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A game by Ensemble Studios/Microsoft, 1997
A guide by Matthew Simon Douglass (AKA BigglesTh9)
[email protected]
-----------------------------------------
|Table of Contents |
| |
| 1. Introduction |
| 2. Version History |
| 3. The Campaigns |
| - Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign|
| - Hunting |
| - Foraging |
| - Discoveries |
| - Dawn of a New Era |
| - Skirmish |
| - Farming |
| - Trade |
| - Crusade |
| - River Outpost |
| - Naval Battle |
| - Wonder of the World |
| - Siege in Canaan |
| - Glory of Greece |
| - Land Grab |
| - Citadel |
| - Ionian Expansion |
| - The Trojan War |
| - I'll Be Back |
| - Siege of Athens |
| - Xenophon's March |
| - Wonder |
| - Voices of Babylon |
| - Holy Man |
| - Tigris Valley |
| - Lost |
| - I Shall Return |
| - The Great Hunt |
| - The Caravan |
| - Lord of the Euphrates |
| - Nineveh |
| - Yamato Empire of the Rising Sun |
| - The Assassins |
| - Island Hopping |
| - Capture |
| - Mountain Temple |
| - Canyon of Death |
| - Oppression |
| - Friend in Need |
| - Kyushu Revolts |
| 4. Legal Stuff |
| 5. Acknowledgements |
-----------------------------------------
*******************************************************************************
INTRODUCTION
*******************************************************************************
Hello all.
Age of Empires is certainly a game that many remember fondly. It was probably
one of the defining games of my childhood. As I was about eight or nine years
old at the time, though, I really had no idea how to play it. I just enjoyed
creating silly scenarios.
I improved, though, and gave the game a good dust-off in recent times, leading
to the creation of this guide.
Campaign Mode serves as this game's backbone (but not the real meat-and-
potatoes), with scenarios designed around a historical storyline. These will
first introduce players to the basics of gameplay, before eventually throwing
them some real strategic curveballs. This guide offers some (usually) succinct
pointers on how to get through each one.
This guide assumes a rudimentary knowledge of real-time strategy gameplay, but
will offer advice starting from a fairly basic level.
*******************************************************************************
VERSION HISTORY
*******************************************************************************
When I posted the initial version of this guide, I had no updates in mind.
Furthermore, I planned to have it posted under GameFAQs' In-Depth FAQs section
(as simply a guide to Campaign Mode). However, it was posted as a general
walkthrough, which it may evolve into. Stay tuned!
My version history in full:
Version 1.00 (July 1st, 2007) - Complete Campaign walkthrough
Version 1.01 (July 11th, 2007) - Proofread; quite a few spelling errors and such
corrected
Version 1.10 (January 23rd, 2008) - Pretty small update after this long, I
guess. Second proofread, reader strategy added, difficulty ratings for campaign
scenarios (standard arbitrary strategy guide stuff).
*******************************************************************************
THE CAMPAIGNS
*******************************************************************************
You can play through the game's four game campaigns in any order you choose.
Note, though, that the game lists them in roughly ascending order of
difficulty. Certainly, you're supposed to play the Egyptian campaign first.
This guide assumes that they'll be played in this order: Egypt, Greece, Babylon
and Yamato.
A brief summary of what to expect from each:
Egypt - This campaign serves as the game's tutorial. The first several
scenarios will simply be instructive of to play the game. The last couple will
leave to your devices, though, and apply your learning practically.
Greece - These scenarios will tend to be the most similar to standard (non-
Campaign) gameplay. Mission objectives will tend to involve seizing land or
retrieving artifacts (Artifact being the proper in-game term), with development
of a strong army being necessary.
Babylon - Most of the scenarios in this campaign will involve the total
destruction (or assimilation) of enemy forces. This will have the most
difficult second half of any of the game's campaigns.
Yamato - You'll have a very rough start here, as the first two scenarios will
give you a set number of military units and no way to acquire more. The
scenarios in this campaign will tend to be the most linear.
