Stable (Age of Empires II)

"Used to create and improve cavalry."

- Age of Empires II description

The Stable is a military building in Age of Empires II that becomes available once the Feudal Age is reached and a Barracks is built. It trains and improves cavalry.

Stables are available to all civilizations except for the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans.

Tactics and Placement
For cavalry-based civilizations, Stables are essential buildings. Having at least two in the Feudal Age already will greatly help to rush an opponent with Scout Cavalry as in a rushing tactic timing is essential and producing units takes its time. Another very popular rushing strategy is the Knight rush, which also required at least two Stables, preferably three or four.

As with other military buildings, having Stables near an enemy's settlement helps to attack more effectively as the trained units will be created close to the enemy, cutting off the distance. In the Stables particular case this is optional though, as cavalry has fast movement speed.

Stables can also aid in fortifications as cavalry can take down siege units with ease. So it is advisable to have several Stables within a fortification just for the emergency.

Trainable Units and Technologies
Clicking on the icon links to the corresponding page.

Blue: Units

Green: Technologies

Purple: Unique Units

The Huns can also train Tarkans at the Stable once Marauders is researched.

Availability Grid
The following table shows the availability of the units and technologies for every civilization. Unique units are not shown in the table. An 'X' in the last column indicates that all units and technologies are available.


 * [[File:Available.png]] = Available
 * [[File:Unavailable.png]] = Unavailable

Civilization Bonuses

 * Berbers: Stable units are cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
 * Byzantines: Stables have +20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch is free.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Stables are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Stable technologies are 15%/20% cheaper in the Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Khmer: Stables don't require a Barracks.
 * Malians: Stables are 15% cheaper.
 * Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Spanish: Stables are built 30% faster.
 * Vietnamese: Conscription is free.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Huns: Stables work 20% faster.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Slavs: Stables provide +5 population.

Trivia

 * In The Conquerors, the Native American civilizations did not have a Stable model. If given a Stable in the Scenario Editor, it would have the Central European architectural style and be unable to train any units. In The Forgotten, they got an own Stable model and can actually produce cavalry if Full Tech Tree is checked.
 * The African, Indian, and Southeast Asian Stables are the only three architectural styles to have mounts other than horses in the model: The African and Indian ones have a camel, while the Southeast Asian one has an elephant.
 * The Southeast Asian Stable model is also the only one where the mounts inside have animations.

History
''As the Middle Ages continued, the rise in importance of mounted warriors created demand for larger numbers of horses, which was bred and maintained at the stable. A variety of horses were bred, including horses for long-distance travel, fast horses for quick movement, and the heavy charger. Scout and light cavalry units needed quick horses with lots of stamina. Heavy chargers of great strength were required to carry fully armored knights into a charge. Mounted warriors trained at the stable as well, learning the skills of fighting from horseback with spear, lance, sword, flail, mace, and hammer. In other parts of the world, camels and elephants were bred and maintained for mounted combat.''