Upset your opponents economic development utilitzing the Turks automatic light cav upgrade During the days of Age of Empires I and the Rise of Rome a predominant military tactic was rushing, or hoping to mass an army of one or two units much faster then your opponent, and attack when his pants are down. In AoK, however, this tactic isn't feasible to win a match. However a version of it can be used to potentially mortally wound your opponent and lead to a victory at one of the later ages. This rush, called the Light Cav Rush, is best performed with the Turks because of their free light cavalry upgrade once you progress to the Castle Age. It is also best played on a predominantly land map. Needless to say you are unable to attack with light cavalry if you have to wait for transports to send them overseas. The first step to this strategy is to find the enemy. This can be done early on in the game using your scout. As soon as he done scouting your base, send him to find the enemy. Make sure not to let your scout get caught in battle while taking part in this reconnaissance phase of the plan, he will be too valuable later on. By the time you have feudaled it is essential that you have 350 wood. Once you hit it, build both a stable and a market. As soon as your stable is up and running, start PUMPING out scout cavs. Remember your goal for this strategy isn't to kill off your opponent, because it will never happen. You want to disrupt his economy enough to give yourself an advantage later on in the games. As a result you should make two stables, however don't go overboard with the scout cav production. You should shout to have a standing army of about ten scouts before you being castling. Now this strategy doesn't work to its fullest extent unless you castle well before any of your opponents. As a result you should concentrate on wood, gold and food as much as possible. As soon as you start your move towards the Castle Age, start moving your "army" of scouts cavs towards the enemy. It takes 2 minutes and 40 seconds to complete the Castle Age upgrade, so try and time your battle. As soon as you hit castle, attack because your scouts will magically transform into light cavs and NOW you have a fair army. While attacking there are several ways you can disrupt your enemy's production. First, look for undefended mines and lumber camps on the outskirts of his town. Since you will have the element of surprise and speed on your side you should be able to take out a hefty chunk of his villagers. You will also disrupt production should the opponent garrison his villagers while trying to produce units to counter your cavalry. As a result he will no longer be producing food, gold or stone, and also be depleting his resources while churning out pikemen. Even then, don't take the pikemen head on, move on to the next enemy, if he still hasn't castled, and try to put a dent in his economy as well. Also if he does garrison his villagers move on to the next enemy. He will probably keep them cooped up until he can produce his counter units anyway. The last thing he would want to do is send out villagers to test the water and risk losing a few more villagers. Hopefully by this time your partner(s) will be able to start attacking your mortally wounded enemies, while you head back and concentrate on building a strong Late Castle/Imperial Age army. Also since you have been booming while you have been attacking, you should have 40+ villagers, a rocking economy compared to the enemy, who at the most has 35 or so, and at the LEAST has 10! Hit Imperial as soon as you have the resources, and the rest is history. Remember however, this strategy is based on speed, not power. Pretty much anything can kill a light cavalry unit. As a result it is essential you have 10+ light cavs at his doorstep before he has castled. You are also banking on the fact your opponents were booming and not building an army by the time you show up to rain on their parade. Also remember after about two minutes your enemy should have a good sized anti-light cav army, so make sure you make the first hit count, it's quite probably the only one you will get. Screen Captures Jackpot - A group of ten Turkish Light Cavs, recently upgraded from Scout Cavs, makes their way upon a group of unsuspecting Frank villagers. Cut 'Em Off at the Pass - Despite taking some hits from an ungarrisoned TC, the Cavs are able to cut down the villagers before they make it to the TC. Count 'Em Up - The corpse of Frank villagers litter the ground as the Turks continue after a straggler. Saved Games Watch as Clai44 uses the Turkish Light Cavalry rush. You have to see it to believe it.