England/Strategic Overview

Faction Overview	Strategic Overview	History

• Strengths: Strong archery tradition, fast city expansion, early naval superiority
• Weaknesses: Questionable light cavalry, lack of fast light infantry, although knights-sergeants are quite strong.

The English are one of the easier nations to play as, with useful economic benefits and a powerful but rather inexpensive army. Their national bonuses mark them as a powerful economic faction as well. Firstly, since their buildings do not ramp, they can expand early because much needed structures such as farms, woodcutter and mining camps stay at the same price for the whole game. Cheaper production sites aren't the only perks the English receive: English cities can have extra forests and mountains within their larger economic radius so lumber mills and smelters can enhance resource production even further. This grants the English player the ability to create larger, more developed cities and the ability to create a powerful navy and army, which is centred around foot soldiers. They can train also train one of the most effective archer units of the Middle Ages: Longbowmen. Over time, these units have the best rate of fire for archery units, allowing them to out-shoot the slower but more powerful crossbows of other nations. Other units of note also include the Knights-Sergeants are actually dismounted men-at-arms and are heavier than espadachines in all sense of the word: they may be hardier, but they are somewhat slower on foot, making them somewhat troublesome. Thankfully, the addition of Reaver Cavalry means that you have a means of screening your forces, so that you will not be ambushed or taken unawares, although you will be unable to recruit anything good in the way of light cavalry until you can access them.

On the seas, the English are a force to be reckoned with: they get longships, a heavy ship that comes out age earlier than others. This means that in many naval scenarios, England rules the waves quite well, so unlike other factions you can create an unsually powerful navy - with cheap fire ships and sloops to screen the navy, followed by hard-hitting heavy ships. In later eras, however, the English War Galley and the War Cog suffer from a -3 range debuff, but make up for it for added fire speed. While this makes English ships somewhat underpowered in ship to ship combat, it makes them all the more ferocious, especially in defending against naval landings. Extra attack speed also means that they are harder hitting than other factions' ships, however, so at sea the English way of war is to be as aggressive as possible. More rate of fire means ships should be used aggressively, which means sailing your vessels headlong into the foe. Alternatively, you can place 2 or 3 War Galleys near an invasion point, and they will do well at keeping Transport Hoys from landing their deadly cargoes on your shores.

So while other nations have to gather more and more to build even the most essential buildings, the English are able to save these resources on creating extra buildings, which is especially useful when the game starts because they can get extra farms, woodcutter camps, temples, markets, etc, which of course produce extra resources. Military-wise, these assets are best protected through a combined-arms approach: keep Billmen on hand to deter cavalry, use Longbowmen to attack your enemy's ranged infantry and the Knights-Sergeants to protect them both from infantry, especially in the late game when your opponents have access to high-level cavalry. The only problem with the English is that they don;t have proper access to cavalry other than Reavers.

Faction summary

• A faction based on more efficient cities and an even more powerful economy.
• King of the Castle — While neither as cheap as Japanese castles nor as powerful as those of the Byzantines or the Armenians, castles are still a viable investment. Build fortifications to deny ground to opponents, since the ramp cost of castles has been eliminated.
• Real Estate — Proper placement of your towns in the early game can boost their power immensely.
• Serfin' Time — You will need to be very careful at how you plan for long-term games, because of the changing face of your army in each era. Use Longships to keep enemies in check at sea during the Dark Age, until you can go on the offensive using your unique infantry and cavalry.
• Ruling the Waves — Thanks to the Danes and the Normans, England's pre-Imperial navy is one of the most powerful of all, although it should be noted that its heavy ship line is easily countered by determined numbers of foes.
• A Most Expected Inquisition — In diplomacy games, the Spanish are a great ally as the ability to see the entire map will allow you to cherry-pick sites for building your cities.

Best age(s):

All, however the lack of good cavalry units with ancillary abilities means that England can easily fall prey to a faction using heavy cavalry (such as the Byzantines and the Armenians) and its archers are easy prey for French cavalry if separated from other infantry.

Strategic Overview
Basic gameplay	Rise of Chivalry	Renovatio Europam