Age of Empires Forums

Anyone else really like this card? First it frees up some much needed wood early, and second, best of all, you don't keep running up against the population cap. Make a few more houses and you might be looking at something like 45 / 160 population and you can pretty well just forget about houses altogether. And when you do finally hit 160 pop, plop down two more and voila, done. And if the enemy starts taking out your houses it's not much of a bother since you can get them back with very little trouble.

Oh wow. i had completely forgotten about that card. I'll have to put it in. Ya never know when you'll need renegados :b

if you're doing a xbow/pike rush then its a good card, otherwise is not really that good.

it pays off too slowly honestly... Especially considering many games at high level dont get past the 140 population.. You are prolly much better off sending 700 or 600 wood instead of that card (and imagine 3 SW gathering all that time untill you've hit the amount of population needed for the card to pay off, they will prolly have gathered 3000 wood with ease).

Jerom:

it pays off too slowly honestly... Especially considering many games at high level dont get past the 140 population.. You are prolly much better off sending 700 or 600 wood instead of that card (and imagine 3 SW gathering all that time untill you've hit the amount of population needed for the card to pay off, they will prolly have gathered 3000 wood with ease).

This.

The only time you should ever send palatine settlements is in deathmatch.

What about if you're setting up a merc spam? Black riders, Lands and Jags eat pop. may be useful to get a trade post and send the card during trans.

I don't think it matters. You're going to need to build 2 houses before you get the shipment anyway(200w). Once you get the shipment it will increase your pop from 30 to 70(400w). Not only are you immediately getting less than a 700 wood shipment but that 40 pop space is going to take a minute or two to fill up. It's a waste.

no, its not, as I said a xbox/pike rush can make use of this card, you make batches of 10 non stop, reaching 100+ pop can be done with ease

Asclepios:

no, its not, as I said a xbox/pike rush can make use of this card, you make batches of 10 non stop, reaching 100+ pop can be done with ease

Yeah, you send the card and it gives you like 30-60 extra pop. You have to wait until it really pays off(until you can support that many units) which is what makes it useless. Whereas you can send 700 wood, build some houses, a rax/stable, and get amalgamation. These things pay off immediately if used correctly. Even if you did build 4 houses with that 700 wood(making it equal to the immediate payoff of palatine), by the time you fill that population up you'll have another shipment ready. 

You must have a pathetic BO, because you know, its not the first card in colonial to be sent.

Well if you are going to double rax Xbow/pike then it is a particulary useless card. That is because if you are going to set and get 100 pop, then double rax just sux... If you are going to do a double rax you will have to be really aggresive so you won't get past the 100 population (thats like the limit). If you have more pop then you are most likely dead.

On top of that the card simply pays off too slowly: If you send it early game it will take too long for it to pay off, so cards like 3/2 SW or 700 wood pay off more, and if you are gonna send it after those 3 cards (and often 8 Xbows is also needed to be safe) then upgrade cards pay off more than it (if you are not already fortress, then the fortress shipments pay off much more in general (german fortress shipments are so ridiculously strong)) 

Asclepios:

no, its not, as I said a xbox/pike rush can make use of this card, you make batches of 10 non stop, reaching 100+ pop can be done with ease

"rush"

it's not a rush if you sit back and mass up 100 units. thing is you're gonna be losing units so 140 pop isn't that easily reached unless there's some kind of weird age2 stalemate, in which case you still shouldn't reach 140 pop but should age instead.

Really just makes sense with the age II mercs from the Saloon like Outlaws or Thugee as those are very build cost effective but cost a lot of pop. Can use the wood shipments for market ups and houses then.

2SW, 700W (4 houses+ age II market food/gold ups), Palatine, etc. as an example for an card order.Continuously get 5 mercs out straight after aging, no danger of getting popped if there is fighting going on.