Mongols are a very different civilization in Age of Empires. They have unique units, structures, and even mechanics.
For instance, Mongols do not need to build houses, which helps them go for an aggressive early game.
After learning the ways of the Mongols in Age of Empires 4, players have started coming out with new builds and strategies. One of them is a rush build that is as dangerous as the English longbowmen rush — perhaps even more dangerous.
This rush aims to build an outpost within the enemy territory and defend the villagers, making it with early trained Horsemen.
If you’re a Mongols player and the idea of a rush that disrupts the enemy within five minutes appeals to you, this guide will show you the AoE4 Mongols build order.
The Horsemen Rush Build
- Start Queuing up Villagers
- 5 Villagers to Sheep
- 1 Villager to Ovoo, then to Wood
- 3 Villagers to Wood
- 1 Villager to Stable, then Food
- 4 Villagers to Food (making 10)
- 1 Villager to Gold
- 1 Villager from Wood to Gold
- 2 Forward Vills
- 2 Villagers to Outposts
- 4 Horsemen
- 3 from Wood to Landmark
- New Villagers go to Wood
- Continue to train Horsemen in pairs
In this build, you will be queueing up Villagers until you have your two villagers going to build the Outpost near the enemy town center.
If the harassment doesn’t happen very early in the game, the rush will fail. That is why your micro skills must be on point to send any ship you find to the Town Center with your Khan — so you can have food for the Villagers to gather — while looking for the enemy spawn point.
When building a Stable, make sure to build it within the area of Influence of your previously built Ovoo. At this point, you should have brought back at least four sheep to your Town Center and sent your Khan away to find the enemy Town Center.
When your villager goes to Gold, make sure to pay attention to your Wood count so you can build a Ger — the Mongols’ unique structure for collecting Gold — before the villager returns to the Town Center to drop the collected Gold.
Your Horsemen should be on the way after that, while you send your Villagers in advance towards the center of the map if you don’t know where your adversary is so far — or take your best guess and try to send them where your adversary might be based on where they are not.
Your Horsemen should follow your villagers to protect them from wolves or scouts, and the waypoint from the stable should be set to send the next Horsemen to wherever you are going.
When you’re ready to build your Outpost, you should have four Horsemen and a Khan with you to help your villagers succeed. Once the Outpost is finished, the villagers can go inside and start throwing arrows at nearby enemy units.
This rush is not meant to end the game. Still, it can significantly delay the economic progression of the enemy civilization if you manage to build the Outpost next to their primary Wood or gold source.
If the enemy cannot deal with it, you can keep training horsemen to harass their villagers while you expand around your own Town Center.
Final Thoughts
The Mongols are unique, aggressive, and fun to play. They bring a breath of fresh air to an old, known franchise with new ways to do old things that renew many aspects of the known Age of Empires gameplay.
Age of Empires fans often play different civilizations to appreciate their architecture and unique gameplay aspects. There is a lot of love and care to make them special, and it shows in the game.
When it comes to the Mongols’ case, the game shows a considerable amount of gameplay uniqueness, which allows innovative and powerful builds such as sending four Horsemen to guard Villagers that will build an outpost within the enemy’s territory.
Please note that having military units out early doesn’t mean you should only try to harass villagers. You can also use them to conquer Sacred Sites and build your way towards other win conditions of Age of Empires 4.
The AoE 4 Mongols build order is scary because an attack might happen before the enemy builds their first Landmark, so chances are they will be vulnerable.
Watch out for the English, though. Their strong Villagers might be able to kill your Villagers before they finish the Outpost.
With time, you will learn what to do after the rush, when to cancel the rush, and how to adapt if the enemy sees what you are going for. Until then, I’m sure you will get many wins by showing up at their face with your early-game cavalry.