Send defense when called. Keep a sitter set for nights/absences.
Cut waves (“sniping”). Practice landing reinforcements between enemy waves.
Be available at peak times (evenings on most worlds).
Farm first, then train. Push your capital’s fields high before committing to nonstop troop queues. Typical start: begin mass training around field 11–12 (higher if you live far from (0|0)).
Prefer infantry for bulk. It’s cheaper per hour of production; add some cav for speed. Rule of thumb: 1 Stable for every 3–4 Barracks.
Distance matters. Far from center? Focus on big infantry walls for artefacts, plans, and WW; leave most fast “first-in” saves to frontliners.
Go for a good cropper if you need it—def accounts can and should be huge.
Capital + repeating triads: [DEF village] + [Res support] + [Res support].
Only every third village needs Smithy/TS, saving slots and cost. Troops can be trained in the capital, but building space is tight; many reserve those slots for granaries.
Capital + many pure INF DEF villages (each with full def infrastructure). Expensive but simple and very strong.
Teutons: 75% Spearmen / 25% Paladins. Paladins are slow but can raid; spears fill the anti-cav gap alliances often have.
Gauls: 70% Phalanx / 30% Druidrider. Rebuilds fast; Druids are the go-to speedy cav.
Romans: Praetorians or Legionnaires (no cav). Slowest classic DEF; legios are flexible but weaker than pretos.
Huns: 70% Mercenaries / 30% Marksmen. High output; Marksmen can even solo-save nearby targets.
Egyptians: 70% Ash Wardens / 30% Anhur Guards. Monster DEF production via Waterworks; avoid overusing Slave Militia due to crop drain.
Spartans: 60% Shieldsmen / 40% Elpida Riders (or even 100% Elpida). Fastest combo overall; easiest crop upkeep.
Big picture: def walls are mixed by tribe. Your job is to maximize DEF/hour; the def lead balances anti-inf vs. anti-cav across the wall.
Send the closest DEF to impact. Don’t trickle from far away if nearby stacks can land on time.
Include crop support (merchants) with your reinforcements, or arrange a local feeder; refund helpers after.
After impact: unless asked to stay, recall your DEF and watch for the next call.
Queue multiple tight waves of reinforcements; cancel the misses to improve odds of landing exactly between enemy hits.
Training a few slow units (rams/cats) in a DEF village can help you “retry” a snipe with a faster unit if you mistime the first attempt.
Great Barracks / Great Stables: skip them. For the same cost, run 3 normal Barracks in 3 villages and triple your output.
Do I need gold to play DEF? No. Gold helps ramp earlier, but smart planning beats wasteful spending.
Can a DEF player have a small hammer? Yes—just don’t starve your DEF plan. Use it for breaks, chiefs, fakes, or raids.
90% cav / 10% inf—okay? If your def lead knows and can plan around it, play your style. High TS levels help if you run mostly cav.
Sitter set; notifications on; know your alliance DEF ping channel.
Capital fields pushed; pick Split or Wall layout.
Barracks:Stable ≈ 3–4:1; focus on INF bulk, add cav for speed.
Keep merchants ready to feed your reinforcements.
Practice sniping before big ops day.
