When playing Mace the doctrine timeframe is reversed. Due to the civ advantages Mace possesses, they can effectively use positional warfare in bronze. The advantages of using positional rather than disruptive tactics are twofold. First, two of the three fallacies of bronze positional warfare are erased. Mace hoppers are difficult to kill and their stone throwers are much more cost efficient. While their towers are still expensive, these other two advantages more than make up for it. Due to the inherent power of these two units the Mace positional war machine is perhaps the most powerful military of all civilizations in bronze. The second advantage lies in the fact that control of territory means control of resources. The longer one controls territory, the longer they have to exploit its resources. It is useless to take territory in iron if by then its gold has been mined and forests cut down. If one can manage to kick an enemy out of his territory before or during bronze then that team will control 2/3 of the map and 2/3 of the resources. This insures victory in an extended iron game, but with Mace it is wiser to end the game in bronze or early iron.
Since Mace has no mobile defensive units and slow villagers, walling and, in some situations, towering is a must. While allocating too many resources for defense will insure ones defeat, it is necessary to at least prevent raiding and villager killing by walling. Keeping the battle in enemy territory insures that that enemy will not be able to counter-attack in force, but in 3v3 (which I almost exclusively play, so this guide is written from the 3v3 perspective), one must worry about more than one enemy. If walling is not possible, due to having broad empty expanses on one or more sides of a base, it is best to wall the approaches that can be walled and designate standing army for defense of the corridor(s) leading to the base. I have experimented with heavily towering my base, but as I said earlier, allocating that many resources for defense usually gets one killed. It is wise to put three guys on stone late in stone to insure a steady supply for extensive walling and offensive towering. However, even if a base is securely walled it is still necessary to build two or thee defensive ranges and upgrade to comps. While a good player will undertake all of these precautions, it is wisest to keep the enemy off the offensive. This will be discussed later.
Because Mace must play the positional game, the offensive tactics used vary greatly from those of a typical chariot archer battle. First of all, it is necessary to establish a safety zone very near to the enemy’s base where buildings can be built and units produced out of harms way. It is wise to build this base in a position that is not highly traveled, not easily walled off, and not near a body of water where ships can spot it. It is also usually a good idea to support the base with towers. A typical early bronze forward base should consist of two barracks (leftovers from tool but also for slinger support), one stable, and two academies. Tool rushing is usually a good idea when playing Mace. The tool rush I choose to use is not a hardcore, game winning tool rush, but more of a psychological ploy to set the tempo for the game. This initial tool rush serves to make the enemy aware that he must play defensively, to disrupt his early booming (usually) economy by forcing his wood choppers to relocate, and to force him to fight to control his base rather than fight to control my or my allies’ bases. Being on the offensive is always wise; the tool rush simply sets the stage for this throughout the whole game.
I have discussed the theory behind Macedonia, now I will discuss its actual application to game play. The following is the typical strategy I use when playing Mace.
First I will discuss the economic aspects. I usually boom to anywhere between 32-40+ villagers. My starting position dictates how many villagers I can make before tooling assuming I hit the tool button before the ten minute mark. Assuming I had to build a granary first, and other than that a decent spot, I should be able to tool under 11:30 every time with 36-38 villagers. This includes having two barracks and 2-4 clubmen already built outside the nearest opponent’s base. Because I tool rush, I often have a surplus of wood rather than food during tool, this I usually convert to more boats, so I typically bronze with 40+ villagers. During late tool or the bronze upgrade period, I get the first woodcutting upgrade (depending on food), followed by the either the stone or gold upgrade (depending on the amount of slingers I am using). While I am bronzing, I leave most of my original woodchoppers on wood. Some time in late tool I reassign six or so villagers from wood to gold. If I am not forced into a scout ship/war galley war I look to have about 600 wood upon hitting bronze. First thing up is an academy in my forward base, then a government center, and after that the fishing ships upgrade, then the second wood cutting upgrade. After the first enemy is rendered helpless, I build a forward base in or near the second opponent’s territory. After that, I tc all over the place, find a second wood source, then more gold, then sometimes berries (depending on the fishing situation). The difficult part is doing all of this economic management, while attacking two enemies at once. Often I get caught up in one aspect and lose the game because I mismanaged an attack, missed my window of opportunity, forgot to reassign idle villagers, or chopped through a forest acting as a wall. A Mace player (actually any player) can never have too many villagers. Often in late bronze, once I have numerous villagers, I start a large towering operation in my newly acquired territory to pave the way for Mace’s weak iron.
