[Ironhawk]

A couple of people have mentioned "encyclopedic" knowledge as being neccessary for a skilled player and I just wanted to reiterate that this is definitely not the case. It doesnt *hurt* to have that knowledge but it is not a requirement. Since the advent of Dom3 I have routinely entered and thrived in games where I had basically no idea of the stats and abilities of any units of the nations of other players.

What is more important is to learn how to look at a given unit that you've never seen before and tell from its stats - ok this unit is Light Infantry, Cavalry, etc. And to know how to compensate for certain stats - high defense means use arrows or massed attacks, high prot means AP or high strength/dam attacks. Stuff like that.