The Bulgarians are an infantry and cavalry oriented civilization.
Strengths[]
They are great at rushing, since their Militia-line infantry automatically upgrades upon advancing to the next age, while their team bonus enables their Blacksmith to rapidly upgrade their units. These units retain their value as their unique technology Bagains gives their Militia-line Infantry +5 melee armor. They have most of the upgrades available for infantry, only lacking the Champion upgrade, which Bagains compensates for.
Their unique unit, the Konnik, is a cavalry unit that becomes an infantry unit when killed (with all its implications). The strength of this unit relies on their durability, as they have to be killed twice, while they can also mess with the possible opponents' response to cavalry. They can be created at Kreposts, which are a fortification similar to a Castle, but weaker and cheaper (about half the price of a Castle), making them great at map pressure. The attack speed of their cavalry can be improved with their Castle Age unique technology Stirrups. Regarding the Stable, they have all technologies for the Hussar, but lack Paladin for the Knight line.
They have good siege units, as they have almost all the relevant technologies, only lacking Bombard Cannons, and have a -50% food discount on all of the siege upgrades. This food discount also applies to their Blacksmith technologies, which when combined with their team bonus gives them a head start in unit upgrades.
Defensively, they fare well thanks to the Kreposts and the fact that their Town Center costs -50 stone, letting them save some stone for more fortifications.
Weaknesses[]
Their Archery Range is weak, as they lack the Crossbowman and Arbalester upgrades and the Ring Archer Armor upgrade at the Blacksmith.
They can create Kreposts that can help cover their position, but lack several defensive technologies like Hoardings, Bombard Tower, Fortified Wall and Arrowslits, making it harder at times to hold their position.
They have lackluster naval technologies (no Shipwright, Dry Dock, Elite Cannon Galleons, Heavy Demolition Ships, or Fast Fire Ships) so they should avoid using ships unless it is necessary.
They do not have any economic bonus outside of their Town Center stone discount, so they are reliant on their offensive options to provide the necessary pressure.
Strategy[]
The Bulgarians are an infantry-oriented civilization, and as such, they may try an infantry Feudal Age rush in the early game, which is particularly potent in their case. At the very beginning of the game, the Bulgarians do not have any bonuses (apart from their automatic improvement of their Militia line). As such, their build order for an infantry rush is very similar to most other civilizations, and they should try to advance to the Feudal Age as soon as possible. In this sense, the Bulgarian player must start to produce their Militia in the Dark Age, so when advancing to the Feudal Age, they will be ready to attack an opponent, who will not have the right counter-units for Men-at-Arms. Once in the Feudal Age, Bulgarians should create a Blacksmith (which for them works faster and has a food discount on all of their technologies), research the infantry improvements there, and create additional Barracks to create more Men-at-Arms. Bulgarians are not very flexible in terms of strategy in the early stage of the game, as the lack of the Crossbowman means their archer line is extremely poor, so they are predictable.
Once in the Castle Age, they will get access to the Krepost, cheaper Town Centers, their unique unit the Konnik, and, of course, their Men-at-Arms will be upgraded to Long Swordsmen. Some effective strategies a Bulgarian player should take into consideration are a Krepost Drop, Long Swordsman rush or a Knight rush.
For a Castle Age Krepost Drop, the player should in theory research Masonry, Murder Holes, and Ballistics at the University, as well as researching Fletching and Bodkin Arrow at the Blacksmith, but players rarely have so many resources in the Castle Age. Kreposts are very similar to a Castle, but weaker and cheaper. Additionally, they are created faster and cannot research technologies, or train Trebuchets or Petards, so one Castle will still be required to upgrade their Konniks to Elite, research their Unique technologies, and train Trebuchets in the Imperial Age. Since Kreposts are cheaper (about half the price of a Castle), the Bulgarian player may place two of them near each other to provide cover fire and start creating Konniks. Kreposts are useful for defending locations, but the player must have in mind that they have less range, hit points, and attack than Castles, but for the convenience that they can make two of them for around the same price. Krepost are useful when performing the Konnik rush, since having two of them instead of one Castle naturally means they can create Konniks faster. The Krepost also counts as a "Castle" regarding the requirements for aging up to the Imperial Age.
