Bohemians/Strategy

Civilization	Technology tree	Strategy
The Bohemians are a civilization that focuses on gunpowder units and Monks. Their unique unit, the Hussite Wagon, is a siege weapon that has the ability to absorb incoming projectile damage for their backline units. Due to the unique ability of the Hussite Wagon, the Bohemians are designed for experienced players who can properly micromanage and position their units. Strengths The first major bonus the Bohemians have is their economic bonuses. Although they do not begin to take effect until the Feudal Age, getting Mining Camp upgrades for free saves over 1,000 resources total, while getting Villagers valuable upgrades sooner than the opponents. Additionally, having a 100 wood discount on Blacksmiths, Monasteries, and Universities can make building the required buildings to advance to the Castle and Imperial Ages simpler, as well as providing easier access to the various technologies that the player might need. Even in the late game, researching Fervor and Sanctity will benefit the player's Villagers, making them faster and sturdier than most others. This ties into the next major Bohemian strength: their gunpowder units. Whereas one must typically get to the Imperial Age to research Chemistry and start building Hand Cannoneers, the Bohemians have that technology and unit available in the Castle Age, and made easily available thanks to the resources saved on mining technologies and the Blacksmith and University. This gives the Bohemians a powerful Castle rushing option with units normally available only in the Imperial Age. Bohemian gunpowder units remain above average as the game continues, with Wagenburg Tactics improving their speed and the Houfnice serving as an upgrade to the Bombard Cannon. The Hussite Wagon is a unique siege weapon that serves as a "mobile wall" to protect their important ranged units such as Arbalesters, Houfnices, and Hand Cannoneers. The third major strength of the Bohemians is their Monastery. The benefits of Fervor and Sanctity on Villagers has already been discussed above, as has the cheaper Monasteries. This continues in the Imperial Age, where the unique technology Hussite Reforms turns all Monastery costs into Food-only, making it possible to continue using Monks even in trash wars. The Bohemians also have a strong Monastery tech tree. Weaknesses The greatest weakness of the Bohemians is their cavalry. Bohemians are missing Bloodlines, Plate Barding Armor, the Hussar upgrade, and the Paladin upgrade, meaning that their cavalry is below-average or worse for the entire game. Bohemians also suffer from limited archer options outside of Hand Cannoneers. Although they have all the Blacksmith upgrades for archers, they are missing Thumb Ring, hindering their Archer-line and Skirmishers. They are also one of the only civilizations to completely lack access to Cavalry Archers. Although the Bohemian economic bonuses are solid, they are not immediately active. This means that a civilization with strong early game bonuses can launch an early attack the Bohemians will struggle to drive off. And although the Bohemians have a bonus for their Spearman-line to improve against cavalry-based rushes, they have nothing comparable to deal with a Militia Drush or Archer/Skirmisher Flush. Bohemians also have underwhelming navy. Despite Wagenburg Tactics giving their Cannon Galleons a faster speed, it just partially compensates for lacking Dry Dock. They also lack Shipwright and both the Heavy Demolition Ship and Fast Fire Ship upgrades. Strategy Bohemians are a civilization that focuses on gunpowder and Monks. However, they are also able to perform early archer rushes, tower rushes or Spearmen rushes in the Feudal Age. Bohemians do not have any bonus until they reach the Feudal Age, so advancing quickly should be a priority for any Bohemian player. Once in the Feudal Age, the Bohemians get access to Spearmen which deal 25% more damage, as well as free mining upgrades, which may allow for a tower rush if the player decides to gather stone, or go for Archers and/or Men-at-Arms if the player instead decides to gather gold. Their Blacksmith only costs 50 wood, so the wood saved may be invested in archers. If needing to play defensively, they are well equipped in the Feudal Age, since have got free stone mining upgrades which allow for walling early, as well as having good Spearmen for retaliating against early cavalry raids. Another way to play with Bohemians is going straightly for a Fast Castle followed by an Archer or Castle Age Hand Cannoneer Rush (which can be considered its signature strategy). For