So why not higher, you might be thinking? Because, as recent tournaments have shown us, Rus can be hard-countered by out-ranging their gunpowder units with archers and forcing them to move. And Rus have decent siege weapons to boot! For our money, Streltsy are actually the best gunpowder units in the game. You’ve also got unique defences as Rus, and these can keep you safe until you start pumping out the amazing mid-game units this civ have to offer.
They’ve got fantastic scouts, and these should keep you ahead of your opponent in terms of intel as the match progresses. Rus are wonderfully fun to play, and will probably be popular for quite a while.
Lodya ships: Can be converted into any type of ship.Warrior Monk: Inspires nearby units when in combat, providing bonus armor and damage.Streltsy: Gunpowder unit which gets stronger when stationary, has a high melee attack, and can be trained for reduced cost.However, at this point, we can’t justify putting them above any of the civilizations lower down in the rankings. But remember to use Camel Archers like you would heroes they provide buffs to nearby units, and should be peppered throughout an army - not spammed.Ībbasid might actually get a little higher in the list as the meta develops post-launch, especially because they’re effective against cavalry-based armies (more on that later). Don’t despair though, because the Abassid can also do great work on land, and Camel Archers are some of the best unique units in the game. They have half-price docks and that’s absolutely huge, but in our experience a great many players simply have no interest in playing sea maps and will quit out. The Abbasid Dynasty would be much higher on the list if sea maps weren’t so unpopular. Camel Archers: Anti-cavalry units that reduce damage from nearby enemy cavalry units.Add to this that they’re a jack-of-all-trades faction, so you can experiment with different army compositions when you’re playing them. New players will naturally want to play defensively when they’re first getting into the game, and with the Holy Roman Empire, you aren’t punished for doing this.
In defense of the Holy Roman Empire, they're a great pick for beginners because they lend themselves quite well to turtling (an RTS term for holding back and defending your start position). We’re especially disappointed by the Holy Roman Empire in the late game their tech, and upgrades just don’t stack up to most of the other civilizations in Age of Empires 4. They do have a good economy in fairness, but it isn’t good enough to justify how “meh” they are in combat, and how few special units they have. Almost everything they’re supposedly good at can be done better by one of the civs lower down on this list. You have a huge list of games to choose from and you can choose whichever suits your play style the best.The Holy Roman Empire are definitely more capable than the two civilizations above, and their early Man-at-Arms access is a treat, but there’s very little that’s unique or powerful about their military. The games from Paradox Interactive are the best real-time strategy video games out there without a question. These games have their own complexities and learning curve as well. Hearts of Iron IV is a war strategy video game where you have to engage in war tactics in order to win a battle. But once you get the hang of it, you won't stop.Ĭities: Skylines is a city builder where you have to build a city, manage the population and keep them happy. It probably has the most complex mechanics of any game and there is a huge learning curve. You can also engage diplomatically with many of the nation-states you encounter. In the CK and EU series, your goal is to start as an empire ruling over a small land and dominate the world. Many of their games are set in different time periods with different objectives. Some of the greatest hits include: Crusader Kings II, Europa Universalis IV, Cities: Skylines, Hearts of Iron IV and more. While it's not really fair to include an entire game studio, Paradox Interactive has released the best strategy games among any studio so far since it is their speciality. Latest release: Imperator: Rome (25 April 2019)