Regarding the Konnik rush, this unit has to be killed twice, since they become dismounted Konniks when die. Not only are they durable, but in many circumstances, it is hard to respond to a Konnik raid, since the armor class of the unit changes to infantry, so the typical counters for cavalry does not affect the dismounted version of this unit. If the Konniks are caught by the opponent's arrow-fire and killed, the Dismounted Konniks will automatically go and harass the nearest opponent unit or building. The Stirrups technology also makes the Konniks more appealing, since it increases the attack speed of the mounted version of the unit, and the attack speed of Light Cavalry. Stirrups also affects the standard Knight line, and as they can be created from Stables, they are another appealing choice.
In the Imperial Age, they must keep using their infantry and Konniks and support them with Hussars, especially when entering the "trash wars". Their Imperial Age unique technology Bagains grants +5 melee armor to the Militia line, so their Two-Handed Swordsmen become more effective against melee units. Sadly, they lack the Champion upgrade, but Bagains is a good replacement for that. They also have strong siege options, thanks to a -50% food discount.
Patch changes[]
In update 34055, the first changes made were mostly directed to the Konnik, with the hit points reduced from 110 to 100 for standard and 130 to 120 for elite, and the Rate of Fire increased from 1.9 to 2.4 (including the dismounted Konnik). In addition, the Krepost now has a smaller size (covering less area). These changes aimed to put the Konnik in a balanced position, as they could beat most units in a short time with perhaps the largest damage per attack output, while also making Stirrups more relevant when going Konniks. Bagains, on the other hand, was improved from +3 melee armor to +5 melee armor, making Two-Handed Swordsmen able to beat most Champions from other civilizations, and overall reinforcing their role dealing with trash units.
In update 36906, the Bulgarians lose the Paladin upgrade, but Stirrups affects all cavalry units. This in turn shifts the Bulgarian power spike from the Imperial Age to the Castle Age, as the Bulgarian Knight rush is much stronger. Conversely, the loss of Paladins means that the Bulgarians will lose much of their late-game cavalry power, forcing the Bulgarians to mostly rely on Konniks and Hussars as their main late-game cavalry units.
In update 42848, the Bulgarians' team bonus towards Blacksmith work rates was changed from 50% to 80%. In addition, a new unique bonus discounts the food costs of Blacksmith and Siege Workshop technologies by 50%, allowing the Bulgarians to easily afford Imperial Age siege upgrades, and providing a food boost in late Feudal and early Castle Age, while also making it much easier to fully upgrade their Konniks.
Alliances[]
The Bulgarians are valuable allies not only for their team bonus, but also because they are great at raiding in the early and mid-game and can help defend the team by placing Kreposts in strategic spots and aid defending players. They have strong cavalry, particularly the Konnik, and strong siege.
Celts: Bulgarian Siege Workshops work faster thanks to the Celts' team bonus, while Celts' Blacksmiths work faster thanks to the Bulgarians' team bonus.
Franks: They offer extra Line of Sight for Bulgarian Knights in exchange for the faster work rate for their Blacksmiths.
Goths: A Goth ally will speed up the Barracks of a Bulgarian ally, allowing them to mass their freely-upgraded and well-armored Militia line faster. In return, the Goths will be able to get their Blacksmith technologies faster.- Hindustanis: They give the Bulgarians' Light Cavalry +2 anti-building damage, and in return receive an 80% faster working Blacksmith.
- Huns: The Bulgarians get a production rate boost for their strong cavalry, and the Huns get a boost to their Blacksmith technology research rate.
- Khmer: Bulgarian Scorpions, which are cheaper to upgrade, get +1 range from the Khmer team bonus, while the Khmer Blacksmith works faster with the Bulgarian team bonus, particularly benefiting their stronger and faster Elephants.
- Koreans: The Bulgarian Mangonel line, which is cheaper to upgrade, makes good use of Koreans' minimum range reduced to 1, and Koreans get their Blacksmith technologies (except free archer armor upgrades) faster.
- Mongols: The Bulgarian Scout/Light Cavalry has a larger Line of Sight thanks to their Mongol ally, and the strong Mongol mounted troops get their attack and armor improvements from the Blacksmith faster thanks to their Bulgarian ally.
- Poles: A Polish ally will offer +1 anti-archer attack for Bulgarian Scout Cavalry, in exchange for the Poles getting faster Blacksmith technologies.
