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Age of Empires 2, late game compositions

Table of late game AoE2 compositions that contain a combination of one gold unit combined with a trash unit. But it's not that simple, it's often not clear what to make. So this table is here to help. The general idea is that you need answer for all kinds of units the opponent might throw at you.

Infantry: Primarily countered by hand cannons.
Pikemen: These anti-cavalry units receive bonus damage from archers and skirmishers, which makes them the primary counter.
Cavalry: Primarily countered by halberdiers and camels.
Archers: Primarily countered by skirmishers, but only when they have access to full armor. The other counter is siege, especially scorpions.
Skirmishers: These archer counters are primarily countered by cavalry and siege. These are high pierce armor archers with low pierce attack. Therefore fall easily against any melee unit that has at least 2 base pierce armor and gets all the armor upgrades.
Siege: Primarily countered by cavalry and bombard cannons.

If the primary counter is not available for your civilization, you will need to find other ways. This relies on dealing with armor. So in this case you need to think about high pierce armor version of the unit and high melee armor version of the unit. The high pierce armor version is beaten by melee units. The high melee armor version is beaten by archers.

In the table below I write down the counters for all unit types a given civ has. The general setup is that you pick one gold unit and a trash unit that responds to the counters of this gold unit. This table is for my personal use andi is valid from the current patch (at. 2026-06-28).

This table is primarily for my reference.

