Overview
Need help finding a civ that fits your play style? Well this guide will help determine what civ fits you depending on the civ’s age stregnth, strategies it supports most, and resource it relies most on. I started playing aoe3 on release which gives me a really good grasp on the mechanics of the game saying its been ten years. Ive been wish washy with the game for two years now just due to life catching up to me, but ive started to play again. My steam hours are gladly not my true hours spent of the game. I say gladly because im sure it would be around 20k atleast. I have three accounts currently and if you guys have any questions, suggestions, or even just requests to play comment below or message me. Ive trained a handful of people and I could help anyone who wants it 🙂
British
The civ that has the title of being a “micro” oriented civ. Yes they are hard work to pull off but its one that’ll overwhelm most in the second age. Due to having one of the best musks in the game they can pull off a pretty good dual racks or musk huss in the second age. They are very, very, very food hungry though. Herding your third hunt during discovery is a must if you intend to last. Overall they thrive best in the second age and have the best water boom within the euro civs.
Spain
Eh. Its spain. They really kinda ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Spain over with its “unique” civ passive. The xp bonus isnt all that great. Mainly they ff due to an extra card compared to any other ff, plus the lancers, and swiss pikeman are over bearing to most. All in all they dont really boom due to having no unique card, unit, or structure that grants them a resource bonus. Mainly they are gold heavy, and due decent on water JUST because they have schooners. In vanilla they are op because they can go for a tp and get the passive xp which makes them ship cards like no tomorrow. Their age two is generally just weaker but with mechanics you can pull off a mad age two double racks. If theres one person who can pull off a disgusting spain game its Piroshiki.
France
The most balanced civ for sure. They bring a ton of versatility to the game. Being one of the few who arent age oriented, they can ff or musk huss, and even xbow pike. Plus the couriers are just disgustingly annoying to deal with. Raiding them can be very tedious to do at times if they can micro their villagers right. Althought they may be balanced its just one thing that really kills them and thats water maps. If you go against an aztec, brit, or port youre gonna have some trouble keeping up to a water boom. Overall a good civ to learn, just boring in my eyes.
Germany/Prussia
Amazing fortress age power. Just absurd what cards they get. The uhlan bonus to cards make them so annoying at times. Their fortress is godly, just not as good as china’s. I mean 8 uhlans….and if you have good los on the map youll be racking in some good raids or picks. Personally they are one of my favs because I like semi ff’ing and they can pull it off with ease due to the wagons and uhlan bonus to cards. Their age two is sub par mainly because they dont have musks but their fortress makes up for it. Dont even try to water boom with them, we’ll leave it at that.
Ports
If you look at my MH it’ll say im a port main. Yes they are technically the worst civ in the game. But with right mechanics, and wise building placement youll be on the road to a captain. Their map presence is honestly amazing compard to others. Age two you send tc cart to go build near a hunt to secure it, which to me screams booming. Booming and turtling are my lingo man. They lack a villager shipment which sets them back a tad, but when you ff youll be pumping vills out like no other. Its just hard to get there without the 3 vill card. Ff’ing is almost required on ports which kinda lets your opponent get the upper hand. But with your tc’s they cant raid you without losing resources. Its a stalement trade pretty much (you take mine i take yours). Their water is amazing….if you can pull off a double dock and wall yourself off with good LOS, youll out boom them and damn near spam them to victory. Plus the dragoon range card is dope even though you never really reach imperial age.
Russia
The notorious spammers. The cheese one blockhouse by age two rush. Imo its easy to counter. But if the russian knows what hes doing he can beat almost any age two fight. Russia is only really known for colonial mainly because fortress they lack a strong cav. Sure the cossacks are cheap and pop affective, but not heavy enough to soak some dmg. Cossacks in the right hand will lock down hunts for you to gather or even heard to you. Pretty much russia counters the brits in every way starting at the five minute mark. Their water is alright, ive seen darwin_giovanni pull off some crazy water booms but its nothing like a must pull strat. Overall if youre looking for an age two civ with huge armies that are paper thin, than russia is def for you.
