English guide: strengths, counters and build orders
Defensive civ with cheap farms; Longbows and Spearmen next to towers and the TC
Strengths
- Safe economy: farms cost half and gather faster near a Mill
- Strong defense: Network of Castles boosts attack speed by 20% near TCs and Outposts
- Longbows have +2 range and Palings against cavalry
- Men-at-Arms train 40% faster, plus Vanguard Men-at-Arms from the Dark Age
- The White Tower Keep trains any unit 75% faster
Weaknesses
- Longbows fall to Men-at-Arms, Knights and Rams
- Slow and immobile; cavalry and Horse Archers punish it
- If he turtles, he loses to relics, trade and scaling
- Siege and late game are very average
How to counter English
- Scout the Landmark: Council Hall means a Longbow rush, prepare Spearmen, Men-at-Arms or cavalry
- Hit with Men-at-Arms and Rams before the White Tower or the second TC
- Raid far farms and gold, and stay away from towers and the TC
- Hit him while he builds the second TC around minute 5
- Go Fast Castle for relics and Sacred Sites and outscale him
Units that work well: Men-at-Arms · Knights · Rams · Crossbowmen · Horse Archers · Mangonels
Layla's in-game tip: Hit with Men-at-Arms and Rams, and stay away from his towers
Power spikes and timings
- 4:00Feudal Longbow rush with the Council Hall (4:00 to 7:00)
- 5:00Second TC around minute 5
- 9:30Castle with the White Tower or King's Palace (9:00 to 10:00)
Strongest armies per age (simulator)
Open-field fights in Layla's battle simulator against standard armies of the same cost. Score = resources needed per enemy resource (lower is better; 1.0 is an even trade).
Feudal Age
- Early Man-at-Arms0.75
- Early Man-at-Arms + Hardened Spearman0.83
- Early Man-at-Arms + Longbowman0.87
Castle Age
- Man-at-Arms0.72
- Man-at-Arms + Veteran Spearman0.72
- Man-at-Arms + Crossbowman0.75
Imperial Age
- Wynguard Footman + Elite Longbowman0.46
- Wynguard Footman + Wynguard Ranger0.51
- Wynguard Footman0.52
Civilization bonuses
- Town Centers, Outposts, Towers, and Keeps increase attack speed of nearby units by +20% when enemies are in range.
- Farms are -50% cheaper to construct — Farms near mills gather +20/25/30/30% faster by Age.
- Vanguard Man-at-Arms in the Dark Age (I).
- Produce Man-at-Arms +40% faster than other civilizations.
- Villagers wield short bows when attacking enemy units.
- Keeps can produce all military units.
- Ships are -10% cheaper to produce.
- Scouts and Men-at-Arms can setup campfires to increase line-of-sight and improve nearby hunting by +10%.
Landmarks
- Abbey of Kings (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Heals all nearby friendly units that are out of combat by +6 every 1 seconds. May also Crown a King, a powerful cavalry leader with a healing aura. Queues…
- Council Hall (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Acts as an Archery Range with all units and technologies. Works +100% faster. Longbowmen produced from this landmark are -5% cheaper.
- King's Palace (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Town Center. Produces Villagers +10% faster.
- The White Tower (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Keep with all the behaviors, technologies, and bonuses. Works 75% faster.
- Berkshire Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Acts as a Keep with increased health and powerful incendiary arrows. All weapons have 14.5 tiles of range.
- Wynguard Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Allows production of 4 battalions: Wynguard Army, Wynguard Rangers, Wynguard Raiders, and Wynguard Footmen.
- Cathedral of St. Thomas (built in Age 4; 5000F 5000W 5000G 5000S · 600s) Build and defend a Wonder to secure victory. Rival civilizations will be aware of its construction and seek to destroy it.
English build orders
- Longbow rush into CastleaggressiveFeudal 4:00
- 2 TC and White TowerboomFeudal 4:22Castle 10:14
English matchups
Best matchups
Hardest matchups
All matchups
- vs Chinese52.8% · 17,131
- vs Ottomans52.7% · 22,375
- vs Abbasid Dynasty51.3% · 10,320
- vs Byzantines50.4% · 12,889
- vs House of Lancaster50.4% · 11,353
- vs Tughlaq Dynasty49.3% · 5,257
- vs Malians49.1% · 12,124
- vs Ayyubids48.8% · 8,638
- vs Zhu Xi's Legacy48.8% · 12,670
- vs Holy Roman Empire48.6% · 20,883
- vs Rus48.5% · 16,788
- vs Mongols48.2% · 16,803
- vs Japanese47.5% · 23,323
- vs Sengoku Daimyo47.5% · 5,378
- vs Jeanne d'Arc46.4% · 7,377
- vs Jin Dynasty46% · 7,262
- vs Delhi Sultanate45.3% · 8,418
- vs Order of the Dragon44.9% · 22,301
- vs French43.7% · 54,440
- vs Knights Templar43.3% · 41,943
- vs Macedonian Dynasty41.5% · 17,446
- vs Golden Horde40.9% · 12,817
FAQ
- What counters English in AoE4?
- Men-at-Arms, Knights, Rams, Crossbowmen, Horse Archers, Mangonels. Scout the Landmark: Council Hall means a Longbow rush, prepare Spearmen, Men-at-Arms or cavalry
- Is English a good civ in AoE4 right now?
- English wins 47.3% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 183,968 games), which puts it in tier C on our tier list.
- What are the unique units of English?
- King, Longbowman, Wynguard Ranger. Longbowman: Archer with +2 range and +1 damage that comes with the Defensive Paling ability to stun and damage enemy cavalry.
- When is English strongest?
- 4:00 — Feudal Longbow rush with the Council Hall (4:00 to 7:00) · 5:00 — Second TC around minute 5 · 9:30 — Castle with the White Tower or King's Palace (9:00 to 10:00)
Data from the open game data (aoe4world/data), patch 16.2.10884, public ranked statistics, and Layla Coach's battle simulator. Layla Coach is an independent tool, not affiliated with Microsoft, Relic Entertainment or World's Edge.