Japanese (Age of Empires II)/Strategy

The Japanese are an offensive civilization geared towards infantry. Their infantry attack faster than those of other civilizations giving them an edge in large infantry battles. The Japanese unique unit is the Samurai, a formidable infantry unit that has a fast attack and attack bonus versus other unique units. This is a big advantage in the late game when most civilizations rely heavily on their unique units. Civilizations that rely on melee units will also be at a disadvantage against the Japanese. They also have an effective navy, with fishing ships gaining extra hitpoints and their Galleons gaining more line of sight.

In contrast with their infantry they have fairly weak cavalry, missing the Paladin and Hussar upgrades in addition to not having the Camel. The fact that their Spearman have a faster attack and can kill cavalry units even faster than normal somewhat makes up for this but they still lack the speed of the Camel. Their siege weapons are also average since they lack the Siege Onager and Siege Ram.