Man at Arms into Archers/Skirms
Militia break walls that archers cannot, and they also scout for you: what the men-at-arms see decides whether you follow up with archers or skirmishers. Works on hybrid maps too, and pairs well with an aggressive tower denying a resource or a key position. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
Added 15 Sep 2026
- **6 villagers** on sheep
- **4** on wood
- **1** gets the first **boar**
- **1** builds a **house**, then goes to the berries and builds the **mill**
- **2 more** to the berries, and the next one gets the **second boar**
- **1 more** to the berries, **4 in total**
- **1** builds a **house**, then goes on food (boar or sheep)
- **1** builds the **barracks**, then goes to take wood
- **2** on gold
- 7:30 Research **Loom** and **click up to Feudal Age**. Arrival around 09:40
- While going up, build a new **lumber camp** and move sheep villagers to wood. **5 on each camp** is ideal
- Start making **3-4 farms** as the sheep begin to run out
- Make **3 militia**
- Research **Man-at-Arms** and the wood upgrade as soon as you can afford them
- Start **farming**, but hold off on **Horse Collar** until late Feudal or on the way to Castle
- Make **1 archery range** and start producing **archers**
- Tip: Use the men-at-arms to read what the opponent is doing. Heavy archers means switch to **skirmishers** and drop to 3-4 on gold
- **Wall** the easy parts of your map slowly, so you can predict where he comes in
- Add a **second range** only if there is Feudal fighting. Otherwise delay it until just before clicking up
- **Wheelbarrow** at roughly 400-500 food banked, or around 17 minutes
- On 2 ranges: **Crossbowman** or **Elite Skirmisher**, with **Bodkin Arrow** and **Bow Saw**
- On 1 range: transition to **knights**, take Bow Saw and add **2 more TCs**
More any-civ builds
Scouts Opening
The classic Feudal scout opening. It has lost ground lately because people wall earlier than they used to, so by the time the scouts are out the opponent is often already closed off. Still strong on genuinely open maps like Acropolis or Land Madness, and on hybrid maps that are awkward to wall such as Four Lakes. Best on Franks, Magyars, Lithuanians, Mongols, Huns or Persians. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
Fast Archer Opening
A 21 pop Feudal (click 7:30, arrive 9:40) straight into archers. Strong on generated land maps you can wall, and punishing when the opponent does not fully wall. Best with archer civs: Britons, Ethiopians, Mayans, Malay, Saracens, Vietnamese or Vikings. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
Hybrid Maps (Water and Land)
The most common hybrid-map plan: wall the land and go for a fire galley rush from 2 docks with a 7:55 Feudal click. On small bodies of water fire galleys beat galleys because there is no room to micro. Civs with mixed water and land bonuses like Malay, Japanese or Persians are favoured. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
Drush FC into Crossbow
Open with 3 militia to harass the opponent's economy and force walls while you wall up yourself, then go straight to Castle Age behind archers and hit with Crossbows around 17-18 minutes. The militia don't need to kill villagers — a bit of idle time and wasted wood on quick walls is already worth it. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
Full Water Opening
A basic Full Water opening for maps with deep fish. Build docks and fishing ships to power your economy off the water, then transition into Feudal with gold and wood for a fleet. A solid, defensive economic opening — only run it on maps with enough deep fish to sustain the fishing ships. A generic reference build, not a pro-specific one.