Scotland/Strategic Overview

Faction Overview	Strategic Overview	History

• Strengths: Resilient military, with its peak in the Dark to Castle Ages, and good levy units.
• Weaknesses: Military UUs are highly unsuitable for late-game play, weak Castle Age navy.

Scotland's unique power is perhaps one of the most interesting (and possibly the most powerful). They collect wealth in addition to metal when they are mining, essentially doubling the output from mines. This is a huge bonus because they are much less dependent on trade to generate wealth, which can easily be cut off or harassed.

Wealth is the central commodity in the game from which you can purchase all other resources. Put together with the ability to receive refunds on units lost to the enemy, this allows Scotland to be very resilient and provide most players a very lenient economic development path. They don't have to plan and balance their resource collection as carefully as other players. So it is imperative that the Scots place mines everywhere they can to take advantage of the wealth/metal dual mining power. It goes without explanation that cities and upgrades taken should be conducted to maximise their mining ability.

Your troops as the Scots are highly versatile. The Irish auxiliaries under your command, the Ceithernn, have augmented abilities against archer-heavy civs, while your other infantry unit, the Cliarthaire, are a menace to cavalry, given its powerful attack. Scottish light cavalry is somewhat weak, slower and weaker than normal Light Cavalry, but capable of seeing very far distances. Note, however that Scotland does not receive modern pikemen; the closest you will have come the Imperial Era will be the Pike Levy and the Schiltron Infantrymen, whose stats make them fairly obsolete against enemies with infantry in the Imperial Era, despite their ferocious reputation. The Scottish navy is also very weak, having access only to 2 basic heavy ship units throughout a normal game, as opposed to the normal 3 enjoyed by others, although it makes up for this defect by having a cheaper but weaker heavy ship.

So what this means is that your best bet is to rush during the Dark Ages. Use your mines to gather metal, vital for your Cliarthaire, and wealth, which can be used to create your raiding cavalry and skirmisher infantry. Note that you have the ability to gather "insurance" from any of your units that die, so what this means too is that your losses in battle will be cushioned by this special ability. Try to keep rushing your opponent - use the ceithernn and cavalry to neutralise archers and light infantry, and your unique harder-hitting heavy infantry to fend off cavalry and then raze your opponent's towers. It doesn't matter if you lose your original force - you will still be able to get back resources to invest elsewhere or create new troops!

Faction Summary

• Economically versatile faction, which is dedicated to rushing.
• Insurance Policy — If however your initial rush fails, don't despair nevertheless. Scotland's ability to gather wealth from mines means that if you looked after your trade routes or considered them, your scholars at your universities should create ample knowledge to be used in developing gunpowder units. Try to out-research your opponent if you can to get to the Imperial Era first, and then continue the flood of units on your foe: pikemen and arquebusiers should make up your fighting force.
• Spy Hard — Since you can receive resources from units that die, you can use spies to great effect. Capture your opponent's units, and then kill them off - they immediately add back to your stockpile!
• Best Friends — Given the speed of Scottish infantry on the move, it might be wise to pick an ally with highly mobile units who can screen your infantry as they go on the move. Wales, England, China and Andalus are good archer civs that can help cover the movement of your troops with suppressing fire, while cavalry-heavy civs such as Mongolia and France can supply cavalry and other traits lacking in your own faction.

Best age(s):

Dark to Castle.

Strategic Overview
Basic gameplay	Rise of Chivalry	Renovatio Europam