[ AOE2 CIVILIZATION ]
Bulgarians
A hybrid cavalry-infantry civ that drops cheap mini-castles, spams Konniks that don't die the first time, and gets the entire militia line for free.
[ IDENTIDAD ]
Bulgarians are the hybrid civ. They get the full militia line (through Two-Handed Swordsman) for free — no food or gold spent on the upgrades. They get Town Patrol AND Town Watch (Loom line / TC LOS) for free. They mine stone 100% faster as a shaft-mining bonus. They build a unique mini-castle called the Krepost for 1/2 the stone of a normal castle (275 stone instead of 650). Their Castle-age unique unit, the Konnik, is a heavy cavalier that on death leaves behind a dismounted infantryman with its own HP bar — effectively doubling the unit's durability. They do NOT get Champion (stops at Two-Handed Swordsman), do NOT get Arbalest (stops at Crossbowman), and do NOT get Bombard Cannon — but between cheap Krepost drops, Konnik flood, and a full Paladin-less Cavalier line, they don't need those gap-fillers. The Bulgarian plan is simple: reach Castle Age with a stone surplus, drop a Krepost forward or defensively, pump Konniks, and let the free militia-line upgrades handle the Imperial infantry transition.
Datos clave
⚡ Civ bonuses
Blacksmiths work 80% faster.
Militia-line upgrades (Man-at-Arms, Long Swordsman, Two-Handed Swordsman) are free.
Saves 200 food + 65 gold (MAA), 200 food + 65 gold (Long Sword), and 750 food + 350 gold (Two-Handed Swordsman). Total savings: ~1150 food + 480 gold over the course of a full game, plus the research time. Bulgarians do NOT get Champion — the line stops at Two-Handed Swordsman.
Town Center Town Watch (line of sight) and Town Patrol (infantry LOS) are researched for free at reaching the respective age [VERIFY exact trigger — historically it's BOTH Town Watch AND Town Patrol free].
Town Watch (+4 LOS to TCs / towers / castles) free in Feudal, Town Patrol (+4 LOS to infantry, cav, monks) free in Castle. Saves ~125 food + ~300 food research cost plus ~50 + 75 seconds of research time. Scouting + control improved throughout the game.
Stone shaft mining research is free (Stone Shaft Mining gives stone miners +50% work rate) [VERIFY — effect is +15% or +50% depending on source; historically +50% per wiki].
Stone Shaft Mining (+15% to +50% stone work rate, per current patch) researches automatically and for free upon reaching Castle Age. Effectively accelerates stone income for the rest of the game, enabling faster Krepost drops and stone walls.
Krepost is a unique mini-castle that costs 75 stone and 125 wood [VERIFY exact cost] — it functions as a half-cost castle with reduced HP and attack, but lets Bulgarians reach the Krepost drop power curve dramatically faster than other civs reach a full castle.
Krepost cost ~75 stone + 125 wood (vs. 650 stone for a normal castle); HP ~4000 (vs. 4800); attack reduced vs full castle but trains Konniks and Petards (post-patch 162286), acts as pop space (+10 pop like a normal TC / castle?). Can ONLY be built by Bulgarians. Does NOT train Trebuchets. Normal castles also buildable for Trebuchet access.
Konnik is the Bulgarian unique unit — a heavy cavalier that, upon death, leaves behind a 'Dismounted Konnik' foot soldier with its own HP bar, effectively doubling the unit's effective durability.
Konnik base HP ~100 (Castle) / ~120 (Elite). On death, spawns a Dismounted Konnik (infantry, melee, ~40-50 HP [VERIFY]) at the death location. The dismounted form is a separate combat entity — counters to heavy cav (Halberdier, Camel) hit the mounted form; once dismounted, those units may no longer get the same bonus damage, so the dismount form is effectively an anti-counter layer.
- · Champion — Bulgarians stop at Two-Handed Swordsman. Champion upgrade is unavailable — THS is the infantry endpoint. With Bagains (+5 PA) and free upgrades, THS remains effective vs archers but is behind Champion civs in infantry mirror.
- · Arbalester — Stop at Crossbowman. Archer line is a side-unit only; Bulgarians have no Imperial archer option and must rely on cavalry + infantry + skirm.
- · Hand Cannoneer / Bombard Cannon — No gunpowder at all. Siege is limited to Onager + Bombard Tower (no BBC, no Hand Cannoneer). Against walled opponents, Bulgarians must rely on Siege Ram + Trebuchet (from a regular castle, NOT Krepost).
- · Paladin — Bulgarians stop at Cavalier. Konnik is the heavy-cavalry endpoint, not Paladin. This is rarely a problem because Konnik + dismount + Stirrups is often stronger than a Paladin mirror.
- · Heavy Camel Rider — No camels at all. Bulgarians cannot mirror camel civs in the anti-cav trash war; they rely on Pikeman / Halberdier + Bagains THS instead.
- · Siege Onager — Stop at Onager. Late-game siege pushes are weaker than Celt/Ethiopian Siege Onager civs.
- · Heavy Scorpion — [VERIFY] — Bulgarians believed to lack Heavy Scorpion; removes Scorpion as a primary Imperial push tool.
- · Ring Archer Armor — [VERIFY] — Bulgarians' weak crossbow is further undermined if RAA is missing. Check current patch.
