The Celts are an offensive civilization that focuses primarily on infantry and siege weapons, but they also have decent cavalry and navy as well. While the Celts fare better than most civilizations in early games, they are the most powerful from Castle Age and onward. Thanks to a number of non-situational bonuses and units, the Celts are ideal for new players and experts alike.
Strengths[]
Their infantry move faster than those of other civilizations, and their unique unit, the Woad Raider, is one of the fastest infantry units in the game. They also have access to all siege weapons except Bombard Cannons and have faster attack speed on them as well. Their Siege Workshops also work faster, and Furor Celtica greatly increases the hit points of their Siege Workshop units, making them quite difficult to destroy. They also have a strong economy since their lumberjacks can gather wood faster than those of other civilizations. Not only does this let them gather wood faster, but it also frees up Villagers to gather from other resources. In addition, all herdables within the Line of Sight of a Celtic unit are automatically converted to them (except against a Celtic opponent, in which the bonus is nullified).
Weaknesses[]
Their archers are incredibly weak, lacking the Arbalester upgrade, Bracer, Hand Cannoneer, and Thumb Ring; in fact, the only Imperial Age technology they get for their Archers is Chemistry. The lack of Bracer hurts their ships and defenses as well, the latter of which is hurt by the lack of many defensive upgrades, especially Architecture, and Bombard Towers. Their cavalry is average at best, as they have access to the Hussar and Paladin, but they lack Bloodlines and Plate Barding Armor. This only puts their Paladins on par with generic Cavaliers, and their Hussars perform well below average in trash war situations. In addition to their bottom-tier archers and average cavalry, they also lack many key important technologies for their Monks, most notably Redemption, Block Printing, and Theocracy.
Strategy[]
Celts have a strong early-game economy due to their Lumberjack bonus. They have a powerful Feudal Age rush (flush) because their Militia-line moves faster than opposing infantry and Villagers, allowing them to perform hit-and-run tactics, and raid more effectively. This bonus lasts into the Castle Age and beyond, as it essentially gives them free Squires plus a little bit more, giving them an advantage running from or pursuing other infantry.
In the Feudal Age, Celts can do whatever they want thanks to their economy, although infantry are the go-to option, since they keep their value even in the later ages. Unfortunately, during the Castle Age, the Celts have poor Knights and below-average Crossbowmen, so they will have to rely almost solely on their infantry and siege. Fortunately, Celtic siege is among the best in the game, with extra hit points and faster firing rate, but the high cost and low speed can hinder the Celts during the Castle Age, as infantry will rarely be strong enough to function without support.
While the options available to the Celts become even more limited in the Imperial Age, the Celtic army fares much better. Celtic Siege Onagers are incredibly strong and should form the core of the Celtic army. Heavy Scorpions are also strong, but the drop in damage output is generally not worth the lack of friendly fire unless they are paired with high-value units. Woad Raiders make great raiding units due to their speed and attack bonus against buildings, and Halberdiers are good for protecting siege, since they are better equipped to keep up with cavalry than other civilizations because of the speed bonus. The Paladin is a niche shock unit that can be situationally strong, but the Celts have poor trash units, and Celt Siege Onagers are a much better use of gold.
The Celtic Lumberjack bonus also helps with naval conflict, allowing them to amass their navy easier. Celts have a good navy early on, but the lack of Bracer and Fast Fire Ship both hurt in the late game.
Strategy changes in The Forgotten[]
Celtic defenses in The Forgotten are slightly improved with their new Castle Age unique technology, Stronghold, which increases the firing rate of Towers and Castles. Despite so, they still lack Architecture, Bracer, and Bombard Towers, and Castles are usually already powerful enough to scare enemies. Although Furor Celtica now gives only 40% HP to siege weapons, the amount is still significant enough in the battlefield, and the change only significantly affects edge-case scenarios like Scorpions vs Siege Onagers. If playing alongside with Koreans, the minimum range for Celtic Mangonels is reduced. This combining with the faster fire speed makes Celtic Mangonels among the most feared siege unit in the game.
Strategy changes in the Definitive Edition[]
As with most civilizations (except the Goths and a few others), the Celts received the new Supplies technology, which makes their Militia-line infantry cheaper and consequently easier to mass, making their Men-at-Arms rush in the Feudal Age more viable. Of course, their faster Champions will be easier to mass in the later stages of the game because of this. The speed bonus for infantry has been disabled in the Dark Age, making their Dark Age rush (drush) much less threatening than before. The bonus now kicks in from the Feudal Age onwards.
Alliances[]
As Celts are an infantry and siege civilization, they are best suited in the flank position, as it allows them to perform a Dark Age Militia rush or a Feudal Age infantry rush. While the Celts do have some decent options to go for in the pocket (i.e. Paladins without Bloodlines, and their unique unit), this position should be avoided, as the Celts being in the pocket will make it difficult to assist allies, due to them missing a few key technologies for their cavalry (especially when facing civilizations with stronger cavalry). They work best when they make Siege Onagers or Heavy Scorpions, and their ally protects them with a buffer. Their team bonus helps any civilization that makes late-game siege.
Armenians: The +2 Line of Sight provided by the Armenian team bonus synergizes with the faster Celt infantry. In many cases, Celt Militias or Spearmen may be used as scouts, particularly in Nomad settings. This combination may also help the Celt infantry, as the player will know earlier when to disengage from a combat and escape.
Bohemians: The Celts' faster-working Siege Workshops will aid the Bohemians in producing Houfnices, and the Bohemians' own team bonus will aid the Celts' gold-intensive military.