Without further ado, let's begin!
===============================================================================
ASCENT OF EGYPT LEARNING CAMPAIGN
===============================================================================
Egyptian Campaign, part 1: Hunting (8000 B.C.)
Objectives: - Create seven Villagers
Difficulty: 0/5
Strategy:
This is the mission where you learn how to point and click. ;) Kill a gazelle
and start gathering meat. Once your guy has brought back two loads, you'll have
enough meat to create another villager, who can join in the gathering. Repeat
this process until you have seven of them and you win the game.
Egyptian Campaign, part 2: Foraging (7000 B.C.)
Objectives: - Create a Dock
- Create a Granary
- Create a Storage Pit
Difficulty: 0/5
Strategy:
Start by chopping down the three or four trees around your starting position.
This will give you enough wood to build any one of these buildings. Cross the
shallow water and you'll find a few more trees (and a whole lot of berry bushes
- but pay them no mind). Build your Storage Pit here, and you'll be able to
gather wood quickly. Once the few trees around your pit have been thoroughly
chopped, you should have enough wood to create the other two buildings. Do so
wherever you please.
Egyptian Campaign, part 3: Discoveries (6500 B.C.)
Objectives: - Find the 5 Discoveries
Difficulty: 1/5
Strategy:
This is the first time you have some competition from another civilisation.
Your objective here is to seek out the five 'Discoveries' (large prints on the
ground in the shape on a horned animal).
Your first move should be to create another villager with the available meat.
Then go about finding your Discoveries.
1st Discovery: West corner of the map (but be careful of the lion!)
2nd Discovery: North corner of the map (just a little bit of a hike).
Return to your Town Center, go a bit to the East and start foraging for
berries. Create another two villagers.
3rd Discovery: A bit further East from the starting point
4th Discovery: Go north from the third one, between the cliffs and the water.
You'll be jumped by an enemy Scout (a cavalry unit), but your group should have
no trouble dispatching him. Turn left into the little forest enclave (but
again, look out for the lion).
5th Discovery: Head North through the cliff path and your final Discovery will
be at the end.
Egyptian Campaign, part 4: Dawn of a New Era (6000 B.C.)
Objectives: - Advance to the Tool Age
Difficulty: 0/5
Strategy:
This mission takes a little more time than the previous three, but you'll have
no competition here.
Have your three guys chop wood until you have 150 pieces. Build a Dock and then
a Fishing Boat. Send your boat over to the patches of fish once it's ready, and
have your villagers chop wood to build more (you'll also need to build houses
along the way).
There are two conditions for upgrading to the Tool Age: having 800 pieces of
food and having two Stone Age buildings (not including your Town Center and
houses). You can easily get 800 stocks of food by fishing, especially if you
don't create any more villagers. If you're feeling lucky, you can send your
team South and hunt elephants, but this mightn't end well for you. In any case,
build a Storage Pit somewhere to satisfy the latter condition.
Finally, go to your Town Center and click "Advance to Tool Age". From here's
it's an automatic process that just takes a while.
Egyptian Campaign, part 5: Skirmish (5500 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy the enemy tribe
Difficulty: 1/5
Strategy:
This is probably your first taste of military combat. Don't worry - this is a
lot less daunting than it sounds.
Send your troops east and you'll soon come to a plateau, with enemy troops on
the higher ground. You'll probably see their Bowmen first, so pick them off
with yours. An Axeman will probably attack you from the side, so set a few of
yours on him. After the initial confrontation, work your way around the cliff
and up the plateau. Finish off the remaining enemy units.
Egyptian Campaign, part 6: Farming (5000 B.C.)
Objectives: - Control the ruins
- Stockpile 800 food
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
You begin this game in the Tool Age, with 100 stocks of food. Use this to
upgrade your Clubmen to Axemen (select your Barracks for the upgrading menu).
Have your villagers start foraging berries and create more Axemen until you
have at least five (preferably six).
