Moors/Strategic Overview

Faction Overview	Strategic Overview	History

• Strengths: Excellent cultural bonuses involving extra wonders and enhanced food production; enhanced raiding abilities.
• Weaknesses: UUs have little or no armour, no Imperial Era infantry or cavalry.

The Moors have access to several different unique units: the zanji archer, and a Murabit swordsman line. These units like those of the Saracens have poor armour stats, but make it up for being faster on foot and able to resist attrition, making them good as support units to your javelin cavalry. Use the unique Muslim technologies available to you at your house of worship and you Nobles' Court to improve your civilisation further, so you can use your faction's unique units — particularly infantry — better.

The Moors' bonuses and lineup of unique units make for Dark Age rushing and raiding. The fast moving and ranged attacks of Iberian skirmishers make for an ideal rushing unit. These units are not only good in a rush, but also as a defensive or countering force, as they will beat all other likely rush units, such as shield bearers and cavalry. They also are adept at sea warfare in the Imperial Era. The multicultural heritage of the Moors comes to be a boon again, as you can create the "corsair" line, consisting of the Fusta and the Baghlah. At sea, Fustas and Baghalat are cheaper than the War Galleys and Brigantines of your western foes, and are also faster and deal more damage. Moreover, since your late-game light ship line have no requirement for politics, the Moors may research Absolutism from the Senate in order to create a well-rounded Imperial navy, consisting of their powerful light ship lines and Lantern Galleys, the latter being the best warship to use for amphibious assaults.

File:Plenty.jpg

The Moors' farming bonus amounts to a bonus of 40% which is a huge bonus, giving them plenty of food to age up, and build plenty of troops.

The Moors' inherent cultural advantage is in their ability to build Wonders, and build more farms. They will need to take advantage of these in order to collect the bonuses afforded by these structures and the earlier the better, as the Moors do not possess any inherent economic bonuses. The Moorish player would do well to corner these wonders for its own use (as once a wonder is built they can't be built by another civilisation). They should be helped in accomplishing this task by their ability to build Wonders cheaper. However they will need to be careful to defend their cities so an enemy won't be able to capture those important Wonders. Their farming bonus amounts to a bonus of 40%, which is a huge bonus that should give them plenty of food to age up, and build plenty of troops. The surplus can also be a great asset to trade for other needed resources. Generally, you are advised to build a bigger army to overwhelm opponents as other than your current bonuses, you do not have any inherent military bonuses. However a larger army size and military wonders should be used to offset this — consider obtaining the Magnum Horologium and the Alhambra Complex before any other faction can do so.

Faction summary

• Versatile faction with the ability to select either early rushing or Imperial Era booming.
• Power House — Use your early units like jinetes or zanji bowmen in a rush if possible, but if it looks risky, attempting to build and boom instead may be better.
• Those Who Liveth By The Sword... — In later ages, you can use the Hasham infantry and Jundis to supplement your raiding parties further. They have less armour, but thankfully are faster and cheap enough to be used against infidels who foolishly rely on archery, such as England or Venice, or attrition fields such as Russia.
• It's The Economy, Stupid — Playing defensively, you should accumulate enough of an economic base to create an army that can withstand an invading army through sheer numbers.
• Finding Religion — Like all non-Christian factions, the Moors cannot train advanced barracks and stable units, and must rely on religion to save the day. Research the Muslim unique technologies from your house of worship and (later on) your Nobles' Court to strengthen your productive capabilities and power of your units. The ability to build an extra city is always useful, as is an attrition field or the ability to afford more mercenaries.

Best age(s)

All.

Strategic Overview
Basic gameplay	Rise of Chivalry	Renovatio Europam