GERMANS // PLAYBOOK

PHASE 00 Doctrine // The Three Laws READ ONCE

LAW 01 — MASS BEATS PRECISION

You are not a precise civ. You are an *overwhelming* one. *Don't optimize composition. Optimize population.* 80 mixed units beat 40 perfect units.

LAW 02 — THE BASE IS A TRAVELLING THING

Mobile CCs and forward camps are your signature. *Don't think of your base as a fixed location.* Think of it as a herd that walks. Civic structures drop where you need them, when you need them.

LAW 03 — MACEMEN DELETE BUILDINGS

Your macemen do massive bonus damage to structures. *They are your siege.* You don't need ballistas to crack walls — a maceman squad does the job and can fight afterward.

REF.01 Unit Legend // Germanic Roster /

Spearman

Anti-cav line

Maceman

Anti-building

Javelinist

Skirmisher

Horseman

Raid · scout

Mobile CC

Civic on wheels

Full unit table

Unit	Role	Strong vs	Weak vs
Spearman	Cheap anti-cav line	Cavalry, light infantry	Archers, swordsmen
Maceman	Anti-building specialist — your siege replacement	Buildings, walls, towers	Cavalry, ranged mass
Javelinist	Ranged DPS / harass	Slow melee, swordsmen	Archers, cavalry
Swordsman	Heavy melee	Pikes, light units	Cavalry, ranged
Horseman	Raid + scout (your harass squad)	Workers, ranged units	Pikes, spears
Champion (heavy infantry)	Phase III elite	Citizen units in general	Their counter, cost
Mobile CC (civ signature)	Build anywhere, instant base. Drop on top of a razed enemy CC to claim territory.	—	—

// Note on unit names

Exact unit names vary by 0 A.D. patch (this manual uses generic Germanic descriptors). Hover tooltips in-game for the current names. The ROLES are stable: anti-cav spear line, anti-building maceman, ranged javelinist, raid cav, mobile CC. Map the names you see to those roles.

PHASE 01 Foundation // Hyper-Boom 00:00 — 06:00

Objective

Boom *harder than the enemy can.* Your civ rewards volume — don't waste this advantage on early military buildings.

00:00 queue 5 villagers 00:00 scout cav circles both flanks 00:30 5 food / 1 wood 02:00 3 houses (preempt pop cap) 04:00 barracks #1 + storehouses 06:00 phase II at 25 vil

THE INSIGHT

Other civs need to optimize composition. *Germans win by overwhelming.* Spend the first 6 minutes purely accumulating bodies. Quality comes later. *Quantity comes now.*

PHASE 02 Expand // Multiple Centres 06:00 — 12:00

Objective

*Drop a second CC FAST.* By minute 8, before the enemy has a second barracks. The boom is exponential from here.

Civic Centres

×2

Second CC by minute 8 — earlier than every other civ. Doubles your villager rate immediately.

Towers fwd

×1

Drop ONE tower at enemy's wood/stone line. This single tower will *trigger their full first wave*. Free over-extension bait.

Harass Squad

3-5

Horsemen on a 90s raid loop. Cheap, fast, irreplaceable disruption.

The Forward Tower Trick

Send 1 villager to the enemy's resource line (woodcutters most often). Drop a tower right next to their workers. It costs you 100 stone. *It costs them their entire game plan.*

What happens: the AI panics, throws their first wave at the tower because it's harvesting their workers. Their wave arrives early, smaller, and disorganized — and instead of hitting your base it hits a stone tower. Even if they take the tower (which costs them 10-15 units to do), their main attack has been wasted.

This is the cheapest disruption play in the game. Use it every game.

Mobile CC drops

Once you have Mobile CC tech, use it. Drop a CC at:

Far resource clusters you couldn't normally defend
On top of a razed enemy CC (denies their rebuild)
As a forward staging area for your eventual push

PHASE 03 The Swarm // Active Push 12:00 — 20:00

Army composition // 60+ units

Germans don't follow strict ratios. *Pop is what matters.* Train whatever your barracks pumps fastest. As long as you have:

~20 spearmen/swordsmen — the line
~15 javelinists — ranged DPS
~10 macemen — your anti-building squad (essential)
~8 horsemen — harass + flank + raid loop
~5 champions — Phase III hammer

If you're playing right, you'll have 100+ population by minute 18. Mass *is* the strategy.

