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Age of Empires II GameSpot Preview

Page 5 of 7

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The British Stables
In our last update, we brought you additional information on the archery range, with an emphasis on what the Japanese could produce there. This time, we are bringing you details on the British stables. This is the building where you create cavalry units. It doesn't become available until the second age, but even then it doesn't really do much besides create scouts. However, if you make the jump to the third age, the stable suddenly becomes a powerful war factory, cranking out some of the game's faster and better units.

Feudal Age
Scout: This unit is analogous to the scout from Age I. It has excellent speed but little in the way of armor and attack strength. They have better-than-average protection against conversion and archers. This, coupled with their long line of sight, makes them ideal for scouting the map.

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Castle Age
Light cavalry: This is a lightly armored horse-mounted warrior. They have a good mix of speed, armor, and attack strength. Their speed lets them close with archers and monks quickly, making them better against these two ranged units than infantry. However, infantry in turn can take down the light cavalry, as can all the later-age stable units.

Knight: This is a slower but more powerful version of the light cavalry. These mounted warriors are good against ranged units and stronger than regular infantry.

Imperial Age
Cavalier: This is the ultimate mounted unit available to the Britons. It has even better attack and armor but is highly vulnerable to lines of pikemen and the camel riders of the Middle East.

British Stable Technologies
In addition to providing units, the stable also offers a few technology advances that can boost the effectiveness of the units trained there. These advances give the Britons a boost in reconnaissance and speed but don't unbalance them by adding any attack bonuses.

Scout line of sight: Researched in the Feudal Age. This upgrade increases the line of sight for the scout.

Husbandry: Researched in the Castle Age. This upgrade increases the speed of all stable units.

Next: Campaign play and final thoughts