Top 5 Best All-In Castle Age Civilizations | AoE2

My Patreon: / heraaoe2
My Store: hera.merchforall.com
My Twitch: / hera
My Gameplay Channel: / @hera-gameplay
My TikTok: / heraageofempires2
My Instagram: / hera_aoe
My Twitter: / hera_aoe
My Discord: / discord
00:00 Intro
00:37 5
01:45 4
02:58 3
04:07 2
05:11 Honorable Mentions
06:49 1
07:47 Final Talk & Outro
Edits by / @k1aoe

[@brynjulvsjtveit7449]

This guy should go professional. He is very knowledgeable and good at video games

[@freezy898]

I agree, he has a good knowledge of the game basics, imagine if he focus on this particular game and played for more than a year.

[@khanhsink7965]

​@@freezy898bruh what do u mean he played this gane for like a decade

[@LimitBreakr424]

Idk apm kinda low

[@donaldfarquar]

Na, he says Dravidians aren't the best civ. Clearly a noob

[@SuperPiewhole]

You should be a comedian. That joke sucked

[@sigmarschosen]

Surprised the Portuguese didn't make the list. Can run a fully upgraded knight/archer comp with that gold discount, and its easier to add siege and the odd monk as needed because of it too

[@martinm.6472]

Yes I agree i think portuguese are extremely powerful in Castle age thanks to gold discount

[@TorSkywalker]

Your editor is doing a great job with these videos btw. Always providing some nice, clean visuals to support your commentary.

[@Hardrada_1066]

I wonder why Burgundians are not mentioned at all? I don't play them personally, but Cavalier in Castle Age coupled with Imperial Age eco upgrades and strong relics AND a great castle age UU? Wonder about your thoughts on them for castle age all in.

[@ZhangJingxi]

Yeah I also thought about burgundians

[@RadiatTionz]

I was thinking the same thing

[@VGInterviews]

Burgundian crew rise

[@hansoskar1911]

bc their eco is so good they just go Imp anyway. What is other civs late castle age push is the Burgundian early Paladin.

[@VGInterviews]

@@hansoskar1911 I would think the same the, they can prepare a bunch of knights in castle age and start researching cavalier so its ready as soon as they reach the opponent making sure you have tue strongest possible castle age cavalry

[@migidius]

Now we need a Top 5 Best All-In Feudal Age Civilizations

[@simonhirth2211]

Goths again

[@Maronijogurt]

the polish farm setups in the video are art.

[@bencross4098]

Great stuff as ever Hera. Another suggestion for a top 5 video: top 5 most OP non-unique units, taking into account civ specific stuff (e.g. Frank paladin, Magyar HCA, etc). You could then compare this top 5 with your top 5 unique units list.

[@solemnsilence3650]

Man, I love this dude, he makes such great videos about one of my favorite old games ❤

[@joranfokker7477]

Next top 5 all in strat civs, cough cough youpudding, cough cough hoang

[@Soinetwa]

yeah thats what i thoght of when i said all in too but hera means sustained heavy investment strategy that goes to imperial age at some point youpudding goes win or loss ! THATS ALL IN

[@gamaxgbg]

I was really expecting to see malians at least number 2. Probably the best castle age eco and basically all techs (in practice they have all techs if you consider their bonus as a better gambesons).

[@skipper472]

Yes I was also expecting malians, especially since their gold lasts longer (so can afford to stay in castle age with expensive composition for longer amounts of time) and their imperial age has quite a few notable weaknesses, so better to push hard in castle age and end the game.

[@ryanforgo3500]

Nah no way malians can be 2 or 3 or 4. Many pros would have a difderent list though. But malians, They are flexible but because farimba is imp, malians do ot have a specific mega castle age unit like poles knights. That said i also saw many other profs with a completely different list, such as saracena for how it is considered one of the best siege , monks push civs..and so on.

[@torri776]

I actually did an Early Castle push with super fast Celtic Long Swords and Knights, plus a castle drop near the enemy base in a 1v1 Arabia, and it's brutally effective at times, especially if you steal sheep early on.

