassins with the horse archers and shields. If this is a 2v2 your ally should be doing the same, if not then dont send them out of your castle.
Build a shitload of garden thingies (town panel, flower button) out of reach of your peasents, if your peasents can reach them they will not work and they will go to them and get killed so make sure theyre out of reach. Build like 50 of these so your fear factor is +5 and your troops get a major combat bonus that you will need.
++Optional++ IF towers are allowed.
If towers are allowed (usually they arent because its a really cheap ass invincible tactic that is unbeatable and unbalanced)
Build a bunch of square towers and moat around those with one layer of wall on each end and moat that instead of just plain wall. Buy 100 crossbows and leather armor and put them on the tower, and build ballistas on all the towers manning them with 2 engineers each.
++Optional++ End
Your lord likes to pace alot, send him to the back of your keep so he wont move anymore, build 20 crossbowmen (buy weapons as needed) and 20 swordsmen. Put them NEAR the keep but not on it, then send the crossbowmen and the swordsmen seperatly right away. With this you can put as many troops as you want on one tower/keep/anything.
After this its up to luck. Use assassins to protect your horse archers from knights, assassins counter knights if you have enough, knights counter knights and assassins if they outnumber them. If you outnumber your enemy, you will win.
Assassins can climb walls and capture the gatehouse, if you need to dig up the moat keep your horse archers in position to keep their archers as bay and send 50 slaves to dig the moat and assassins to get the gatehouse. Knights can run through the castle and kill all resistance and 20 assassins can kill the lord alone, if he has a defence on his keep, send 50 assassins instead or if that fails, keep the knights outside the keep until you buy 50 maces + leather armor and send macemen to beat his ass
++Things to remember++
You will be getting a shitload of UNNEEDED stone and wood during the game. Sell all your stone after you build your walls up and when you sleep your cutters just keep 100 wood. Sell resources and weapons as needed if you run low on gold.
Thats about it. Ive probably forgotten something but nothing that important. If you need any further help xfire me and we can set up a game.
