Vietnamese/Strategy

Strengths
The Vietnamese is a strong archer civilization, having access to every unit in the Archery Range, having every important unit upgrade in the Archery Range except for the Hand Cannoneer and Parthian Tactics upgrade. The most noticeable quirk with the Vietnamese is that they are an archer civilization with strong anti-archer capacity. The Imperial Skirmisher upgrade is a unique unit upgrade for the Elite Skirmisher, and their unique unit, the Rattan Archer is an archer with high pierce armor and reasonably high attack, allowing the Vietnamese to win out in many archer vs. archer even against the Chinese Chu Ko Nu. Their Archery Range units get more HP, allowing the Vietnamese archers to survive more shots from Onagers. The Paper Money tech makes the Vietnamese one of most reliable teammates since they grant each ally 500 gold, hence boosting the team's economy. One of their civilization bonuses reveal the location of the enemy Town Center, hence allowing more scouting near the Vietnamese's own base and adjusting their strategy depending who the flank and pocket position players are in team games. The Vietnamese also get free Conscription, meaning the Vietnamese save a significant amount of time researching the tech and allowing more time used to either create more Rattan Archers or upgrade them into Elite. They also have access to every important unit upgrades for their infantry and cavalry line, only missing out in Hussars and Paladins. Finally, their Battle Elephant are more durable thanks to the Chatras unique tech, which combined with their access to Bloodlines, makes their Battle Elephants more durable.

Weaknesses
While the Vietnamese have clear strengths as an archer civilization, they do have a few clear weaknesses. Their infantry and cavalry frontline will not be as strong in offensive power due to the lack of Blast Furnace. Their Battle Elephants and cavalry units will be less mobile since they do not get Husbandry. Their siege line is also one of the worst of the Southeast Asian civilizations, missing out in Siege Onager, Siege Ram, and Heavy Scorpion upgrades, meaning the Vietnamese need to rely on Trebuchets and Bombard Cannons with Siege Engineers for their siege capacity. Their defensive capacity is also incredibly weak, missing out in Masonry and Architecture, meaning the Vietnamese have to rely on Castle (where they get Hoardings), Bombard Cannons, and their army composition to play defensively. Unlike the other Southeast Asian neighbors, they do get Arrowslits, meaning garrisoning Arbalests and Rattan Archers in Keeps is always an option for offensive and defensive play.

While the Vietnamese are a strong late-game Imperial Age civilization, they are a team dependent civilization, as most of their civilization strength are more team-oriented. This is means the Vietnamese are weak in 1v1 situations since their Paper Money unique tech will not be as strong. Across from that, the Vietnamese do not have any significant early game economic bonuses across from revealing the enemy position at the start of the game and most of their civilization bonuses only come into play in later stages of the game. This makes them incredibly vulnerable to Dark Age and Feudal Age rush strategies, especially from stronger early game civilizations such as the Vikings, Huns, Mongols, Aztecs, Mayans, and the Malays.

Strategy
At the start of the game, the first priority of the Vietnamese is to play defensively since the Vietnamese are vulnerable to early game rushes. Since the enemy Town Center is revealed at the start of the game, this allows the Vietnamese to scout their own base more than scouting the enemy base. This bonus is also useful in adjusting to their own strategies based on the location of the enemy player in both solo and team games alike (for example, if the Vietnamese is in a flank position while the enemy flank is the Huns or the Aztecs or if the enemy is much closer than expected, the Vietnamese should prioritize gathering Stone and place defensive structures).

When the Vietnamese reach the Feudal Age, the Vietnamese should play defensively as usual. Building Archers and Skirmishers are recommended to take advantage of the Archery Range bonus HP. However, if the enemy try to do a Scout rush, it doesn't hurt to throw in a few Spearmen to defend the Archers against the Scouts. The Vietnamese should also consider to do some raiding with their Archers and Skirmishers thanks to the extra durability of their Archery Range units.

During the Castle Age, the Vietnamese bonus health for their Archery Range units will be much stronger, allowing their Elite Skirmishers and Crossbowmen to survive a Mangonel shot. The Vietnamese have another Archery Range unit option in the table, the Cavalry ARcher. Even though the Vietnamese lack Parthian Tactics and Husbandry, Vietnamese Cavalry Archer rush is viable thanks to the additional HP bonus combined with their access to Bloodlines (as well as having access to the Heavy Cavalry Archer upgrade in the Imperial Age), allowing them to beat out even the Hun's cavalry archer in terms of value efficiency. That being said, the Vietnamese should continue to focus on building Crossbowmen and Elite SKirmishers and consider building a Castle so they can pump out their anti-archer archer, the Rattan Archer. Battle Elephants is another option in the table thanks to the extra HP of their Battle Elephants with Chatras, thus giving Vietnamese a viable meat shield to protect their archers.

The Vietnamese will shine greatly in the early to late stages of Imperial Age. Archers will be the main backbone of the Vietnamese army with Halberdiers and Battle Elephants are their main frontline to protect them. Since the Vietnamese lack Blast Furnace, their cavalry and infantry frontline should be backed with their durable Heavy Cavalry Archers, Arbalests, Imperial Skirmishers, and Elite Rattan Archers with Trebuchets and Bombard Cannons as their main siege support. Paper Money should be considered in team games since it'll put a significant amount of economic value to the Vietnamese teammates. With that being said, they also truly shine in trash wars with the value of the Imperial Skirmisher upgrade despite missing out on Hussars and Blast Furnace.