Inspired by the recent thread "worst cards in my opinion" and because I love the deckbuilding aspect of the game, I thought I'd spark some discussion in here. Post yours, judge others'.

Ethiopians:

Indian Spice Trade (+60% yields from trading posts): If you really commit to fighting hard in Age 2 and get map control, you can absolutely feel the value of this card, especially on maps with very big lines of TPs. The problem is that the card is completely wasted if your opponent also fights in Age 2, possibly with a superior civ, which you can't really predict since most civs with a strong age 2 also have the option to do a greedy FF/FI.

Heywat Philosophy (All Mountain Monastery techs -30% cost and research time): It's really annoying sending a card just for that, but if you're going to go age 3/4 somewhat quickly with Alliances that give great techs in the Monastery (Portuguese, Sudanese mostly), you save a LOT of resources with it, especially for a card that goes into the Age 1 slot. The problem is that you'll have absolutely no tempo until those techs are researched.

Sefari (ships 10 infantry units and greatly reduces the cost of their upgrades): I feel like everytime I include it in my builds I lose more often than if I don't, but the raw maths of this card are fine. Even if you don't go age 4, the card pays for itself if you research the Veteran upgrade for infantry. The problem is that you have to gather 1000 influence to send the card, and that influence could also have been spent on mercenaries or another form of high-tempo unit.

22 Somali Allies (Darood Militias): If you do reach age 4, chances are your opponent also will soon enough, so in most matchup you'll be facing lots of artillery, which the Daroods counter. Also if you've aged up with the Portuguese at some point (you probably should), you'll have an Arsenal, which means you can give them Counter-Infantry Rifling which also turns them into acceptable Skirms (x2 against heavy inf). The downside of this card is that it's not extremely high value for an Age 4 card and will fail miserably if your opponent ships something else than artillery/factories set to heavy cannons.

Hausa:

Charity (Converts your food stockpile into Influence at a 0.75 ratio): Not a good opportunity cost, but a decent card to fight like a madman in age 2 for a long while, since Hausa can generate a lot of food (they have access to Spice Trade, plus Pulaaku Code which is another +20% food from herds).

Massina Madrasahs (Villagers gather wood and coin +20% faster near universities): This is like Malta's Wignacourt Fortifications, right? Well, not really, because universities are not defensive buildings that can garrison villagers and because they're more expensive than a quick outpost.

Counter Cavalry Tactics (Javelin Riders HP and modifier vs Heavy Cav increased): a very solid upgrade card to a decent unit, but unfortunately the Hausa have access to the Kanuri Guard mercs (one shipment in age 3 and another shipment in age 4 which unlocks them to be built), which are REALLY good. It's a bit like the Chinese having a hard time to make Keshiks shine because their Manchu shipment is so good.

Indians:

Desert Terror (Camel units gain increased multipliers against units they counter): A really solid card but which struggles to shine compared to the Elephants you unlock in age 3 onwards. It's honestly fine and I've used it a lot, but very often I find myself wondering if I really should send it (Is my enemy actually building units that my camels counter? Shouldn't I just send resource crates to age up instead?). India also has a LOT of good age 2 cards that compete for having enough space in the age 2 row.

Sowar Regiment (Ships 8 Sowars and 1 Mansabdar Sowar): If you've committed your deck to bringing the 2 upgrade cards to Camel units (+1 card for Sowars but not Zamburaks), you kinda want to bring this... But it's an Age 4 card and you could instead be sending infinite Urumi, Infinite Rockets, or +5% HP/Attack to all units. Yeah.

Swedes:

7 Wittelsbach Allies: Infinite Card and not too bad value in spite of being infinite. These can singlehandedly hold a Botto spamming Jannissaries. The problem is, Sweden already has a lot of nearly-mandatory cards to send in Age 2, and you're toast if your opponent clicks on the button to ship/produce cavalry.

9/8 Caroleans: In Age 3 you have access to 2 upgrade cards for the Caroleans. Surely it wouldn't hurt to also include a shipment of them... But you'd be better off shipping resources or mercenaries.

Allotment System (Ships 1 Carolean per Torp): In theory this is a 20 Carolean card, which is good value. In practice you're probably going to be shipping Factories/Heavy Cannons and other upgrade cards before this.

it's gonna seem cliche, but I am pretty low elo (around 1100) and idk really how to face ottomans. When I try to rush them with gustavian guard it doesn't work cause they send cavalry raiding my villagers 2 mins before I can afford the guard or have 10 janissaries in their base. When I try to boom, they do a FI and get the 5 bombards and 30 nizam. At this point I feel like there's no counter to them, at least as sweden. It probably doesn't help that my last game was vs a 1300 elo ottoman player that has played 1200 games of ranked while I played 60 myself...

Edit: ok his best elo was 1600, which is quite the unfaire difference...

Hey Reddit, fairly beginner player here. My friends and I recently got back into AOE3 and we’ve been spending the majority of the time playing in-house 2v2s. Everyone is roughly in the 900-1000 rating range.

By far the dominant “meta” that has emerged is whoever has the stronger age 2 play will win. Within the various age 2 comps the most dominant one is heavy hand infantry (such as dopplesoldners) and archaic light infantry. Nobody has been able to play a mirror game or definitively beat the comp in fights.

What’s the answer? Dopplesoldners especially have proven to be the most effective unit in these games, as even with sub-optimal micro the fight can be a strategic victory for the Dopp player by just trading out with their AOE attack. Nobody seems to be able to get a critical mass of either cavalry or light infantry to deal with such an army. Is it micro? Is it unit comp? Is it tech? Engage conditions? I’m open to opinions, thank you for reading!

What’s better when using akan ankobias with Hausa? Sending the card that adds them to the barrack or leveling with their alliance but staying as a native unit and not a proper part of your army? I know that the maigadi exist being the strongest “musket” unit and being 1 pop and all that but sometimes is hard massing the and I need a musket equivalent or at least fill the roll

I feel like it’s high time there was a dedicated discussion about the collosseum, or Collo (aka Wollo) scenario. I see it hosted often and I join and I think it’s on like “version 72” now or something. I’ve quite enjoyed playing it and trying to figure out the optimal way to win but I havent seen any real discussion of it online.

questions:

1. who makes and regularly updates this scenario? Specifically, the one I see being hosted frequently these days, called “Budoka collo”. in this you get wood and food for killing enemy units which you can spend on upgrades, and everyone basically gets a random assortment of units. Every 800 kills you get access to a few new units. Is there a community of modders who makes and updates this scenario? Where / how does this occur?

2. what the optimal starting option? I’ve been choosing 1500w trickle over 20 minutes but there’s a variety of starting options

3. what’s the best way to upgrade units? HP and attack upgrades are cheaper than “combat” upgrades, but combat upgrades seem more impactful in the long run. What about different armor types, rate of fire, range, etc?

4. collo winners always seem to be players who specialize into a skirm unit and spam that all game. Is there any way to win with cav or artillery? Or is that just not possible with how good massed skirms are?