2 TCs · Fast — Byzantines AoE4
Stone for the second Town Center (0:00–4:30)
Reach Age II at 4:30 with 19 villagers, 400 wood and 300 stone: enough to put the second Town Center down right away. The Grand Winery gives 32 stone, so 268 is enough before aging up.
- 0:01 — One villager builds the Cistern; the other 5 go to sheep.
- 0:20 — A House and a Mining Camp on the gold, then 2 villagers on gold.
- 0:50 — The 2 villagers are on gold.
- 1:45 — Rally on stone; one villager builds the Mining Camp on the stone.
- 2:00 — At 200 gold, the 2 gold miners move to wood (or to stone if it is closer).
- 2:05 — 2 villagers start the Grand Winery (at 2:15 in the video): the second Town Center will then go down around 4:20.
- 2:25 — 3 food villagers go to wood and 1 to stone; rally on stone until 4 on stone, then on wood.
- 3:05 — A villager from the Grand Winery builds a House, then finishes the Grand Winery with a stone villager (3 in all). Rally on wood until you age up.
Second Town Center, then pick a plan (4:30)
Put the second Town Center down at 4:30 with 10 wood villagers, keep 12 to 14 villagers on wood to chain military buildings, and finish the Cistern network.
- 4:30 — Age II. The 10 wood villagers build the second Town Center, on wood or, if that is too exposed, on gold. The Grand Winery villagers stay on the berries, joined by 3 from the sheep; the 3 on stone finish the Cistern network. Rally the first Town Center on the berries.
- — A wood villager puts a Cistern on the woodline, then a third near the second Town Center, with an Aqueduct between them.
- — 12 to 14 villagers on wood let you chain the Mercenary House and the other military buildings, then Olive Groves and an Outpost to defend the gold or the stone.
- — Depending on the opponent: if he heads for Age III, go there too; if he is aggressive, more villagers on wood, Longbowmen with the Western Mercenary Contract, Limitanei or Horsemen depending on his production buildings, then the Golden Horn Tower. Against cavalry, the Silk Road Mercenary Contract.
Tips
- Beastyqt rules this plan out against aggressive civilizations (Mongols, French, Jeanne d’Arc, Japanese).
- Put the second Town Center near another berry patch; if it is too exposed, on gold or on wood depending on the game.
- The stone miners stay on stone until the Cistern network is done (5 Cisterns in Beastyqt’s version).
- Variant: Mrblingblong puts the Town Center down at 5:49 with 4 stone villagers and 4 wood villagers, once 5 Cisterns are up, then sends 3 stone miners to the berries.
- Variant: Beastyqt puts the Town Center down at 5:00 with 8 wood villagers, near another berry patch.
Source: AoE4 Guides