Sicilians
Infantry & CavalryTeam Bonus
Transport Ships +5 line of sight and cost -50%
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"The Sicilians are an infantry and cavalry civilization with bonus starting stone, better farms, soldiers that take reduced bonus damage, and Donjons."
Civilization Bonuses
- 1
Start with +100 stone
- 2
Farm upgrades provide +125% additional food
- 3
Soldiers receive -40% bonus damage
- 4
Can build Donjon in Dark Age, replaces Watch Tower-line
- 5
Fortifications built +50% faster; Town Centers built +100% faster
Unique Units
Unique Technologies
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AoE Coach analysis
Context & meta
The Sicilians are an infantry-and-cavalry civilization defined by resilience and strong defenses. Their soldiers receive 40% less bonus damage, making them remarkably tough against unit counters like Camels, anti-infantry, and anti-cavalry attacks. They start with +100 stone and build fortifications 50% faster and Town Centers 100% faster, enabling aggressive forward expansion and castle drops. Their farm upgrades provide +125% additional food, fueling a strong late-game economy, and they can build the Donjon, a defensive structure available in Dark Age that trains their unique Serjeant. With unique technologies like First Crusade and Hauberk, the Sicilians excel at defensive, map-controlling play and durable mixed armies.
History & balance
The Sicilians embody a Norman-influenced identity of fortified strongholds and resilient soldiers, and their design centers on reducing the bonus damage that normally defines unit counters. This makes their Knights and infantry frustratingly hard to counter cleanly, forcing opponents to rely on raw numbers. The early stone bonus and rapid fortification construction reinforce a defensive, territory-claiming playstyle, with the Donjon offering an unusual Dark Age defensive option that trains the spear-and-shield Serjeant. Their farm bonus secures a powerful late economy. Across balance eras, the Sicilians have been framed as a flexible, durable civilization rewarding map control and forward aggression, less reliant on hard counters and more on overwhelming staying power and defensive infrastructure.
In pro play
Sicilian players exploit the +100 starting stone and 100% faster Town Centers for aggressive forward Town Center and Castle plays, claiming map control early. A signature move is a Castle Age forward castle to pump out Serjeants, which can build Donjons in the field for snowballing pressure. Their bonus-damage reduction makes Knights a safe, hard-to-counter pick that resists Camels and Pikemen better than usual, so cavalry timings are popular. The farm bonus supports a smooth transition into a heavy late game on closed maps like Arena and Black Forest. Pros value the Sicilians for their flexibility between durable infantry and resilient cavalry, and for the map-pressure potential of cheap, fast fortifications and forward Donjon aggression.
How to counter it
Because Sicilian soldiers take 40% less bonus damage, traditional hard counters underperform, so rely on raw damage output and numbers rather than counter-units alone. Massed archers and Arbalests apply pressure without depending on bonus damage, and trash units like Halberdiers still chip down their cavalry given enough volume. Siege such as Onagers and Bombard Cannons bypasses their counter-resistance entirely and is highly effective against their infantry and structures. Avoid letting them establish forward castles and Donjons unopposed; deny their map-control plays early before the stone and Town Center bonuses snowball. Raiding their economy before farms mature can blunt their late game. Overwhelm them with sheer firepower and siege rather than trying to out-counter their unusually resilient units.