Build Orders

A build order is a structured sequence telling you exactly where to put each villager during the Dark Age and Feudal transition. Following one removes guesswork and lets you focus on scouting, walling, and reacting to your opponent.

Why use build orders

Without a build order, players randomly distribute villagers and end up:

Short on wood when they need farms
Short on gold when they need to research Castle Age
Idle Town Center because food drops below 50

A build order eliminates all of that. You wake up in the morning, follow steps 1–25, and you arrive at Feudal Age at the same minute every game with the same resources ready.

How build orders are written

Each step lists:

Population count (e.g., “Villager 12”)
Time in m:ss format (e.g., “2:35”)
Action (”→ build house then mill on berries”)

For example, the 18-Pop 1-Stable Scout Rush starts:

0:00   6 vils → sheep under TC
0:50   +2 vils → wood, build lumber camp
1:15   +1 vil → lure nearest boar
1:40   +1 vil → build house then mill on berries

The three foundational openings

Every player should learn these three:

18-Pop Scouts — Feudal Age aggression with fast cavalry. The “default” opening on open maps.
19-Pop Archers — Ranged Feudal pressure. The “default” for archer civilizations.
Fast Castle into Boom — Skip Feudal aggression, race to Castle Age + extra Town Centers. The “default” on closed maps.

Once you have these three internalized, every other build is a variation: drush adds a barracks earlier, MAA upgrades the militia in Feudal, Tower Rush sends 10 villagers to the enemy base, etc.

Practice tip

Run the build order three times solo (vs AI on Easy) before using it in a real game. Record yourself or just check the clock — if your Feudal Age click time is off by more than 30 seconds, restart and identify which step you missed.

Next chapter

Coming soon: Civilizations — how to choose a civ and what their unique bonuses mean for your gameplan.