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Analysis

The Copper Epoch picks up a lot in strategy but is still missing some elements found later. This epoch is a lot more involved
than the first two epochs (Prehistoric and Stone). You can now farm which means that food shortages are unlikely unless you
aren't farming. Farming also means a bigger need for wood in the beginning. The Stable also makes its appearance in this
epoch thus providing a basic cavalry unit. Many more ships can be built and unit relationships on the water exist now. There
is also the Hospital for healing units. The University for learning new technology and protecting against Priest and
Babylon Priest Tower conversions. The Fortress for garrisoning units inside, which, while inside, do not count towards your
PopCap (Population Capacity). There is also the ability to make Heroes and Wonders . Also, for Civilization Specific Powers,
Ancient Greece gains the Flaming Arrows ability while Austria gains the Adaptation technology. A good combo on land is
the Spearman and Simple Bowman combo. A good combo on the water is the Frigate and Battleship combo.
 

Economy

Food and wood are the big necessities in this epoch. Food is not limited however like in previous epochs. Wood is needed
for rafts, boats and buildings. Gold is needed as well now. Iron is still not really a priority yet (unless shipbuilding) but is a
priority if basing your army on infantry units. And stone is still mainly for defense and some buildings.

Remember too, more options means you need more resources.

Unit resource breakdowns:

Battleship - Copper = gold & wood
Canine Scout = food
Citizen = food
Fishing Raft = wood
Frigate - Copper = iron & wood
Galley - Copper = iron & wood
Horseman = food & gold
Maceman =  food & iron
Priest = food & gold
Prophet = food & gold
Sampson = gold & wood
Simple Bowman =  gold & wood
Spearman = food & iron
Transport - Copper = wood

Building resource breakdowns

Archery Range = wood
Barracks = wood
Dock = wood
Farm = wood
Fortress = wood
Granary = wood
Hospital = stone & wood
House = stone & wood
Settlement = wood
Stable = wood
Temple = stone & wood
Tower = stone
University = stone & wood
Wall/Gate = stone

Wonders can also now be built (see here for description)

Coliseum = gold & stone & wood
Ishtar Gates = iron & stone & wood
Library of Alexandria = gold & stone & wood
Pharos Lighthouse = iron & stone & wood
Temple of Zeus = iron & stone & wood
Tower of Babylon = gold & stone & wood
 

To start out, you'll need a couple Citizens   which you should start out with. Next objective is to build a
Settlement  Town Center  then Capitol  as needed. To upgrade
from a Settlement to a Town Center requires 5 Citizens to populate the Settlement. After 10 Citizens populate a Town Center
it becomes a Capitol. Adding more citizens adds a bigger morale bonus. From a Town Center or a Capitol (but not a
Settlement) you can produce more Citizens or even the Canine Scout  which can go through trees and makes a decent
unit to "see what the Joneses are up to". Got to keep up with those Joneses you know.

Also, try to keep a Settlement, Town Center or Capitol near resources so that the resources are gathered
faster. Don't make the citizens have to walk too far.

Next is the house . The house makes your units stronger and more durable within range of the house.
Houses help improve your defenses. Town Centers and Capitols also provide defensive bonuses as well.

There are two upgrades in this epoch. One is called Fine-Edged Tools  and increases hunting and foraging.
The second upgrade is called Hand Axe  and increases wood gathering.
 

Towers, Walls & Gates (defense)

  
***
After you get your economy going with food and wood production/collection, you'll want to start thinking about your defensive
and military options. For defense, you need to make a choice between weaker wooden palisades, which are easier to make
but not as durable, or the more durable stone variety. Unless tapped for stone, I recommend the stone defenses. In a pinch
though use the wooden palisades. Remember also that wood burns and there is the Civilization Specific Power of Ancient
Greece called Flaming Arrows as well as the Prophet's Fire Storm. The ability to create a gate from 5 inline walls exists.
Walls should be used to slow down the enemy and are fairly quick and inexpensive to build. Walls can't fight back like
Towers can but do serve well to slow down an enemy from getting to a place you don't want them to be. Also take note,
trees and other obstacles make great boundaries for your village, town, and eventual (hopefully) prosperous city. Also note
that Carthage's Pathfinding* ability negates this boundary strategy in The Art of Conquest Expansion.
 

