One of the most used civilizations in my early days of age empires. The Teutons were known for having a large tech tree, the great paladins and the almighty Teutonic Knights. For the sake of us, we just couldn't figure out how to come through from a Teutonic siege!
I've seen a lot of people using and enjoying playing with the Teutons in online games, both experienced and unexperienced players. That has got to mean something about the usefulness of this very balanced civilization from Age of Empires II.
Monks healing range 2X
This can be useful for the Teutons, as their monks are quite good, and providing double the range for healing will aid the survival of valuable units like paladins and Teutonic knights.
Towers garrison 2X units
Contrary to the Byzantines, Teutons defenses aren't as sturdy, but provide for extra damage to enemy offensives. Being able to garrison double of the units on towers, means extra protection for villagers during raids and even double damage when having garrisoned archers.
Murder Holes for free
A Long Swordsman rush can really damage your town. To improve on the great towering of the Teutons, you can research Murder Holes free of charge for this civ, as soon as you reach Castle Age, to make sure you can hit from all angles!
Farms cost -33%
At the start of the game, resources are scarce, especially during the transition from hunting and foraging to farming. With this wood discount, you can set up those farms easier and faster. Not to mention that the wood discount will add up and come in handy for other necessities.
Town Center +2 attack, +5 line of sight
In addition to the extra tower damage potential, the Teutons' Town Center deal an extra +2 damage to enemies, as well as having a really nice line of sight boost. Not only great for spotting incoming rushes early on, but to also give you an ampler vision of the surrounding area at the start of the game to spot those key resources.
"At the height of the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land, German crusaders formed an order of warrior monks called the Teutonic Knights. This order gave up crusading in the Eastern Mediterranean and turned its attention to Eastern Europe. Through conquest they brought Christianity to the Baltic region and forests of what became Prussia. They built castles from which they could control the surrounding countryside. The Teutonic Knights were committed warriors who carved out an empire that lasted into the twentieth century."[1]
The symbol of the Teutons, the mighty warrior of astounding resistence and titanic attack. The Teutonic Knight is the answer to almost every situation involving physical clashing, since its high hit points (100), huge defenses (17/2), allied with his insane attack (17), will massacre even fully upgraded paladins and allow it to challenge even its natural counters. The only real physical threat of the Teutonic Knight is the behemoth cavalry of the Persians, the War Elephant.
However, a titanic unit as the Teutonic Knight, must have a weakness as big as his size. That would be his ridiculously slow speed. This makes range the greatest weakness of the holy knight, as his pierce armor doesn't compare to his physical armor, arrows are the answer to kill them before they can close the distance. Hand cannoneers are strong against infantry, and since they ignore defense altogether, they are a great weapon to use against Teutonic knights. Monks can also take advantage of the their slowness- a group of monks converting an army of Teutonic knights from behind a wall, making them fight amongst themselves, is a beautiful sight to behold.
"The Teutons carried their crusade mainly into Eastern Europe while other groups vied for the Holy Land. The Teutons became especially adept at the art of building and using castles offensively to establish political control of the countryside. A few knights and soldiers in a dominating castle could control the countryside for miles."[2]
Crenellations is what makes the Teutons' defenses a pain to beat and a powerful offense. It has two sides to it: it gives castles +3 range and allows the firing of arrows by garrisoned infantry. With this skill, the Teutonic castle receives an incredibly useful range, capable of hitting bombard cannons and outranging even the longbowmen of the Britons. These castles can only be outranged by trebuchets and the Turks' bombard cannons.
As far as the ability to deal extra damage with garrisoned infantry goes, it is just too convenient for the Teutons. Use the castles as an offense, building them close to your enemy's town. Teutonic knights are a great force to use to panic enemies by charging with them, use them in conjunction with the extra range of the castles, and you've got yourself a damaging fortress filling with Teutonic knights ready to be unleashed. You must protect your castles from trebuchets at all costs, though! Use your paladins.
Garrisoned infantry in towers will also fire arrows with Crenellations researched.
This is a good bonus for the Teutons since they can use the extra protection from enemy monks trying to convert their slow units. However, this becomes completely obsolete when Heresy is researched, which makes converted units die instead of changing to the enemy color.
A civilization that could actually benefit from this team bonus is the Persians, as their Monastery can't research Heresy, and their slow war elephants are at the mercy of enemy monks. So, the extra resistance to conversion might come in handy on the battlefield. It is not something to completely rely on, though.
Perfect Barracks
With the exception of the Mayan and Aztec exclusive eagle warriors, the Teutons have got all infantry units and upgrades available to them, although their use becomes overshadowed when Teutonic knights become available.
Perfect Hand Cannoneers
Hand Cannoneers are not the most reliable of units. They have their use against infantry, and can be dangerous in large numbers. Infantry is not really a threat here, so hand cannoneers remain as an option, and not as a necessity.
Great Paladins
This is what will really benefit this civ. Having paladins is always a plus for any civilization, as they are the most reliable unit in the game for their great stats. Paladins are perfect to support Teutonic infantry, flank archers and charge enemy siege- in particular trebuchets, as those are the most effective weapons your enemy has against your defenses. Unfortunately, the Teutons are missing Husbandry, for the extra 10% cavalry speed boost.
Great Monastery
You can also make use of the Monastery, as its tech tree is only lacking the Herbal Medicine research. To add to their resourceful monks, the double healing range will keep your army in good shape.
Great Siege Workshop
An army isn't made of soldiers! The Teutons possess a great siege technology, including the Siege Onager and Heavy Scorpion upgrades, weapons that dominate Imperial Age and provide unquestionable support. They are only missing the Siege Ram upgrade.
Great Economy
To finish the great tech tree of the Teutons, they have all the advanced economy-related researches, with the only exception being the Gold Shaft Mining. This allows for more safety in the late game, as the steady income of resources gives room for a stronger economy. Crop Rotation is especially useful for the Teutons, as their strongest units have a high food demand.
A civilization of great defenses, powerful infantry and many weapons, the Teutons are that civilization that any player can rely on. Their lack of really good archers and fast units is what might scare off a more sneaky player.
The Teutons don't have many weaknesses, as they are a very balanced civilization and can set up great defenses. However, I can see this civilization at the mercy of other resourceful civs like the Mayans and the Chinese, but they can face great difficulties especially versus the Britons and their archery prowess.
The Teutons are among the three most solid civilizations of the game in my opinion, with the other two being the Byzantines and the Spanish. Use them if you want a solid game, and strong options for the late game.
If you liked this article, read more about the greatest civs of the game in my 10 of the Best Civilizations from Age of Empires II: The Conquerors!
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