Britons (Age of Empires: The Age of Kings)

Britons
Civilization
Civilization information
Introduced in	Age of Empires: The Age of Kings
Architecture	Western European
Continent	Northwestern Europe
Features/Characteristics
Focus	Archers
Unique units	Longbowman
AI personality	Richard the Lionhearted

The Britons are a European civilization in Age of Empires: The Age of Kings. They represent the English and the Anglo-Normans during the High Middle Ages.

Overview

The Britons' main advantages are in their ranged units as they arguably have the best foot archers. Their Arbalests and Archery Ranges are cheaper, and their hero, Richard the Lionhearted, has a power that gives +1 range to friendly archers in his Line of Sight. Their unique unit, the Longbowman, is the best foot archer in the game. The Britons also have discounts on Churches, Longswordsean, Two-Handed Swordsmen, and Champions, which helps protect their archers against enemy units that get too close. However, their cavalry and siege weapons are weaker, as the Horse Archer, Camel, Onager, and Bombard Cannon are more expensive. They also have a mining bonus.

While Richard the Lionhearted's combat abilities are great, his real power comes from his special abilities. His powers, especially firing line, can greatly affect the outcome of a battle. Because Richard is cavalry, he is particularly vulnerable to Pikemen and Heavy Camels.

The Britons appear the most of all factions in campaign or historical scenarios. They appear 8 times as enemies, 6 times as a playable faction, and they are in 3 of the bonus historical scenarios.

Features

• Unique unit: Longbowmen (Archer)
• Hero: Richard the Lionhearted
• Economy bonus: Mining

Hero powers

• Reckless and Fierce- Enemy units directly adjacent or diagonal lose 20 health.
• Superb Leader- Friendly units in sight gain +25% attack.
• Recruit for the Cause- All units trained today are -20 food and -20 gold cheaper to train. This skill is only usable when the hero is standing on a town center.
• Firing Line- All Ranged (archer) units in sight gain +1 range for that turn.

Discounts

• Archery Range
• Church
• Crossbowman - Arbalest
• Longswordsman - Two-Handed Swordsman
• Champion

Premiums

• Camel
• Horse Archer
• Onager
• Bombard Cannon

In-game dialogue

The language spoken by the Briton units is presumably a variant of Middle English, as it has some French and Latin words added that were not present in Old English.

Trivia

• The Britons possibly have the best unique unit and hero combination, since using Richard's "Firing line" power on Longbowmen allow them to make some truly devastating attacks at +4 range.