Intro
I know there are
some great articles written about grushing, and I also know that I'm not
the best grusher there is by far. But I've had some requests to teach
people how to do it so I'd thought I'd write my first ever article.
The object of the grush is to
gain control of the sea or in some cases areas of water you deem important
enough to fight for.
Maps where the grush essential is Islands, Team
Islands, Baltic, Mediterranean, Migration………….
Maps where the grush
can successfully used is Rivers, Highland, Salt Marsh, Continental………..
Good water civs:
1 Vikings, the undisputed masters of the
sea with their cheap docks and warships. The given choice for 1v1's
They're naturally also very popular in team games as well, since the cheap
docks is their team bonus. (and to be honest in team games I personally still think that giving up ALL other team
bonuses is still well worth it to
have an all Viking team........ They are that damn good).
2 Japanese, is essential in team games
with their +50% LOS on galleys as their team bonus. Also their fishing
boats work faster and can take more damage. Their cheap resource delivery
places are very nice too.
3 Persians, fast working TC + extra
resources give them a nice start for the early feudal. Their docks also
have faster work rate and 2x hit points. In addition to this, seeing 20
Elite War Elephants pop out of a tranny really sucks for your opponent.
4 Saracens, good water civ with their +20% firing rate on galleys.
They also have the best transports in the game with 2x hit points and 2x
carry capacity. Despite of this you won't see Saracens in many 1v1's I
think. A civ for team games on water, where everybody can't be Vikings.
5 Celts, Because of there +15% faster wood cutting you can mass boats easier
Others:
1 Mongols are not a water civ as such, but their
hunting bonus makes them a fast civ on any map (except migration) and they
are a viable option for the grush.
2 Koreans are named as a water
civ, but the only thing they got is the turtle ship, which you can't get
in feudal anyway (but in castle age THEY ROX, its just getting there).
3
Byzantines with their good fire ships.
4 Spanish, ballistics apply to cannon galleons.
5 Turks,
cannon galleons with incredible range.
6 Aztec, Not a well know civ for water (and are weak on the water later in
game due to no Galleon/Demo Ships/Cannon Galleys, but do have Fast Fires). BUT
there +15% faster creation speed in Military building makes Massing Galleys a
little bit easier/faster, which might just give you the edge (and also when you
land on there land you will be able to mass a strong attack force quicker)
The build-up for the
grush is easy. You want to be able to feudal fast and make galleys from at
least 3 docks. You can build a fourth one if and/or when you can afford
it. Wanting to build galleys means you have to focus your entire economy
towards collecting wood and gold, but before you have clicked the feudal
button. The build-order I use I learnt from DarkL_DKing, who is an
excellent water map player. A lot of the DarkL members are and most of
them are very friendly, so if you want advice from experts, ask them.
The build up
Vill # | Task | etc |
1-6 | Sheep | The first vills build 2 houses as normal |
7 | Builds LC and chops wood | |
8-9 | Chops wood | |
10 | Builds a house, chops wood | |
11 | Lures boar, while loom gets researched | |
LOOM | ||
12 | Builds dock at a good spot, then builds a house, then goes to boar/sheep | If you place the dock close to the 2nd boar, this vill lures. But don't build dock in a lesser fishing spot to get close to boar |
13 | Chop wood | #12 and #13 may switch tasks if you don't have enough wood for dock at #12. |
14-21 | Boar/sheep | Get the 2nd boar when needed |
22-23 | Wood |
Going Feudal
Now, when you click feudal, several things must happen. All your food
vills (except for 2) chop wood and build a new LC. You may
not afford this at once but you will pretty soon. About half way to
feudal, move 5 wood vills to gold. Build mining camp. When you see that
you are close to affording a dock, send 2 vills to build it. While
building that, you will get wood for a 3rd dock. Also build houses so you
won't get housed when you start pumping galleys (and remember build them
on shore line so you can spot any enemy landings). It's usually a good idea
to flag the first villager in feudal to gold for total of 6 goldies. After
that you flag on wood until you can comfortably build galleys from all
your docks all the time. Then it's time to get food, but I won't go into
detail on when and how you should get to castle here. Again, this isn't
the only way to do it. See what u you need and assign your vills
accordingly
Let's party
Now that this routine stuff is done, the
cool part begins. Galley fighting is truly one of the most exciting
aspects of AoC IMO. It's much like skirm fighting, but with no TC to keep
away from. Most galley wars include a lot of hit and run, or just simply
run. A good rule is: Don't fight battles you can't win. On water you will
very rarely recover.
If the game is even it will include a lot
sneaking around, peeking to see what his navy is like, trying to sink just
1 galley and run of before he sinks one of yours etc. But it's vital that
you find his docks asap. Those are your main target. If you find his
before he finds yours you will be able to bring the fight to his docks.
The docks are the target of your galleys. Disable his docks and you own
the sea. If you find his docks quick you might even be able to catch them
unguarded, because he will be looking for you docks. So if you have his
docks covered, you have also disabled his fishing operation.
That means, that if he follows the same build
as above, which I believe many good players do, u have cut off his main
(perhaps only) food income. He will be able to recover from that
because of all the wood he's got, but it will give a significant edge
So how do you win close naval battles? Well there are a few
tricks. Obviously keep your docks busy. Try to flag them to strategic
places. You might have to move the flag quite often. Other than that the
most important are
1. As most galley fighting, this requires good
micromanagement and a lot of your attention. If you see his galleys all
firing at one of your galleys, move the galley that is being fired upon so
that is goes past your other galleys. This will give your other galleys
time to fire on his, while they are following the mentioned galley. I have
gain the upper hand in a few close battles using this trick. Very
effective if the opponent is unaware. Keep in mind that with lag, this
won't work most likely.
2. Using the patrol option. A very nice
little trick. Instead of just moving your galleys close to his or
attacking one of his galleys, you set a patrol point near his galleys.
This way your galleys will assume a very nice formation, where they
actually stand on top of each other more or less. This prevent them from
flanking out to get within firing range and may also give the impression
that u have less galleys that you have. May keep him from running from a
fight he is actually outnumbered in : I thought I might try this with
archers/skirms to some time. Watch out for onagers though….
3.
This is a given, but I can not emphasize the importance of numbering your
galleys. Also it's good to keep them on defensive stance. As soon as u can
comfortably afford a blacksmith, build it and upgrade attack. Always
upgrade attack as you through the ages, and when you get to Castle Age,
upgrade defense at the dock, and get Ballistics at the university.
4. Putting a tower behind your docks can give some valuable time
to recover if you fall behind in feudal.
Other important
stuff
On maps like islands, Team islands and on many others it
is absolutely vital to build houses along your shoreline. This will, in
addition to keeping you from getting housed, let you know if your opponent
attempts a landing. Many good players (Wal among them) will try to land on
you as soon as their grush fails. So keep an eye out for that. Don't
forget the possibility of landings.