When playing Rise of Nations, one of the concepts in the game are wonders.
One of the wonders that arguably gets rushed is the Terracotta Army. What this wonder gives you is an unending stream of Light Infantry units at regular intervals, the interval is dependent upon the number of units already produced by the wonder. So that over a period of time, the production rate of Light Infantry goes down and plateaus.
History of the Terracotta Army
The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures showing the armies of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. This was to be his funeral decorations, and is meant to be an art to pay homage to the emperor. Estimates show that these figurines number upto a humongous 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots each with 4 horses, and 150 cavalry horses (the generals of the armies).
Apart from this huge army, there are even non-military terracotta figures to keep the emperor company.
Why Build the Terracotta Army?
Within the Rise of Nations game, this wonder represents a stream of LI. Keep in mind, that having this wonder in place does not necessarily change your strategy. So, why go for this wonder?
This wonder gets unlocked in the Medieval age (Classical if you are Egyptian).
Well, the minute you get this wonder in place, it frees up Food and Wood that you otherwise would have to spend on Light Infantry. This can now be spent on booming, on building additional Light Cavalry and Siege weapons. Due to this wonder, you can build an army and boom with resources at the same time.
Important Points to note when building the Terracotta Army
- The stream of LI units that this wonder keeps spawning ensures that you have to be on the attack to keep your population in check. If you decide to turtle, then you will be forced to do Military Research in order to produce more units.
- Everybody else on the map knows you have the LI army, they will build counters for LI. Keep building counters for these counters. Do not go with an LI heavy army.
- The strategy here is not to rely too much on LIs. It’s rather to use those resources to either build a larger army, or to boom.
- Hunt for the Peacock Rare resources to increase your population limit
- Augment this wonder with the Colossus to increase your population limit
Great to have Civilizations
Although you can use any civilization with this wonder, there are certain civilizations that rock with this wonder.
- Americans – With their instant first wonder bonus, and the Marines special unit, you are set for the long haul
- Egyptians – You get ample time to rush this wonder, since you get this in Classical age. Earlier wonder, more LI units!
- Aztecs / Chinese – Better LI units now for free
- Bantu – Higher population cap + Special LI units