Burgundians — Counters & Civilization Overview

How to play against the Burgundians — plus bonuses, unique units, unique techs and the full tech tree.

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Burgundians emblem

The Burgundians are a Cavalry civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique units are the Coustillier, Flemish Militia. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Burgundians tech tree.

How to counter the Burgundians

Their unique and regional units are the part of the matchup a generic army does not prepare you for. Hard counters beat the unit decisively and win even at a cost disadvantage — usually through bonus damage, area damage, conversion or a speed advantage it cannot escape. Soft counters win the fight too, but only with good numbers and positioning.

Coustillier Castle Age · Castle

Burgundian unique Heavy Cavalry with a powerful charged attack.

Countered by

  • Pikeman hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Camel Rider hard Attack bonus vs. cavalry
  • Monk soft Conversion
  • Samurai UU soft Attack bonus vs. unique units (+12)

Flemish Militia Feudal Age · Barracks

Burgundian unique anti-cavalry Infantry.

Countered by

What the Burgundians are strong against

The other side of the matchup: these are the fights their own units are built to win. Walking one of these into them plays to their strengths.

What the Burgundians cannot answer

Every civilization is missing something. What matters in a match is which of those gaps you can actually attack. Below are the Burgundians gaps that change how a fight plays out — the economic ones are left out on purpose.

Mounted units

  • Bloodlines — No Bloodlines — every mounted unit they field is 20 hit points short, so your Spearman line kills them a little faster in every fight.
  • Heavy Cavalry Archer — Their Cavalry Archers stay at the base tier — less range, attack and armour than the Heavy Cavalry Archer, and your Skirmishers keep the upper hand into Imperial.
  • Parthian Tactics — No Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • Arbalester — Their Archer line stops at the Crossbowman — no Arbalester, so their massed archer fire stays a tier behind yours in the Imperial Age.
  • Thumb Ring — No Thumb Ring — their archers fire slower and miss more, so your units take fewer hits crossing the open ground towards them.
  • Ring Archer Armor — No Ring Archer Armor — their archers keep Castle-Age armour, so your own archers and Skirmishers out-trade them in Imperial.
  • Gambesons — No Gambesons — their infantry stays a pierce armour short, so archers and Skirmishers cut through it faster.

Siege

  • Siege Ram — Their rams stop at the Capped Ram — fewer hit points and fewer garrison slots, so your Castle and your own siege kill them faster.
  • Siege Onager — Their Onagers never become Siege Onagers — no single shot that clears a whole group of your units, and no felling of your walls from range.
  • Heavy Scorpion — Their Scorpions stay at the base tier — less range, attack and accuracy, so your archers out-range them.
  • Siege Engineers — No Siege Engineers — their siege has one range less and hits buildings softer, so your towers and Castles out-range it.

Monastery and conversion

  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.
  • Theocracy — No Theocracy — every Monk in a group has to rest after a conversion, so massed Monks convert far slower than yours.

Defensive buildings

  • Heated Shot — No Heated Shot — their towers and Castles have no bonus damage against ships, so a shore landing stays safe for longer.

Navy

  • Heavy Demo Ship — Their Demolition Ships stay at the base tier — no Heavy Demo Ship, so one detonation no longer wipes a group of your warships.
  • Dry Dock — No Dry Dock — their ships stay a pierce armour short, so your own warships and shore towers cut through them faster.
  • Shipwright — No Shipwright — their warships cost more and build slower in the Imperial Age, so a replaced fleet comes back later than yours.

Everything the Burgundians do and do not have, unit by unit, is in the Burgundians tech tree further down.

Burgundians: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Economic upgrades available one age earlier and cost -40% food
  • Stable technologies cost -50%
  • Cavalier upgrade available in Castle Age
  • Gunpowder Units +25% attack

Team Bonus

Relics generate food in addition to gold

Unique Units

Coustillier
Coustillier · CavalryBurgundian unique Heavy Cavalry with a powerful charged attack. Strong vs. Infantry and Archery Units. Weak vs. Camel Riders and Monks.
Flemish Militia
Flemish Militia · InfantryBurgundian unique anti-cavalry Infantry. Strong vs. Mounted Units. Weak vs. Ranged Soldiers.

Unique Technologies

Burgundian VineyardsFarmers slowly generate gold in addition to food
Flemish RevolutionAll existing Villagers are transformed to Flemish Militia

Burgundians Tech Tree

The full Burgundians tech tree in Age of Empires 2 — every unit, upgrade and technology they can research, and everything they cannot. Units are shown as their upgrade lines, followed by the technologies available at each building. Greyed-out entries are missing from the Burgundians tech tree.

