Fort · Age III — Tughlaq Dynasty AoE4
Berries, gold, then stone (0:00–4:05)
Age up at 2:05 with the Tower of Victory and 3 villagers, mine the stone for the Fort during the age-up: Age II at 4:05 with 18 villagers, 7 of them on stone.
- 0:00 — The 6 starting villagers on berries; rally on gold until 2 on gold, with a House placed right away following the pattern planned around the future Fort.
- 1:00 — One more villager on berries, then rally on sheep until the age-up.
- 2:05 — Age up with the Tower of Victory: 3 sheep villagers build it. 3 berry villagers go to wood with an extra Worker Elephant; rally on wood until 5.
- 3:00 — Rally on stone until 7 on stone; at 75 gold, the 2 gold villagers move to stone too.
- 4:00 — A second House.
Stable, Fort, then gold (4:05–10:45)
Pressure with 1 to 4 Raider Elephants, build the Fort at 5:20 with its Governor of Bhakkar, move to gold at 7:00, then start the House of Learning at 9:30: Age III at 10:45 with 38 villagers.
- 4:05 — Age II: the Tower of Victory is done. One builder puts up a Stable, then everyone goes back to the berries.
- 4:35 — Stable done: rally on food. One Raider Elephant to apply pressure (up to 3 or 4, gradually).
- 5:20 — 3 sheep villagers build the Tughlaqabad Fort; with no pressure, they can go to a second berry patch.
- 6:10 — 2 sheep villagers: one helps build the Fort, the other starts several Houses all around it.
- 6:45 — Fort done: pick the Governor of Bhakkar (food), then the Fort’s next two upgrades; the 4 builders go back to food.
- 7:00 — Rally on gold until 9 on gold; at 275 stone, the 7 stone villagers move to gold.
- 7:40 — Rally on wood; Woven Baskets as soon as possible (Wheelbarrow is optional if you stay near the berries).
- 9:00 — 2 Archery Ranges; the villager building the House goes back to gold.
- 9:30 — Age up with the House of Learning: 6 food villagers and 2 wood villagers build it, then return to their posts. Raider Elephants non-stop and 10 Archers.
Veteran elephants and archers (10:45)
Enter Age III with 6 Raider Elephants and 10 Archers, upgrade them to veteran, chain the upgrades and move out to attack at 11:30.
- 10:45 — House of Learning done: Upgrade to Veteran for the Raider Elephants and for the Archers.
- 11:00 — A Blacksmith. Benchmark: 6 Raider Elephants and 10 Archers.
- 11:30 — Steeled Arrow, Collateral Damage then Mahouts, in that order; move out to attack, and build a second Stable as soon as possible.
- 12:30 — Balanced Projectiles then Iron Undermesh, as soon as possible.
Tips
- Built to withstand early pressure: the Fort and the Houses around it protect the food while the army prepares for Castle.
- Benchmark at 11:00: 6 Raider Elephants and 10 Archers; Raider Elephants are good against Men-at-Arms, and the first military building is picked by opponent (a Barracks against the French, for example).
- The scouting Worker Elephant must have reached the gold before the first villager drops off there (Beastyqt’s variant).
- Swaggy Professor’s variant: the Fort on the gold, ringed with Houses, gives a big food income and a base that is nearly unbreakable in Feudal; it is weak against Dark Age rushes that cut off the stone or the gold.
- Variant: Bigs builds the Fort as early as 4:15, on the gold, with 10 villagers on stone until 320 stone remain (see the “Fort on the gold and Governor of Bhakkar” build).
Source: AoE4 Guides