Age of Empires: Chess Style 

Strategies: "Trap"

This tactic is simple and effective way to gain the upper hand early in the game. All you need is 1 contingent of a weaker unit (the bait), and 3-4 contingents of units capable of countering the obvious counter to your weaker unit (the trap). I prefer to use cav archers as the bait (obvious enemy counter being cavalry), and gather camels, mamelukes, cavalry and pikemen for the trap.

1. Send your weaker units to start attacking enemy outposts. First clear an area of enemy outposts large enough to hide your trap force.  Make sure you've got a clear path outside of his FOV to your clearing. If the enemy sees you coming, it won't work.
   
2. Send your bait off to attack outposts closer to your enemy's base. This should piss him off enough to send some cavs.
3. Retreat your bait to the trap. Put the trap in staggered formation, on attack stance for maximum effectiveness.
   

You can probably only do this 1 or 2 times in a game, but that may be enough to get the upper hand. The enemy will catch on quickly, and will likely send a much larger force the next time he takes the offensive.

Counters

Rule of thumb: Never respond to enemy harassment with too small an army. Be sure to mix in a few units to counter the attacker's counters.

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