CIVILIZATION OVERVIEW
Civilization Bonuses:
Start with 3 extra Villagers but -200 food and -50 wood
Town Centres add 10 to the population limit (instead of 5) and have +5 line of sight
Technologies are 10%, 15% and 20% cheaper in Feudal, Castle and Imperial Ages respectively
Demolition ships have 50% extra HP
Team Bonus:​
Farms provide +45 food
Unique Unit:​
Chu Ko Nu – Foot Archer – fires multiple arrows
Unique Technologies:​
Great Wall – +30% HP to Walls and Towers
Rocketry – +2 attack to Chu Ko Nu and +4 attack to Scorpions
Key Features:​
Only missing Supplies from the Infantry technology tree
Missing Parthian Tactics and Hand Cannoneers
Missing Paladin and Hussar
Missing Siege Onager, Bombard Cannons and Siege Engineers from Siege units
Missing Fast Fire Ships and Elite Cannon Galleons
Missing Redemption and Heresy
Full Blacksmith technologies
No Hoardings but has Masonry and Architecture
Only missing Crop Rotation (not a big issue for any civilization, particularly Chinese with their farming bonus)
DARK AGE
The Chinese have a far from conventional opening in Dark Age-start settings. They start with 3 additional Villagers but trade this off for -200 food and -50 wood. As a result, the Chinese need to prioritise collecting food from the outset and skip building a house originally to have all 6 initial Villagers collecting from sheep while the Town Centre can then research Loom. The next Villager out can add the 1st house before returning to food, ensuring that food income from 7 Villagers is continuous. You will need to force drop food to ensure that you have the 50 needed each time to produce a new Villager. However, as a result of starting with no food, the Chinese are very vulnerable to early pressure that causes idle time to their food collection.
The Chinese have an open technology tree and therefore can open with any of the common build orders but they may struggle with enough food early on to afford an early Militia rush. As a result, it is often a more common approach to go for straight Archers or Scouts.
All being well, the Chinese can reach Feudal Age two Villagers ahead of a normal-starting civilization but they are particularly vulnerable to early disruptions to their food economy. They can make up for this using their farming bonus. It is normally the case that you try to avoid building any farms in Dark Age as they run out too soon (at a time when you are in need of wood to continue adding farms) but the Chinese have 45 extra food on their farms so can justify a small number of these early on.
FEUDAL AGE
During the early game and into the Feudal Age, the Chinese are the archetype of defensive civilizations where it is not necessary to damage your opponent in order to ensure a lead. The farm bonus for the Chinese means that they should have an excellent food economy established in the early Feudal Age. A sensible use for this is to open with Scouts as the player will then research Horse Collar at the start of Feudal Age, therefore further strengthening the Chinese player’s food economy.
In Feudal Age, the Chinese player has some flexibility to open with Scouts and then transition to Archers or Skirmishers or open straight away with Archers. The boon to the Chinese player’s food economy from the early game can allow them to even add Skirmishers with their Archers without having a vastly detrimental effect on their ‘up-time’.
10% cheaper technologies in the Feudal Age allows the Chinese to have faster access to unit upgrades as their economy should be strong from their Dark Age and this civilization bonus. This is particularly helpful if the Chinese player is going for an Archer build as this should allow them to afford Fletching (a vital upgrade for Archers) sooner.
On water maps, the Chinese can compete for most of the game. They have no direct bonuses to specifically affect water builds but their early game economy should set them up to be able to compete on water. Their water technology tree is fairly open, only missing Fast Fire Ships and Elite Cannon Galleons in Imperial Age. Their civilization bonus of extra HP on demolition ships is very situational and will normally have limited impact. Without any specific bonuses and lacking the Fast Fires means that Chinese are not specialised to water but can hold their own, particularly on a hybrid style map.
CASTLE AGE
In Castle Age, the Chinese still have a lot of flexibility in terms of their approach depending on the player’s approach thus far and the strategies of their opponent. The Chinese player gets fully upgraded Cavalier in Imperial Age so they are able to focus on Knights in the Castle Age. The Chinese also have access to Camel Riders and so can mix these into their army composition if facing Knights. The increase in their discount from the civilization bonus for the Chinese technologies should allow them to get the second armour upgrade for their Cavalry sooner, therefore making them better able to engage against Crossbows.
