Portuguese Monk Rush
Steps 15 · 6 → 22 pop · ~13 min
Source: Hera — Strategy Guide (December 2025)
Recommended Civilizations
Reach Castle Age fast on the cheap Portuguese economy, flood the map center with Monks, and seize every relic before your opponent can react.
Step Timeline
Follow the villager rail and resource-split columns while you play.
Opening
8 steps · pop 6–19- 6
6 → sheep under TC - 9
+3 → wood, build lumber camp - 10 +1 → first boar (lure with scout)
- 11 +1 → hunt under TC
- 12
+1 → build 2 houses + mill - 13 +1 → second boar
- 18 +5 → berries
↳ When both boars run out, lure deer or send 3 hunt villagers to mill the chickens.
- 19 +1 → wood
Feudal
2 steps · pop 21–22- 21
+2 → gold (mining camp); click Feudal at ~9:40 (4 wood / 15 food / 2 gold) - 22
Feudal: 3 wood → Market + Blacksmith; +1 → wood; research Loom
Castle
5 steps- 22
Sell 200 stone, buy 100 food to fund the Castle click - 22 Castle Age 13:10
↳ Research Double-Bit Axe + Gold Mining; move hunt/berries onto wood + gold
- 22
Barracks + 2 spearmen; send 2 vils + scout toward center - 22
Build 2 Monasteries near map center; start producing Monks; grab relics - 22
Stragglers → farms; add Siege Workshop + Battering Ram to break the opponent's walls
Strategy Notes
- The whole plan hinges on relic control: two Monasteries near the center let you produce Monks in parallel and snatch relics first, turning the map into a permanent gold faucet.
- Use the spearmen, scout, and a couple of escort villagers to screen your Monks while they walk relics home — an unguarded Monk is free food for enemy cavalry.
- The 200-stone market sale is intentional: you trade unused stone for the food that buys your fast Castle click, so do not bank stone for towers here.
- Once relics are secured, the gold income comfortably funds a Fast Imperial push; Portuguese Feitoria and discounted gold-cost units let you transition without ever mining out.
- Weak against early Feudal pressure (archers or scout rushes) that arrives before your Monks and spears are ready — wall key approaches and keep your Town Center garrisoned if scouted.
- Strong against greedy boom openings and knight-heavy plans, since Monks convert expensive cavalry and the relic lead snowballs.