Those playing as the English in Age of Empires 4 have several paths they can take for victory. This is one of the easier civilizations to utilize for beginners since it has excellent defensive capabilities. However, it doesn’t gain the amazing late-game units some of the other factions do. Hence, players have to rely on either rushes or counterattacks to achieve victory.
Check out our guides to playing as other Age of Empires 4 civilizations here:
How to win playing the English in Age of Empires 4
We’ve found two great strategies to win as the English in Age of Empires 4. Both have the same early game, which we’ll start with below.
English players should begin the game by taking advantage of their cheaper farms. Start by producing Villagers as quickly as possible. Split the Villagers at around 3:1 between food and wood and build houses as needed. Players can also start mining for gold and stone, but it’s not a priority in the first age. The goal here is to save enough resources to get to Age 2 quickly.
Once players get to Age 2, they have to make a choice:
- Go for the rush.
- Turtle up.
Go for the rush
The English get the unique Longbowman unit which is one of the best ranged units in the game for the money. If they’re going for the rush, players should pick the Council Hall as their building. It produces Longbowmen faster than a regular Archery Range, and by this point, players should have enough food stockpiled to start churning them out. Consider adding another Archery Range or two to increase production speed.
About 30-40 Longbowmen should be enough to rush more inexperienced players at this point in the game. Some Men-At-Arms mixed in can help keep what army an opponent does have off of the Longbowmen so they can have maximum effect. Luckily, even if a player’s army of archers goes down, they should be raking in enough food to rebuild quickly.
Turtle up
The English also get a big bonus with their Network of Castles buff. Town Centers, Outposts, Towers, and Keeps increase the attack speed of nearby units when enemies are detected. So, building walls, (preferable stone walls) and keeping on the defensive can be a good move.
For example, players can build a wall at a choke point, place an outpost behind it and move in a squad of Longbowmen when needed. The Longbowmen will get increased attack speed from the Outpost and quickly dispatch the enemy. This can even work with Villagers in a pinch because English Villagers attack with bows instead of farm implements.
The idea of this strategy is to let an opponent bash their army against a strong defense. Then, while they’re weakened, their opponent can counterattack and wipe them off the field.
