Lords · Hobelars — House of Lancaster AoE4
Abbey of Kings at 2:00 (0:00–4:15)
Age up at 2:00 with the Abbey of Kings built by 3 miners, cover the sheep with a Manor against the treeline at 3:55, and reach Age II at 4:15 with 18 villagers.
- 0:00 — All villagers on sheep; rally on gold.
- — A sheep villager builds a House; the first new gold villager builds a Mining Camp.
- — At 3 miners, rally back on sheep.
- 2:00 — As soon as possible, the 3 miners build the Abbey of Kings for the age-up.
- 2:05 — 3 sheep villagers to stone.
- 2:10 — 1 sheep villager to wood, with the rally point on wood near the Town Center.
- 3:15 — At 90 stone gathered, all the stone villagers move to wood near the Town Center.
- 3:55 — At 225 wood, 2 woodcutters build a Manor against the treeline to cover the sheep (and the gold if possible), while the Abbey finishes.
Lords, Hobelars, dives (4:15)
Harass with Hobelars and Lords of Lancaster from 5:35, dive around 9:00 with Iron Undermesh, then move up to Age III around 12:40 with 43 villagers.
- 4:15 — Age II at 4:15: the 3 Abbey builders go to gold; villagers head to the treeline near the Town Center.
- 4:50 — One more Lord of Lancaster, then a Stable, Barracks or Archery Range of your choice, and a first Hobelar.
- 5:35 — A second Stable (or another finished building): more Hobelars, and off to scout and attack around the middle of the map. Rally on gold.
- 6:20 — An Archery Range, then back to wood; produce and harass. When units run low, pull them back to heal.
- 7:00 — Rally on wood again.
- 7:20 — More Lords of Lancaster, then a Blacksmith; prepare to switch the food source to deer if not already done.
- 8:00 — Queue Iron Undermesh; prepare a dive around 9:00, always sending back wounded units, or the whole army.
- 10:35 — Survival Techniques; prepare a Market around the berries and expand gathering onto the deer.
- 10:50 — Rally on gold.
- 11:15 — Stop producing units to prepare Age III; the sheep villagers move to the berries.
- 11:30 — Dive again, for real this time.
- 12:40 — Age up: King’s College if you have plenty of Hobelars and a good position, otherwise The White Tower.
Tips
- Ainswurf’s variant (after VortiX): do not lose your first Lord of Lancaster against aggressive or Knight civilizations.
- The Manor goes against the treeline to cover the sheep, and the gold if possible: it is best if it covers at least 2 resources.
- When the army dwindles, bring it back to heal; send back the wounded, or the whole army, before diving again.
- Iron Undermesh is queued at 8:00 for a dive around 9:00; the author starts another “for real” at 11:30, once units are stopped to age up.
- Ainswurf’s variant: age up with the Lancaster Castle if your base will be hard to defend without it.
Source: AoE4 Guides