- Persians: The Bulgarians make especially great use of the Persian team bonus (+2 attack bonus vs. archers) with their faster attack rate, and the Persians appreciate the faster research rate for their Blacksmith technologies.
- Portuguese: Bulgarian siege, cavalry, and infantry receive upgrades and improvements faster, and the cheaper Bulgarian Town Center researches technologies more quickly with Portuguese team bonus. Moreover, thanks to both team bonuses, the already fast-working Blacksmiths of both civilizations work even faster.
- Romans: Bulgarian Scorpions make good use of the Romans' minimum range reduced to 1, and the Romans make great use of the Bulgarians' bonus by getting their twice-effective infantry armor upgrades faster.
Compared advantages and disadvantages[]
Advantages vs other civilizations[]
- The Konnik, being a heavy cavalry unit that turns into an infantry if killed, can defeat the most typical counters against cavalry, so camel-specialized civilizations must be wary of them. The same goes for civilizations that may rely on Halberdiers for dealing with cavalry. In large groups, Konniks can take down buildings, thanks to the attack boost of Stirrups, and the Dismounted Konnik has a bonus attack vs buildings, so civilizations with poor defenses.
- Defensively speaking, their Kreposts give them an edge, especially against civilizations with poor siege units or without a proper anti-building unit. This advantage, if used offensively for a Krepost drop with Konniks, may also be problematic for civilizations with mediocre defenses.
- As their Militia line upgrades for free and their Blacksmith technologies research faster, they are at an advantage against civilizations with poor early games. Since they can upgrade their Two-Handed Swordsmen with Bagains, they are also at an advantage against trash-unit-reliant civilizations in the late Imperial Age. Bagains also enables Bulgarian Two-Handed Swordmen to defeat regular Champions with no bonuses, even with full Blacksmith technologies.
- They have all technologies for the Hussar, and its attack is boosted by Stirrups, so they can get an advantage at trash wars, especially against civilizations that lack the Halberdier upgrade or more improvements for the Pikemen. This is also advantageous against Siege and Monk-reliant civilizations.
- Despite lacking the Paladin upgrade, they have the strongest Cavaliers in the game, thanks to the attack boost by Stirrups.
- They have overall good siege engines that are easier to upgrade, so civilizations reliant on massed units may have trouble against them.
Disadvantages vs other civilizations[]
- Despite the quirk the Konnik have, they do not have as much durability against enemy ranged units as other heavy cavalry units. Additionally, they require a large number of technologies to fully upgrade, due to their nature of being both a cavalry and infantry unit.
- Their reliance on infantry in the early game may put them at a disadvantage against archer based civilizations.
- Despite Bagains enabling Bulgarian Two-Handed Swordsmen to defeat normal Champions, they perform worse than average against ranged units, taking three less hits from an Arbalester and one less hit from a Hand Cannoneer.
- They have poor archers, with the lack of Crossbowman in particular severally limiting their Castle Age options.
- Aside from the Krepost, their defensive buildings are regular at best, lacking Fortified Walls, Arrowslits, Hoardings, Bombard Towers, and Treadmill Crane.
- Their navy is very mediocre, so any civilization with superior vessels can destroy Bulgarian navies easily.
Situational advantages[]
- Since their infantry upgrades for free, it is more advantageous to play as Bulgarians in Dark and Feudal Age starts.
- In regicide, as every player starts with a Castle, a Bulgarian player may focus more on placing Kreposts, as they will not need to create a Castle for researching the technologies and improvements there and leave it at Imperial Age only for making Trebuchets.
- Their Town Center stone discount is a nice advantage on nomad maps, as they can save those 50 Stone for towers or a Krepost later on.
- They are a strong civilization in open maps such as Arabia, but their Kreposts bonus and good siege engines also make them strong on maps like Black Forest and Arena.
- Their faster-attacking Light Cavalry with Stirrups may help them in "Capture the Relic" game mode, as they can prevent rival Monks from getting the relic. Konniks with Heresy and their dismounting quirk are also a good option in Capture the Relic mode.
- In maps with a pre-deployed Barracks, such as Fortress, they may get a slight edge, as they are a strong infantry civilization.
- Their Kreposts may give them an advantage in the "King of the Hill" game mode, as they may help to secure the Monument, as well as being helpful in the "Defend the Wonder" game mode.