Konnik
heavy cavalry with dismount mechanic — when the horse dies, the rider keeps fighting on foot
- · Castle-Age flood from Krepost — push to opponent base and raid villagers
- · Imperial anti-archer push — Konnik tanks crossbow volleys and the dismount soaks second wave
- · Raid escape — dismount form can still damage vils after the mounted form is killed chasing
Estribos
Konniks (mounted AND dismounted) attack 33% faster.
When: Immediately after first Konnik batch is in production. In standard build: click Stirrups about 17-18 minutes, right after Bloodlines and Forging are in progress.
Bagains
Militia-line units (Militia through Two-Handed Swordsman) gain +5 pierce armor.
When: Early Imperial, in matchups against archer civs. Skip in pure cavalry mirrors. Combined with free Two-Handed Swordsman upgrade (already researched for free on entering Castle), it's an instant power spike on army switch.
🎯 Recommended build order
Krepost Drop + Konnik + Second Castle
Bracket 1300-1600Decide Krepost placement based on scouting. Forward for open maps, defensive for aggressive opponents.
Alternativa
Drush FC Krepost — Vs archer civ that walls or cav civ that commits to feudal knights
❌ Common mistakes playing Bulgarians
-
▸
Building a regular castle instead of Krepost
Krepost costs 75 stone; regular castle costs 650 stone. Building a regular castle first wastes 575 stone — an entire Krepost's worth.
fix:Always Krepost FIRST. Regular castle only if you need Trebuchets later.
▸Forgetting to research Stirrups
Stirrups gives Konnik +33% attack speed. Without it, Konnik is just a cavalier with a second HP bar — not an oppressive unit.
fix:Stirrups is the second click after Bloodlines in Castle Age. Always.
▸Not mining stone in Feudal
Bulgarians need 400+ stone at Castle click for a Krepost drop. If you arrive with 100 stone, Krepost lands 3+ minutes later and the whole plan collapses.
fix:2-3 vils on stone by 14 minutes. Non-negotiable.
Want to know which ones YOU made in your last match?
📲 Send your replay, I'll tell you💬 This is how wolo.gg coaches you
Tu Bulgarians en Arabia — open map with stone flank allows Krepost forward drops · Scouts feudal → knights or Krepost-centric Castle click at 16-18min → forward Krepost at 1...
✅ Buen scout en min 3 — vista temprana del rival
⚠️ Dropping Krepost too deep into opponent territory
→ Scout carefully; drop Krepost at the edge of opponent's vision, not into their base. Leave a retreat path for vils.
❌ Skipping the free militia upgrades awareness
Next match: Scouts feudal → knights or Krepost-centric Castle click at 16-18min → forward Krepost at 17-19min with Konnik + Cavalier mix → raid continuously + second stone castle for Trebuchet access → Imperial with Bagains + THS vs archer civs, Hussar + Halb vs cav civs. Krepost placement is the skill lever at this bracket.
This lands on your WhatsApp after every match
📲 Mandar mi rec ahora⚡ Pregame brief — antes que termine el countdown
As soon as we detect you started a ranked match, a strategic brief lands on you in ~10 segundos. We tell you who your rival is, what they usually do on that map,and what to adapt in your Bulgarians build order.
Free. Doesn't cost credits. You get it as long as you have the app running.
Activar pregame briefs →Your rival picked Britons.
Play your standard plan and watch min 8-12 to react.
⚔️ Which civ will you face?
Bulgarians vs Britons
favoredKrepost forward aggressive; raid Briton woodline.
Want a specific plan for THAT match?
📲 Pedile un plan a wolo.gg vs Britons🛡️ Cuidado con estas unidades
Bonus damage vs cavalry; Konnik dismount is partial mitigation only.
Anti-cav specialists; Bulgarian Konnik flood is gold-inefficient vs mass Halb.
AoE damage clears Konnik clumps; Bulgarians lack Siege Onager counter.
Anti-cav specialty + speed; Konnik dismount partial help only.
Bohemian Imperial siege clears Konnik masses; no BBC response.
Anti-archer + anti-infantry AoE; Bagains THS counters but takes time to mass.
🗺️ Performance por mapa
Arabia is Bulgarians' best map. Open-map stone on flank lets the Krepost forward…
On Arena, the Krepost drop is less dominant because walls neutralize the forward…
No pre-TC resource bonus, so Bulgarians don't scale on Nomad as well as Huns, Li…
BF rewards civ with strong late-game siege and wall-break tools. Bulgarians lack…
Walled maps favor Krepost drops inside walls for defense, and Konnik flood pushe…
Similar to Fortress — Krepost drop inside hideout walls, Konnik pressure out fro…
Hybrid water/land — Bulgarian navy is weak; archer/cav play on land side intact …
Bulgarians' naval tree is poor (no cannon galleon upgrades, weak galleon line, u…
Same as team islands — poor navy forces Bulgarians to concede water.
Transport phase disadvantages Bulgarians; once on mainland, standard plan resume…
Mixed map; Bulgarian land game fine, water yields.
Variance works against a specialist civ that needs stone forward; ~60% of rolls …
Open map similar to Arabia; Krepost + Konnik identity shines.
Hybrid map; Bulgarians fine on land side, cede water.
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