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Byzantines

Tank Dive universal counter civ; late-game anchor.

Spawn unit Starting age Kills to Castle Kills to Imp Razes to vill Cap Interval
Cataphract (Elite on unlock) Feudal 300 600 2 60 12 s

⚡ Quick reference

  • Baseline: buildings +HP by age, Camels/Skirms/Spears −25% cost, free Town Watch/Patrol, cheaper Imperial, team Monk heal. UU Cataphract (+ Logistica trample). UT Logistica.
  • Requiem v294: starting age Feudal; kills-to-Castle 300; razes-to-vill 2.
  • CBA role: universal counter civ; late-game anchor.
  • Post-vill: cheap Spears vs cav, cheap Skirms vs archers, Camels vs cav, Cataphract vs infantry, siege vs structures.
  • Weak vs: pure archer stacks (needs cheap Skirm answer).

📜 Deep playbook

🏛️ Standard DE profile

  • Civ bonuses
  • Buildings +10% HP in Dark, +20% Feudal, +30% Castle, +40% Imperial.
  • Camel Rider, Skirmisher and Pikeman cost -25%.
  • Fire Ships +20% attack.
  • Town Watch free.
  • Imperial Age costs -33% food/gold.
  • Team: Monks heal +50% faster.
  • Unique units
  • Castle UU: Cataphract (heavy trample-damage cavalry).
  • Unique techs
  • Castle Age — Greek Fire (Fire Ship +1 range).
  • Imperial Age — Logistica (Cataphracts do trample damage, +6 vs infantry).
  • Notable missing techs
  • No Heavy Scorpion, no Bracer, no Siege Onager, no Halberdier — wait, Byzantines DO have Halberdier. Check current: they have Halb. They lack Heavy Scorpion, Bracer, Siege Onager, no Heresy (actually they have Heresy — verify). They lack Bloodlines? No — they have Bloodlines. Confirmed missing: Heavy Scorpion, Bracer, Siege Onager.
  • Walls: full set.

🏰 CBA REQUIEM v294 profile

(v294 numbers: Fandom wiki, retrieved 2026-08-21)

  • Starting age: Feudal (Requiem v294 start table).
  • Spawn unit: Cataphract (Elite on unlock).
  • Spawn interval / cap: 12 s per Castle; cap 60.
  • Kills to Castle / Imperial: 300 (Castle) / 600 (Imperial).
  • Razes: standard.
  • Free starting tech: Logistica commonly applied to make Cataphract trample viable at spawn — none listed in the v294 wiki table.
  • Elite unlock: on Imperial promotion.
  • Available buildings after villagers: Barracks, Archery Range, Stable, Siege Workshop. Elephants disabled. Trebuchet enabled.

CBA role & archetype

  • Primary role: Anti-swarm tank / dive. Cataphracts with Logistica trample-clear infantry masses.
  • Secondary role: Anti-infantry brawler.

🌅 Opening play

  • Minute 0–3: dive infantry balls. Cataphract trample means the tighter the enemy pile, the better your DPS.
  • Patrol: attack-move short arcs.
  • Preferred fights: infantry masses (Goths, Teutons, Aztecs, Vikings, Japanese).
  • Refuse: Camels (Saracens, Berbers), Mameluke, Halberdier walls.

⚔️ Kill accumulation strategy

  • Safe farm: any infantry civ, most archer civs (Cataphracts are tanky vs arrows).
  • Avoid: Saracens, Berbers.

🏚️ Raze allocation

  • Second or third raze. Byzantines have great trash-unit economy (25% off Camel/Skirm/Pike) so they scale well post-villagers but not as hard as Huns.

👷 Post-villager composition

  • Wall order: back diagonal.
  • Standard build: 1 Stable (Camel/Cavalier), 1 Range (Skirm), 1 Barracks (Halb), 1 Siege Workshop. UU production and Castle research run from your pre-placed Castles.
  • Imperial composition: Elite Cataphract + Halberdier + Skirmisher + Ram. Signature trash-supported comp.
  • Silver-UT priority: Logistica if not free. Then focus on mass.

⚖️ Strong against / Weak against

  • Strong vs: Goths, Teutons, Aztecs, Vikings, Japanese, Celts, Malay, Burmese (all infantry).
  • Weak vs: Saracens (Mameluke), Berbers (Camel Archer), Persians (elephant).

🤝 Team synergies

  • Best pairs: Britons (Longbow cover), Persians (elephant tank), Celts (Onager).
  • Conflicts: Franks (redundant heavy cavalry role).

🎮 Key micro rules

  1. Ball Cataphracts and target infantry piles for trample.
  2. Add Halberdier screen vs camels.
  3. Logistica before all else.
  4. Do not spread — trample needs density.

⚠️ Common mistakes

  • Fighting camels head-on.
  • Skipping Halberdier support.

🔒 Version-locked (Requiem v294)

  • Free Logistica at spawn is common but v294-specific. Cap and interval cap 60, interval 12 s.