Priests/Prophets

In all epochs, the Priests  and Prophets  are made at the Temple. The safeguard against Priests is the University.
Units within range of a University can not be converted by Priests. Prophets can not do their 'voodoo' around a temple so
there is protection against Prophets if you plan out making Temples for protection. Priests work well as defense now since
the Universities your opponent probably has up cancel out any attack abilities enjoyed in the earlier epochs (Prehistoric and
Stone). They are nice as defense though because the enemy comes into your camp and you get new units (even over your
Pop Cap). The Prophet is still as useful as ever. Launch some of those 'voodoo' whoodoos when the opportunity arises then
go back and recharge afterwards.

There are two upgrades available in the Copper Epoch. Mythology  increases Priest speed. And Polytheism 
increases the Priest range.
 

Military
 

Heroes

Gilgamesh  is the Warrior Hero. Sargon of Akkad  is the Strategist Hero.
See chapter XI in the Empire Earth manual for more information on heroes.
 

Archery Range

Only one unit from the Archery Range, the Simple Bowman . With archery/ranged units, you usually want to improve the
range of the unit. Attack is also another good improvement as well. A common tactic is to use a group of Spearmen with
increased hit points and attack values as a protective shield for your ranged units. this way, if units get in close, your
Spearmen can take care of them while your Simple Bowmen attack from a safer distance. Simple Bowmen need to
beware Mace Men which is why you have the Spearmen, right? If coming from the Stone Epoch (II), you will need to
upgrade  from the Slinger to the Simple Bowman.
 

Barracks

There are now some specialized units to build at the Barracks. The basic infantry (sword) unit is now the Mace Man.
There is also the Spearman . And the last unit is the Sampson . The Sampson is good at knocking down buildings
but can't attack anything else except buildings. Also, if you noticed a large poster that shipped with the game, there is a unit
relationship chart included. Learn the unit relationships for better gameplay. In this epoch, Mace Men have bonuses against
Simple Bowmen, Simple Bowmen have bonuses against Spearmen, and Spearmen have bonuses against Mace Men. It is a
good idea to build several of each type to be prepared for any attack. To take out buildings, use Sampsons, but you'll need
to protect them first with other units. You need to make the decision though of which road to take. Also, don't forget the
improvements to hit points, speed, range and such. Improved units usually slaughter unimproved units. Improvements and
upgrades give the advantage. If Epoching up from the Stone Epoch (II) then the Mace Man is an upgrade  from
the Clubman.
 

Dock

You can now REALLY play in the water. Note that in The Art of Conquest Expansion, you need to be using a water map
and not a space map to use the water. Running low on food? Try building a few Fishing Rafts  to pick up some extra
food. Do you want to storm the beaches of another island? Try building some Transports  to carry your land
troops across the water. Next you have a full range of ships available to build but like other units, there are unit
relationships where one unit has an advantage against another while having a weakness against another.
The Battleship  really shines out of all the ships to be built but does have a weakness against the
Galley . Frigates  have an advantage against Galleys but are weak against Battleships.
Thus the sea triangle is born. Battleships will usually be the main unit of your navy though because they are pretty durable
but are also a bit expensive. If you epoched up from the Stone Epoch (II) then you will need to upgrade  these units:
Transport Raft -> Transport Copper, and War Raft -> Frigate Copper.
 

Stable

Only one unit that is able to be built this epoch in the Stable. That unit is the Horseman . As you will notice, Stable
units are cavalry units. They also cost a bit more, take up two of your population, are faster, and have more hit points. The
Horseman is sword cavalry which means he has an advantage against archers and ranged infantry but a disadvantage
against spear units. I usually use cavalry as 'firemen'. Since cavalry is faster, it can get to places quicker than infantry
can and put out that enemy 'fire' quickly.
 

Support Buildings
 

Fortress

Ever think about getting a bunch of units ahead so that you don't have to wait around to build units after an enemy starts
invading the crap out of you non stop? With Fortresses, you can stockpile pre-built armies so that you can in essence build
over your Pop Cap. All units stored inside a Fortress do not count against your Pop Cap so you can then build more units. If
you are at or over your Pop Cap, you can use Fortresses to store up soldiers for that rainy day. As your outside units start
getting slaughtered, just pull units out of the Fortress(es). Instant pre-built reserves. You need to protect these structures
though, because if they are destroyed while you are at your Pop Cap, the units inside a Fortress die (but if any gap in the
Pop Cap, units are automatically jettisoned from the building on a last in first out basis when a Fortress is destroyed).
 

