Arabia map setup.
Arabia is a random map in Age of Empires II.
Description[edit | edit source]
Arabia is a notoriously open map with resources spread thinner than in most maps. Wood typically is in medium-sized bunches, occasionally wood bunches are spread far from one another making it difficult for players to turtle or defend from a rush (unless the defending player build towers around its Town Center). Gold and stone are of average placement, but just like the wood, gold and stone near the front of the camp can lend itself to a target of a rush by an enemy.
Deer and Boars are spread somewhat thin, and the number of these are fixed to 2 Boars (or equivalent) and 4 Deer (or equivalent), but providing wood for Farms should be the main concern. The number of herdables for each player is the standard eight Sheep or six Cows (half of them just near the initial Town Center, the rest somewhat hidden at a certain distance from Town Center). The number of bushes is the standard 6 bushes.
Lone wild predators are present in this map scattered and at low numbers. The number of Relics varies depending on the size, but in a 2 player map there are 5 of these.
Viable strategies[edit | edit source]
Rush tactics are the most common strategies on this map, since there are very few natural obstacles players can use to wall themselves, making them vulnerable to early attacks, so an early rush aimed at an enemy's wood production or their gold and stone mines can win a game early on. Stealing Boars from an opponent is also very possible on this map, but it will depend on the size of the map and require micromanaging the scout unit to lure it.
Early attacks on enemy resources can cripple them or just end the game outright. When playing on a team, a funnel or springboard strategy (in which one player feeds another) works very well. Arabia is patronized by numerous professional players and is often a tie-breaking or final game of a series between two players. With the open spaces, archers and cavalry are recommended, but infantry will fare just fine.
Civilizations with advantages includes:
- Civilizations with good early aggression bonuses: Goths, Aztecs, Huns, Celts, Vikings, Japanese, Mongols, Magyars, Malians, Malay, Bulgarians etc.
- Archer based Civilizations: Mayans, Britons, Ethiopians, Chinese, etc.
- Civilizations with good towers (as it allows for a tower rush in the Feudal Age): Byzantines, Teutons, Incas, Koreans
Civilizations that may struggle in Arabia includes
- Civilizations with poor early game bonuses or poor early game defense: Portuguese, Turks, Italians, Vietnamese, Saracens, etc.