Civilization	Gold unit	Non-gold unit	Notes
Armenians	Champions (vs. pikemen and skirmishers) Composite bows vs. high melee armor infantry and Cataphracts	Skirmishers vs. hand cannon and archers Halberdiers vs. cavalry Light cavalry vs. siege	This civilization is weak against mass scorpions.
Aztecs	Eagle warriors (vs. archers, skirmishers, pikemen and siege) Jaguar warriors vs. champions and pikemen	Skirmishers vs. hand cannon, pikemen Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Bengalis	Elephant archers (vs. high melee armor infantry, archers, cavalry, pikemen) Ratha vs. high pierce armor infantry, pikemen (in ranged mode)	Light cavalry vs. siege and skirmishers
Berbers	Camel archers (vs. cavalry archers, high melee armor infantry, pikemen) Camels vs. cavalry Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry	Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege Genitour vs. pikemen and archers.	Mobile options for most possibilities.
Bohemians	Hussite Wagon (vs. infantry, pikemen, archers, skirmishers) Archers Hand cannons vs. infantry	Light cavalry vs. siege and skirmishers Halberdiers vs. cavalry	Has chemistry in castle age for more archer damage.
Britons	Arbalests or Longbows (vs. low pierce armor infantry, pikemen and archers) Champions vs. high pierce armor infantry	Light cavalry vs. skirmishers and siege Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Bulgarians	Konniks (vs. low melee armor infantry) Cavalry archers vs. high melee armor infantry Scorpions vs. archers	Skirmishers vs. pikemen Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege Halberdiers vs. camels, and enemy cavalry
Burgundians	Knights(vs. skirmishers) Hand cannons vs. infantry Scorpions vs. archers Bombard cannons vs. siege	Skirmishers vs. pikemen Halberdiers vs. enemy cav and camels Hussars vs. skirmishers	No good answer to archers.
Burmese	Arambai (vs. infantry) Battle elephants vs. archers Bombard cannons vs. siege	Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege Skirmishers vs. pikemen and archers Halberdiers vs. camels and cavalry	Elephants are your damage sponge against archers. Skirmishers still get full attack upgrades despite the lack of armor.
Byzantines	Camels vs. cavalry Cathaphracts vs. infantry and pikemen Hand cannons vs. infantry Bombard cannons vs. siege	Skirmishers vs. halberdiers and archers Halberdiers vs. cavalry Hussars vs. siege and skirmishers	No primary unit. Reactive civilization.
Celts	Woad raiders (vs. high pierce armor infantry) Siege vs. archers, skirmishers, low pierce armor infantry, pikemen	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. hand cannons, archers, pikemen
Chinese	Fire lancers (vs. cavalry) Chu ko nu vs. low pierce armor infantry Champions vs. high pierce armor infantry	Skirmishers vs. archers Light cavalry vs. siege and skirmishers
Cumans	Kipchaks (vs. low pierce armor infantry) Knights vs. high pierce armor infantry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Light cavalry vs. siege and skirmishers Skirmishers vs. archers	Kipchaks doesn't cost a lot a gold.
Dravidians	Elephant archers (vs. low piece armor infantry and archers) Hand cannon vs. high pierce armor infantry	Skirmishers vs. archers Light cavalry vs. siege and skirmishers Halberdiers vs. cavalry	Wootz steel gives a guaranteed 11 damage per hit for light cavalry. Medical corps makes your elephants self heal.
Ethiopians	Shotel warriors (vs. high pierce armor infantry, skirmishers) Archers vs. low pierce armor infantry and Cataphracts Bombard cannon vs. siege.	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. archers
Franks	Knights (vs. low melee armor infantry, skirmishers, siege Hand cannon vs. high melee armor infantry Scorpions vs. archers	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. pikemen
Georgians	Monaspa (vs. low melee armor infantry, skirmishers, siege) Hand cannon vs. high melee armor infantry Scorpions vs. archers	Hussars vs. siege and skirmishers Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. pikemen
Goths	Champions (vs. pikemen, skirmishers) Huskarls vs. archers, skirmishers Hand cannon vs. infantry Bombard cannon vs. siege	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. hand cannon
Gurjaras	Elephant Archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry, archers) Camels vs. cavalry and siege Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry	Skirmishers vs. pikemen Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege	All their units are generic. But elephant archers are the best and benefit the most from the castle age unique tech. Chakram throwers are weak.
Hindustanis	Camels vs. cavalry and siege Hand cannons vs. infantry Pikemen vs. cavalry (if mixed with pikemen)	Skirmishers vs. archers Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege	No primary unit. Ghulam is only viable as part of a double gold composition. Switch to hand cannon, as soon as you see infantry (this includes pikemen)
Huns	Cavalry archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry) Tarkans vs. archers and skirmishers Knights vs. high pierce armor units	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege Skirmishers vs. pikeman
Inca	Champis (vs. archers, skirmishers and siege) Kamayuks vs. cavalry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. archers Slingers vs. infantry
Italians	Archers (vs. infantry) Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry Genoese xbow vs. cavalry	Hussars vs. skirmishers Skirmishers vs. archers
Japanese	Champions (vs. pikemen and skirmishers) Samurai vs. melee unique units Hand cannon vs. infantry	Skirmishers vs. archers and hand cannons Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Jurchens	Iron pagoda (vs. archers, skirmishers and siege) Fire lancers vs. cavalry Grenadiers vs. infantry	Skirmishers vs. pikemen and archers Halberdier vs. camels and cavalry
