AGE OF EMPIRES IV
CIVILISATION MATCHUPS
YOUR CIV
vs
OPPONENT
Only Delhi Sultanate guides available currently. Help add your civ
French48.6% · Hard
French hit Feudal very hard with Royal Knights and strong crossbow (Arbalétrier) pressure, plus faster eco (free techs & cheaper vills). Beware early knight raids and eventual cannon support.
STRENGTHS
+Faster villager production gives a compounding economic lead throughout the game
+Knights enable constant map pressure and raiding from feudal age onward
+Wheelbarrow available in dark age provides an early economic advantage over most civs
+Keeps reduce nearby unit production costs, creating strong castle age power spikes
WEAKNESSES
−Vulnerable to dark age rushes from civs like English, Japanese, and HRE
−Knights become a liability against strong anti-cavalry units such as camels and Janissaries
−Micro-intensive playstyle requiring constant kiting, charge timing, and multitasking
−Many unfavourable matchups at high level, including Abbasid, Mali, Mongols, and Ottomans
GameplanSuggest Improvement
1Open Dome of Faith for scholar healing to counter the early knight harassment French will deploy from School of Cavalry.
2Secure sacred sites early while French commits villagers to knight production, generating gold that finances the boom.
3Defend against French's knight pressure with scholar-healed units, preserving army strength for the castle transition.
4Transition to Castle with War Elephants and Compound of the Defender keeps, introducing units that punish French's knights.
5Reach Imperial with Palace of the Sultan to mass elephants, overwhelming French's economy and military simultaneously.
🏰 Dome of the Faith
Counter GuideSuggest Improvement
THEIR UNIT
YOUR ANSWER
Royal Knight
→
Ghazi Raiders
Use Ghazi raiders to kite and surround knights – don't let them pull away to heal.
Arbalétrier
→
Horsemen flank
Flank their crossbows with cavalry (or mass Ghazi) and avoid charging into arrow fire head-on.
Queue Pro Scouts immediately to deny French deer packs and force them onto expensive food sources, disrupting their feudal tempo.
Keep scholars grouped together rather than scattered — French knights can pick off isolated scholars and catastrophically cripple your upgrade speed.
Rush Sanctity and capture two sacred sites before Castle age — the gold income neutralizes French's villager production advantage and prevents them from securing all three.
Trade Ghazi Raiders against French scouts while backing them with scholar healing — French lacks healing and cannot sustain the same casualty rate, forcing expensive replacements.
Defend sacred sites with keeps upgraded to Boiling Oil — French knights cannot safely dive these positions, protecting your mid-game gold income.
Age of Empires IV © Microsoft Corporation. AOE4.pro was created under Microsoft's Game Content Usage Rules using assets from Age of Empires IV, and it is not endorsed by or affiliated with Microsoft.