Production discipline

3+ barracks queueing in parallel from minute 10
Both CCs queueing villagers continuously until pop 80
Houses preemptively built BEFORE pop cap kicks in
Never an idle worker — period

THE MACEMEN ARMY

Build *10+ macemen* by minute 16. They are your siege replacement and your wall-cracker. With 10 macemen, you can demolish ANY building in seconds — including enemy CCs. *Your push doesn't need ballistas if it has macemen.*

PHASE 04 Strike // The Boom-and-Punish 20:00 — END

The win condition

Survive their waves (you will — population advantage), watch for their over-extension, then *march everything into their now-empty base.*

Pre-push checklist

□ *100+ POP*
at full composition

□ *10+ MACEMEN*
building-killers

□ *PRODUCTION RUNNING*
during the push

□ *2ND CC SAFE*
backup base

□ *MOBILE CC IN HAND*
to drop on razed enemy

□ *THEIR ARMY COMMITTED*
wait for the moment

Order of operations

Survive their wave at home (your overwhelming pop wins this)
The instant their army is committed, *march everything* on their base
Macemen flatten their CC and barracks
Spearmen + javelinists handle whatever stragglers remain
*Drop a Mobile CC on their ruined main CC* — they cannot rebuild on that spot
Sweep for their last villagers

THE NOOB SCIENCE MOMENT

*"Something in me triggered"* is the strategic instinct firing. The Germans plan REWARDS this — when you sense an opening, you have the population to commit fully without losing the home defense. Trust the instinct.

GER.01 The Maceman Doctrine CIV SIGNATURE

Why macemen matter

Every other civ needs Phase III siege to break enemy walls/CCs efficiently. *You don't.* Macemen are unlocked early and do massive bonus damage to structures.

Use cases

Wall cracking — 5 macemen demolish a wall section in seconds
CC razing — 10 macemen drop a Civic Centre in ~30s
Self-destruct your own building — when a tower is about to be captured, your macemen kill it FOR you (deny the conversion)
Tower drops during enemy push — while enemy attacks your front, macemen sneak into their back and delete a barracks

Build target

10 macemen by minute 16. 20 macemen by minute 20. They count toward your overall pop, not separately — but their value-per-pop in late game is the highest of any unit you'll train.

GER.02 Mobile Civic Centre Doctrine CIV SIGNATURE

The basic move

Your CCs can be packed up and moved (or built fresh anywhere). This is the nomadic mechanic. Use it in these specific ways:

Use	When	Why
Forward base	Mid-game, halfway to enemy	Pump villagers + units AT the front
Far resource claim	Anywhere with stone/metal	Resources you couldn't normally reach
Razed CC overlay	After breaking enemy CC	Denies their rebuild on that spot
Strategic retreat	Home CC about to fall	Move it before they kill it
Splitting the map	Late game, multiple fronts	Each CC anchors a region

REF.02 Germans vs Other Civs // Translation /

Concept	Ptolemies	Romans	Germans
Forward production	Mercenary Camp	Military Camp	Mobile CC (best — full base, not just barracks)
Anti-building	Pikes' slow chipping or siege	Scorpio (Phase III)	Macemen (Phase II)
Frontline melee	Pikemen	Hastati → Legionaries	Spearmen + Swordsmen (cheap, mass)
Win condition	Phase III champion stack	Marian Reforms moment	Out-pop the enemy then crush via macemen
Style	Defensive turtle	Forward pressure	Hyper-boom + decisive crush
Best for	Patient compounders	Aggressive pressure players	Single-decision strategic players

REF.03 German Bad Habits // Fix Table /

Mistake	Fix
Over-optimizing composition	Stop. Train whatever spawns fastest. Mass > ratio.
Skipping macemen	Build 10+ by minute 16. They are your siege.
Single CC for too long	Drop the 2nd CC at minute 8. Don't wait for resources to feel right — you'll have them.
Forgetting the forward tower	One tower at their woodline at minute 9. Trigger their early wave at the tower, not your base.
Pop cap walls	Build houses BEFORE pop hits ceiling. With your boom rate this happens fast.
Hesitating on the punish	The moment their army leaves their base, march. Trust the instinct.

ENDPLATE Every Game // In Order MEMORIZE

01
BOOM
25 vil before phase

02
HOUSES
ahead of pop cap

03
2ND CC AT 8:00
before they react

04
FORWARD TOWER
at their woodline

05
MACEMEN x10
by minute 16

06
SURVIVE WAVES
via mass

07
WATCH FOR EMPTY
army out = strike now

08
RAZE + REPLACE
mobile CC on top