Granary

 
Granaries are needed to make farms. If placed well, one Granary can plant the seeds for 8 farms all around it. There is also
an option on the Granary to replant farms should any be destroyed. Farms have PILES of food and can also be populated
like Settlements/Town Centers/Capitols. When 8 Citizens populate a Granary, the size of the Granary increases. Each
Citizen populating a Granary (up to 8) helps to increase food production. Speaking of which...

In the Copper Epoch, the Granary has one upgrade, Irrigation  which increases Farm production even more.
 

Hospital

Hospitals help heal your units when they get hurt in battle. Within a certain range of a Hospital, units start healing (shown
with a green dot graphic). You should probably place a Hospital just behind the lines so that it doesn't get destroyed but also
so that it is easier to get to for your hurt units

There is an upgrade for the Hospital as well. Herbal Medicines  which increases the Citizen and Canine Scout hit
points as well as increase the Citizen's attack value.
 

University

The University is for advanced research projects.

There is one upgrade available at the University this epoch. Oil Lamp  increases the building's line of sight (clears away
the fog of war [black 'void'] farther around your buildings so that more of the map around the buildings is visible).
 

Civilizations and their bonuses (bonuses vary between different versions/updates)

Note: How to determine which bonuses are right for you? Look at how you plan to play the battle. If you plan on walling
yourself in then the Civ - Economy (stone) bonus plus the Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers bonuses will help out. If you plan
on using lots of Priests then Religion - Priest bonuses and  Civ - Economy (gold) bonuses are the way to go. Each civilization
has its advantages and disadvantages throughout each epoch and each map type. Island maps will require ships and ships
require wood, gold, and iron so not only the Ship bonuses but also Civ - Economy (wood, gold, iron) help as well. There is
no perfect civilization and even picking a civilization that may seem 'handicapped' usually does not decide a game's fate same
as picking a seemingly advantaged civilization does not decide either, but it can help if facing a similar opponent and any edge
you can get over some one else is a good thing I feel.  The nice part of Empire Earth is that the game structure allows for
miscalculations without any severe penalties. The other player's Ships may have better range but yours are faster so the range
advantage is not very useful now because with the speed, the shots now miss most of the time. There is always a counter for
everything available. Improvements give an advantage to a certain area. Also, the beginning civilization bonuses give an early
advantage and a later advantage as well. Even though you may start out with a civilization bonus of Infantry - Ranged (range)
you can still improve that range more with the unit improvement feature. So you start out with +2 but then improve twice
more at +2 each time so now the range is +6 whereas your opponent can only upgrade range twice and didn't have the
starting Infantry - Ranged (range) bonus so can only get to a +4 range. However, his civilization started out with a Citizens &
Fishing Boats (speed) bonus so he can therefore get more resources faster. More resources = faster and larger army
production. See how that works?

Also, a breakdown on how the bonus system can be applied to units.

Archers - Foot = Simple Bowman
Cavalry - Sword = Horseman
Civ - Building, Walls & Towers = defensive bonuses
Infantry - Spear = Spearman
Infantry - Sword = Mace Man
Religion - Priests = Priest
Religion - Prophets = Prophet
Ships - Battleships & Carriers = Battleship - Copper
Ships - Frigates & Cruisers = Frigate - Copper
Ships - Galleys, Transports & Subs = Galley - Copper & Transport - Copper
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA = Sampsons
Economy bonuses are always good as are Citizen bonuses too.

