17 Vils Anti-Lame Fast Up Dark Age (Advanced)

This is one of the tools developed during a 3000 elo grind, worth sharing rather than keeping quiet about. This Dark Age opening is the strongest option against laming, and it gets you a consistent 19 population with no Loom, or 18 population with Loom, no matter which civilization you play. The whole point is consistency: a smooth Dark Age every time. The downsides: you eat your boars earlier than usual (the first one gets eaten with only 7 villagers on it, so a bit more food goes to waste), and it's genuinely difficult to execute cleanly. Still, this is a build worth using in pretty much any game where you don't need an infantry opening.

  1. [Dark] Send 6 villagers to sheep (pop 6)
  2. [Dark] Send 1 villager to boar (pop 7)
  3. [Dark] Send 2 villagers to wood (pop 9)
  4. [Dark] Send 1 more vil to boar under TC (pop 10)
  5. [Dark] Send 1 more vil to grab the second boar (pop 11)
  6. [Dark] Send 1 vil to build a house and then mill berries (pop 12)
  7. [Dark] [Mandatory] Lure at least 2 deer
  8. [Dark] Send 5 more vils to food under TC (pop 17)
  9. [Dark] Add 1 villager to wood or get loom
  10. [Dark] Research Feudal Age (perfect landing time: 8:25) (pop 17)
  11. [Feudal] Send vils from hunt to wood until you have 8 on 1 lumber camp (pop 17)
  12. [Feudal] Only make 2 lumber camps if your woodline is terrible
  13. [Feudal] Send 2 vils from hunt to straggler trees (pop 17)
  14. [Feudal] Send 2 vils from hunt to make a barracks and a house (pop 17)

What next: It's a short build, but a strong one once you've got the details down. Going archers: send 4 villagers to gold as soon as you hit Feudal Age. Going scouts or spear/skirmisher: keep a pure food and wood economy. Pick up both economic upgrades in Feudal Age, or skip Horse Collar if you'd rather play aggressively or reach Castle Age faster. From there, it's a regular game. One habit that always pays off: wall using the first 2 villagers that come out of whatever production building you make. GLHF

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