The upcoming nerf to Shotel Warriors is going to make Ethiopia extremely vulnerable to age 2 heavy infantry pushes. If you don’t send Temenyas, spend all your influence on Dervishes and Cannoneer shipments, or pick Portuguese and use Portuguese Crusaders you’re kinda screwed. The proposed change to Portuguese Crusaders is going to make that a busted tech, but once that is also nerfed, it is going to be very difficult to counter heavy infantry.
Originally, the African outlaws were meant to be the solution to these deficiencies in the standard unit roster, but after successive nerfs, they are largely no longer viable.
This could be remedied by buffing Desert Archers via a new card that represents Ethiopian archery traditions such as the renowned Maya archers. The Maya (no relation to the Mesoamericans) were an Ethiopian tribe famous for their use of poison arrows. The Desert Archers shipment could be replaced by a Maya Archers card that improves Desert Archers in addition to shipping them.
Maya Archers (500 coin)
- Ships 8 Desert Archers (down from 10)
- Desert Archer population cost reduced by 1
- Desert Archers deal poison damage
- Holcan Javalineers deal poison damage (makes no sense but they’re both called Maya so it could be a fun Easter egg)
Combining this with the Shiftas card would allow you to get 1 population Desert Archers that deal poison damage, which would be more than capable of holding off heavy infantry in age 2.