Now I will move on to the militaristic aspects of the tool age. As I said earlier, the key to winning for Mace is to keep the fight in enemy territory. The best way to do this is to dictate the tempo as early as possible. The way I choose to do this is with a tool rush. Since I also boom I get many slow tool times. While a 12-minute tool is not good for tool rushing, it is necessary to sacrifice time for villagers. Also, since clubmen can be built in stone, axemen can be in the opponent’s town at the same time bowmen could be with a 10:30 tool. Tooling in 12 and grabbing the upgrades immediately means that I can usually have eight axemen in the enemy base by the 12:45 mark (read Methos’ axemen rushing guide for more info). This alone will often kill boomers. My first tool building is almost always a stable in the forward base. Scouts are a great complement to axers and slingers. Usually, I do not bother with the cavalry armor upgrade since I use scouts simply for finding or tracking vils. If I smell a kill in tool I will make more scouts and get them armor but usually one or two unarmored scouts will suffice. Slingers are also always useful. If the enemy chooses to fight back in tool they will almost always do so with bowmen. If the enemy chooses to fight back with axers I either build a range, or more commonly, switch to scouts and just avoid the axemen and keep the vils non-productive. One thing that needs to be avoided is a drawn out tool war. This will leave one vulnerable to the enemy’s allies and at a distinct disadvantage. If I have damaged someone enough and they are going heavy on tool units I just abandon the tool rush, send my remaining units to look for the next enemy, and wait to bronze. Also, a very important thing to remember is that the initial scout vils should be sent out in pairs. This insures that a hostile encounter with the local fauna will not kill your tool rush before it is even underway. Also, you can split these vils and build on two opponents in late tool or early bronze. Nothing is worse than having your lone builder shot or eaten when reinforcement vils are half a map away. Another thing that needs to be remembered and taken advantage of is Mace vil’s extended line of sight. Before tooling, make sure to know where everything is. Know where at least two of the opponents are and have enough territory scouted so that you can effectively wall with minimal scouting time during the onset of tool. I have experimented with tool rushing two opponents at once but while effective, it is expensive and very difficult.
Now we will discuss the early Bronze Age. One of the major weaknesses of Mace is the fact that so much wood is required at the onset of bronze to fully take advantage of all of Mace’s strengths. Usually, upon bronzing, I immediately make some cavalry to pave the way for the hoplites that must wait on academy construction. However, more units are needed than can be produced at this time period. The major reasons being that so many resources need to be scraped together for academy and siege workshop construction. Also, camels are a big problem for this early cav rush. In response to all of this, I have been experimenting with broad swordsmen and they have been surprisingly effective. Because I get the first level infantry upgrades for my axemen, the bronze shield for my slingers and hoplites, and the second attack upgrade more for my cavalry than anything, broad swordsmen already have all of the important upgrades. Perhaps the greatest use of broad swordsmen is the way they counter camels. Since my broad swordsmen are almost fully upgraded as soon as they pop out they dominate non- or partially upgraded camels. Not to mention they are incredibly cheap. However, I have not really tested these guys in a highly competitive game, and their usefulness, as a sort of combination of cavalry and hoplites is questionable. Upon bronzing, after the minor cav rush and once the hoplites have arrived, I start production of a navy. It is important to destroy the enemy’s ships because the large amount of food they produce over time will allow the enemy to rebuild much quicker than they would without them.