Barracks

  1. Militia D
  2. Man-at-Arms F
  3. Long Swordsman C
  4. Two-Handed Swordsman I
  5. Champion I
  1. Spearman F
  2. Pikeman C
  3. Halberdier I
  1. Flemish Militia F
  1. Arson F
  1. Gambesons C
  1. Squires C

Archery Range

  1. Archer F
  2. Crossbowman C
  3. Arbalester I
  1. Skirmisher F
  2. Elite Skirmisher C
  1. Cavalry Archer C
  2. Heavy Cavalry Archer I
  1. Hand Cannoneer I
  1. Thumb Ring C
  1. Parthian Tactics I

Stable

  1. Scout Cavalry F
  2. Light Cavalry C
  3. Hussar I
  1. Knight C
  2. Cavalier C
  3. Paladin I
  1. Bloodlines F
  1. Husbandry C

Siege Workshop

  1. Battering Ram C
  2. Capped Ram I
  3. Siege Ram I
  1. Mangonel C
  2. Onager I
  3. Siege Onager I
  1. Scorpion C
  2. Heavy Scorpion I
  1. Siege Tower C
  1. Bombard Cannon I

Castle

  1. Coustillier C
  2. Elite Coustillier I
  1. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. Burgundian Vineyards C
  1. Flemish Revolution I
  1. Hoardings I
  1. Conscription I
  1. Sappers I
  1. Spies/Treason I

Dock

  1. Fishing Ship D
  1. Transport Ship D
  1. Fire Galley F
  2. Fire Ship C
  3. Fast Fire Ship I
  1. Galley F
  2. War Galley C
  3. Galleon I
  1. Hulk F
  2. War Hulk C
  3. Carrack I
  1. Demolition Raft F
  2. Demolition Ship C
  3. Heavy Demo Ship I
  1. Trade Cog F
  1. Cannon Galleon I
  2. Elite Cannon Galleon I
  1. Fishing Lines D
  2. Gillnets F
  1. Medium Warships C
  2. Heavy Warships I

Monastery

  1. Monk C
  1. Devotion C
  2. Faith I
  1. Redemption C
  1. Atonement C
  1. Herbal Medicine C
  1. Heresy C
  1. Sanctity C
  1. Fervor C
  1. Illumination I
  1. Block Printing I
  1. Theocracy I

Blacksmith

  1. Padded Archer Armor F
  2. Leather Archer Armor C
  3. Ring Archer Armor I
  1. Fletching F
  2. Bodkin Arrow C
  3. Bracer I
  1. Forging F
  2. Iron Casting C
  3. Blast Furnace I
  1. Scale Barding Armor F
  2. Chain Barding Armor C
  3. Plate Barding Armor I
  1. Scale Mail Armor F
  2. Chain Mail Armor C
  3. Plate Mail Armor I

University

  1. Masonry C
  2. Architecture I
  1. Fortified Wall C
  1. Ballistics C
  1. Guard Tower C
  2. Keep I
  1. Heated Shot C
  1. Murder Holes C
  1. Careening C
  2. Dry Dock I
  1. Clinker Construction C
  2. Carvel Hull I
  1. Siphons C
  2. Incendiaries I
  1. Treadmill Crane C
  1. Chemistry I
  2. Bombard Tower I
  1. Siege Engineers I
  1. Arrowslits I
  1. Shipwright I

Market

  1. Trade Cart F
  1. Caravan F
  1. Coinage C
  2. Banking I
  1. Guilds C

Mill

  1. Horse Collar D
  2. Heavy Plow F
  3. Crop Rotation C

Lumber Camp

  1. Double-Bit Axe D
  2. Bow Saw F
  3. Two-Man Saw C

Mining Camp

  1. Gold Mining D
  2. Gold Shaft Mining F
  1. Stone Mining D
  2. Stone Shaft Mining F

Town Center

  1. Villager D
  1. Feudal Age D
  2. Castle Age F
  3. Imperial Age C
  1. Loom D
  1. Wheelbarrow D
  2. Hand Cart F
  1. Town Watch F
  2. Town Patrol C

D Dark F Feudal C Castle I Imperial · struck through = not available for the Burgundians

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Burgundians?

The Burgundians field Coustillier and Flemish Militia. Pikeman, Camel Rider and Crossbowman counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Bloodlines, Heavy Cavalry Archer and Parthian Tactics.

What is the Burgundians tech tree missing in AoE2?

No Bloodlines — every mounted unit they field is 20 hit points short, so your Spearman line kills them a little faster in every fight. Their Cavalry Archers stay at the base tier — less range, attack and armour than the Heavy Cavalry Archer, and your Skirmishers keep the upper hand into Imperial. No Parthian Tactics — their Cavalry Archers keep base armour and no bonus damage against your Spearman line, so Pikemen still trade into them.

Which units do the Burgundians have that other civilizations do not?

Coustillier: Burgundian unique Heavy Cavalry with a powerful charged attack. Flemish Militia: Burgundian unique anti-cavalry Infantry.

Not sure what counters this unit?

Playing against the Burgundians? Look up any of their units in the interactive app to see exactly what counters them — with bonus-damage values.

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