How to beat
Ottomansas Byzantine
Matchup tips
Imperial Hippodrome makes a lot of sense, especially against the Ottomans, because you are going to be dealing with Sipahi. With Triumph, your Horsemen do 13 damage compared to the Sipahi's 12, making them slightly better.
Longbowmen make a ton of sense against Janissaries because the additional range means you'll have excellent tools to deal with them.
Having Longbowmen means you don't have to worry as much about Janissaries, so you can actually go for Cataphracts and invest into cavalry instead of being forced into infantry only.
The Mehter's +2 melee armor aura makes Sapahi take significantly less damage from horsemen.
Byzantine Longbows can snipe Ottoman Janissaries. Against Ottoman cavalry raids, getting the Painted Shields upgrade on Limitanei gives them 1.44 tiles per second movement speed, making it much easier to react to raids.
Against Ottomans in Feudal Age, you must keep a diverse army composition. If you go too heavy into ranged or melee, you give the Mehter's armor auras too much value, as it can easily toggle to counter your unit type.
The Cheirosiphon is incredibly strong against Ottomans because they are reliant on their infrastructure. The fire forces them to fight on burning ground, dealing constant damage. While Imams can heal, once Byzantines have around 13 Longbowmen, Imams will struggle to survive in fights.
Ottoman Men-at-Arms beat Byzantine Longbows and Limitanei. Ottomans can mass Men-at-Arms effectively after a fast Castle Age because the Military Academy makes Barracks produce quickly when built around the Blacksmith, production buildings are cheaper, and the Twin Minaret Medrese provides a lot of food.
With 10 longbows, you can oneshot a spearman.
The Imperial Hippodrome's bonus torch damage upgrade allows scouts to significantly increase the torch damage of nearby units.
Varangian Guards do reasonably well against Sipahi because Sipahi are fairly fragile. But Varangians into crossbows, especially with a thick front line of Sipahi, is not a good choice.
The more you lean into horsemen, the more viable the Mehter's melee armor becomes; the aura offsets half of the damage buff you get from Triumph.
Ottomans Unique Units
Ottomans Landmarks
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