Bulgarians: The Bulgarians can speed up the research rate of the Celts' Blacksmith technologies, and their siege will be better off with the Celts' faster siege production.- Chinese: The Celt team bonus will ease the creation of Rocketry-improved Scorpions. The Chinese team bonus will also solidify the economy of the Celts, as each Farm will have more food, saving wood, as these will need to be reseeded less often.
- Cumans: The Celt team bonus helps them to spam their earlier rams faster. The Celts may also contribute with infantry on a Feudal Age rush if the Cumans decide to focus on rams. If this is the case, the infantry should garrison inside them.
- Dravidians: Their siege units cost substantially less wood and they have access to the Siege Elephant, so the Celt team bonus is quite useful for them. If playing on a naval map, the Celts may also make some use of the Dravidian team bonus, saving some wood, as Docks support 5 population with the Dravidians.
- Ethiopians: The Celts gain access to additional vision of the map with the Ethiopian team bonus and aid from the Bombard Cannon, while the Ethiopians get a faster training time on their siege.
- Goths: Being an infantry civilization, the Celts can make a good use of the Goth team bonus of faster work-rate for the Barracks.
- Italians: The Celt Condottiero moves faster. In return, the Italians can create their cheaper Bombard Cannons faster.
- Khmer: The Khmer give the Celts extra range on their Scorpions, and the Khmer appreciate the faster creation speed on their Scorpions.
- Koreans: Both civilizations' team bonuses will aid each other, as the Celts will reduce the training time, and the Koreans will reduce the minimum range of the Mangonel line.
- Mongols: The Drill technology improves the movement speed of siege units. With the Celt team bonus, these will be also produced faster. The Mongol team bonus aids in exploring, and in the Celts' case, in many circumstances, it will help to steal Sheep more easily and move them to the player location.
- Portuguese: The Celt Team bonus stacks with the Portuguese team bonus for Siege Workshop unit upgrades. The Portuguese also have cheaper siege units, as all their units cost 20% less gold. For the Celts, the reduction on research times will also benefit their infantry, particularly if they want to perform a Feudal Age rush with Men-at-Arms.
- Romans: The team bonuses make a good combination, with reduced minimum range for Scorpions and faster work-rate for the Siege Workshop. Both civilizations are also good infantry civilizations that may perform a team rush the Feudal Age with Men-At-Arms.
- Slavs: The Slavs benefit from the Celts' faster siege production, and the Celts appreciate the extra population space for their buildings. The Slavs also have a broad selection of melee units to support Celtic siege.
- Tatars: The Celt team bonus applies to the Flaming Camels.
- Teutons: The Teuton siege units improved with Ironclad will be created faster if allied with the Celts. Celt units gain better conversion resistance.
- Turks: The Celts do not gain anything from the Turk team bonus, but the Turks benefit from the Celt team bonus, and its effect will stack up with the faster creation of gunpowder units applied to the Bombard Cannon. This combination may be considered in 3 vs 3 or 4 vs 4 games, particularly if the other players are gunpowder civilizations.
Compared advantages and disadvantages[]
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Advantages vs other civilizations[]
- The Woad Raider, having fast movement speed, can effectively raid enemy towns, so civilizations with poor defenses may have trouble against them. Its solid movement speed also makes it more versatile than most infantry.
- As their Militia-line moves faster and they have a good economy, they have an advantage in open maps against civilizations with bad early game as they can raid since the Dark Age.
- Since all their Siege Workshop units are bulkier, train faster, and fire faster, they are excellent at destroying bases. Also, as Onagers are a counter to massed units, civilizations that rely on masses of units will have trouble against Celtic Onagers and Scorpions. Similar logic can apply to their bulkier Rams when facing archers.
- Regarding naval warfare, they are at an advantage against civilizations with a poor early game navy, as their lumberjack bonus enables the Celts to acquire wood fast enough to make a sizable navy early in the game.
Disadvantages vs other civilizations[]
- Though the Woad Raider is a fast infantry unit, it is still vulnerable to the traditional infantry counters.
- As their infantry relies on movement speed to get an advantage, and not on brute force, numeric superiority, or resilience, they may fall apart against units more adept at combat.
- As their gameplan is linear, civilizations that can counter infantry and siege can commit into these units, knowing the Celt player has little to fight back.
- Even though their lumberjack bonus indirectly helps in naval encounters, this advantage may be short-lived as this also means they deplete the wood on the islands they control faster. Also, they lack Fast Fire Ships, Elite Cannon Galleons, and Bracer, so their navy will be beaten by any civilization with a decent navy.
- Celts have mediocre archers, so this also limits the responses they may have against infantry-based civilizations.
Situational advantages[]
- Celts have a clear advantage in any densely forested map (like Arena, Hideout, Black Forest, and Oasis), as their lumberjacks work faster while at the same time having Onagers that fire faster, enabling them to make paths faster through the forest. This enables them to take their enemies by surprise. With their Onagers, there is a very rarely seen strategy in open maps like Arabia that consist in using the Onagers to clear out any patch of forest an opponent may take for themselves, denying them access to wood while the Celt player himself can get their wood fast. This strategy is more effective for the Celts if starting in the Castle Age onwards.
- Their sheep-stealing bonus is more useful if playing on maps in which players can find more sheep than usual, like Ghost Lake, Oasis, Yucatán, and Nomad. This is even more advantageous if playing with a revealed map, as they can quickly find the initial locations of their rivals to steal their sheep.
- In Regicide mode, they can research Stronghold early to better defend their initial location. They also get an advantage in the Fortress map, as Stronghold also benefits towers, and in that map there are several towers pre-deployed. Also, in Fortress each player starts with a Barracks, enabling Celts to mass their infantry from the beginning of the match.