Dutch
Another one of my favs. The can pull off a mean semi, or straight ff. They can hit and run just about any unit with the ruyter (which are dirt cheap and mega cost effective). Generally they fall off come late game due to a vill cap of 50, and the banks dont make up for it even with all the cards. But they peak pretty hard and they do it faster than most which is why they can be very strong. Most new players will think bloody hell harry they must be the best age two civ due to having the skirms available pre fortress. Well wrong….due to not having a sturdy heavy inf they tend to blow against heavy cav civs in age two. But come fortress they blow them out of the water with the ruyters. Sure in team games the skirms are pretty helpful but pre fortress they are sub par. Building placement is key to them which is hard without a building rotator mod (not illegal in most tournaments btw). Their water isnt the best but its not the worst. Great for someone with experience and bad for someone who is new. Its hard keeping q’d up on vills due to them costing gold.
Ottoman
Everyone below a serg. will say ottoman are broken. No. they have a peak super early. But if you can resist the power spike they become merely a hobo’s fleshlight. Colonial jans are a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ to deal with due to the whacky health they get, and ranged resistance. Turtle to win lol. Their fortress is pretty good due to the heavy cav shipments they get (mams, spahi). Sure theyll piss you off the first 500 games against them, but when you learn to deal with them they become rather easy to smash.
Sioux
Primarily a colonial civ they can pull off the most broken strat alive. The bowrider spam…..this is absolutely broken. They are supposed to counter cav but lets be real they counter their counters. They can ff buts its not nearly as good as their age 2 spam. Sioux water is terrible so dont even attempt it. I used to play them but it got rather bland due to being a linear civ with mainly two strats you can succesfully pull off. They are evenly hungry for both gold and food.
Iro
Wc expansion was one we all loved/hated. It brought us these turds. The iro bb rush is what brought so many people to capt. Cough Cough garja. This civ is broken in every way possible. If you want to climb this is your token my friends. They can rush the fastes amoung any civ and they have a crazy good musk (tomahawks). Not my cup of tea though. Their water isnt bad because they have a war dance for boats which can make then deal some wonkin damage.
Aztec
Good god, these indians can water boom like no other. If you play against an azi on water just type gg from the beginning. They have a water dance which makes them extremely op on water. Plus their warrior priests give them the better lead on the fire pit compared to the other wc civs. They do struggle a tad against heavy cav civs but the can spam one hell of an army during colonial. They thrive during the second age, and are pretty wood hungry. Overall a great civ just hard to micro due to the fire pit.
Japan
Boom, boom, boom, boom. Thats about it. Rush heavenly kami and youre set. 75 wood houses that are mini factories, oh dont forget they produce more on heards that take control and cant be hearded by your enemy. Kk the shrine is op in itself, but other than that they are very fragile. And heavy rushing civ can deal with a ♥♥♥ simply by shutting down the shrine boom. Burn any and every shrine you see and you win. Japan is obviously going to be good on water, but they are better on land. They stay colonial because you literally have no damn reason to ff. Cherry orchards keep you safe from raids which is another plus. So if youre looking to turtle and boom, japans for you.
India
Lets just say the upgraded russia. The agra rush is just a burden you live with at night and you wish you never had experienced such a violation of your map. They pretty much do everything russia does except they are mega wood hungry and can water boom. They are amazing colonial, fortress and any other age. They can do whatever strategy they want pretty much. They play weird though due to vills costing wood. They arent balanced and are rather broken in many ways. A good indian will win a good 60% of their games just by having the advantages the civ offers. Great for an experienced player but terrible for a novice. They specialize in rushing and ff’ing which makes them hard to counter, aka you best be scouting buildings and gatherers to see if hes rushing or ff’ing. Generally you can tell by the wonder but its always the code of “better to be safe than sorry”.
China
The gods of ff, the master race of fortressing. Their age 3 is by far the best. They can ship from their forms of houses (villages). And the cards they can send are just disgusting. The thing is you cant semi due to them having a weak heavy cav till fortress. Come fortress the wreck anyone. Once you send your 9 manchu card it deals with all the problems of dealing with heavy cav. And late game (mainly treaty) they have a way to get 220 pop which gives you the slight advantage to fighting. Overall a good civ, just not one for a new player (just because of all the microing and non linear builds). Their water isnt good, so dont even try it.