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Franks

Tank Dive dive / raze; heavy cavalry contact layer.

Spawn unit Starting age Kills to Castle Kills to Imp Razes to vill Cap Interval
Paladin (heavy cav dive, standard CBA-Franks signature). Throwing A... Feudal 300 600 3 80 8 s

⚡ Quick reference

  • Baseline: faster Foragers, free Mill techs, mounted +20% HP from Feudal, discounted Castles. UU Throwing Axeman. UTs Chivalry (Stable +25% speed), Bearded Axe (+range Axeman).
  • Requiem v294: starting age Feudal; kills-to-Castle 300; razes-to-vill 3.
  • CBA role: dive / raze; heavy cavalry contact layer.
  • Post-vill: heavy cav dive + Axeman support.
  • Weak vs: camels, Halbs.
  • Synergy: with Byzantines (Paladin + Cataphract shield).

📜 Deep playbook

🏛️ Standard DE profile

  • Civ bonuses:
  • Castles cost -25%.
  • Foragers work 25% faster.
  • Farm upgrades are free (automatic).
  • Knights +20% HP starting in Feudal.
  • Cavalry can see Relics on the map (minimap ping).
  • Team bonus: Knights +2 line of sight.
  • Unique units: Throwing Axeman (Castle UU, ranged infantry throwing axes). Team UU via ally Castle. Regional: none.
  • Unique techs:
  • Castle Age: Chivalry — Stables work 40% faster.
  • Imperial Age: Bearded Axe — Throwing Axemen +1 range.
  • Notable missing techs: no Ring Archer Armor (no Thumb Ring wait — Franks lack Bracer and Ring Archer Armor), no Camel, no Hand Cannoneer wait — Franks DO have HC. Franks lack Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Redemption/Atonement (partial monk tree), Elite Skirmisher wait — they have Elite Skirmisher. Confirmed missing: Bracer, Ring Archer Armor, Camel Rider, Sappers, Herbal Medicine? Verify vs DE current. Core memorable gap: no Bracer.
  • Walls: Palisade, Stone, Fortified.

🏰 CBA REQUIEM v294 profile

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

  • Starting age: Feudal (Requiem v294 start table).
  • Spawn unit: Paladin (heavy cav dive, standard CBA-Franks signature). Throwing Axeman is not the CBA spawn.
  • Spawn interval / cap: 8 s per Castle; cap 80.
  • Kills to Castle / Imperial: 300 (Castle) / 600 (Imperial).
  • Razes to first villagers: 3 — typically Franks are last to receive villagers because their dive is so strong.
  • Free starting tech: Squires — Bloodlines + Plate Barding Armor + Blast Furnace are all baseline for Frank Paladins.
  • Silver-UT unlock: not listed in the v294 wiki table — ask in the Requiem Discord; may unlock Bearded Axe (irrelevant to Paladin) or a Paladin-related buff — check v294 table.
  • Available buildings after villagers: standard whitelist. Frank HC is available (they have it in DE).

CBA role & archetype

  • Primary role: Dive / tank. Frank Paladin is the archetypal CBA diver — huge HP, cost-efficient, ideal razer.
  • Secondary role: raze conversion.

🌅 Opening play (minute 0–3)

  • Position center or on the strongest flank. Frank Paladin is the fist.
  • Set spawn short only if you're the primary front; medium if you're feeding a cav-archer teammate.
  • Patrol in column-through-enemy, not clumped — clumped Paladins die to Onager.
  • Take fights: anything melee, wounded ranged, isolated Halbs (yes — Paladin trades OK vs. small Halb clumps).
  • Refuse fights: mass Halb (5+ per Paladin), Camel civ Imp Camels, mass Onager, mass Cataphract.

⚔️ Kill accumulation strategy

  • Safe kill farm: Aztecs, Vikings, Mayans (kite the Plumes then dive), Ethiopians Shotel.
  • Avoid feeding: any Camel civ (Berbers, Saracens, Gurjaras, Hindustanis), Byzantines Cataphract, Persians Elephants, Slavs Boyar.
  • Anti-caging: Franks rarely get caged — they dive out. Just don't stall on the base wall.

🏚️ Raze allocation

  • Low-priority for villagers (feed razes elsewhere). Franks are strongest without villagers — the spawn Paladins are the win condition.
  • Feed razes to weaker-diver teammates (Aztecs, Vikings, Cumans).

👷 Post-villager composition

  • Wall order: gate patch first (Paladins path in/out), backwall, front wall.
  • Standard build: 1 Barracks (Halb), 1 Range (Skirm/HC), 3 Stables (Paladin reinforcement), 2 Siege Workshops.
  • Imperial composition: Paladin + Halberdier + Siege Ram + Hand Cannoneer. HC compensates for no Bracer (still hits hard at close range).
  • Silver-UT priority: Bearded Axe (only if Throwing Axeman is available in your v294) — otherwise skip UTs and pump Paladins.

⚖️ Strong against / Weak against

  • Strong vs: Aztecs, Vikings, Mayans (post-dive), Goths (post-Halb-Paladin trade), Ethiopian Shotel, Malay.
  • Weak vs: Gurjaras (Shrivamsha + Camel), Hindustanis (Imp Camel), Berbers (Camel Archer), Byzantines (Cataphract + Camel), Persians (Elephant), Chinese CKN + Halb combo.

🤝 Team synergies

  • Best partners: Kipchak/Mangudai civs (Cumans, Mongols) — you dive, they clean up.
  • Best partners: Britons — you dive, they Arb from the back.
  • Conflict: pairing with another pure-dive civ (Persians, Huns) creates no depth.

🎮 Key micro rules

  1. Never stand still — a still Paladin is Onager food.
  2. Always dive through, never stop-and-fight.
  3. Save 2-3 Paladins as base-defense reserve; never full-commit.
  4. Raze conversion is priority over kill farming late-game.
  5. Do not chase Camels; retreat and let ally handle.

Common mistakes: overcommitting to a Camel civ front; forgetting Halb support in Imperial; walling first (Franks should dive first, wall second).

🔒 Version-locked (Requiem v294)

  • Frank Paladin +20% HP is DE-standard.
  • Whether v294 pre-researches Blast Furnace / Plate Barding is not listed in the v294 wiki table — ask in the Requiem Discord but usually yes.