Imagine a meta where Longbow Rush are easy to counter and very risky. So it would only be effective if the opponent doesn’t see it coming.
What alternative tactics would be open to english?
Isn’t it the only thing going for them?
That is the reason why I ask. The fact that the longbow rush is as strong as it is at the moment is due to fortunate circumstances (like weak horsemen). This can change quickly even with a small patch.
You could go fast 2nd TC into Castle which gives you 3 TCs quite quick. But why would you? English are Strong in Feudal, Mediocre in Castle and Weak in Imperial. The whole civ is based is based around aggression, their economic bonus (cheaper farms) kick in late when all natural food resources are depleted so until then their economy is weak. By attacking the force the opponent to invest in military over economy, which equalized the economies somewhat.
If Longbow aggression becomes weaker, English will need to be boosted in Imperial I think.
IMO the mistake for most English players I face is too many longbows, not enough supporting melee units. Spears, or even scouts, should tank longbows.
Overcommitting to one unit should naturally be countered easily. I think English players should get 10 archers max for early pressure, or just enough to 1 shot a vil. Commit more to spearmen. The primary aim of any early game push should be economic damage, not end the game. Maybe try to end it if you catch the other guy with his pants down, but, for the most part, eco harass should be the goal while you macro ahead with farming bonus.
Zone the other guy along the outskirts of the enemy base. Skirt around and shoot at gold and wood lines. If you just kill 3 to 5, vil, or stop gold mining for just 30 seconds, you will be ahead. Just don’t lose all you units. Pull back before you get decimated. A well-executed longbow + spear rush has a long lasting impact over the course of the match.
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You can even build ram whit longbow, enemy maas villager to kill ram, and you use archer to kill the villager. A win scenario.
English mid-late game economy weak? Literally laugh out loud Streeealboooraaaaa
Their farm are crazy, man. 8 farms works like pro-scout deer and imperial enclosure generate gold like no tomorrow.
English late game being “weak” just because some Civ late game units being too strong, Chinese clocktower siege, the stupid Firelancers, French unkillable elite knights, the bugged Elephants ofc. Berkshire should be a formidable fortress but the current cannons being too OP it is like made out of toilet paper.
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England is probably my favourite faction as they just feel fairly well balanced so any win feels deserved…more or less.
However, people put far too much focus on longbow men. In team games they are only of real use when rushing a rando with your premade french teammates.
I prefer to build spears mainly as the English as people go cav to counter spears plus cav spam into siege spam is the meta in team games.
I do think the English could do with another unique unit, maybe from the Wyngard Palace?
Abbey of kings obviously needs reworking too.
Wouldn’t that be countered by a mixing spears with longbows? It’s quite evident that an archer civ would suck when archers are non-viable in the meta, but that’s not necessary a problem.
Archers also melt to the knight-line in AoE2, but are still one of the most common units to produce in-game.
A lot of players aren’t able to deal with rushes period.
Try focusing on defending your base properly if you’re against an english player.
(such as properly walling and placing defensive towers)
I’ve found that a mix of MAA + Horsemen is a nice combo vs the early aggression.
Then you can transition into Mangonels eventually once you’ve taken the fight back to the english’s base.
Some civs just have it really rough in the earlygame as well. What do you play?
Is longbowman useful in castle age or it would be better to produce arbeletiers rather?
Crossbowmen in the lategame are pretty useful considering their armour piercing properties.
Generally speaking people will have more high armour units in the lategame so yes.
Archers still have their place but think of them as anti-low-armour units.
Focus villagers, crossbowmen, and other archers with them.