Sicilians — Counters & Civilization Overview

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

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Sicilians emblem

The Sicilians are an Infantry and Cavalry civilization in Age of Empires 2. Their unique unit is the Serjeant. Below: what counters the units they bring, where their tech tree runs out, and the full civilization overview. Jump to the Sicilians tech tree.

How to counter the Sicilians

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.

Serjeant Feudal Age · Donjon

Sicilian unique Infantry that can construct Donjons.

Countered by

What the Sicilians 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 Sicilians cannot answer

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

Mounted units

  • Paladin — Their heavy cavalry stops at the Cavalier — no Paladin, so it stays noticeably softer and your Halberdiers keep the upper hand in Imperial.
  • Hussar — No Hussar — their Light Cavalry never reaches the last tier, so it stays a weaker raider and a weaker answer to your Monks.
  • 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.

Gunpowder

  • Hand Cannoneer — No Hand Cannoneer — the Sicilians never get gunpowder infantry, so massed melee infantry keeps working against them deep into the Imperial Age.
  • Bombard Cannon — No Bombard Cannon — they have no gunpowder siege at all. Your own Bombard Cannons out-range every siege unit they can field except the Trebuchet.

Blacksmith and unit upgrades

  • 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.

Monastery and conversion

  • Redemption — No Redemption — their Monks cannot convert your siege or your buildings, so a Trebuchet parked outside their base is safe from the Monastery.
  • Heresy — No Heresy — units your Monks convert stay converted instead of dying, so a Monk push against them pays double.
  • Atonement — No Atonement — their Monks cannot convert yours, so your Monks win the Monastery duel by default.
  • Block Printing — No Block Printing — their Monks have to come closer to convert, which walks them into range of your archers first.
  • Theocracy — No Theocracy — every Monk in a group has to rest after a conversion, so massed Monks convert far slower than yours.

Defensive buildings

  • Watch Tower — No Watch Tower — they have no standard tower line to fall back on, so your early raids meet far less static defence.
  • Fortified Wall — No Fortified Wall — their walls stay at Stone Wall strength, so rams and Petards get through faster.
  • Bombard Tower — No Bombard Tower — their towers never become gunpowder towers, so your siege can set up against a tower line instead of being shelled off it.
  • Architecture — No Architecture — their buildings keep base armour and hit points, so your siege takes them down faster.

Navy

  • Incendiaries — No Incendiaries — their Fire Ships simply sink instead of detonating, so killing one costs your fleet nothing extra.
  • Elite Cannon Galleon — Their Cannon Galleons stay at the base tier — less range and damage than the Elite version.

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

Sicilians: Civilization and Team Bonuses

Civilization Bonuses

  • Start with +100 stone
  • Farm upgrades provide +125% additional food
  • Soldiers receive -40% bonus damage
  • Can build Donjon in Dark Age, replaces Watch Tower-line
  • Fortifications built +50% faster; Town Centers built +100% faster

Team Bonus

Transport Ships +5 line of sight and cost -50%

Unique Units

Serjeant
Serjeant · InfantrySicilian unique Infantry that can construct Donjons. Strong vs. Infantry and Camel Riders. Weak vs. Mounted Archers and Gunners.

Unique Technologies

First CrusadeUp to 5 Town Centers spawn 5 Serjeants each; units more resistant to conversion
HauberkKnight-line +1 melee/+2 pierce armor

Sicilians Tech Tree

The full Sicilians 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 Sicilians tech tree.

Barracks

  1. Militia D
  2. Man-at-Arms F
  3. Long Swordsman C
  4. Two-Handed Swordsman I
  5. Champion I
  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 I
  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. Petard C
  1. Trebuchet I
  1. First Crusade C
  1. Hauberk 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 F
  1. Medium Warships C
  2. Heavy Warships I
  1. Gillnets C

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

Donjon

  1. Donjon D
  1. Serjeant F
  2. Elite Serjeant I
  1. Spearman F
  2. Pikeman C
  3. Halberdier 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 C
  1. Coinage C
  2. Banking I
  1. Guilds I

Mill

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

Lumber Camp

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

Mining Camp

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

Town Center

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

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

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you counter the Sicilians?

The Sicilians field Serjeant. Crossbowman, Scorpion and Samurai counter most of what they build. Their tech tree also leaves out Paladin, Hussar and Heavy Cavalry Archer.

What is the Sicilians tech tree missing in AoE2?

Their heavy cavalry stops at the Cavalier — no Paladin, so it stays noticeably softer and your Halberdiers keep the upper hand in Imperial. No Hussar — their Light Cavalry never reaches the last tier, so it stays a weaker raider and a weaker answer to your Monks. 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.

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

Serjeant: Sicilian unique Infantry that can construct Donjons.

Not sure what counters this unit?

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

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