OK, from the title of this post you must be thinking: "He's really gone off the deep end this time." Yes, it's true; when I start thinking about uhlans, my heart quickens and I get very excited .

This is a new uhlan spam strat that takes advantage of two things: (1) Uhlans' relative cheapness and quick train time; and (2) Germany's very solid early econ. Taken together, these two factors enable you to spam more cav than any other civ in the early game when it counts.

Two days ago, I was in a 3v3 and I did my standard uhlan build. We lost the forward base battle and we rebuilt near our bases. At this point, my econ was going strong, so instead of the regular 1 stable, I put up 2. To my amazement, I was able to spam 6, 8 and even 10 uhlans at a time. We didn't win the game (when you lose FB battles, that's usually what happens), but I saw some devious future potential. In the past, I used to build 2 stables only later in the game when I had plenty of resources. But it can work early game, too, if you play your cards right.

Here's what I came up with. Note first that this build is intended ONLY for team games where you are the cavalry man. So how can you get 16 uhlans by 6:50 without a military shipment? Let me explain: Age up with 17 vils, as always. When you hit the age-up button, switch all your vils to WOOD except 2, who remain on food. Send one wagon forward to your FB, preferably near a mine, because you will need all the gold you can get. Your uhlan spam will depend on a FOOD/GOLD econ, but to lay down the foundations, you need 525 WOOD as fast as possible for the following things: a house; a market; a stable; and two market upgrades: HUNTING DOGS and PLACER MINES. Once you get the wood you need, switch all your wagons to gold, and all your regular vils back to food. You should have a second hunt herded by this point, too. You will use the 400 wood politician, of course.

Once you age up, send one wagon to the wood crates. The forward wagon should immediately put up a stable. Put up 2 houses and a SECOND STABLE with the rest of your wood. Your first card will be 3 wagons. Those wagons should go to gold. Your new vils should go to food. So that leaves you with 8 wagons on gold--more than enough for a massive uhlan spam. In the meantime, train a batch of 5 uhlans, which should meet up with the 2 free ones you got from the 3 wagon card. Your second card will be PALATINE SETTLEMENTS. This card will take away all your housing worries by increasing your pop cap from a measly 50 to 130, leaving you free to maximize your FOOD/GOLD econ. Start pumping out uhlans from both stables, but be careful; try to keep your training groups as large as possible. With the 2 stables, it is easy to train piecemeal, and that is hazardous. I recommend training from only one stable at first. After your econ picks up with your 3 wagons, though, this is not a problem. Generally you can train more than 5 uhlans at a time after that point.

This is a new build, so I am still working out the details. I will post more as I make refinements. I am thinking about using the extra 200 wood to get the second coin market upgrade, because I have already noticed that you need MASSIVE amounts of coin to keep the 5+ uhlans coming every time. If you do that, you need an extra 200 wood for stable 2, and you can do that if you use your 3 wagons to chop 200 more wood, then shift them to upgraded coin gathering.

This build is especially strong on maps with lots of mines (Siberia, Yukon, Texas), or gold mines at your base (California, Deccan). You can run into trouble if you need to move your vils far away to new mines. On gold-weak maps, I would advise against this build. Just go with the regular 1 stable spam.

Thank you for posting this!

I just started playing Germans 2 nights ago (mainly due to wanting strong cav early colonial). I will definitely give this serious attention and will be practicing it ASAP. Any tips on adapting this strat for 1v1 use? I have little/no experience with Germans but do see and respect the potential.

Thanks again, this sounds like exactly what I was looking for, also the name sounds befitting!

I did make a 1v1 deck for this strat, but I scrapped it because there are more efficient ways to get the job done quickly in a 1v1. The only civs I would consider using all-cav against would be Russia, maybe Aztec and maybe China. To get max uhlans in a 1v1 do this: build 1 stable ASAP, train 5 uhlans, send 3 wagons, send 5 uhlans. That gives you a decent number right off the bat to kill strels and cossacks and 5-10 muskets. If you're lucky, you can catch his food vils out in the open and that's pretty much GG against Russia. If he's on the water, send 700 wood, build a dock train a caravel, send 2 caravels and drive his boats to a watery grave.

Against China and Aztec all-uhlan is riskier, because the 6 spearmen are lethal and 8 qiang + old han can stop the uhlans no sweat. More balanced armies are required in these matchups.

I'm glad you like the UBER spam, though! As I wrote, I would suggest doing it only in team games. In team games, spammage is all-important, while in a 1v1, balance is key (unless you're Japan )

very solid strat, I'd ship 700 wood over palatine settlements as it's more flexible (upgrades, tp...) and can be used for houses anyways (which give u build XP)

Read over it, sounds good. Quick question - Do the market upgrades benefit the wagons?

LoN_Colossus wrote:

Read over it, sounds good. Quick question - Do the market upgrades benefit the wagons?

Absolutely. That's what makes the German econ so strong in the early phases if you make the market investments.