Your first priority should be to take the Ruins. Send your Axemen to the West
corner of the map (crossing over the shallows to the Southwest of your center).
You'll face four enemy Axemen and a Clubman. Dispatch them and set up your
remaining troops around the ruins.
The supply of berries will soon run out, so you'll need to build Farms to
increase your food supplies (and you'll first need to build a Market). Have
your villagers starting chopping wood until you have enough to build a Market
and four Farms, then have them all start farming to reach your food quota.
Beware of attacks by enemy ships in the later stages of the game (though you're
unlikely to see more than one). It would be wise to build your town inland.
Egyptian Campaign, part 7: Trade (2000 B.C.)
Objectives: - Stockpile 1000 stone
- Stockpile 1000 gold
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
This is probably the first mission where you'll need a solid plan of action to
survive.
The Minoans will hit you with a ferocious naval onslaught early on (they'll
probably have five ships), so your first priority is to prepare for and repel
this. Have all of your villagers cut wood. Use your food supply to create more
villagers. Create Scout Ships with the wood harvested. You'll only be able to
produce one Scout Ship at a time, so they're going to get shot down by the more
numerous Minoan ships, but keep producing nonetheless. Your dock is bound to
come under fire while you're producing ships to replace those sunken, but if
all goes according to plan, it won't be destroyed.
After this initial wave, the Minoans will retreat and you'll have a long period
to recover. Now focus your efforts on gathering food. Build a Fishing Boat or
two, as well as a Barracks and Archery Range, and upgrade to the Battle Axe
immediately. Build an army of about a dozen troops. The other rival tribe, the
Libyans, may launch an attack eventually, so you're advised to make a
preemptive strike. Head down to the Southwest of your village and trash theirs.
They don't have much of a military, but be warned that they do have a Ballista
(a powerful projectile weapon).
With both enemy forces repelled, you're free to start stockpiling. Stone can be
gathered in two locations: to the East of your village, and on an island just
off the coast of the Libyan village. Be wary if you choose the island, though,
because it's home to the remainder of the Minoan forces, including two Stone
Throwers. If you have a few Fishing Boats in action, start building Trade Boats
and send them over to the Canaan (they being your only allies) Docks towards
the South of the map to trade food for gold.
Once this has all been set in motion, you can just relax until your stockpiles
reach the required amounts.
Egyptian Campaign, part 8: Crusade (1900 B.C.)
Objectives: - Capture (convert) the enemy Ballista and bring it to your Town
Center
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
Of the four villagers you start with (you shouldn't need any more), have two
pick berries, one chop wood and one mine gold. With the food and wood, build a
force of about eight Bowmen. Using the gold, research Astrology at your Temple
(this increases the converting power of any Priests you have) and produce
another Priest. When this is done, head across the river (it would be wise to
make a save file before doing so).
Upon arrival at the enemy village, you'll be greeted by about a half-dozen
enemy Bowmen. Your team should win this confrontation effortlessly, though. The
hard part is converting the enemy Ballista, which you'll see shortly. Have your
remaining troops take fire for your Priests while the conversion takes place
(the Priests will be the Ballista's default target). If this is successful,
wheel the Ballista over to your side of the river and that's game!
Egyptian Campaign, part 9: River Outpost (1700 B.C.)
Objectives: - Find the Large Nile Island
- Build a Town Center on the island
- Build a two Guard Towers on the island
Difficulty: 0/5
Strategy:
This may prove to be the most time-consuming mission yet, but it's also
extremely easy for one simple reason: the enemy has no mobile military force.
Your first task will be to build a Dock, after which you can have all of your
villagers start chopping wood. Upgrade your Scout Ships to War Galleys, and
build about four or five of them (you could probably do it all with just one,
but it would take a lot longer).
The island in question is a little way to the West, and will be heavily
fortified by Watch Towers. Luckily for you, your War Galleys have a longer
range of attack than them, so you can shoot them down without taking any return
fire. There's one a little way inland that can be hard to reach; move your
ships to the West side of the island in order to get in range. While you're at
it, shoot all lions and alligators on the island.
