House
Economic - DarkBase values, before building technologies. Masonry and then Architecture each give buildings "+10% HP, +1/+1 Armor": late in a game, the real numbers are higher.
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Try it freeDescription
"Provides population space for units. Without Houses, you cannot produce more villagers or military units."
Strategic Analysis
Strategic Role
Houses are essential for population growth. Each House provides 5 population space, allowing you to produce more villagers and military units.
Key Tactics
Avoid Population Cap
Always build Houses before you need them. Getting "housed" (stuck at population limit) wastes valuable production time.
Early Game Walling
Houses can be used as part of your wall line in early game, saving wood on palisade walls.
Quick Walls
In emergencies, Houses can be placed to block enemy unit pathing or protect vulnerable villagers.
Warning
Getting housed early game can cost you the match. Always queue Houses ahead of reaching population limits.
Stats Analysis
Houses are cheap and quick to build. Their low HP means they fall quickly to attacks, but their primary purpose is population space, not defense.
Population Space
+5 Pop
Each House provides 5 population space. You need about 40 Houses for a 200 population game.
Wood Cost
25 Wood
Very cheap. You can build 7 Houses with the cost of one military building.
Build Time
25s
Fast construction. One villager can build a House in under 30 seconds.
Placement Tip
Build Houses in a line to help with walling. Avoid placing them randomly - organized base layouts are easier to defend.
Timing Tip
Build Houses in pairs to stay ahead of population. Standard timing: 2 Houses at start, then 2 more around 15 pop, 20 pop, etc.
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Other Buildings
AoE Coach analysis
Context & meta
The House is the Dark Age population building: 25 wood, 550 HP, -2 melee armor, 7 pierce armor, line of sight 2, and 25 seconds of build time. The official help says it provides 5 population, while the local building description states that without Houses you cannot produce more Villagers or military units. It is not a defensive tower and it does not create a unit; its power is production permission. A House placed early protects the queue from an avoidable population block, while a House placed late can turn a winning army into idle production.
History & balance
The House is simple by design, but it is one of the most important timing checks in an Age of Empires economy. Twenty-five wood and 25 seconds buy 5 population, yet the building also creates a visible rhythm: every new Villager or military wave needs space before it can exist. Its 550 HP and 7 pierce armor are enough to make a wall of Houses useful, but the official function remains population, not combat. Civilizations can modify that rhythm, as the Huns do by not needing Houses and the Incas do by making each House provide +5 population. The rule is universal even when the numbers vary.
In pro play
Queue Houses before the population bar becomes the thing that stops your plan. Twenty-five seconds is long enough to freeze a Town Center, Stable, or Barracks at the exact moment a resource lead should become units, so place the next House while the current one still has room. Use 25 wood to make a small safety line near the base, production, or a vulnerable expansion, but do not scatter Houses so far that they become free raid targets. Remember the role: they provide 5 population and do not produce anything. A clean House rhythm is invisible when it works and decisive when it does not.
How to counter it
The House has no combat Weak vs. list; the classic mistake is to ignore the population buildings while the opponent reaches the next production or Villager timing for free. Neutralize the contribution by scouting the outer Houses, raiding builders before completion, and forcing a population block at the edge of the base. Do not attack a safe House with a full army when a small mobile unit can deny it, and do not confuse destroying one House with defeating the army already supported. If you keep losing to a population spike without knowing what to pressure or when, AoE Coach reads your match-up and gives you the economy plan and timing.