House of Lancaster guide: strengths, counters and build orders
English variant with Manors and a sheep economy, 2 TC boom and White Tower Castle
Strengths
- Manors give free food and wood and +10 population
- Lancaster Castle does a Muster: 5 Demilancers in Feudal
- Yeoman Archers have 6 range and are faster
- Hobelars are cheap with high ranged armor
- Every Keep gives 3 free Earl's Guards
Weaknesses
- Manors cost stone; built greedily they slow the opening
- Average Feudal army; all-ins punish the boom
- Demilancers deal weak damage without Keeps
How to counter House of Lancaster
- Hit the boom between minutes 5 and 7
- Destroy the Manors with Rams or siege
- Keep Spearmen at home against the Demilancer Muster
- Heavy cavalry or Men-at-Arms against Yeomen
- Don't play Archers into Yeomen
Units that work well: Cavalry · Men-at-Arms · Rams · Spearmen
Layla's in-game tip: Hit the Manors and the second TC between minutes five and seven
Power spikes and timings
- 4:07Feudal with Lancaster Castle, a 5-Demilancer Muster ready
- 8:30White Tower Castle with 2 TC and a Manor
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
- Hardened Spearman1
- Hardened Spearman + Hobelar1.05
- Hobelar1.3
Castle Age
- Earl's Guard + Veteran Spearman0.87
- Earl's Guard0.88
- Earl's Guard + Crossbowman0.89
Imperial Age
- Elite Spearman + Elite Earl's Guard0.8
- Elite Spearman0.82
- Elite Earl's Guard + Elite Crossbowman0.82
Civilization bonuses
- Villagers gather from sheep +20% faster.
- Build Manors to passively generate food and wood.
- Town Centers spawn 4 sheep when built.
- Keeps grant 3 free Earl's Guards when built.
- Active Keeps improve the damage of Earl's Guards and Demilancers.
- Villagers wield short bows when attacking enemy units.
- Ships are -10% cheaper to produce.
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. Ordain up to 4 Lords of Lancaster, powerful melee leaders which increase the max…
- Lancaster Castle (built in Age 1; 400F 200G · 190s) Defensive Landmark that can do a one-time muster of units in each Age. The cost of mustering units is reduced by 50 resources per Manor. Grants all Manors…
- King's College (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Reduces research costs of all technologies by -20%. Contains unique Military technologies for House of Lancaster.
- Manor (built in Age 2; 175W 100S · 45s) Acts as a drop off building for all resource types. Passively generates 10 wood and 30 food per minute. Generates an additional 4 food and 2 wood for each…
- The White Tower (built in Age 2; 1200F 600G · 220s) Acts as a Keep with all the behaviors, technologies, and bonuses. Grants 3 Earl's Guard upon being fully constructed.
- 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. Increases the maximum damage granted by a House…
- Wynguard Palace (built in Age 3; 2400F 1200G · 250s) Allows the production of 4 battalions: Wynguard Army, Earl's Retinue, Garrison Command, and Gunpowder Contingent.
- 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.
House of Lancaster build orders
- 2 TC and Manor BoomboomFeudal 4:07Castle 8:30
House of Lancaster matchups
Best matchups
All matchups
- vs Chinese55.6% · 3,634
- vs Sengoku Daimyo55.3% · 1,243
- vs Zhu Xi's Legacy55.3% · 3,196
- vs Mongols54.2% · 3,469
- vs Ottomans53.7% · 4,331
- vs Byzantines52.9% · 3,171
- vs Jeanne d'Arc52.8% · 1,585
- vs Holy Roman Empire51.9% · 4,144
- vs French51.3% · 11,127
- vs Ayyubids51% · 2,168
- vs Tughlaq Dynasty51% · 1,397
- vs Abbasid Dynasty50.7% · 2,436
- vs Delhi Sultanate50.4% · 1,939
- vs English49.5% · 11,353
- vs Order of the Dragon48.1% · 5,307
- vs Rus48.1% · 3,867
- vs Japanese47.8% · 4,997
- vs Malians47.7% · 3,028
- vs Golden Horde46.6% · 3,148
- vs Macedonian Dynasty45.7% · 4,326
- vs Knights Templar45.3% · 9,658
- vs Jin Dynasty44.1% · 1,802
FAQ
- What counters House of Lancaster in AoE4?
- Cavalry, Men-at-Arms, Rams, Spearmen. Hit the boom between minutes 5 and 7
- Is House of Lancaster a good civ in AoE4 right now?
- House of Lancaster wins 49.9% of ranked 1v1 games across all ranks (about 45,663 games), which puts it in tier B on our tier list.
- What are the unique units of House of Lancaster?
- Demilancer, Earl's Guard, Hobelar, Lord of Lancaster, Yeoman. - Yeoman: Archer Replacement. Ranged infantry with increased speed and range. Can be upgraded to fire a devastating volley of arrows into the targeted area. - Hobelar: Horseman Replacement. Cheap and expendable cavalry with high ranged armor. - Earl's Guard: Man-at-Arms Replacement. Heavy Melee Infantry that periodically throws daggers. - Demilancer: Special Heavy Cavalry. Accessed only via landma
- When is House of Lancaster strongest?
- 4:07 — Feudal with Lancaster Castle, a 5-Demilancer Muster ready · 8:30 — White Tower Castle with 2 TC and a Manor
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.