_NeT_AnGeLs_
The Grush
Written by _NeT_I_AmCus_ and edited a bit by _NeT_WalBanger

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  

This build is not carved in stone, but you would be wise to follow it at first, at least not until you have gotten experience in grushing. Now an important note on this build is that when you click feudal, your population should be 28-29. This is because you should have 4-5 fishing boats. After you get the dock up, it is as important to avoid idle dock time as it is avoiding idle TC time. BUT, you will be low on wood in dark age, and NEVER build a fishing boat if that means you don't have enough wood for a house. Also remember to build houses sooner than normal since you are producing population from 2 places.

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. Found his docks
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.