this, the player should build the cheap Blacksmith and use the free gold mining upgrade advantage. Once in Castle Age, the player should build a University (which for them only costs 100 wood), research Chemistry, and start spamming either Archers or Hand Cannoneers. The latter should be preferred, since early Hand Cannoneers are superior to Crossbowmen and can be further improved with Wagenburg Tactics at the Castle, which increases the movement speed of all Gunpowder units. Bohemians can also pull out a Monk rush in the Castle Age, due to their cheaper Monasteries. However, sometimes it is better to go for a Fast Imperial Age and then research Hussite Reforms, which turns the Monk cost and Monastery technologies' gold cost into food. The Bohemians' unique unit, the Hussite Wagon, is probably one of the most important assets of the Bohemians since the Castle Age, as this unit offers interesting possibilities. It has a protecting ability which reduces damage to the units placed behind them. The Wagon takes damage while protecting units behind them, but it can take a lot of damage, since it has 200 HP (250 for Elite) and a pretty substantial pierce armor. In a way this unit can be considered a " mobile wall" that is also able to attack. However, Hussite Wagons must not be left unprotected, since anti-siege units can destroy them and they are weak against Onagers. Hussite Wagons make a great pair with almost any ranged unit Bohemians have. Since the Hussite Wagon is a Gunpowder Siege unit, it can also be improved with Wagenburg Tactics in the Castle Age. The Bohemian economy can be improved oddly enough by researching Fervor (+15% movement speed) in the Monastery in the Castle Age, making their Villagers the fastest in the game. This improves the gathering rates of Villagers, especially food from Farms and wood. At that point of the game, Lumberjacks usually have to walk more distance to the forest. In the Castle Age, the Bohemian economy is also boosted by the free Gold Shaft Mining and free Stone Shaft Mining upgrades. Bohemian Villagers are also a bit more beefy than average, due to the fact that researching Sanctity ( +15 HP) benefits them. These bonuses make Bohemian Villagers very competent frontline builders, as they can build military facilities near an opponent while being able to resist an attack and also being escaping and retreating if everything fails. These Villager buffs are also a factor to consider when defending against enemy raids, since Bohemian Villagers have a much better chance to survive an attack than most other Villagers. One important asset the Bohemians get when reaching the Imperial Age is the Houfnice, which is an improvement to the Bombard Cannon. Bombard Cannons are highly threatening units against buildings, masses of slow units and siege units. The improvement is expensive, so the player must research it when they have at least 5 Bombard Cannons or more on order to get the most out of the Houfnice. As mentioned previously, the Bohemian Imperial Age unique technology Hussite Reforms turns Monks into a " trash unit" by changing its gold cost into food, as well as changing all Monastery technologies' gold cost into food. Monks that costs food allow the Bohemian players to have a very unorthodox option in the trash wars in long games, since they will be able to convert and heal units even when there are no more Gold Mines on the map. Bohemians at trash wars also have Halberdiers with 25% more bonus attack, which comes in handy for protecting the trash Monks from Hussars. The Bohemians are a very threatening trash civilization. On the water, the Bohemian navy is underwhelming, so naval encounters must be avoided. However, they have Chemistry in the Castle Age, which increases the projectile attack of the Galley line, and they have faster Cannon Galleons from Wagenburg Tactics Alliances The Bohemians can be a good team player in any game where trade is an option, since their team bonus for faster working Markets makes it easier to set up trade with an ally. In this regard, a team that contains Bohemians and Spanish (team bonus increases the gold generated per Trade unit trip) will boost trading for the rest of the team. Any civilization that has other bonuses for Markets and trade units (such as Saracens or Italians) can be greatly favored by the Bohemian team bonus. In general, Bohemians can benefit from allies whose team bonuses support their use of gunpowder units and Monks. This includes the Byzantines' Monks' healing rate bonus, the Lithuanians' Monastery workrate bonus, the Malians' university workrate bonus, and the Turks' faster gunpowder