Kaiser_von_Nuben wrote:

I did make a 1v1 deck for this strat, but I scrapped it because there are more efficient ways to get the job done quickly in a 1v1. The only civs I would consider using all-cav against would be Russia, maybe Aztec and maybe China. To get max uhlans in a 1v1 do this: build 1 stable ASAP, train 5 uhlans, send 3 wagons, send 5 uhlans. That gives you a decent number right off the bat to kill strels and cossacks and 5-10 muskets. If you're lucky, you can catch his food vils out in the open and that's pretty much GG against Russia. If he's on the water, send 700 wood, build a dock train a caravel, send 2 caravels and drive his boats to a watery grave. Against China and Aztec all-uhlan is riskier, because the 6 spearmen are lethal and 8 qiang + old han can stop the uhlans no sweat. More balanced armies are required in these matchups. I'm glad you like the UBER spam, though! As I wrote, I would suggest doing it only in team games. In team games, spammage is all-important, while in a 1v1, balance is key (unless you're Japan )

I have been getting a lot of 1v1 games lately against Russia, and struggling. Which is why I decided to look into Germany, this will help me out a lot.

I will try absolutely try the UBER slam in team games (the only team games I've played so far have been clan games, and even that is very few )

I've really enjoyed playing as germany in the few games I've played with them. They have definitely sparked my interest into learning more! I love the "free" cav and their Doppels/XBows are solid, all this and a solid eco. That is something I have been having trouble with playing as native civs. I tend to be strong early, but if my rush fails, I am typically outboomed rather quickly... My mid/late games skills needs serious attention.

As far as Japan goes, I think my Aztecs have their number!

cleeduz wrote:

Kaiser_von_Nuben wrote: I did make a 1v1 deck for this strat, but I scrapped it because there are more efficient ways to get the job done quickly in a 1v1. The only civs I would consider using all-cav against would be Russia, maybe Aztec and maybe China. To get max uhlans in a 1v1 do this: build 1 stable ASAP, train 5 uhlans, send 3 wagons, send 5 uhlans. That gives you a decent number right off the bat to kill strels and cossacks and 5-10 muskets. If you're lucky, you can catch his food vils out in the open and that's pretty much GG against Russia. If he's on the water, send 700 wood, build a dock train a caravel, send 2 caravels and drive his boats to a watery grave. Against China and Aztec all-uhlan is riskier, because the 6 spearmen are lethal and 8 qiang + old han can stop the uhlans no sweat. More balanced armies are required in these matchups. I'm glad you like the UBER spam, though! As I wrote, I would suggest doing it only in team games. In team games, spammage is all-important, while in a 1v1, balance is key (unless you're Japan ) I have been getting a lot of 1v1 games lately against Russia, and struggling. Which is why I decided to look into Germany, this will help me out a lot. I will try absolutely try the UBER slam in team games (the only team games I've played so far have been clan games, and even that is very few ) I've really enjoyed playing as germany in the few games I've played with them. They have definitely sparked my interest into learning more! I love the "free" cav and their Doppels/XBows are solid, all this and a solid eco. That is something I have been having trouble with playing as native civs. I tend to be strong early, but if my rush fails, I am typically outboomed rather quickly... My mid/late games skills needs serious attention. As far as Japan goes, I think my Aztecs have their number!

I'm glad you like playing with them. Aztecs are actually a really hard matchup for Germany, although mass uhlans can really help you because they can beat coyotes and maces. Their anticav is deadly, though, so you need xbows to deal with it.

This is just a general tip about German booming in 1v1. I rarely do an all-out rush, although it's tempting because your shipments are strong. Rather, do what the British do: Put pressure on your enemy while sending your econ cards and ultimately going for fortress with the 700 coin card. If you can damage their econ and keep them indoors from the get-go, when you get to Age 3 with those awesome skirm/uhlan cards, chances are you'll win.

are u supposed to save ur age 1 ship for age 2 or...?

First card is obviously 2 SW. 16 Uhlans by 6:50 >>all o_O And shipping palatine settlements is actually a boost in the long term, since you won't need as much wood and that won't be noticed that well early on. I'd suggest that if you want to make the guide even better you could suggest what to do/ship in several situations, including when and how to go fortress letting your 59 attack uhlans bring doom.

Gwaaahahahahahaha! Kaiser, you kick ***! Back when Germany was worthless and I played them, they were by far my favorite unit.

Kudos to you!

Navarone_Guy wrote:

Gwaaahahahahahaha! Kaiser, you kick ***! Back when Germany was worthless and I played them, they were by far my favorite unit. Kudos to you!

Thanks, Harley! I bought AOE3 in the dark days when Germany stunk, and I've never given up on them. Uhlans FTW, every time

its the dark ages for ottos

we have to semi - ff, ff or FI to stay in the game

[N30 wrote:

dragonshinobi"]its the dark ages for ottos we have to semi - ff, ff or FI to stay in the game

No you don't; just mix up some abus with jannies on a water map and move forward

Yeah that's what I was gonna say, Jani/abus combo ftw