Once the coast is clear, so to speak, build a Light Transport. Have your
villagers build a Government Center (a requisite for building extra Town
Centers) and chop another 200 pieces of wood, then send them over to the
island. Build a Town Center there, and then start raiding the local stone mines
for the necessary resources. Build two Watch Towers, mine another few hundred
pieces of stone and head back to the mainland.
The Guard Towers mentioned in the mission objectives are the last upgrade in
the Watch Tower line. While the next upgrade, the Sentry Tower, can be accessed
at your Granary immediately, Guard Towers require advancement to the Iron Age
(note that these upgrades will also cost stone, which is why you were advised
to gather some before leaving the island). This advancement takes 1,000 pieces
of food and 800 of gold, so get to work!
Build a few Fishing Boats (you may want to upgrade to Fishing Ships to make
them faster) as your principle source of food. There are gold mines,
conveniently enough, right next to your Storage Pit, which allows the gold
quota to be reached very quickly. You're likely to get the gold you need before
the food, so have your villagers start hunting gazelle when you're done mining.
Once you're in the Iron Age, select "Upgrade to Guard Tower". Once this is
done, you win!
Egyptian Campaign, part 10: Naval Battle (1650 B.C.)
Objectives: - Capture the stolen Artifact and it bring it to the Town Center
Difficulty: 1/5
Strategy:
Upgrade to the War Galley immediately. Create an extra villager with what foods
you have left, and have them all chop wood.
This is pretty much all you need to do to secure victory. The enemy will be
straight on the offensive, but their naval force is laughable: just a Scout
Ship or two. Build a few War Galleys and you can easily repel any force of
theirs and launch a devastating counterattack. Their Bowmen will appear to
defend the shores, but your ships will make short work of them.
Once you've made your attack on the enemy coast and effectively disabled them
(ignore the Sentry Towers; they're simply too much effort to destroy), build a
Light Transport and send a villager or two over. The Artifact is right at the
back of the village, behind some walls. The enemy shouldn't have Bowmen left at
this point, so you can bring it over to your Transport without impediment. Then
it's just a short cruise back to your shores.
Egyptian Campaign, part 11: Wonder of the World (1625 B.C.)
Objectives: - Build a Wonder
Difficulty: 3/5
Strategy:
Hoo boy! This may be your first serious challenge.
Building is a Wonder is obviously far too monumental (sorry) a task to go about
while fending off attacks from enemy civilisations. Your enemy this time is the
Canaanites (who you might remember were your allies not three centuries ago).
The other two civilisations have no military to speak of and just trade with
you and your enemy (though one of them might declare you an enemy, which means
NO TRADE FOR YOU!).
Have two of your four villagers chop wood, and the other two pick berries.
You'll want to upgrade to War Galley ASAP, which requires you to gather a bit
more food than you start off with. Once that's done, however, have everyone
chop wood and start building your fleet.
It won't be long until the enemies send a couple of ships over to attack your
village, but they'll only be Scout Ships, so they'll be easy enough to defeat.
Be on red alert if you see a Light Transport approaching your shores, though;
it will carry some strong infantry units (mostly Short Swordsmen) and a Stone
Thrower, and since you won't have time to build an army (this one's all about
your navy), this will probably be the end of you.
Your central strategy is to keep chopping wood and building ships. When you've
fended off the initial attack and your waters are safe, build a Fishing Boat or
two to gather food. Once you have four or so Galleys, you should start
launching a counterattack on the Canaanites, whose base is on the far-West of
the map (but keep a couple of Galleys at home so you're not too exposed).
The enemies will have Sentry Towers posted around their shoreline, but more
importantly, they'll probably have a couple of Stone Throwers. These can tear
through your ships with alarming efficiency, so make them your first targets.
Next up are the enemy men, their Docks, and then anything else of interest - if
you can level important buildings without getting in range of the Sentry
Towers, all the better.
