The Egyptians are not particularly used for raiding, as they are more of a booming civilisation, but it is usually good (for you at least) to keep pressure on the other player. Why let your opponent build up an nearly unbeatable army while you are booming, the opponent is most likely taking map control at the same time, which will really hurt you.

Raiding units

Greek - The Greek should use hippikon primarily for raiding as they are fast and fairly strong. Use centaurs also if you are either Zeus or Poseidon, as two centaurs will kill one villager in one shot with their special attack.

Egyptians - With the Egyptians lacking in a cavalry unit, they are the worst for raiding (this still doesn't make them unaffective). During classical age, use spearmen to raid. Spearmen are fast for infantry units and powerful, and if you happen to come across an enemy raiding unit you will be effective against them. Once advanced to the heroic age, start pumping out chariot archers, these have good range and are also powerful and very fast.

Norse - Raiding cavalry obviously are the first choice for the Norse in attacking enemy villagers. They are the most agile and can be produced fast compared to other civilisations' raiding units.

How to raid

- The more army buildings you construct - the faster you will be able to get units, so try getting around three buildings down.
- Start raiding as soon as possible. You should scout all the enemies area before advancing to classical and have uncovered his miners preferably. The sooner you attack the more effective the raiding will be.
- It is not always essential to kill enemy villagers, as stopping them working is just as useful. Try to disrupt them as much as possible.
- As soon as enemy units are in reaching distance from your soldiers, retreat and then try to attack other villagers which are most likely unguarded.
- Try not to lead too much concentration on raiding, you will want to keep pressure on your opponent and take his mind off the rest of the map, thus allowing you to takeover map control.
- Never stop your army buildings producing units.

How to prevent raiding

-Don't place all of your villagers in one spot, instead space your villagers over 2+ areas. Although this will make it more likely you are spotted, at least you have some villagers to fall back onto
-Use up resources further afield, this way you will have some resources in your base to fall back on if you are attacked.
- If there is a reasonable amount of villagers and only a couple of raiding units, don't run attack them with your villagers. AOM's villagers are stronger then ensemble studios' former games.
- Are you near a tower? Garrison the attacked units into the tower until a sufficient amount of your army comes to relieve the pressure. Don't ring the town bell - causing your hole economy to collapse for a while.
- If you are playing against a notorious raiding civilisation, like Odin or Poseidon, construct your buildings like walls with slight wholes for units to walk through. Build a shelter for your gold miners, with the opening towards the town centre, with sufficient space to move.
- No resources left in your base? If you are being raided alot then build fairly open walls around the resource and maybe build a lone tower near the gate or unmarked area. If the gate gets attacked send some of your army towards the area and if there is no ranged unit's then repair the wall with your villagers.
- Don't upgrade towers or prevent raiding unless you have been raided, you don't want to waste resources on what is not needed.
- If you are raided, upgrade towers as soon as possible if you are not Egyptians, then research Crenellations from a tower. This is a useful tech against raiders - causing double damage against cavalry and improved building fire accuracy.
- If you are seriously being raided your mind away, then place relevant counter unit's near your resource blackspots.
- Raid back! There is no better pleasure in giving your opponent at taste of their own medicine.

FAQs

Is it really that important to get Crenellations?

If you are only being raided poorly, by a few units every 4 minutes or so, i would leave crenellations. But if you have the spare resources i would definitely get this tech.

When should i start raiding?

As soon as you have advanced to the classical age and got buildings up, raid as soon as possible. If your opponent hasn't advanced by the time you are doing your first raid, he will not be able to counter it, this is also one of the prime times to raid.

I don't raid, do you think i'm making a mistake?

Raiding can really allow you to climb a lot of points in the ladder, unlike booming - as i found out myself!

Should i still raid even once i have reached Heroic?

Yes. But raiding isn't the highest priority later in the game, but you can really find some nice collections of villagers if you attack later.

I've tried raiding but the opponent took all the precautions previously stated. What do i do now?

It is best to make sure you are making an army and taking map control while raiding, this way once you have come to the end of raiding, you then can suprise him by taking town centres once advancing (thanks to your uber economy and his poor economy) and you can attack him where he least expects it (not the resource areas).

What is a good size of units for raiding?

A good size is between 3-8. You really don't want much more, as this will cause terrible pathing problems.

When is raiding most effective?

It is best to raid as soon as you have hit classical and if your opponent uses any economy GPs. If Isis uses prosperity, attack the gold miners. If Ra uses Rain, attack his farmers (don't attack farmers around a town centre). Another good time to raid, though a late time - is to raid once fimbulwinter has been casted with the possibilty of causing serious economy damage.

How do i know where my opponent will raid next?

If you have spotted a scout nearby you (i.e Kataskopos/Odin's raven and an ulfsark) then you should take necessary precautions incase he raids. Any open spaces will be the most vulnerable to attack. Aslo check the minor god sequence your enemy goes through - Hermes and Freyja usually indicate raiders.

Well, this is all i can come up with at this time. Any corrections, suggestions or comments, feel free to say

Edits

- Mummy9011 reminded me that MU can also be effective unit's against villagers. 2 Anubites are extremely powerful against a bunch of villagers. Sphinx can be powerful too against villagers, in herds (is that the word) they can be devasting. Nearly all Mu are good raiding unit's. I wouldn't recommend a Wadjet for raiding though :P.Thanks for the help!

-Outthere says that Raiders have a shorter LOS then your villagers so you can move them without the enemy noticing. Thanks for that

[This message has been edited by Sulphent (edited 09-16-2003 @ 06:27 AM).]