[@kivarm9162]

I like slavs for this, cheaper siege, faster monks, fast farms to sustain knight/longsword production/ supplies+gambeson free if i need to go infantry

[@louisstemler5004]

The civ you play doesn't matter. What matters is your opponent : if he is Viper playing dravidian, just go full Castle Age agression 😵😅

[@gunnarsgarageband6384]

A bit surprised you didn't mention Gurjaras. They have an amazing food economy, Shrivamsha Riders that can raid and are imossible to catch, camels that shred cavalry and also Armored Elephants that flatten bases in no time, not to mention the Chakrams. Plus, they are also not too great in imperial😎

[@natanielezanetti]

Hi Hera, are you going to make a video about your current hotkeys and how you changed them?

[@atomickipachaka821]

Cuman Full castle push at 20 min with 4 stable lancers and rams. So much fun!

[@misteral9045]

I think Malay Karambit spam and Ethiopian shotel rushes could get honorable mentions. They're fairly all in and can be pretty deadly.

[@thenerdest]

In my video prediction the top ones were in honorable mentions and the honorable mentions were in the top.

[@stooge_mobile]

07:50 Have a look at that chat down the bottom XD

[@andomlyranonymous6488]

Nice.

[@lbridet]

I thought Saracens would make it but I guess the thing with Saracens castleage is more about getting there early than about ending the game there

[@zachschmidt9861]

I feel slavs should have been an honorable mention or even #5. Faster farms really starts to kick in and cheaper seige and a bit of extra monk speed. I feel the best way to play slavs is all in castle if you want to take advantage of all their bonuses

[@champofhorde9479]

Sicilians and Romans were missing. Sergeants and Scorpion Rush are really strong in Early Castle age

[@MainakChoudhury]

Now we want "best all in feudal civs aoe 2"

[@rubenmaessen4724]

I thought with all-in castle age people meant fast castle age, stop investing economy and kill quickly with castle age units. So I was expecting Huns with their knight spam, Celts with siege and of course Sicilians because they can make their unique unit without building a castle first. Honourable mention to Malay with their fast elephant spam.

[@indraallian6371]

The beauty with Age of Empires is that all civs have the tools to play a really good game. As long as you can figure out how to use those tools. So its more like HOW you play and not WHAT you play. 😎

[@joelcarrizales2435]

Its how you play what you play

[@BlueShellshock]

Reading through the comments, there are a LOT of Civs with a Castle push that could have made this list - the honorable mentions list could have been twice as long. For me, it’s Mongols. The classic cav timing push is deadly when done with 3 stable Lancer production with 30% extra health. Mongol cav’s hole has always been the lack of final armor, but that doesn’t matter in castle, your light cav and Lancers are 30% more survivable than anyone else’s.

[@Appletank8]

So what you’re saying is that YouPudding will have plenty of Civs to cycle through :P

[@derekrambo]

Go watch the t90-youpudding Romans game. They used a double siege scorpion rush.

[@paularies5276]

whattabout Bohemian Rhapsody? or sicily

[@Almorus]

Cries on Hoang... No Celts

[@broncojones3146]

I would have expected tatars and/or spanish on this list. Extra food from sheep + extra sheep + free thump ring is really strong in castle age for tatars. Equally extra gold faster building speed and conqes is really good for spanish in castle. But I'm about 1600 elo below hera so I was surprised by the pics but I see the reasoning. Before watching the video my other pics were berbers, aztecs and poles. Just going of how I usually lose games

[@pedrocarvalho7480]

Not only aztecs, mesos. 1. Aztec (super monks)> 2. Incas(have redemption and slingers to counter potential LS> 3. Mayans (less because is an archer civ, but with eagle approach i mean)

[@teddyhaines6613]

I think Aztecs stand out the most because of the production speed bonus, which lets them more easily overwhelm with sheer numbers.

[@pedrocarvalho7480]

@@teddyhaines6613 you're right!

[@ccrunnerboy613]

Please if not a tier list, then at least the top 5 Post-Imperial Powerhouse Civ. Applies for closed maps where gold isnt an issue due to trade. Pleeeaaase!!!!