Once you've cleared out Canaan's military force, it's time to start gathering
the enormous quantities of resources you'll need for your Wonder (1,000 each of
wood, stone and gold). The Southern shore of the Canaan land has bountiful
supplies of gold. The island in the East corner of the map has all the wood and
stone you could need.
Once this is all said and done, though, keep in mind that building a Wonder
takes a while; with 10 villagers on it, it can take upwards of 10 minutes!
Assuming you are safe from further attacks by Canaan (though it wouldn't be a
bad idea to save just before you start building), just go and fix yourself a
good snack or something while your people are slogging away (but make sure you
don't miss the crowning moment when your Wonder is completed!).
Egyptian Campaign, part 12: Siege in Canaan (1450 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Canaan Government Center
Difficulty: 3/5
Strategy:
After all the advancements you made over the course of the campaign, you're
back to the Stone Age at the start of this one. How's that for a kick in the
teeth? Mercifully, though, the enemy won't be the first to attack this time,
and they aren't likely to expand as quickly as you.
First up: no Docks. While the previous few missions had you reliant on a strong
navy, ships will be all but completely useless here; the only bodies of water
are narrow channels, enemy Sentry Towers will prevent you from fishing early
on, and the enemy doesn't really have anything installed along the water's
edge. Victory here is decided solely by your army.
Your first priority is advancing to the Tool Age. As you have some resources at
the beginning, create a few extra villagers. Divide them evenly between
gathering food and wood. Build a Storage Pit next to some forest (this in
itself will help satisfy requirements for advancement).
By the time you've advanced to the Tool Age, the supply of berries near your
Town Center will probably be almost depleted. Build a Granary, a Market and
some Farms (each being a requirement for the next), and start harvesting.
Upgrade to the Battle Axe and build an Archery Range. You may want to do some
researching to improve industry: Woodworking and Domestication (from the
Market) are recommended.
Once you've reached the Bronze Age, you'll probably be almost ready to make
your raid on the enemy lands (across the shallows to the North of your
village). They'll put up a mighty defence, though, so don't go unprepared. You
may consider researching Short Swordsmen and Improved Bowmen. I didn't, but it
is feasible; there's a generous supply of gold in the hills to the West of your
village, although it's guarded by an enemy tower. In any case, build a Siege
Workshop and a couple of Stone Throwers.
The Canaanites may have been quiet while you were on your side of the river,
but they'll really show their claws when you begin the invasion; remember that
this is their last stand. Expect to be fighting a good half-dozen at a time.
Make sure you protect your Stone Throwers, even at the cost of your troops'
lives, because they're the only practical way of breaking through the enemy's
line of Sentry Towers. If possible, continue producing troops back home, but
don't let this distract you.
One of the first enemy buildings you'll come across is their Barracks, whose
destruction will remove a bit of the pressure on you. Work your way up the hill
and you'll come across quite a few towers and an Archery Range. You'll be
fighting an awful lot of enemies here, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to pull
back a bit and bring in reinforcements before you take this final step. Just
push on a bit further from there and you'll come to their Government Center,
which is surrounded by walls. If your Stone Throwers are still in one piece,
blast your way through the wall instead of trying to maneuver your army through
the tiny gate on the right-hand side. That's one campaign down and three to go!
===============================================================================
GLORY OF GREECE
===============================================================================
Greek Campaign, part 1: Land Grab (2000 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy all Dorian farms
- Build five farms
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
This is a mission that looks a lot harder than it actually is.
Your principle enemy here is the Dorians, who start off with a reasonable
military force and upgrade very quickly. While your intuition may tell you to
build a force of your own, you start with a formidable 10 units (six Clubmen
and four villagers). As such, you're best off going straight into battle to
prevent them from expanding.
The Dorian town is to the northwest of your starting position. The first
building of theirs that you're likely to come across is their Storage Pit,
which you can ignore. About a screen north of that is their Barracks, which is
your priority target. They will, of course, have some units protecting their
military hub, but you'll outnumber and destroy them. Pick off the Clubmen, then
the villagers, before destroying the building itself. Next up to the north are
their Farms - one of your two mission objectives. There are four to destroy.
