Persian Douche
Persian Town Centres have double the hit points, so a Persian TC built next to the enemy TC will always win the TC battle. Send 10 villagers forward in Dark Age, delete your own TC as they arrive, and rebuild it next to the opponent's. An all-in surprise strategy that commits half your villagers — hard to stop if the enemy doesn't react correctly.
Added 7 Sep 2026
- **6 villagers** on sheep
- **4** on wood
- **1** lures the boar
- **1** builds the third **house** and the **mill** on berries
- **2** more on berries
- **1** lures the second boar
- Next vill + 9 from food — **send 10 forward**. By now you should know where the enemy TC is.
- **2** on food under TC
- Research **Loom**
- **1** more on food under TC
- When forward villagers reach the enemy base, **delete your TC** and build a new one near the enemy's TC — out of arrow range
- **Garrison 10 villagers** and start the TC battle
- Start making new villagers and send them to a nearby resource
- After you've won the TC battle, keep pushing and take nearby resources
- Decide: **drop another TC** near the enemy's new TC, or **advance to Feudal** and pressure with Towers + Archers
More Rush builds
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.
Saxons 19 Pop Archers with Tower
A safe archer opening that uses the Saxons' defensive bonuses. Every mill, lumber camp and mining camp you build gives you extra food and 10 stone, so you reach Feudal Age with enough stone for a tower without a single villager mining stone. Saxon towers shoot double arrows from Castle Age, which makes that tower even stronger later. The plan: two lumber camps for a smooth economy, archers to pressure, a tower on your gold and a full wall at home. In Castle Age go up to 3 Town Centers quickly: every Town Center or Castle makes your foot soldiers 5% cheaper, up to 20%. Then follow up with Varangian Guards and skirmishers, or Hearth Troops. This is a first impression from Hera's pre-release video against the AI, so treat the follow-ups as a starting point, not settled meta.
Danes 19 Pop Man-at-Arms Rush
Man-at-Arms opening built on three Danes bonuses. The extra food on drop-off makes an easy fast Feudal Age, the cheaper Man-at-Arms upgrade lets you go to gold later than usual, and every enemy building you destroy gives you back a quarter of its cost. The whole build is about attacking nonstop and destroying buildings. Hit villagers when you can reach them; when they run, hit lumber camps, houses and above all farms. Every farm you kill gives you 15 wood, while your opponent loses the 60 wood it cost. That wood is what keeps your army and your economy going, so never stop raiding. This is a first impression from Hera's pre-release video against the AI, so treat the follow-ups as a starting point, not settled meta.
Mongols on Water Maps
Mongols have no water bonus at all, but their hunters gather 40% faster, and that is enough. The hunt takes you to Feudal Age at around 5:50 — early enough to kill enemy fishing ships and own the water before the opponent has even arrived. Strong on Baltic, Mediterranean, Bog Islands and similar, and excellent on MegaRandom where hunt and water are both common. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
Burgundians on Arabia
Burgundians get economic upgrades an age early at a 50% food discount, and this build cashes that in immediately: Double-Bit Axe goes down in the Dark Age, which is why you go up on 21 pop instead of the usual 20. Safe, wall-heavy, with a very strong Cavalier Castle Age. Finish in early Imperial with Paladins — Burgundians are not a great post-Imperial civ, so the damage has to be done before then. Capoch streams on Twitch and Kick (kick.com/capoch).
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).