25+2 Vils Fast Castle Light Cav Relic Control

This build works great on Arena, but also on other slower-paced, defensive maps like Hideout, Gold Rush, or Yucatan. The goal is to secure the relics as fast as possible while keeping an eye on your opponent. A relatively small investment in Light Cavalry and Monks is enough to match your opponent's boom while still holding map control, and those units are also very effective in small skirmishes, which is exactly what you're looking for here.

  1. [Dark] Send 6 villagers to sheep (pop 6)
  2. [Dark] Send 3 villagers to wood (pop 9)
  3. [Dark] Send 1 villager to boar (pop 10)
  4. [Dark] Send 1 vil to make house then mill on berries (pop 11)
  5. [Dark] [Highly Recommended] Lure 3 deer with your scout into your tc
  6. [Dark] Add 3 more to hunt under TC and grab second boar (pop 14)
  7. [Dark] Send 4 more vils to berries and make another house (pop 18)
  8. [Dark] Seed 3 farms with sheep villagers when the boars run out (pop 18)
  9. [Dark] Send 5 more villagers to wood (only 1 lumber camp) (pop 23)
  10. [Dark] Send 2 villagers to gold (pop 25)
  11. [Dark] Research Feudal Age (perfect landing time: 11:20) (pop 25)
  12. [Feudal] When food under tc runs out, send remaining vils to straggler trees
  13. [Feudal] Build a barracks
  14. [Feudal] Send 2 villagers to make a stable
  15. [Feudal] Send 2 villagers to make a market
  16. [Feudal] Send 2 more villagers to wood (only 1 lumber camp) (pop 27)
  17. [Feudal] Research Castle Age (perfect landing time: 14:50)
  18. [Castle] Research double bit axe
  19. [Castle] Research horse collar
  20. [Castle] Send the 4 villagers who made the buildings back to straggler trees (pop 27)
  21. [Castle] Seed a few more farms after horse collar finishes
  22. [Castle] Make 2-3 more scouts
  23. [Castle] Add a monastery right away
  24. [Castle] Research bow saw
  25. [Castle] Make a TC when you can afford it
  26. [Castle] [Optional] Get light cav if opponent is also contesting relics

What next: Add more Light Cavalry and Monks if your opponent is contesting the relics, otherwise, just add a 3rd Town Center and boom while holding all 5 relics. Patrol with your Light Cavalry once you've won the relic race, to keep tabs on your opponent, on Arena this means patrolling along their walls to see what they're moving out with. Add a 4th Town Center if needed, and keep booming into Imperial Age. Pro tip: if you're getting pushed and your opponent is racing to Imperial Age faster, move your relics to the back of your base so you don't lose them, then try to hold their push. If you succeed, having all 5 relics is usually enough to win the late game outright.

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