[ AOE2 CIVILIZATION ]
Italians
Mediterranean hybrid — cheap ages, cheap water, gunpowder tools, and Genoese Crossbows that slap cavalry.
[ IDENTIDAD ]
Italians are a hybrid civilization with no single "this is the bonus you pick this civ for" identity. Instead, they layer several medium-impact bonuses into a flexible profile: (1) age-up costs -15% food (saves 75-90 food per age transition — accelerates the whole game by ~20-30 seconds per age); (2) dock technologies, fishing ships, and university tech Chemistry are cheaper; (3) fishing ships work faster + cost less — making water maps strong; (4) their unique unit Genoese Crossbowman is a Castle-trained foot archer with hefty bonus damage vs cavalry and ranged-armor pierce — one of the few anti-cav ranged units in the game; (5) their second unique unit Condottiero is a team unit (accessible to allies when their teammate is Italian) that hard-counters gunpowder infantry and cav archers with melee speed; (6) their full Cavalier + Hussar + Halberdier + Bombard Cannon + Hand Cannoneer + Elite Cannon Galleon tech tree gives a complete late game without any one area being dominant. The practical identity: play with the tempo advantage cheap ages grant, reach Castle age 30-45 seconds earlier than average, crank Genoese Crossbows vs cavalry-heavy opponents, add gunpowder in Imperial, and on water maps use cheap fishing + galleys to out-eco. Italians are one of the strongest team-game flank civs specifically because the Condottiero team bonus fills a gap in anti-gunpowder play that many team comps desperately need.
Datos clave
⚡ Civ bonuses
Condottiero available at Barracks for allies (in Imperial, once the Italian player's team has reached Imperial). Condottiero is a fast anti-gunpowder infantry unit.
Advancing to the next Age costs -15% food.
Feudal age-up: 425 food instead of 500 (75 saved). Castle age-up: 680 food instead of 800 (120 saved). Imperial age-up: 850 food instead of 1000 (150 saved). Total across game: ~345 food saved. Each saving shaves ~20-30 seconds off age-up timings with standard villager counts. This compounds across the full game into a ~1-2 minute total tempo advantage.
Fishing ships cost -15% and work +15% faster (combined effect in current DE).
Standard fishing ship costs 68 wood (vs 80) and has +15% gather rate. On water maps, this is among the strongest fishing bonuses in the game — accelerates feudal/castle eco substantially on Team Islands, Mediterranean, Four Lakes.
Dock technologies (Gillnets, Careening, Dry Dock, Shipwright) cost -50%.
Halves the cost of naval techs that other civs pay full price for — enables all-tech navy with less gold/wood. Stacks with cheap fishing ship cost for a water snowball.
University technology Chemistry costs -33% (cheaper gunpowder research unlock).
Chemistry unlocks HCC + BBC + Bombard Tower. Italian Chemistry research is ~133 food / 67 gold cheaper than standard (saving is small in absolute terms but accelerates the Imperial gunpowder transition by ~10-15 seconds).
Condottiero (Castle Age / Imperial team unit) is available to allies from their Barracks.
Once the Italian player reaches Imperial (original DLC version) or in certain patches Castle Age, Condottiero becomes trainable from ALL allied Barracks — a team-wide roster addition. This is structurally unique in AoE2.
- · Paladin — Italians stop at Cavalier — no Paladin. Cavalry is secondary; Genoese Crossbow + gunpowder is the late-game identity, not a Paladin push.
- · Bloodlines — [VERIFY — Italians are believed to HAVE Bloodlines; confirm for patch 169123]
- · Siege Onager — Stops at Onager — limits late-game siege push tools. Must rely on BBC + Onager mix instead of SO mass.
- · Heavy Scorpion — [VERIFY — Italians believed to LACK Heavy Scorpion; confirm]
- · Siege Ram — [VERIFY — Italians believed to LACK Siege Ram; confirm for patch 169123]
- · Redemption — [VERIFY current — Italians believed to HAVE Redemption; confirm]
- · Herbal Medicine / Illumination — [VERIFY monastery tech availability — Italian monastery is not their focus]
- · Halberdier — Italians HAVE Halberdier — important for late-game trash vs camel and cav civs.
Ballestero genovés
anti-cavalry foot archer (Castle unique unit) — bonus damage vs mounted units
- · Hard counter to Knight rush civs — Genoese Crossbow + Pike shreds Frank/Hun/Magyar paladin pushes
- · Anchor unit in Castle Age vs any cavalry-heavy civ
- · Paired with Halberdier + Pikeman + Arbalest for full-spectrum composition
Condotiero
anti-gunpowder / anti-cav-archer fast heavy infantry — TEAM UNIT (trainable by allies too)
- · Deployed in team games when opponent team has HCC/BBC/Janissary/Conquistador/Organ Gun
- · Train from allied Barracks — every teammate gets access once Italian ally reaches Imperial
- · Fast (1.2 speed) — catches fleeing gunpowder units that would kite other infantry
Pavés
Foot archers gain +1 melee armor and +2 pierce armor.