Once you've conquered Doria, it will be time to set up your civilization. Head
East from the destroyed farms and you'll come to a clearing encircled by trees,
with several berry plants dotted around. You may meet some Tyranian resistance
(probably four Clubmen), which you will need to quash. This will probably wear
you down to your last few units (hopefully you'll have some villagers left - if
not, you lose), but it will be the last battle you'll fight for a while.
Set up a Town Center, Barracks and Granary (as close to resources as is
practical), collecting more wood as necessary). You'll want at least five
villagers and five Clubmen around, so produce more units as needed (the Ionians
to the east may launch a small attack, but this will be of little concern if
you're prepared).
Once you've built all you need to (which is likely to include houses), have all
of your villagers forage for berries until you have enough food to advance to
the Tool Age. Gather resources (if you have more than 200 or so food left, just
collect wood) during the upgrade. Upgrade your Clubmen to Axemen so you have a
reasonable defence force. Then go about collecting wood, building a Market, and
finally five Farms. Then victory is yours!
Greek Campaign, part 2: Citadel (1500 B.C.)
Objectives: - Control the Ruins
- Build two Sentry Towers around the Ruins
Difficulty: 3/5
Strategy:
Unlike most other missions thus far, this is a battle that probably can't be
won by army or navy alone. However, your army should be your first priority.
Build a few extra villagers so you have six or seven; split them about evenly
gathering wood and food. You start in the Tool Age, so upgrade to Battle Axe
immediately. Build an Archery Range. There are easily enough berries near your
Granary to upgrade to the Bronze Age. Once in the Bronze Age, research Sword
Swordsmen and create a few with your reserves of gold, as they'll bolster your
army nicely. Research Toolworking and Leather Armor at your Storage Pit to
strength your force further.
Once you have a strong army of at least a dozen or so, build a Dock and a few
Scout Ships. Upgrade to War Galleys if you can. Your first target is to the
North of your village, on the other side of the river. You'll probably be met
by at least a dozen enemy soldiers. Have your ships offer support fire and
establish a blockade on the enemy's side of the land (it's connected to both
the enemy's land and yours by shallows). Once you've cleared out enemy
presence, bring some your villagers over. You might want to build some walls to
halt further advances from the enemy base (but leave some ways in). Start
mining gold, which will allow you build more Bronze Age units - most
importantly Stone Throwers.
When you think you're ready, make your march into enemy territory. It will be
heavily fortified by Watch Towers, and contain the remnants of their army, so
be ready. Once you've secured a path to the ruins, you'll need to bring some
villagers over to build your Sentry Towers (which you'll also have to upgrade
to). This will probably require more stone than you have; there's an ample
supply on a small island on the West side of the map, between your mainland and
the enemy's. Finish staking your claim.
Greek Campaign, part 3: Ionian Expansion (1400 B.C.)
Objectives: - Establish a Government Center on Ionia in the flagged area
OR
- Find 3 Ruins
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
Personally, I'd go with the latter objective.
This mission starts fairly relaxed. You'll be in the Tool Age at the beginning,
so do the obligatory stuff: upgrade to the Battle Axe, build an Archery Range,
and build Scout Ships and Fishing Boats. Divide your villagers evenly between
chopping food and picking berries, but move more onto wood-chopping as soon as
you've started fishing. Advance to the Bronze Age as soon as possible and
upgrade your ships.
While this isn't the fastest-paced of missions, the Ionians will send over
ships eventually. It will take them a while to upgrade to the War Galley,
though; you might even do so before them. Once you've quashed their initial
efforts and are sure you have the upper hand, send your fleet over (their land
is to the North). Move all activity in your town towards gathering wood and
building more ships. As usual, destroying their Docks is likely to leave them
unable to launch any further attacks. They'll probably start building Stone
Throwers to defend against naval attacks, though, so be careful.
