Poles Overview (AoE2)

1:25 Team bonus: Scout line +1 vs archers
1:58 Villagers recover HP
2:34 Folwark replaces the mill
4:05 Stone miners also generate gold

UNIQUE UNIT AND TECHS
6:15 Obuch
8:45 Knights cost -60% gold
10:15 Light cavalry + Hussar deal trample damage

TECH TREE
11:28 Archers B
11:50 Infantry A-
11:22 Cavalry A-
13:00 Siege B
13:15 Navy C/B- (C+ average)
13:40 Monks B
14:05 Defenses B
14:38 Trash B-

15:10 General thoughts & strategies
16:30 Sponsor

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Game: Age of Empires II Definitive Edition

[Michas]

As a Polish person, i can confirm, i do deal more damage to archers and recover ~5hp per minute.

[bare_bear_hands]

The simple fact that folwarks are 3x3, just like farms, makes them aesthetically ideal.

[Adunapheth]

You forgot about their secret bonus, if you are raiding the enemy with winged hussars, you type in chat "And the Winged Hussars arrived" to assert dominance.

[azsswim]

I love the model for the castle, its Bedzin in Poland. My dad was lived across the street from it, and has many childhood memories from having played in its moats and its walls.

[MiSt]

I am Polish and I can tell you that when I mine I produce gold all the time!

[michaelandreipalon]

Farming = A+ for me. Look at that proper squaring of the Farms. *Look at it!*


Hmm, needs more Winged Hussars breakdowns (unless that's already a previous video).

[XtReMz]

SotL says the Poles aren’t good on water, but then grants them a Sea+. Go figure!

[kwdblade]

The polls are in on the Poles, and their polearms held by Pole arms are polling well, although not with the pols.

[xcer]

Had a huge smile on my face when I heard the classic SOTL intro music :D

[ingwio]

That Sponsor transition was soo smooth! Thanks for the overview. I really enjoyed it!

[MrShirial]

I love poles for their farm sized mill

[michabaron]

Id almost count Obuchs as a bonus to the archer score, since with that 2 unit army comp (obuch + either skirm or arb) your ranged unita get more dps than most civs, even if ever so slightly. Its not gamebreaking amount but never detrimental

E: Spirit of the Lawn <3

[Sallafar]

So.... the historical polish Winged Hussars where known as a (a bit late to the party but still) formidable, state of the art, *heavy shock cavalry* . And in AoE II they are not only a light melee cav, but also the poles as such are lacking in the final heavy cav-armour upgrade *and* the competetive lategame heavy cavalry.... WOOOT?? Am i the only one here feeling put off by this?

[RESURRECT]

The ultimate skill is that when you defeat Poles, you never know if they won't return in the next 2 minutes.

[Diana-leoh]

Poles arew my favorite civ in Aoe 2 now. The square farms is the biggest reason but I also have a much better win rate with playing them as an infantry civ than with any other civ.

[jarom]

Szlachta tech fits excellent into Polish history - nobility/knight class (in Polish Szlachta) was numerous compared to other countries in late medieval era

[Saltyoven]

Folwark allowing you to easily surround with farms and not need a complicated farm build order is real nice too.

[gauravminz]

Not sure about this, but the way I see this, Szlachta Priveleges is supposed to be used as soon as one hits Castle Age while continuing producing Light Cavalry. This strategy is supported by the Folwark bonus. Of course this means that people using this strategy would have to take a chunk of their villagers to build a Castle, and upon its completion immediately research the unique tech all the while continuing producing Light Cavalry for offence/defence. Once the research is completed, Knights can be produced. This would free up lot of gold, and can be a potential source for the Imperial upgrade.

[Vlaew]

Poles has been my favorite, replacing Spanish in team games with friends. Prioritizing mining stone into castle usually gets me a good amount of gold and the stone I need to put up castles. Plus a mill that actually fits around the farms is nice AND the instant food from 10% of 8 farms is really nice in a pinch. I wish more civs were well rounded like this.

[TadeoDOria]

Love your overviews, but you forgot to highlight the Winged Hussar as a unique unit and to show its differences to the regular Hussar. You went straight from the Obuch to the unique techs.