Burgundy/Strategic Overview

Faction Overview	Strategic Overview	History

• Strengths: Strong economy and versatility.
• Weaknesses: Heavy reliance on cavalry mercenaries indicates a subceptibility towards more effective pike and shot formations.

Burgundy's true strength lies in its mercenaries. In the Dark Age, Burgundy has the highest and most varied number of mercenaries available to any faction in the game which can be used to complement your halberdier guard. A spear retinue/halberdier rush supplemented by mercenaries is the most common tactic that you can use, with the mercenaries as cannon fodder to ease the arrival of your heavy infantry spearhead. Basques and Bretons can be used to fill in any gaps created in your lines or your opponent's.

With your economic bonuses from buildings, you should be able to create a powerful economic powerhouse that will allow you to purchase a good many mercenaries to complement the rest of your troops. Mercenaries often resemble other units, so they can also be used to fool your opponent into making a wrong move prior to being flanked.

On the sea, bear in mind that each dock you build will grant you a substantial boost of wealth and 2 fire ships, so long as your population cap is not maxed out. With some wood, you can eventually create lots of fire ships that can be used to sink other factions' heavier naval forces. This method is not suggested against Venice in the Imperial Era, however, as its siege ships, although slow, are sufficiently tough and also have an immensely high rate of fire. 10 fire ships will be easily destroyed by half a dozen galleasses, with only 2 or so galleasses lost by the Venetian player, so if fighting against Venice you may need to consider getting heavy ships out.

Faction summary

• Economic specialist which relies on offensive use of mercenaries.
• Wealth is Health — Mercenaries require plenty of wealth to create, especially if you intend to raise condottieri. Ensure that trade and taxation are made a priority in a mercenary game.
• Mix-&-Match — having fast-training mercenaries means that you will always have an answer to your opponent's threats. As mercenaries are only half as effective or so as their mainstream counterparts, balance is the key. Either its lots of cheap archers and warriors, and powerful cavalry, or it's light cavalry and siege units with halberd infantry in the lead.
• "Molon labe' "— Armed caravans and merchants can be used offensively as area denial weapons: any enemy merchant that unpacks near one of your merchants won't stay or live for long.
• Swing It Like Alan Sugar — Fleets of fire ships can be created very quickly - you will receive 2 new fire ships per dock, and a wealth boost. Used correctly this method can take down other opponents such as Denmark or Byzantium. Denmark (and her sisters Russia, Scotland, England and to a lesser extent Spain) often amass longship fleets, while Byzantium's flamethrower vessel, despite its intimidating stats, has very mediocre range. The rest of this is self-explanatory...

Best age(s):

Castle to Imperial

Strategic Overview
Basic gameplay	Rise of Chivalry	Renovatio Europam