Japanese vs Italians

Playing Japanese against Italians? Here's the best Japanese unit to counter every unit Italians can field — only the units your tech tree can actually build. Every figure is drawn from the game's attack bonuses and armor classes, so it stays accurate to the live balance.

49.3%Japanese win rate vs Italians

Roughly even matchup95% CI 45.9–52.8% · 804 ranked 1v1 gamesFull win-rate breakdown →

Japanese hard-counters 16 of 17 units Italians can field. Each of their units is on the left; the best unit you can build to counter it is on the right.

Italians

Counter as Japanese

Infantry

• MilitiaScorpion+1–2 vs Infantry
• SpearmanCavalry Archer+2–4 vs Spearmen

Archers

• Genoese CrossbowUniqueSamurai+10–12 vs Unique Units
• ArcherSkirmisher+3–5 vs Archers
• Cavalry ArcherSpearman+15–32 vs Cavalry
• Skirmisherno hard counter you can build

Cavalry

• KnightSpearman+15–32 vs Cavalry
• Scout CavalrySpearman+15–32 vs Cavalry

Siege

• Battering RamCannon Galleon+25 vs Siege Weapons
• Bombard CannonBattering Ram+40–50 vs Siege Weapons
• MangonelBattering Ram+40–50 vs Siege Weapons
• ScorpionBattering Ram+40–50 vs Siege Weapons

Naval

• Cannon GalleonSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• Demolition ShipSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• Fire ShipSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• HulkSpearman+9–17 vs Ships
• War GalleySpearman+9–17 vs Ships

Matchups in AoE2 also come down to strategy, economy and the map — this ranks the unit-counter tools Japanese brings against Italians, not a guaranteed win. The counters are computed from the game's own data, so there's no table to fall out of date when the game is patched.