Tupi Civilization Guide

The Tupi are an archer and infantry civilization built around large numbers and army recycling. Their bonuses encourage mass production of cheap, expendable units while recovering a portion of lost resources when those units die. Combined with population-boosting buildings and half-cost Archery Range and Barracks upgrades, the Tupi can support larger armies when those bonuses are developed.

Their military backbone consists of Blackwood Archers, a unique paired Foot Archer that counts as only half a population each, and Ibirapema Warriors, Infantry with a powerful frontal area attack. The Tupi philosophy is simple: use population efficiency, pressure, and the cost refund to keep rebuilding after losses.

The Tupi struggle against civilizations with strong area-damage siege like Mangonels and Scorpions, which punish their tightly grouped swarm armies. Fast cavalry civilizations can also raid their spread-out economy before the Tupi mass reaches critical size. Without strong cavalry of their own, the Tupi rely on numbers and positioning to win.

This civilization suits players who enjoy aggressive, high-APM gameplay with constant unit production and pressure. The Tupi can keep production running and replace losses while their economy supports it.

Start with +25 of each resource. This small but meaningful early bonus gives you flexibility in your Dark Age opening. The extra 25 food, wood, gold, and stone can translate into an earlier Loom, a faster building, or a quicker age-up depending on your strategy. It smooths out the critical first two minutes of the game.

Villagers can garrison in Settlements. This defensive bonus lets your villagers take shelter in Settlements when raided, similar to Town Centers but distributed across your economy. It means forward Settlements serve double duty as economic buildings and defensive shelters, reducing idle time during raids.

Fallen units refund 15% of their cost. This is the core of the Tupi economic identity. Each fallen unit returns 15% of its resource cost to your stockpile. In large battles where you lose 30-40 units, this refund can amount to several hundred resources, reducing the cost of rebuilding.

Archery Range and Barracks upgrades cost 50% less food. The discount applies to upgrades in those two production lines; it should not be read as a discount on Blacksmith technologies. Use the covered upgrades without delaying villager production.

Team bonus: Towers and Castles provide +10 population space. Each Tower and Castle adds 10 population space for the team on top of the normal capacity. Building 3-4 Towers and 2 Castles gives you 50-60 extra population space, depending on the map and game state.

The Blackwood Archer is a unique paired Foot Archer trained at the Archery Range that counts as only 0.5 population each. They are trained two at a time and appear as paired archers. Their individual stats are modest, but their population efficiency is valuable. Where a normal archer costs 1 pop, two Blackwood Archers take only 1 pop combined, letting you field more archers per population point.

A strong Blackwood Archer plan uses volume. Produce them continuously from 4-5 Archery Ranges and aim for a mass by mid-Castle Age. Their combined damage can overwhelm an unprepared army, and their 0.5 population leaves room for infantry and siege support. Even when they die, the 15% refund reduces the cost of rebuilding.

The Ibirapema Warrior is a unique Infantry unit trained at the Castle with a powerful frontal area attack. It is strong against Infantry and weak against Foot Archers at long range. Use its frontal attack against grouped infantry, but protect it from long-range Foot Archers rather than assuming it clears every formation.

Use Ibirapema Warriors as your Castle Age power spike. Drop a Castle and produce them alongside your Blackwood Archer mass. Position them to engage grouped enemy infantry or archers while your Blackwood Archers provide covering fire. Their area damage synergizes perfectly with the Tupi swarm philosophy: your numbers create chaos, and the Ibirapema clean up.

Caciques is the Castle Age unique technology that makes Champi Warriors and Slingers attack 25% faster. This increases the pressure from those units, with Slingers remaining especially useful against Infantry.

Research Caciques when you enter Castle Age and have the relevant production running. The bonus applies to existing and future Champi Warriors and Slingers. Combine it with the Tupi discount on covered Archery Range and Barracks upgrades, not with an assumed discount on Blacksmith technologies.

Curare is the Imperial Age unique technology that makes Foot Archers and Fortifications deal poison damage. Foot Archer attacks and successful attacks from Towers and Castles can apply a damage-over-time effect, so targets that survive the initial hit may continue taking damage as they retreat.

Curare can make a Blackwood Archer mass more threatening over time. Towers and Castles also benefit when their attacks hit, but the effect does not damage every unit that merely passes through their range. Research Curare when its Foot Archer and Fortification effects fit your composition.

Blackwood Archer Transition: Open with a fast 21-pop Feudal, prioritizing wood and gold. Add Archery Ranges and use generic Archers for Feudal pressure and defense; the Blackwood Archer is a Castle Age Foot Archer, so begin its paired production after reaching Castle Age. Continue adding ranges and transition into Blackwoods when the economy can sustain them.

Castle Age Ibirapema Push: Build on the Feudal archer pressure with a Castle Age transition around minute 16. Drop a Castle immediately and begin Ibirapema production while continuing Blackwood Archers. Research Caciques to boost your Champi and Slinger support. By minute 20, you should have 40+ Blackwood Archers and 8-10 Ibirapema Warriors for a devastating push.

Imperial Mass with Curare: In longer games, transition through Castle Age while maintaining archer pressure. Build 3-4 Towers near your base to use the team population bonus. Upon reaching Imperial, research Curare when its Foot Archer and Fortification effects fit your plan, then add 2-3 more Archery Ranges. Support the Blackwood Archers with Siege Rams and Halberdiers, and keep the army spread enough to limit siege damage.

Favorable matchups include civilizations with weak cavalry and limited area damage. Infantry civilizations like Japanese, Celts, and Aztecs can struggle against a well-supported archer mass, while the Ibirapema's frontal area attack is useful against Infantry. In trash wars, the 15% refund and population bonuses can improve your replacement economy.

Civilizations that rely on expensive, low-count armies can be vulnerable to a Tupi swarm if they lack area damage. Even if they kill Blackwood Archers, the refund reduces your replacement cost; it does not guarantee faster production than the opponent.

Unfavorable matchups include Mangonel-heavy civilizations like Celts, Ethiopians, and Koreans. Massed Mangonels devastate your tightly grouped Blackwood Archers, and without strong cavalry to snipe siege, you must rely on careful micro to avoid shots. Spread your army wide and use Ibirapema Warriors to charge siege positions.

Fast cavalry civilizations like Mongols, Huns, and Magyars can raid your economy before your mass reaches critical size. Their mobility lets them pick off Settlements and villagers while avoiding your slow infantry. Build defensive Towers early to use their team population bonus, and use the villager garrison bonus in Settlements to limit raid damage.

Population space is a major Tupi asset. Build Towers and Castles for defense as well as the +10 population space each from the team bonus. Three Castles and four Towers provide 70 extra population space, which can support a larger army when your economy can sustain it.

Recycle your armies deliberately. The 15% cost refund makes losses less expensive than they would be without the bonus. Take fights only when the broader trade is acceptable: the refund reduces replacement cost, but it does not make unfavorable engagements free. Keep the production queues active when resources allow.

Blackwood Archers are an efficient population-use unit. At 0.5 population each with a 15% refund on death, they can support sustained production when resources are available. Set up 5 Archery Ranges with continuous production and rally them to the front, while protecting the mass from siege and close-range units.

Use the 50% food discount on covered Archery Range and Barracks upgrades. Do not assume that Blacksmith technologies such as Forging, Scale Mail, Fletching, or Bodkin Arrow receive this discount; choose them according to your resources and composition.

In Imperial Age, Curare can add poison damage when Foot Archer and Fortification attacks hit. Place Towers at useful defensive positions, and combine them with the villager garrison bonus in Settlements to make raids harder to execute.