[@nimamoradi2779]

turks? strong light cav and stable, best castle age cav archer, and strong UU

[@casusincorrabilis1584]

#1 Cumans, #2 Romans, #3 Aztecs. That simple. Cumans feudal boom is just unmatched. Romans are just overall the best Castle Age civ that has no weaknesses whatsoever and can leverage the insane Eco. And Aztecs still with the classic Noburu eagle Rush still absolutely top there. Even if at the highest level a lot of people know how to handle it, it's still one of the most threatening plays in the entire game. So easy to die to when you don't know how to deal with it. Destpite it being so "classic" it's still super tough to stop and that's why it has to make the list.

[@martijnbouman8874]

I am very surprised to hear no mention of the Lithuanians. You can go all in on Knights and Monks, and if you manage to secure 4 Relics with that, your push will be monstrously strong. In Imperial Age, it tapers off a bit due to lacking Blast Furnace.

[@Soinetwa]

exactly and when going all in you will most likely get the relics.. so a strategy that just makes sense

[@IndexInvestingWithCole]

how many youtubers are making videos about youpudding

[@martindebaeremaecker2024]

honorable choice should have lithuanians, if they get 4 relics in castle age, knight +6 attack spam is gg

[@grauenritter9220]

Poles have really been #1 for a lot

[@RysioACF]

If Poles are a strong Castle civ, are they a strong Imperial civ too?

[@unflushablepoo8243]

Yup

[@belisarian6429]

They probably fall of a little because they dont have paladin upgrade and last armor for their super cheap knight line, but still solid civ.

[@jennystrandqvist1568]

Clearly Vikings will be on the list... due to wheelbarrow bonus :)

[@hansoskar1911]

I was missing the Malians. who really like all in Castle Age bc they are a) good at it and b) their imp is kinda meh.

[@sploshed90]

YouPudding has entered the chat

[@jackwaite4035]

Hey Hera, how would you approach playing Dravidians as Hindustanis? I opened scouts into skirms, he went MAA + trash forward, it degenerated into full skirm war then in castle he started mixing in longswords and siege vs my siege. I don’t see a win condition for Hindustanis long term, I was constantly defending and never really able to mass and counter attack. I ended up late castle age having way more bills than him but couldn’t do anything stop his push. I was curious what you would do as a civ that lacks knights against Dravidians?

[@gamingpc5459]

this is a hard one to guess but maybe lithuanians and turks are on here?

[@jennystrandqvist1568]

#1 civ to stay almost forever in castle age must be that Bengalis 200-500 TC thing to get 400-1000 extra villagers in Imperial age...

[@Blooticus]

How in God's name are Portuguese not apart of the discussion here 11. Discounted siege, knights etc. Perhaps the easiest civ in the game to spam double gold units & end the game. They have a full blacksmith, & now with a dark age bonus, setting up a crazy double gold all in castle is even smoother. Easily a civ in the honorable mention category, if not #5

[@sourathghosh5170]

Hypothetically, if no one was allowed to go to imperial age, would mongols be one of the best? They would eventually have full upgrades, faster firing CA/mangudai and tanky light cav and lancers.

[@HeraAgeofEmpires2]

Poles knights would roll that

[@grraf1]

@@HeraAgeofEmpires2 but what them spanish doing conqs&inquisition donkeys for days ?! aren't these guys a menace as well ?!

[@imsmeagol911]

Celts only an honorable mention? Hoang dislikes this video.

[@harold5997]

really suprised Turks aren't on this list, forward castle with janissary is really deadly

[@Umdeuter]

We're missing Slavs here! Cumans is a bit nonsensical here. They are not good bc of Castle Age, but because they might have a vil lead as you said. But any Civ will have a strong Castle Age All-in when you are 20 vils ahead. And if you don't have it bc the 2 TC boom was not viable, then Cumans are not really good there.

[@naveendennis]

Cumans! Haven’t watched the video…so I guess we’ll see if one of my favorite civs made it😅

[@felixnesme975]

I don't get how you Can make a all in castle age top without speacking about the burgundians XD They have the best castle economy with a very power full army

[@meninbike1602]

Sicilians

[@teddyhaines6613]

Have not watched yet, but Poles should be number one. My guess is the others include Cumans, Berbers, Spanish, and otherwise not sure. Bulgarians or Lithuanians, maybe?