Ancient Greece = Citizens & Fishing Boats (speed), Civ - Economy (gold, hunting & foraging), Civ - General
(conversion resistance), Infantry - Spear (attack, hit points, speed), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (attack, range),
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (attack, cost, rate of fire)
Assyrian Empire = Archers - Foot (attack, speed), Cavalry - Sword (attack, hit points), Citizens & Fishing Boats (range),
Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (build time, hit points), Civ - Economy (farming, hunting & foraging),
Civ - General (pop cap)
Babylon = Archers - Foot (hit points, range speed), Citizens & Fishing Boats (hit points), Civ - Buildings,
Walls & Towers (range), Civ - Economy (stone, wood), Infantry - Spear (build time, hit points, speed),
Religion - Prophets (range, speed)
Byzantine Rome = Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (cost, hit points),
Civ - Economy (farming), Civ - General (pop cap), Infantry - Sword (attack, hit points, speed),
Ships - Battleships & Carriers (attack, build time)
Carthage = Cavalry - Sword (armor, hit points), Citizens & Fishing Boats (cost), Civ - Economy (fishing, stone),
Civ - General (mountain combat), Ships - Galleys, Transports & Subs (cost, range)
Kingdom of Israel = Archers - Foot (armor, hit points, range), Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time),
Civ - Economy (fishing, iron), Infantry - Sword (hit points, speed), Religion Priests (build time, cost, hit points),
Religion - Prophets (hit points, range), Ships - Battleships & Carriers (attack), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (attack),
Ships - Galleys, Transports & Subs (attack)
Austria = Cavalry - Sword (armor, attack ,speed), Citizens & Fishing Boats (attack, cost), Civ - Economy
(hunting & foraging), Civ - General (conversion resistance), Infantry - Spear (attack, hit points, speed)
England = Archers - Foot (range, cost, build time), Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time), Civ - Buildings,
Walls & Towers (cost, range), Civ - Economy (fishing, gold), Ships - Battleships & Carriers (attack, build time),
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (hit points, rate of fire)
Franks = Cavalry - Sword (armor, cost, hit points, speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack, cost), Civ - Economy
(gold, wood), Civ - General (conversion resistance), Religion - Prophets (cost, range), Siege Weapons & Mobile AA
(attack, hit points)
Kingdom of Italy = Cavalry - Sword (build time), Citizens & Fishing Boats (cost), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers
(build time, hit points), Civ - Economy (stone), Civ - General (mountain combat), Religion - Priests (hit points, range, speed),
Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (attack)
Ottoman Empire = Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time, speed), Civ - Economy (farming, stone), Civ - General (pop cap),
Religion - Priests (cost, hit points)
Spain = Citizens & Fishing Boats (speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (range), Civ - Economy (farming, iron),
Civ - General (mountain combat), Infantry - Spear (armor, attack, hit points), Religion - Priests (hit points, range),
Ships - Galleys, Transports & Subs (attack, cost, hit points)
France = Citizens & Fishing Boats (hit points, range), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack, hit points, range),
Civ - Economy (gold, wood)
Germany = Citizens & Fishing Boats (cost, hit points), Civ - Economy (stone), Ships - Galleys, Transports
& Subs (attack, hit points, range)
Great Britain = Citizens & Fishing Boats (speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack, build time,
range), Civ - Economy (gold, hunting & foraging), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (build time, hit points, speed)
Italy = Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack, build time, range), Civ - Economy (farming, stone), Civ - General
(conversion resistance), Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (attack, hit points, rate of fire)
Russia = Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack), Civ - Economy (fishing, iron),
Civ - General (pop cap), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (cost), Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (area damage, range)
United States = Citizens & Fishing Boats (attack, speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (build time, cost),
Civ - Economy (gold, iron), Civ - General (pop cap), Ships - Battleships & Carriers (hit points, range)
China = Citizens & Fishing Boats (cost), Civ - Economy (farming), Civ - General (pop cap), Ships - Galleys, Transports
& Subs (attack)
Novaya Russia = Citizens & Fishing Boats (cost, hit points), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (hit points, range),
Civ - Economy (wood), Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (hit points, range, rate of fire)
Rebel Forces = Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time, range), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (hit points),
Civ - Economy (iron), Civ - General (mountain combat)
Japan = Citizens & Fishing Boats (speed), Civ - Economy (iron), Civ - General (pop cap)
Korea = Civ - Economy (gold), Civ - General (mountain combat), Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (range, rate of fire)
 

Civilization Specific Powers*

For the Copper epoch, these civilizations have these powers:

Ancient Greece = Flaming Arrows (III-VII)
Assyrian Empire = Slavery (I-XV)
Babylon = Priest Towers (I-XV)
Byzantine Rome = Insurance (I-XV)
Carthage = Pathfinding (I-XV)
Kingdom of Israel = Emissaries (I-XV)
Austria = Adaptation (III-XV)
England = Exploration (I-XV)
Kingdom of Italy = Metallurgy (I-XV)
Ottoman Empire = Expansionism (I-XV)
France = Camouflage (I-XV)
Russia = Advanced Mining (I-XV)
China = Just In Time Manufacturing (I-XV)
Rebel Forces = Cloaking (I-XV)
Korea = Fanaticism (I-XV)
 

* denotes unit/building only available in the Empire Earth - The Art of Conquest add-on pack.

note: Copper color for copper and green for 'rusted' copper color.

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