Ultimate Merc Rush (Or No Rush)

[boorules60]

Here it is again PCups. A strat that we all thought was dead may actually have some merit again in a no rush game. Here's how it works. You load your deck with your favorite 5 merc cards for the 3rd and 4th ages. Build a trade post ASAP and have a heavy collection on gold before you get the unique church thing. At some point, get the merc combat card before the 4t age along with the set wagon card and everything else you need. But the important thing is to try and conserve as many cards as you possibly can. Your goal is to get to the 5th age with as many cards as you can. You don't need to do ANY military research until you have enough resources to get to the 5th age.

At about 5 mins before the no rush ends, research the 5th age. When you are 10 seconds from getting to the 5th age, send EVERY merc card you have. Then, when you get to the 5th age, you'll get them again and send every one you have... AGAIN. The good thing about the mercs is that they don't count as pop until they actually arrive, so as long as you have pop room before they arrive, you can send them. This will use up the 8-10 cards you have saved up, but you will now have an army or 200-300 uber-strong mercs, and NO ONE will be able to stop it. Nobody! When the no rush ends, you will have the best army on the map, and proceed to flatten all your enemies.

This strat would work best in a 25-30 min no rush so that you have enough time to get to the 5th age comfortably and with enough cards to make it work. It would be even better if you had a Russian on your team to take down the walls, an Otto on your team to get bombards and blast away the counter units, and a Dutch on your team to slingshot you gold and protect the home front with Ruyters. See where I'm going with this? With a little practice, we could have the best no rush strat online.

D and Tim, remember that 3v3 against the Ottos, Dutch, and Germans we played? What would have the game been like if the German hit us with 300 pop of mercs at their initial attack? Just wondering...

( Punky, watch this til the very end ebaumsworld.com/2006/09/dayinlifemario.html

Hey Quagmire, doesn't country have an o?
ebaumsworld.com/2006/09/ripcunts.html )

[pcups]

Ther germans wont have 8-10 cards saved up, especially if i dont build any military units. And you are forgetting one thing, imperial units destroy mercs and the fact that i dont my germans as often to get the cards. which wont happen soon. And i wont be able to get 300 pop worth of mercs, maybe 127 pop. Ther germans get cards so slowly that if i didnt use any of my cards to get to the imperial age (which means no settler wagons, more wood for houses, and a shit load of other stuff that i wont be able to get)

Ill sum up the merc attack in one word: impossible.

[boorules60]

I learned this strat from a former German player who is now a Major who I played with online. He used to be quite fond of the merc rush... big time. After the first patch that nerfed it, he decided to see how to make it work... and he found that these 25 min no rush games were the best. Usually in 25 mins most people HAVEN'T gotten all their imperial age stuff done (I'm usually not even in the imperial age) and the merc combat card combined with all the aresenal stuff really makes mercs rip, and they'll be fighting mostly guard/royal guard units. I know getting the shipments would be tough, so thats why getting the early trade post (Or two or three) and mercantalism is so essential. Also, you can use all your uhlans and explorer to get XP treasures. I think you should EASILY have 10-12 shipments in 25 mins (I can get 14-15), and even if you don't have them right away, as long as they keep coming. I got the 300 pop because thats what the German guy says he did with 100 pop of villes and 200 of mercs (assuming you get the 10 cards... cuz you resend all the mercs). I know getting the resources and stuff would be tough, but thats why you have allies to slingshot you what you need (like I did in our merc deck). Remember, D sends you the 1300 gold, and your second age gold will have 910 etc. Finally, we can help you level you germans up enough) I think its worth trying out to see if this guy is full of shit or not.

[pcups]

Well, you do make it sound possible, so who knows. i guess ill try and make it work. The only problem i can see though is saving all of those cards when the germans really rely on them.

[boorules60]

That's the thing, you literally have to devote almost half your deck to mercs/gold/upgrades to make the rush work, so if they DO manage to fight it off without losing their town, you could be hurting a bit in the imperial age. I think I might fool around with it a bit and come up with some kind of deck (even though I'm not a hardcore german player and see what happens.

[pcups]

Its not tough to use mercs