[@shadowsun4055]

Nerf Poles

[@quecobpt]

Where are the mongols?

[@JohnSmithEx]

I was expecting to see the Sicilians in #1. Recently Youpudding's all-in strategy has caused many resignations at the very early stage of the Castle age. Basically half a dozen armored Serjeants inside the base of the enemy at minute 14, and it's already gg. These beasts are untouchable by Feudal-age units.

[@Blooticus]

Thats 1 dude, who has done that strat in like 10 1v1s, on 1 map. Hardly a convincing sample size

[@JohnSmithEx]

​@@Blooticussee a recent video titled "The YouPudding Strat for Rank #1 vs MbL" in Viper's channel. MbL knew what was coming, and as soon as the Serjeants got in, he resigned immediately.

[@teddyhaines6613]

@@JohnSmithEx After the game was over Viper noted that MbL had panicked.

[@JohnSmithEx]

​@@teddyhaines6613exactly. When facing for the first time a new strategy by a most likely prepared opponent, panic is to be expected. My understanding is that Hera's "Top 5 Best" series is intended to capture the moment. It's not intended as eternal wisdom. Maybe in a couple of months everyone will know how to counter the YouPudding's all-in assault, but at this very moment it's a nightmare. Many players consider it an unfair strategy, and ask for the Sicilians to be nerfed. That's why I was expecting to see it as #1.

[@richardbos4696]

What about Huns? Huns are the number 1 All-in Castle civ!!!!!!

[@acarrot589]

I thought about Persians with their fast working tc's

[@teddyhaines6613]

Fast-working TCs sounds better than it really is. Spirit of the Law has pointed out that they don't seem to outboom generic civs in practice because making vils faster means you need to devote more of your economy just to expanding your economy and don't wind up with extra to spend on military.

[@acarrot589]

@@teddyhaines6613 but you don't need to make many tc's. 1 or 2 Tc's are enough for an aggressive strat in Castle Age

[@fritzjovetic3302]

Hera leaving Burgandians out, so we trigger the algorithsm with comments 11

[@nicolaorsi4862]

I thought dravinians were N°1 🤣🤣

[@GreetTheSacredCow]

Cumans don't get heavy camel. Not a fully upped stable. Sorry to be that guy. #givecumansheavycamel

[@teddyhaines6613]

Fully upped in the context of castle age.

[@SpikedKirby]

Hera vs 2 mid elo players but in 1v1 using 2 PC's

[@cameronwang2457]

Burgundians have cavaliers in castle age

[@tabletuser123]

NO SPANISH???

[@user-uh7cb3vy4v]

no archer civs? Mayans and Vikings are very strong in early castle age.

[@DoubleChinzy]

absolutely not, archers are powerspike units, they completely fade off in late castle

[@thomasmuller546]

I do not agree with this list. Turks, Spanish, burgundians not even mentioned on the honorable section. 🤔 "allin castle" should most likely mean go 1 tc allin, castle drop into unique units, monk siege push, sth like that. If my allin castle civ only gets really going once I get to 80 plus vills for me that's a different kind of list.

[@t.a.2202]

Celts?

[@vRANDv]

t. Hoang

[@zeynellee]

Chinese?

[@DoubleChinzy]

How is spanish not on this list? Conq/Kts/Lcav would smash

[@sekharpriyansu]

Hera doesnot like arena😂

[@naveendennis]

The civs on the list definitely feels more powerful

[@albertotrevino4811]

First comment

[@Crisruim]

🤨

[@naveendennis]

Spoiler Yay! Cumans made it and Khmer made it too! 🎉

[@walterwalter-ql1np]

Hera more like poo-era

[@adnanyalcn3750]

Cmonnnn mann where is turks and spanish. The best castle age unit is gun powders units everyone know this.

[@youcanthandlethetruth5433]

How can you forget Spanish? Conqs and mangonels with 1 castlr at home msd 1 follow up castle on your opponents face is better than the honorable mentions and some of the top 5 on this list