AoE2 main, New to the game (somewhat) and trying to get into Ranked - mainly playing Indians.

All the old builds online were Agra rush that seem to have given me the wrong idea about how this civ should be played. Seeing recent gameplay videos by high elo show the Indians turtling till all the boosting cards get shipped. Frankly, randomly spectating games I was surprised how many games had become turtly compared to what I remember from years ago with hyper fast Spanish FF.

The main question is around whether the Indian boom / defensive playstyle outscales opponents like Portuguese, Swede Torps, Japanese Shrines, Dutch banks etc? I feel in these matchups the Indians need to go out and about.

Maybe it's just my AoE2 overhang but Commerce war with Sepoys should really be something Indians shine at. The Zamindars card has been really interesting me, replaced the free vill for 2 sepoys per shipment, for a hard age 2 map control play against turtles so I'd like to hear feedback on it.

One particular tidbit said that Gurkhas are weaker Age 2 skirms but scale better, but I only have East India Company and Royal Green Jackets to ship for them. It feels like late game Gurkhas don't shine as much as Sepoys, unless I'm missing something. Am I supposed to just face tank into counters with FI Sepoy stacking with this civ? I've been shopping Desert Terror for anti infantry Sowar and Camel Attack for anti cav Zamburaks; but that's just my vibe rather than any actual meta feedback.

One particular game that really stumped me was a British player who manored into Artillery Foundry and spammed culvs and falconets - and I had no answer. This is just me theory crafting by myself and I realise that may not be the smartest so I should ask around for how to play this civ.

Are you tired of getting castle dropped or tower rushed no matter the map in the RM ladder?

Are you tired of Dark, Feudal and Imperial ages being rendered completely irrelevant in today's meta?

Are you tired of full wall egg bases where superior macro and better production efficiency in an RTS amounts to nothing because of 30 wood and an FC strategy?

Then can I suggest,

The EMPIRE WARS ladder.

For the low low cost of deleting the Dark age, you get:

- a Feudal age that actually matters.

- a variety of new maps with lots of objectives out in the map to control.

- macro, army positioning and production actually defining the game.

- Having the Imperial Age matter.

Remember to build a military building in the first 30 seconds and START PRODUCING. Get a one up on military production or positioning on your opponent? You get to reliably convert that damage, without being nullified by a unit with 6s creation time.

Queue up Today!

Terms & Conditions:

* Ladder density is low so certain matchups will be lopsided. OP believes this is still fun and offers much to learn.

* No guarantees offered against devs screwing up the balance again with the next DLC or giving Mongols unnerfed pastures

* Cav Archer problems may still cross over from RM.