Khitans	Cavalry archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry) Fire lancers vs. cavalry Liao Dao vs. high pierce armor infantry	Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege Skirmishers vs. archers
Khmer	Ballista elephants (vs. archers, skirmishers, low pierce armor infantry, pikemen) Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry.	Hussars vs. siege. Skirmishers vs. pikemen Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Koreans	Fire lancers (vs. cavalry) War wagons vs. archers Hand cannons vs. infantry Bombard cannons vs. siege Champions vs. skirmishers	Elite skirmishers vs. archers and pikemen
Lithuanians	Leitis (vs. infantry, siege, skirmishers)	Skirmishers vs. archers and pikemen Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Magyars	Cavalry archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry, pikemen) Knights vs. high pierce armor infantry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Hussars vs. skirmishers Magyar Hussars vs. siege Skirmishers vs. archers and pikemen
Malay	Archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry, pikemen) Bombard cannons vs. siege Scorpions vs. skirmishers.	Two-handed swords vs. pikemen and high pierce armor infantry Halberdier vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. archers	Don't have a good answer to skirmishers.
Malians	Champions (vs. archers and skirmishers) Gbeto (vs. siege) Camels vs. cavalry Hand cannons vs. infantry Bombard cannons vs. siege	Light cavalry vs. skirmishers and siege Skirmishers vs. archers and pikemen	Malian champions have +3 pierce armor, making them as armored as eagles or champis.
Mapuche	Champis (vs. archers, skirmishers and siege) Bolas riders vs. cavalry	Skirmishers vs. cavalry archers Halberdiers vs. cavalry Slingers vs. infantry
Maya	Eagle warriors (vs. archers, skirmishers and siege) Plumed Archers vs. infantry	Skirmishers vs. cavalry archers Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Mongols	Mangudai (vs. low pierce armor infantry, pikemen and siege) Camels vs. cavalry Scorpions vs. archers	Hussars vs. skirmishers	They do not have good options against high pierce armor units (e.g. huskarls, champis, eagles).
Muisca	Temple guard(vs. cavalry) Champis (vs. archers, skirmishers and siege)	Slingers vs. infantry Skirmishers vs. hand cannons
Persians	Knights(vs. archers and siege) Camels vs. cavalry Hand cannons vs. infantry Bombard cannons vs. siege	Hussars vs. skirmishers Crossbows vs. pikemen Skirmishers vs. cavalry archers
Poles	Knights (vs. low melee armor infantry) Bombard cannon vs. siege Obuch vs. high melee armor infantry Scorpions vs. archers	Pikemen vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. pikemen	No good answer to archers.
Portuguese	Organ guns (vs. infantry, pikemen and archers) Bombard cannons vs. siege Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Light cavalry vs. siege and skirmishers
Romans	Scorpions (vs. archers, skirmishers, pikemen and low pierce armor infantry) Legionary vs. high pierce armor infantry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Light cavalry vs. siege
Saracens	Camels amd Mamelukes vs. cavalry Hand cannon vs. infantry Bombard cannon vs. siege	Skirmishers vs. archers Hussars vs. skirmishers
Shu	White feather guard vs. cavalry Archers vs. low pierce armor infantry and pikemen Hei guang cavalary vs. high pierce armor infantry War chariot vs. archers Traction trebuchet vs. siege	Skirmishers vs. archers, hand cannons and pikemen
Sicilians	Knights (vs. low melee armor nfantry, archers and siege) Serjeants vs. melee units except anti-infantry Archers vs. high melee armor infantry	Skirmishers vs. pikemen and hand cannons Halberdiers vs. cavalry	Hauberk makes knights resistant to arrows. No good option against high melee armor infantry.
Slavs	Boyars (vs. low melee armor infantry) Scorpions vs archers Champions vs. trash	Skirmishers vs. archers, hand cannons and pikemen Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege Halberdiers vs. cavalry
Spanish	Conquistadors (vs. infantry) Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry. Bombard cannon vs. siege	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Hussars vs. skirmishers, monks and siege Skirmishers vs. archers
Tatars	Cavalry archers (vs. low pierce armorinfantry) Camels vs. cavalry Hand cannons vs. high pierce armor infantry	Skirmishers vs. archers Hussars vs skirmishers and siege
Teutons	Teutonic knights (vs. infantry except anti-infantry, cavalry) Bombard cannon vs. siege Hand cannon vs. infantry Knights vs. siege and skirmishers	Skirmishers vs. pikemen, archers and hand connons Halberdiers vs. cavalry.
Tupi	Champis (vs. archers, skirmishers and siege)	Skirmishers vs. archers and hand cannons. Halberdiers vs. cavalry Slingers vs infantry
Turks	Janissariees (vs. infantry) Cavalry archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry) Camels vs. cavalry Bombard cannons vs. siege Scorpions vs. archers	Hussars vs. skirms and archers
Vietnamese	Archers (vs. low pierce armor infantry) Rattan archers (vs. archers) Battle elephants vs. high pierce armor infantry Bombard cannons vs. siege Fire lancers vs. cavalry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Light cavalry vs. skirmishers and siege Imperial skirmishers vs. archers and pikemen
Vikings	Berserks (vs. high pierce armor infantry, pikemen, cavalry and siege) Archers vs. low pierce armor infantry	Skirmishers vs. pikemen, hard cannons and archers
Wei	Tiger cavalry vs. archers and skirmishers Hei Guang cavalry vs. high pierce armor infantry, skirmishers Xianbei raider vs. low pierce armor infantry and pikemen	Skirmishers vs. archers and pikemen. Halberdiers vs. cavalry Hussars vs. siege
Wu	Jian swordsman (vs. archers, pikemen and skirmishers) Hei Guang cavalry vs. low melee armor infantry Traction trebuchets vs. siege Archers vs. high melee armor infantry	Halberdiers vs. cavalry Skirmishers vs. hand cannons and pikemen Hussars vs. skirmishers and siege

Age of Empires 2, late game compositions

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