The Chinese also get fully upgraded Arbalester in Imperial Age, so focusing towards this from Feudal Age into Castle Age is a perfectly viable strategy. Again, their bonuses should allow the Chinese player to begin getting the crucial upgrades slightly sooner than their opponents.
The Chinese are missing some of the crucial Monk technologies if defending from an opponent’s Siege-Monk push with Redemption lacking. Therefore if the opponent is going for this approach, it is sensible for the Chinese to defend with their own siege, Light Cavalry and Guard Towers. In terms of an offensive push, the Chinese are able to utilise Siege and Monks well for this, gaining access to Sanctity, Atonement and then Block Printing in the Imperial Age. Alongside some of the crucial Monk technologies, the Chinese also have access to Onagers and Siege Rams in Imperial Age so a Siege-Monk push is a viable option. It should be noted that a Siege-Monk push should normally only be considered on closed maps.
At some point in the game, it is ideal for the Chinese player to transition into their unique unit, the Chu Ko Nu. This is an Archer that fires multiple arrows. The additional arrows mean that Chu Ko Nu can deal greater damage to units with higher pierce armour as the damage calculation on each arrow is performed separately. Furthermore, they also do extremely well when firing at Rams because the additional arrows have 0 bonus melee damage with Rams having -3 melee armour. Like other Archers, the Chu Ko Nu is still weak to Skirmishers so in a 1v1 scenario, the Chinese player will likely need to mix in other units to deal with these. Transitioning to Chu Ko Nu is possible to do alongside maintaining their Archer production as making a straight switch can leave them exposed to continued enemy production.
IMPERIAL AGE
In the Imperial Age, the Chinese still have the flexibility to focus on their Archery Range units or their Stables. They are missing the Paladin upgrade for their Cavalry but in 1v1s, this is a very expensive technology and is utilised less often. The resources that would be invested in to this upgrade can instead be pumped into increasing the amount of Cavalier production if this is the route the Chinese player has taken. Interspersed with this, the Chinese player can also mix in Heavy Camel Riders to help contend against other Cavalry players. The Chinese civilization bonus of cheaper technologies does allow them to afford some of these expensive late game upgrades a little easier.
The Chinese have access to fully upgraded Elite Skirmishers and Halberdiers so these should be incorporated into their army composition – particularly in a 1v1. It is very common for the Chinese player to have an army consisting of Halberdiers with Arbalesters (or Chu Ko Nu) and then utilising their Light Cavalry (they are missing Hussar but they are still effective) for raiding or countering an opponent’s Skirmishers. If going for Chu Ko Nu, they should remember to research the unique technology Rocketry, which will give them extra attack.
In order to push an opponent’s base, the Chinese can use Siege Rams or Trebuchets, depending on how mobile they wish to be. They are missing Bombard Cannon and Siege Onagers as well as the Siege Engineers upgrade so they can be very exposed to opponent’s Onagers. Many other civilizations could use Redemption Monks with Block Printing to counter this but again, Redemption is missing from the Chinese Technology Tree. Their best bet is to try to use their Light Cavalry to pick of the Onagers but they must be careful of these hitting their Archer mass.
The Chinese technology tree’s lack of Supplies for their Militia-line can make it more challenging for them to afford the numbers required if facing an Eagle Warrior transition from an opponent. However, Supplies only reduces the food cost so providing the Chinese player has focused on establishing a strong farming economy, it is still possible to use these in defence. Alternatively, Chu Ko Nu can deal with units with higher pierce armour (such as Eagle Warriors and Huskarls) due to their extra arrows.
The Chinese have most of the building upgrades, only missing Hoardings, so their Castles are still very strong. If going for Chu Ko Nu, they will need numerous Castles which should be placed defensively to preserve them as production buildings. Alongside this, they have the added benefit of protecting your base from enemy raids. If the situation calls for walls to prevent further enemy raiding, the Chinese also have their Great Wall unique technology to help reinforce these.
SUGGESTED BUILD ORDERS
Chinese Scouts into Skirmishers
Chinese Scouts into Archers
Chinese Scouts into Knights
Chinese Straight Archers