When: Mid-to-late Castle Age, after first Elite Genoese production batch starts. On water maps, Pavise is cheap insurance that pays off in Imperial. On Arabia, research it as the Genoese mass approaches critical size (~20+ units).
Ruta de la Seda
Trade units (Trade Cart, Trade Cog) cost -50%.
When: Team games: first Imperial click priority after core military upgrades (BBC / Elite Genoese / Gunpowder). On 1v1 Arena with trade carts: situationally valuable. On Arabia 1v1: skip unless the game has gone very long (past 45min) and trade has become the eco engine.
🎯 Recommended build order
Matchup-Adaptive Cheap-Age Build
Bracket 1300-1600Open with 21-pop feudal. Castle age commit based on scouting. Genoese vs cav, Arbalest vs archers, mixed vs infantry.
Alternativa
Water-Map Galley Flood — Mediterranean, Team Islands, Four Lakes, Islands
❌ Common mistakes playing Italians
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▸
Training Genoese Crossbow against archer civs
Genoese has SHORTER range (4 vs 5 base) than standard Crossbow. Against archer civ opponents, Genoese loses the ranged mirror and gets kited out.
fix:Genoese ONLY vs cavalry civs. vs archer civs, use standard Arbalest with Pavise. Learn to identify opponent's civ type.
▸Not using the cheap-age bonus for tempo
Italian cheap ages save ~75 food Feudal, 120 food Castle, 150 food Imperial. If you age up at generic timing, the bonus is invisible; opponent reaches the same age at the same time.
fix:Aim for Feudal at 9:30-10:00 (not 10:30+), Castle at 15:00-16:00 (not 17+), Imperial at 28-30min. Cheap-age bonus turns into real tempo only if you claim it.
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Tu Italians en Mediterranean, Team Islands, Four Lakes · Matchup-driven: vs cav civ, Genoese rush from Castle Age; vs archer civ, standard Arbalest...
✅ Buen scout en min 3 — vista temprana del rival
⚠️ Skipping Pavise UT
→ Pavise researched within 2 minutes of Castle drop. Non-negotiable in any archer commit.
❌ Committing to Genoese before scouting opponent
Next match: Matchup-driven: vs cav civ, Genoese rush from Castle Age; vs archer civ, standard Arbalest mass with Pavise tanking; on water, galley flood + fishing ship eco. Imperial transition is HCC + BBC + Arbalest with Cavalier as cleanup.
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 Italians build order.
Free. Doesn't cost credits. You get it as long as you have the app running.
Activar pregame briefs →Your rival picked Franks.
Favored — Genoese matchup advantage is real.
⚔️ Which civ will you face?
Italians vs Franks
favoredFavored — Genoese matchup advantage is real.
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📲 Pedile un plan a wolo.gg vs Franks🛡️ Cuidado con estas unidades
AoE damage deletes Arbalest/Genoese clumps; Italian no SO to match.
Kites Italian Arbalest; shortest range on Genoese means no engagement.
Out-ranges Italian Arbalest; Yeomen stack.
Faster archer + Mayan eco; Pavise helps but eco discrepancy wins.
AoE gunpowder; Italian Pavise doesn't help vs gunpowder damage.
Tanky melee; Italian Halberdier helps but gold-intensive.
🗺️ Performance por mapa
On Arabia, Italians are a flex civ — cheap age-ups give tempo but no killer bonu…
Arena rewards boom-heavy civs with cheap TC or free farms. Italians have neither…
Cheap ages help on Nomad where tempo matters. If water rolls, Italian fishing bo…
Average on BF. Cheap ages give slight tempo but Italians lack the siege (no SO) …
Similar to BF — Italians are fine but not standout. The civ doesn't have a dedic…
Similar to Arena; weaker on closed maps due to lack of dedicated eco bonus.
Four Lakes is a strong Italian map — hybrid water/land means fishing bonus and d…
Top-5 civ on Team Islands. Cheap fishing ships + cheap dock techs + Elite Cannon…
Same as Team Islands — water civ advantages stack. Italian Elite Cannon Galleon …
Italians' signature map. Hybrid water/land map, cheap fishing, cheap dock techs,…
Water transition benefits from cheap fishing, but Italian land game is only aver…
Variance cuts both ways. On water rolls Italians shine; on pure land rolls they'…
Similar to Arabia — cheap ages help tempo, Genoese Crossbow answers cavalry rush…
Hybrid water/land map; Italians' cheap fishing + galleon line plus Cavalier land…
Open steppe rewards cavalry civs and light-cav raiders. Italians have Cavalier +…
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