Build Orders
17 VILS Japanese Man-at-Arms Rush
17 VILS
Japanese Man-at-Arms Rush
Quick Summary: Fast MAA rush with Japanese • Perfect landing time 8:25 • Follow up with archers + fletching • High pressure, tight build with little room for adaptation
- Many civs can do a good man-at-arms rush, but few can do one as quickly as the Japanese
- The objective of this build is to put immense pressure on our opponent as early as possible
- We want our first punch to be the quick man-at-arms, and we want to follow up as fast as possible with archers + fletching
- This build is tight and leaves very little room for walling or adaptation, so we have to make sure we always have the initiative
- After our initial push with men-at-arms + archers, we can wall and go to castle age if we are ahead or try to stabilize if we are behind
- Immediately after luring deer, we'll try to find the opponent fast. Check this video for tips: How To Find Your Opponent FAST
- After all this aggression, it's a good time to slowly set up some defenses:
- Against scouts, add a few spears when you can afford them and wall up
- Against archers, just wall up asap and if they attack you, defend with archers + a tower if needed
- If your early aggression did a lot of damage, feel free to just wall up and defend until Castle Age once your forward army is gone
- If your early aggression didn't do much then you'll need to try to adapt and find another win condition, since we invested a lot into it
- Once you get to Castle Age, play it like any archer build and follow the same principles
Build Order Steps
Dark Age
6 vils
Pop: 6
Send 6 villagers to sheep
2 vils
Pop: 8
Send 2 villagers to wood
1 vil
Pop: 9
Send 1 villager to boar
1 vil
Pop: 10
Send 1 more vil to boar under TC
Mandatory: Lure at least 2 deer
1 vil
Pop: 11
Send 1 vil to make house then go back to the hunt under TC
2 vils
Pop: 13
Next 2 vils to hunt under TC (get the second boar during this time)
1 vil
Send 1 vil to make a barracks in the front of our base
2 vils
Pop: 16
Send 2 more vils to food under TC
1 vil
Pop: 17
Send 1 villager to wood
Research loom
3
13
0
0
| 17 Pop
Research Feudal Age (perfect landing time: 8:25)
2 vils
3
11
2
0
| 17 Pop
3
11
2
0
| 17 Pop
Immediately send 2 vils from hunt to gold and make a mining camp
Make 3 militia then send them across the map to the enemy asap
4 vils
7
7
2
0
| 17 Pop
7
7
2
0
| 17 Pop
Send 4 vils from under TC to the initial lumber camp
Feudal Age
Make an archery range right away and start producing archers
Research Man-at-arms. Target enemy vils with the men-at-arms + scout
Make a blacksmith as soon as you can afford it
Research Double-Bit Axe (may need to idle TC for 10 seconds to afford)
2 vils
Pop: 19
Send 2 villagers to gold
1 vil
Pop: 20
Send 1 vil to berries and make a mill
Slowly add vils to farms/berries before sheep run out completely
Research fletching as soon as you can afford it
(Idling TC for 15-20 seconds is okay to prioritize fletching)
(Idling TC for 15-20 seconds is okay to prioritize fletching)
Send your archers across the map and group with remaining MAA. This army can kill vils behind palisade walls + break buildings
Keep making archers at home for defense + follow up
![17 VILS Anti-Lame Fast Up Dark Age [Advanced]](https://ageofnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Anti-Lame-Fast-Up-Dark-Age-390x220.webp "17 VILS Anti-Lame Fast Up Dark Age [Advanced]")
