I found this small guide to the different tribes in the AoE newsgroup (microsoft.public.ageofempires). It is not complete (Only two tribes!) but it is helpfull to have around. The author is ceasar910 (E-Mail: big1@super.zippo.com) Anyway here it comes...

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The following is my analysis (based on game play with AI)
add your comments...



Tribe Attributes:
+% Fire rate +% Mining/Farm Prod.
+% faster + Attack
+ Hit Points -% Cost
+ Range

Decide between those that suit your style or do not require you to micromanage to take advantage of them...i.e Fire rate will always be used against the AI if you battle manage or not...same with HP, Attack & Range (somewhat).

Speed (%faster) and Range require you to manage units to keep out
of harms way and/or out of enemy range. AI managed units will often stray into enemy range or not use their speed to evade missle attacks

Production rates and Unit Cost are good throughout the game...but only if your offensive capabilities can match the enemy the old issue of quantity vs. quality!
--

Egyptian
+20% Gold Mining
+33% Chariot/Chariot Archer hit pt
+3 Priest Range

Gold mining is good to pay for those Great Priest!

Chariot HP's are up to 133 from 100 and Carchers are up to 93
these are not great as reg. Cav has 150HP and better attack
(+1 but with +5 against Infantry!) The Horse & heavy Horse
archers have better attacks but require Gold! The Chariots only
food and Wood...Us ethat Gold for Priest!

Priest have the greatest range of any weapon in game...13
Add afterlife and that goes to ...16 awesome! Add Temple
attributes to make them faster etc...!!!

Best way to attack Priest, Chariots & Chariot Archers they are
resistant to conversion & have double/triple attacks...this
however plays into the Egyptian hands as THEIR Chariot forces
have 33% higher HP!

Tech Tree:
No Iron shield/Bronze shield
No Cav
No Heavy Seige Weapons
No Broad/Long swordsman/heavy Inf


Best against: Greek/Minoan/Persian/Chosen?/Yamato
(no Chariots at all - priest run amok!)
Worst against:Themselves? babylonian
A Chosen War with dozens of priest
vs. Egyptians would be interesting? Range vs. Quantity!!
Or a Babylonian war with Conversion speed vs. range of
priest???

--

Phoenician

-25% Elephant Cost
+65% Catapult Trireme & Juggernaught fire rate

With both chariots/Calvary/elephants and Swordsmen/
Phalanx/Legion/centurion the Phoenicians are
a good bet for land/sea and combined arms forces.
Lacking Heavy seige weapons use the low elephant
cost to trample adjacent units/walls for 45 attack
points.

Ship fire rate is a plus against other tribes like Persian
Yamato and Greek/Minoan. Fire rate seems better agains the AI
as with movement Speed (Greek) you must micro manage to use
the advantange of this ability wisely.

Tech Tree:
No Chain Mail
No Heavy Cav/Cav Archer
No Heavy Seige Weapons
No Horse Archer

Best Against:Assyrian/Babylonian/Chosen/Hittite/Shang (Weak Navies)
Worst Against:Egyptians?Greek/Persian

--
Where are the Romans? 23BC-476AD ?

They should have?:

--

Roman
30% faster Hoplite/Phalanx/Centurion & Legion!
30% faster Warships
50% better Trade
?
No Chariots
No Elephants
No Improved/Bowmen/Heavy cav

Other tribes to come...

big1

Bye the way, did you knew that Ceasar910 also has some maps here on AoE Mekka? Yeah that´s right he did *** and ***. He also says that he will do the other tribes as a well!

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