Now we move on to late bronze. I once said that Mace should avoid a sea control war at all costs but actually I try to take the seas in late bronze now. I do not usually start major naval construction until after I have five tc’s and 50-70 villagers. This bypasses Mace’s wood shortage period in early bronze and also usually surprises the enemies. A second virtue of naval control is that the opponents will tone down their land operations in order to compensate for their vulnerability at sea. They can be lulled into a sense of false security on land if they are drawn into a ship production war. Usually, I slack off my sea efforts after I sink most of their fishing boats and concentrate on a land based invasion. Often the enemy will show up with a large fleet, but the sacrifice is worth it when I show up with 10 stone throwers and 20 comps. In early bronze the hopper/cav/slinger combo rules supreme (possibly now the hopper/cav/slinger/broad swordsmen), but in late bronze I like to make the transition to composite bowmen and stone throwers. I still use hoppers and cavalry, just in less proportion. The critical period for a Mace player is the time between the defeat of one opponent (by taking his town and killing or chasing off his villagers) and attacking the next. It is essential to begin the second battle before anyone irons, this leaves a small time frame for mopping up the first opponent and advancing the front line to the second opponent. I choose to control territory by constructing military buildings and units rather than towering. Though I sometimes opt for the latter, depending on terrain. Most of the time extensive towering is too resource intensive. At this point in the game, assuming my allies are holding their own, my team has a distinct advantage in terms of resource control and territory. It is now wise to hit the second opponent immediately rather than ironing. The second enemy (the one in the pocket) is by now usually very powerful. The tactic of choice in late bronze is still mass archer production (nowadays comps as well as chariots), so Mace’s anti-archer units own the battlefield. The best way to attack the second opponent is to coordinate a combined attack over land and sea. I usually strike with my navy first more to distract the opponent than to deal him a decisive blow. While he is reacting to that I take down his walls and rush in a cavalry group. I follow with the slower moving units and some vils. In the chaos that follows, I build workshops, academies, and towers behind his walls and assimilate his land. With proper preliminary scouting it is possible to find and cut off all available paths of retreat. Though Mace has a dominant late bronze a few units exist that present a problem. Minoan comps are somewhat of a problem, as are Hittite chariot archers, but they are nothing near an insurmountable obstacle. I cannot recall having my late bronze Mace army stopped by an army that is equivalent in terms of resources. Such is the power of Mace. It is the wisest course of action to decide or end the game in bronze but sometimes that is not possible.
Now we will talk about iron. In the unfortunate even that one or more opponents reach iron unmolested, all is not lost. Mace also has one of the best early irons of any civilization. The only units that appear in early iron are horse archers, heavy cavalry, cats in small numbers, elephants in small numbers, and ballistas on occasion. Mace has all of these except cats, they lack engineering (a real killer), but other than that, they are a solid early iron civilization. Cheap ballistas, leftover hoplites that are soon upgraded to phalanxes are also big advantages. Perhaps the best thing about Mace in early iron is the fact that it still has momentum from its late bronze offensive. If played correctly, this alone can make up for any other shortcomings until the game reaches the point where heavy siege begins to dominate the battlefield. If, unfortunately, the game does reach extended iron, I usually tower as much as I can, try to take the seas and control the coastline and shallows, and depend on horse archers and elephants for most of my land based fighting. However, very few of the games that I’ve played have ended in such a manner. Actually, most of the games end with everyone still in bronze or go into iron after the game has been decided. The most important thing a Mace player can do is end or at least to decide the game in bronze.
I have been playing with Mace ever since RoR came out. Playing with them is a refreshing change from the typical chariot archer battles that are so rampant. While playing Mace is difficult, in this challenge lies its appeal. Also, if played correctly, Mace is more than capable of taking on two opponents by itself throughout the course of a game. While Mace has no economic advantages such as Shang or Phoenicia, if it is played to its advantages its two significant military advantages can make up for this. Actually, they can more than make up for it; this is the essence of Mace.
Well, now that Mace is kind of getting old I am about to attempt to develop an effective strategy for Greek. Seriously.
Well, thanks for reading my guide. I might have left some points out but I will make sure to add an addendum if I have. This is the compendium of what I have learned from playing Mace for a long time, though I am sure some of you others have developed equally effective albeit different strats. Responses are always appreciated and I would like to hear how everyone else plays Mace in case I need to change something in my overall strat. This is the basic overview of what I try to do each game, but many factors at times force me to drastically alter my game plan. It is wisest not to go into a game with a preplanned, thought out strat, adaptation is a virtue of a true expert, so adapt your strat to your situation and you will win many more games.