Assur/Strategic Overview

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Faction Overview Strategic Overview History
  • Strengths: Strongest land-based armies
  • Weaknesses: Weak navy and poor economic bonuses. Mercenaries appear only in the late game.

The whole world of Warbirth revolves around one faction, that faction being Assyria or Assur, and for good reason too. Being the most powerful faction in Warbirth, military-wise, Assur is built primarily for one thing, and that is military conquest. Packing together an awesome package of offensive rush-type civ bonuses along with a vast panoply of different units, Assur is the ideal faction to use in a classic RTS - amass, grow, then conquer.

As an Assyrian player, your strategies should revolve around producing large early armies and aggressively engaging the enemy. Playing a standard game is viable, especially if facing another nation with somewhat weak economic bonuses. One such strategy is to tech up to the Axial Age before amassing a large army, since that maximizes the Resources per Kill bonus and the Free Barracks Troops bonus. When doing this strategy, sending a small Horse Archer raid is usually a good idea - both to slow the opponent's economy and gain extra resources yourself.

Assur's army gains advantages in two areas - infantry, and siege weapons. Because infantry is often cheap, being able to upgrade it to its full potential renders it highly potent especially in the late game, especially in a world of chariot warfare and cheap throwaway troops. This is magnified farther by the availability of the Siege Ram - a more powerful form of Battering Ram that deals more damage than any normal Battering Ram. The ability to receive DOUBLE the amount of loot from destroyed buildings means that there is greater incentive and advantage to be gained from siege warfare, already augmented by the +1 Military level bonus. Taken together with Assur's access to good cavalry units, both mainstream and mercenary, it forms along with the infantry a powerful force for building land empires.

The most interesting bonus of the Aztecs is their ability to generate free Light Infantry with each Barracks built. It's a small bonus, but discerning players will use it to boost the size of their early army. Remember that it's difficult for Aztec players to keep up with other nations economically, so this bonus is key in helping Aztec players to gain a larger early army than their opponent. With careful balancing of your resources, you can amass an army early: once you reach Classical or Medieval Age, construct 3-4 Barracks and then make plenty of Heavy Infantry. Heavy Infantry and Atl-Atls complement each other nicely as a large early army that can take out cities. It's also convenient that Heavy Infantry won't cost Timber - that way your Timber can go into building a few extra Barracks. Since you'll be relying so much on military (and most likely be disadvantaged economically), the units you decide to make will be an important choice. Units that cost Food/Timber like Light Cavalry and Light Infantry are common choices, allowing the Aztec player to increase his army size using resources that would've been spent on Farms, Woodcutter's Camps, and Citizens. Horse Archers are another very good unit choice to invest at least a little into since they are often able to rack up at least a few Citizen kills. 

Often, players who face Aztecs will make a few extra Forts and Towers since these can wear down an Aztec army without giving the Aztec free resources from unit kills. Even so, Destroying enemy Forts is particularly valuable, as you'll be rewarded with a huge sum of Metal. This bonus gives Aztec players extra incentive to start knocking down enemy buildings with Siege units. Don't concentrate on soft targets such as Farms and Timber Posts, since your military resources are better spent on hard targets with good rewards (namely capturing the City that contains those buildings). However, you may occasionally find yourself in a position where capturing the City isn't possible quite yet. In this case, it may be worthwhile to let your siege attack outlying buildings so long as it is within the safe covering fire of a nearby Tower or Fort, with an army nearby, and a Siege Factory close by to garrison in. On the other hand, losing a battle often means very few resources were gained and your army was just defeated, leaving you in a world of hurt. So keep on the offensive in an attempt to prevent your opponent from advancing ages above you or fielding a larger army with his nation powers.




Thus Assur is a rather powerful faction in Rise of Kings: Warbirth, although it doesn't have the best economic bonuses. The key to fighting with Assur is to rush early and often, and to use diplomacy or intimidation in order to obtain the resources required to feed your immense war machine.

Faction summary[edit | edit source]

  • Ageing Process — Assur relies on a strong and highly advanced army. You must place an emphasis on getting to successive ages as fast as possible to maintain technological superiority of your infantry.
  • Chaaarge!!! — Given their speed, French cavalry are well suited for taking out archers. Use them as a flanking force against other cavalry units, and charge enemy archers and siege weapons head-on.
  • Racehorse — Faster upgrade times for French cavalry means that in many cases, heavy cavalry, ranging from Scara Cavalry all the way to the Gendarmerie will be an integral part of French military might.
  • Sitzkrieg — While it is true that French barracks units do have an edge, in particularly its Halberdiers and Billmen, they shouldn't be used in active service, as they are better off left to generate resources. The French infantry is better off either as a reserve or in defence. Almost any faction can be improved further with this, but the best allies are the Papal States, with their costly unit lines.
  • Pick Your Poison — choose your battles carefully, and avoid them if possible. The French do not use reckless charges like the Chinese or Scots, nor do they turtle recklessly (like the Papal States, Japan or Byzantium). They always seek to pick the right opportunity and then exploit.

Best Ages[edit | edit source]

All.

Strategic Overview
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