Malians can stick in Feudal with just one cattle ranch with three cattle inside, build units, get upgrades, and it's still difficult for French to find damage.

Doubling down on a second barracks for Donzos is a pretty safe choice when you're up against French.

The knight definitely still destroys the Sofa, but the Sofa is faster, so you can decide when to take engagements.

Sofa upgraded with imported armor actually do really well against French feudal knights.

Why it's so important to slow down the pro scouts: because if French have to move on to berries to keep up knight production, that does not feel very good.