unit creation speed. Pairing them with Celts or Britons will also further up the creation speed for Houfnices and Hand Cannoneers, respectively. As Bohemian Blacksmiths only costs 50 wood, they can also be a good teammate with Bulgarians, whose team bonus makes Blacksmiths work faster. One synergy that is not that obvious is with the Chinese, since the Chinese team bonus increases the food of the Farms by 10%, and with Incas, since they allow fast creation speed for Farms. This is because the Bohemian Villagers' movement speed can be improved with Fervor, and the movement speed of Villagers greatly impact farming gathering rates. Aside from its team bonus, the Hussite Wagon can be a great asset in team games, since it can act as a mobile wall that protects friendly units from behind them due to its ability effect and collision box. In this regard, any archer or siege civilization can synergize nicely with the Bohemian army. Their trash Monks are also very helpful when healing allied units. Compared advantages and disadvantages Advantages vs other civilizations One of the Bohemians' economic strengths is their Blacksmiths, Monasteries, and Universities cost less wood, and their free Mining Camp upgrades. While these economic bonuses are not as strong when compared to others, the Bohemians are one of the best candidates for a "fast Imperial strategy" since the cheaper Blacksmith, Monastery, and Universities allows the Bohemians to easily meet the building pre-requisites to advance to the next age, and free Mining Camp upgrades allow the Bohemians to save the food and wood for age advancement, making them an ideal civilization in closed maps such as Arena and Black Forest. Despite lacking the Thumb Ring upgrade, the Bohemians are a surprisingly good civilization to go for archers because they can research Chemistry in the Castle Age. In addition, the Bohemians can train Hand Cannoneers in the Castle Age once Chemistry is researched, giving Bohemians an advantage against infantry civilizations such as Aztecs, Goths, and Celts. Their Spearman-line units deal additional bonus damage against cavalry units, allowing the Bohemians to fend off against early game Scout rushes. Combined with their access to every important Blacksmith upgrades for their Halberdiers, this gives the Bohemians an advantage against cavalry civilizations (e.g. Huns, Magyars, Berbers, and Mongols). The Bohemian siege is above average thanks to their unique upgrade for their Bombard Cannons, Houfnice, and extra mobility for their gunpowder units, giving the Bohemians a significant advantage against civilization with lackluster defenses (e.g. Huns, Cumans, and Aztecs). The Houfnice is also strong enough to destroy enemy Trebuchets of civilizations with bonuses for them (like Japanese, Huns, Britons, and Tatars). Their Monastery is solid, having all the important technologies for their Monks. Not only that, the Bohemians can even save a significant amount of gold with their Imperial Age unique technology, Hussite Reforms, because it converts the gold cost for all of the Monastery technologies and Monks to food. This gives the Bohemians a significant advantage in "trash war" scenarios against civilizations with weak trash units (such the Turks) or against civilizations that are dependent on expensive, gold-intensive units, but lack the Heresy upgrade (e.g. Slavs, Koreans, Persians, Indians, Burgundians, and many Southeast Asian civilizations with Battle Elephants). The Hussite Wagon is a unique siege weapon that serves as a "mobile wall" that can protect backline units because of their unique ability to reduce incoming projectiles to ranged units behind the Hussite Wagon by half and absorbing damage themselves. Combined with the Hussite Wagon's high hit points and pierce armor, this gives the Bohemians a significant advantage against archer civilizations (like Britons, Ethiopians, Vietnamese, and Mayans). Defensively speaking, the Bohemians have nearly every upgrade for their buildings except Hoardings, and the free Mining Camp upgrades make it easier for Bohemians to gather stone for their towers and Castles, allowing the Bohemians to play defensively against civilizations that excel in early game rushing (such as the Huns, Aztecs, and Vikings). Disadvantages vs other civilizations The Bohemian cavalry is the worst in the game, and the Bohemians are the only non-Mesoamerican civilization to not have access to Cavalry Archers. Civilizations with strong cavalry (e.g. Huns, Magyars, Berbers, Franks), strong Cavalry Archers (e.g. Mongols, Tatars, Turks, Magyars), or strong Halberdiers (e.g. Japanese, Goths, Burmese) can