Varangians 19 Pop Scouts into Bloodlines

A standard 19 pop scout opening that uses the Varangians' best early bonus: **10% of the food from herding and hunting is also gold**. That trickle pays for **Bloodlines** without a mining camp, so your Feudal scouts have **75 HP** and win nearly every early fight. The plan: go up at 19 pop without Loom, make 3 scouts, get Bloodlines right away and harass while you build farms and wall. Around 35 villagers, build the mining camp and click Castle Age. In Castle Age keep playing cavalry: light cavalry with relic control, a monastery, more Town Centers, then knights or Jarls. This is a first impression from Hera's pre-release video against the AI, so treat the Castle Age follow-ups as a starting point, not settled meta.

Added 18 Oct 2026

  1. **7** on food; one of them lures the **deer**
  2. **2** on wood; one builds a **house** with them
  3. **1** lures the **boar**
  4. **3 more** under the TC, on sheep and boar
  5. Build a **mill**; **3** new villagers go to the **berries**
  6. **2 more** under the TC
  7. 6:20 Click **Feudal Age** at **18 villagers** (**19 pop** with the scout). **No Loom**. Move **5** sheep villagers to **wood**
  8. As soon as you have the wood, build the **barracks**. Once Feudal Age lands, research **Loom**
  9. When the **boar** runs out, rebalance to **10 food and 6 wood**
  10. When the barracks is done, build a **stable** and make **3 scouts**
  11. **Bloodlines** right after the 3 scouts, without losing HP on them. Then **Double-Bit Axe**
  12. **2** new villagers go to the **berries**. Villagers from under the TC start building **farms**. Bloodlines clicked: **8 food, 10 wood**
  13. When Bloodlines finishes, the scouts should already be at the enemy base **harassing**. Keep adding farms, **wall** the whole time
  14. Hold **14 food and 10 wood** and keep making **scouts**
  15. 16:30 At **19 food, 10 wood**: build the **mining camp**, send **6** to gold and **click Castle Age**
  16. Upgrade to **Light Cavalry** (90 HP) and take the relics. Stay on **one stable**
  17. Bloodlines is already in, so spend on **Bow Saw** and cavalry **armor**
  18. **Husbandry**, a **Town Center** (on stone) and a **Monastery** to heal your cavalry
  19. Hit and run with the light cavalry and take small trades; heal at the monastery and use the monks to convert
  20. With 4 TCs go to **Castle** (or Imperial). Two options: the unique tech for **knight trample damage** (130 HP knights), or **Jarls**
  21. Tip: The trample tech is expensive and situational; by the time you have it your opponent may already be in Imperial. Make the **knights** first, then play towards the tech
  22. Tip: The **Jarl** (75 food, 55 gold) is a mounted raider that hard counters pikemen and kills villagers in a few shots. Knights are the front line, Jarls the backline damage
  23. Tip: **Mounted crossbows** are a solid follow-up (no Thumb Ring). **Varangian Guards** are the backup against lots of cavalry counters