Barracks (Age of Empires II)

"Used to create and improve infantry. Required for Archery Range, Stable."

- Age of Empires II description

The Barracks is a military building in Age of Empires II. It trains and improves infantry. It is the first available military building and prerequisite to build Archery Ranges and Stables.

Tactics and Placement
As the Barracks is the first military building that enables a player to create military units it is highly important to have at least one as soon as the player can afford it in order to defend themselves. Having a Barracks early in the game is important even if the player does not intend to use infantry units, because it is prerequisite to build Archery Ranges and Stables.

The Barracks is a vital building when performing early game rushes like the Dark Age rush and Feudal Age infantry rush. Also placing Barracks close to an enemy's base gives the player an edge to cut off distances for the troops as they can be created near to the opponent and attack more effectively since infantry units trained there move rather slowly (except for Eagle Warriors). When playing defensively the Barracks should be placed within fortifications in order to produce support units that can deal with many siege units, many cavalry units, and trash units.

In the Goths' case they must use their Barracks extensively for offensive and defensive purposes as their Barracks' work extremely fast, enabling them to mass infantry at an incredibly high rate. Defensively, Goths should always substitute fortifications with just Barracks as they don't have access to Stone Walls and Guard Towers.

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

Blue: Units

Green: Technologies

Purple: Unique Units

The Goths can also train Huskarls at the Barracks once Anarchy is researched.

Availability Grid
The following table shows the availability of the units and technologies for every civilization. Unique units and units and technologies that are available to all civilizations 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

 * Aztecs: Barracks units are created 15% faster.
 * Burmese: Researching Faith is 50% cheaper.
 * Byzantines: Barracks have +10%/+20%/+30%/+40% HP in the Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch is free.
 * Chinese: Technologies that benefit Barracks are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Barracks technologies are 10%/15%/20% cheaper in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Malians: Barracks are 15% cheaper.
 * Persians: Researching Town Watch and Town Patrol is 10%/15%/20% faster in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age.
 * Spanish: Barracks are built 30% faster.
 * Vietnamese: Conscription is free.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Goths: Barracks work 20% faster.
 * A team containing Italians: Condottieri are available at the Barracks in the Imperial Age.
 * A team containing Malians: Researching Masonry, Architecture, and Treadmill Crane is 80% faster.
 * A team containing Slavs: Barracks provide +5 population.

The Conquerors

 * Halberdier introduced.
 * Heresy introduced.
 * Goths: Anarchy and Perfusion introduced.

The Forgotten

 * Eagle Scout introduced. They are available in the Castle Age.

The African Kingdoms

 * Eagle Scout moved to Feudal Age.
 * Arson introduced.

History
''Weapons were made and stored and soldiers drilled in the barracks. During the late Middle Ages, the barracks was incorporated within a castle complex. It became also the part of the castle where professional soldiers lived, ready to help defend the castle or maintain order in the surrounding countryside.''