destroy the Bohemian cavalry. While their archers are potent thanks to their ability to research Chemistry in the Castle Age and have access to the Arbalester upgrade, the Bohemians do not have Thumb Ring and their main late-game ranged unit is limited to the Hand Cannoneer. Civilizations with strong archer bonuses (e.g. Vietnamese, Mayans, Britons, Ethiopians) and Skirmishers (e.g. the Vietnamese Imperial Skirmisher, Mayans, Lithuanians, and Incas) can deal with their Hand Cannoneers and archers relatively easily. Italian Condottieri and Goth's Huskarls can be a threat to their Hand Cannoneers and their Hussite Wagon if they are not properly protected with their own Champions. The Bohemian "trash Monks" gives the Bohemians an edge in trash war situations. However, their Monks can still be overwhelmed by civilizations that can spam cheap and large number of units on the battlefield (e.g. Malay Forced Levy Two-Handed Swordsmen, Goth infantry, and Ethiopian Shotel Warriors) and will make it difficult to micromanage and convert their units. Civilizations with strong bonuses to their light cavalry (e.g. Tatars, Mongols, Cumans, Magyars, Berbers, Bulgarians) can deal with their Monks relatively easily. While the Sicilians do not have Heresy, researching First Crusade and Faith should be considered against Bohemian Monks, as it adds a significant amount of conversion resistance. While the Hussite Wagon is a very powerful "mobile wall", it still has some limitations. Onagers can still be very threatening to the backline units the Hussite Wagons protect because their projectiles can deal melee splash damage. Onagers and Bombard Cannons themselves can destroy Hussite Wagons relatively easily because Hussite Wagons have their own armor class, thus taking double damage from Onager and Bombard Cannon attacks. Being a siege weapon, the Hussite Wagon is also vulnerable to bonus damage from Mangudai, Magyar Hussars, and Eagle Warriors if not properly protected by Elite Skirmishers, Halberdiers, and Champions, respectively. Having very low melee armor, Hussite Wagons are relatively vulnerable to melee cavalry attacks as well. Despite having an above-average siege, their siege options are basically limited to their Houfnice and Hussite Wagons. Civilizations with better siege (e.g. Ethiopians and Celts) or civilizations with bonuses for their Bombard Cannons (e.g. Portuguese, Turks, Ethiopians, Italians, Burgundians, and Spanish) can deal with their Houfnice and Hussite Wagons. While the Mongols do not have Bombard Cannons, their higher mobility of their siege weapons can be threatening to the Bohemian siege, since it allows their Siege Rams and Siege Onagers to close the gap into their Hussite Wagons and Houfnice relatively easily despite the Hussite Wagon being slightly faster than Mongol Siege Rams and Siege Onagers with Wagenburg Tactics. The Bohemians do not have any significant early game economic and military bonuses, and many of their civilization bonuses do not come into play until the Castle Age. Civilizations that excel in Dark and Feudal Age rushes (such as Huns, Aztecs, Goths, and Vikings) can prevent the Bohemians from reaching their Castle Age strengths. Because of the lack of good cavalry and lack of strong Dark and Feudal Age bonuses, the Bohemians are relatively vulnerable in open maps such as Arabia. Situational advantages As mentioned above, the Bohemians are best utilized in closed maps over open maps. In Arena, the starting walls will allow the Bohemians to easily boom up and reach their Castle Age strengths. The same logic can also be applied in Black Forest, as the Bohemians can easily secure the narrow chokepoints thanks to the Hussite Wagon's ability to protect their blackline units. The Bohemians are also better used in team-games over one-on-one matches thanks to their faster working Market team bonus and establishing their trade sooner with their teammates than their opponents. Having access to Hand Cannoneers, Hussite Wagons, trash Monks, and Houfnice, they are well suited for Post-Imperial matches. Thanks to the free Mining Camp upgrades, the Bohemians have a significant advantage in maps with large piles of Gold and Stone Mines in an area such as Gold Rush and Golden Pit. However, the more open nature of the map makes the Bohemians vulnerable to early game rushes. The Bohemians have a significant advantage in maps with large amounts of Relics such as Wolf Hill, as it allows the Bohemians to have a constant flow of gold. Plus, Hussite Reforms will allow the Bohemians to save even more gold in the late-game if they plan to utilize their Monks.