Chinese¶
Kite Dive flexible ranged/siege.
| Spawn unit | Starting age | Kills to Castle | Kills to Imp | Razes to vill | Cap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chu Ko Nu (Elite on unlock) | Feudal | 250 | 500 | 2 | 80 | 8 s |
⚡ Quick reference¶
- Baseline (reworked): +3 villagers start, techs discounted progressively, TC +LoS/pop, Fire Lancer/Fire Ship speed, farm team food. UU Chu Ko Nu. UTs Rocketry (Scorpion/Rocket Cart/Lou Chuan buff), Great Wall.
- Requiem v294: starting age Feudal; kills-to-Castle 250; razes-to-vill 2.
- CBA role: flexible ranged/siege.
- Post-vill: CKN + Spear/cavalry screen + regional Fire Lancer/Rocket Cart.
- Weak vs: Skirmishers, high-pierce-armor infantry.
📜 Deep playbook¶
🏛️ Standard DE profile
- Civ bonuses
- Start with +3 villagers but -200 food, -50 wood.
- Town Centers +5 population (technically +5 in Feudal per age via patches — verify current DE wording).
- Technologies cost -10% Feudal, -15% Castle, -20% Imperial.
- Demolition Ships +50 HP.
- Team: Farms +45 food.
- Unique units
- Castle UU: Chu Ko Nu (multi-arrow crossbowman).
- Unique techs
- Castle Age — Great Wall (walls and towers +30% HP).
- Imperial Age — Rocketry (Chu Ko Nu +2 attack, Scorpions +4 attack).
- Notable missing techs
- No Bloodlines, no Paladin (Cavalier max), no Halberdier (Pikeman only), no Heresy.
- Walls: full set (and buffed by Great Wall).
🏰 CBA REQUIEM v294 profile
(v294 numbers: Fandom wiki, retrieved 2026-08-21)
- Starting age: Feudal (Requiem v294 start table).
- Spawn unit: Chu Ko Nu (Elite on unlock).
- Spawn interval / cap: 8 s per Castle; cap 80.
- Kills to Castle / Imperial: 250 (Castle) / 500 (Imperial).
- Razes: standard.
- Free starting tech: Rocketry commonly applied at spawn to make Chu Ko Nu competitive; Thumb Ring; Chemistry.
- Elite unlock: on Imperial promotion.
- Available buildings after villagers: Barracks, Archery Range, Stable, Siege Workshop. Elephants disabled. Scorpions typically enabled (Chinese signature). Trebuchet enabled. BBC available.
CBA role & archetype
- Primary role: Ranged AoE / anti-swarm. Chu Ko Nu secondary arrows shred packed enemies.
- Secondary role: Wall/base breaker with Scorpion + BBC late game.
🌅 Opening play
- Minute 0–3: sit at max range vs packed enemy piles. The tighter the enemy ball, the higher your secondary-arrow damage.
- Patrol: short-patrol; Chu Ko Nu wants stable firing lines.
- Preferred fights: massed melee (Goths, Teutons, Vikings, Japanese, Aztecs, Celts).
- Refuse: Onager/Mangonel fire (Chu Ko Nu are fragile), Mangudai kites, Cataphract trample.
⚔️ Kill accumulation strategy
- Safe farm: any melee-swarm civ.
- Avoid: Mongols (Mangudai out-range), Ethiopians (Siege Onager), Celts (Siege Onager).
🏚️ Raze allocation
- Second raze. Chinese have tech-discount eco that scales well; but Huns/Persians still take first priority.
👷 Post-villager composition
- Wall order: back diagonal — Great Wall bonus means Chinese walls are the tankiest, use extra stone here.
- Standard build: 2 Ranges, 1 Siege Workshop (Ram), 1 Barracks (Pikeman). UU production and Castle research run from your pre-placed Castles.
- Imperial composition: Elite Chu Ko Nu + Scorpion (with Rocketry) + BBC + Pikeman screen.
- Silver-UT priority: Rocketry if not free — buffs both Chu Ko Nu and Scorpion. Then Great Wall for defense.
⚖️ Strong against / Weak against
- Strong vs: Goths, Teutons, Vikings, Japanese, Aztecs, Celts, Malay, Burmese (all melee).
- Weak vs: Mongols, Ethiopians, Celts (Siege Onager), Bohemians (Hussite tanks arrows).
🤝 Team synergies
- Best pairs: Persians (elephant tank + Chu Ko Nu cover), Aztecs (Jaguar dive + Chu Ko Nu back-line), Bohemians (Hussite screen + Chu Ko Nu behind).
- Conflicts: Britons (redundant archer role, both die to same counters).
🎮 Key micro rules
- Never fight spread-out enemies — wait for the ball.
- Rocketry before all else.
- Screen Chu Ko Nu with Pikemen — they melt in melee.
- Add Scorpions post-villagers for AoE stacking.
- Great Wall the back diagonal for stone efficiency.
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Engaging Mangudai (out-range you and win).
- Skipping Scorpion mass — Chu Ko Nu alone is not enough late game.
🔒 Version-locked (Requiem v294)
- Free Rocketry at spawn is common but v294-specific. Elite unlock, cap and interval cap 80, interval 8 s — verify against the Requiem v294 table before final decisions.
End of Group 1 (Armenians → Chinese). Group 2 continues with Cumans → Georgians in Appendix D.