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The Germans are a civilization with strong infantry and cavalry units.
Strengths
The Germans gain free Uhlans with every shipment, allowing them to build up their cavalry quickly. This allows them to rush enemy colonies very quickly in the early stages of the match.
One of their unique units, the Doppelsoldner, is a heavy infantry unit which functions somewhat like a Halberdier, only more powerful. Apart from their incredible hand damage, Doppelsoldners have an area of effect melee attack and deal far more siege damage when compared to a Halberdier of their level. Their Area of Effect damage allows them to decimate clumped groups of enemies very quickly and efficiently in battle.
They also have access to the Skirmisher, which can upgrade into the Royal Guard status (Needle Gunners), making them better than any other non-French Skirmisher in battle. Combined with Doppelsolders, they are very effective against infantry and cavalry, although they will have to watch out for artillery units.
Uhlans form the mainstay of the German cavalry are similar to Hackapells (although having more hitpoints and less attack). This allows them to do a lot of damage against enemy skirmishers but leaves them vulnerable to ranged cavalry. However the other unique cavalry unit, the War Wagon, is a heavy ranged cavalry unit that can easily take out other cavalry (3x damage). Their high base damage can also be used to take down artillery (2x damage). Despite this, War Wagons can also be used as anti-infantry units; at Imperial level, only the Hackapell surpasses them in damage (excluding any damage multipliers).
Germans possess good cavalry potential, as they have many cards to boost the production and stats of them. If the Spanish Riding School card is used with Mass Cavalry, Uhlans and War Wagons can be produced in mere seconds. If another cavalry production card/tech is added, they'll be produced instantly, meaning that any player with the resources can quickly amass lost armies with terrifying speed.
Germans can easily rush the enemy given these free Uhlans, though it's generally better to wait until the Fortress Age so that the more powerful War Wagons and Skirmishes may be added into an army. If planning to rush during the Colonial Age, Doppelsoldners will be needed. Since resources will already be strained from building such population intense units, it's recommended to use the Palatine Settlements card so that Houses give 30 population each, meaning that players only need to build seven houses to max out the population cap.
Settler Wagons are a unique, German only settler that collects and builds faster then normal settlers and the Coureur des Bois; however, the Coureur only fills up one population slot compared to two from the Settler Wagon. Settler Wagons can only be sent from the Home City, however, with the Germantown Farmers card, they can be trained from Mills instead. Once the player has access to this card, they should remove any non-team Settler Wagon cards from their deck in favor of other cards. Settler Wagons only have a limit of 20, so the player should check if they need more Settler Wagons.
The Germans also have the most mercenary shipments out of all other civilizations; they have access to 9 different mercenary cards (excluding Privateers). They can access every mercenary unit excluding Ronin and Manchus; mainly, the Germans have easy access to German-related mercenaries like Landsknechts, Jaegers and Black Riders. The Germans will get extra mercenaries when they are sent, making the shipment well worth it. However, this can be boosted even further with Wallenstein's Contracts from the church upgrades; Wallenstein's Contracts removes the coin cost (although the player need to pay a one-time fee of 4000 coin) from all mercenary-related shipments, so this helps players who are running an intense mercenary deck.
Germany's unbelievable strength shines through the most when fighting France. The French have the Cuirassier, the strongest cavalry available to any European nation, yet an Imperial War Wagon kills a Cuirassier in 2-3 hits. The Doppelsoldners counter the Cuirassiers as well (though not to the same extent as the War Wagon), and the Prussian Needle Gunners can take down most French Infantry except the Votigeurs. However, the Germans for this task have the Uhlan, which is spectacular for taking out these very same Voltigeurs. Indeed, France often has trouble battling Germany and in the hands of a skilled German player, for a French player to take them down is nigh impossible.
Weaknesses
The Germans are hard to counter unless facing a variety of units, though their cavalry can be countered as Uhlans form the majority of the German cavalry. The low hit points of the Uhlans make them very vulnerable to ranged cavalry or Pikemen. Anti-infantry units like skirmishers and artillery should be deployed to counter the Doppelsoldners, as most cavalry will be decimated by them. Anti-Cavalry units like the Dragoon would be required to keep off the Uhlans from closing in, and Pikemen and Halberdiers can stave off any War Wagons that might be present. As Germans are usually offensive, it would often be better to try turtling against them.
Germany does not get a 2 Falconet shipment in the Fortress Age; the other European civilization that doesn't have that would be the Dutch.
German shipments also have a 10% experience increase compared to other civilizations due to the free Uhlans that arrive with most shipments. This results in less shipments which could mean a drastic change if the player does not get a lot of experience quickly to boost it up (e.g. Shipment 1 from all civilizations excluding Spanish is 300, while the Germans need 330).
As most Colonial Age and further shipments give Uhlans, it will increase population while they are sent and will prevent the player from shipping them out if they have capped their population. Settler Wagons do not count as two settlers when attacking, neither inside nor outside the Town Center, making Germany weaker against very early rushes from for example Iroquois or Ottomans in the supremacy game mode.
Template:Strategies (Age of Empires III)