When you feel you're safe from the Ionians, it's time to go about whichever
mission objective you choose. Assuming that you go for the Ruins, look at the
following list to help you locate them:
Ruin #1: On the West side of your continent, on a zigzagging peninsula. The
point of this peninsula will form a canal of sorts with the opposite landmass.
As the Ruins are very close to the shore, you can make contact with your ships.
Ruin #2: On an island in the West corner of the map. There will be a few Lydian
Watch Towers around (Lydians being the other enemy civilisation, who have no
other units), so don't dawdle.
Ruin #3: In Ionia, to the Northern end. It will be mostly surrounded by walls.
Bring cavalry units so you can reach it quickly.
If you'd prefer to go for the Government Center, the flagged area is along the
cliff-face in Ionia's Northwest.
Greek Campaign, part 4: The Trojan War (1250 B.C.)
Objectives: - Kill Hector
- Capture the Treasure of Priam
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
This may be your first encounter with "Hero" units. These units are far more
powerful than most others, and your target, Hector, just so happens to be one.
Fortunately, though, you'll have one on your side: Alexander.
You start in the Bronze Age with a full complement of Tool Age upgrades.
Upgrade to the War Galley and start building, because the Trojans will begin
invading pretty soon. Unlike most scenarios, though, Transports will pose
little threat to you; you'll have a vastly superior ground force, lead by
Alexander himself. Hector will keep to his side of the map, so don't worry
about him charging in. Have your villagers focus on gathering food and wood.
Troy will make a fairly meager effort to expand its navy, so you should be able
to attack once you have a half-dozen or so ships. As always, destroy their
Docks immediately. As they've built most of their city along this lengthy
coastline, scour it thoroughly, destroying as many buildings and killing as
many units as possible. Keep your ships here to discourage any effort to
rebuild.
As you're likely to be greeted by a large army once you land in Troy, lead by
Hector, you'll want to spend some building up your force. There's an island on
the South side of the map with plentiful amounts of gold. Use your Storage Pit
to upgrade cavalry units (you'll want Alexander to be as strong as possible
when he faces off with Hector). It would be an idea to include some Priests
(converting stronger enemy units like Hoplites will help a lot) and Stone
Throwers.
Hector has 400 hit points and probably over 25 points of attack, which makes
defeating him no mean feat. Alexander will have to take the lead, with ample
support. Once this deed is done, though, the fight is more or less over. The
Treasure mentioned in the second objective is in the East corner of the map.
Just approach it (you don't need to retrieve it) and the mission ends.
Greek Campaign, part 5: I'll Be Back (1200 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Temple
- Capture the Artifact
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
Whoa, this is not a fun start! You begin with just a small army in the midst of
an enemy encampment, hopelessly outnumbered. Your only option is to escape via
the Light Transport to the South. You'll probably make it out with just a few
Cavalry units (your Bowmen will be too slow).
You still won't be out of the woods just yet (in fact, you're about to head
straight into them). You have a small navy, but it will be rapidly falling
against the enemy's. This will at least provide a handy diversion for your
transport boat to escape, though. Sail northeast along the opposite coastline
and land as far in as possible. From there, your remaining troops will have to
make a dash for another Light Transport on the opposite side of the island.
Enemy Ballistae and Bowmen will offer resistance, but your Cavalry can easily
outrun them.
Once you arrive at the South side of the map, though, you'll get the
reinforcements promised in the scenario briefing: probably about 30 or so
assorted infantry, cavalry and siege units. This is an impressive army, to be
sure. But with no villagers or resources, they're all you've got.
Your ultimate objective is to take back your land from the Minoans, but you'll
have to go through Ionian territory first (this stretch of land separates the
North and South of the map). I recommend taking a couple of Priests and
Ballistae, and then as many Cavalry as a Heavy Transport will carry. As taking
on the Minoans will be a pretty significant task, you'll want to minimise
casualties here (although you can probably afford to lose this one shipload).
While clearing out Ionia, tread carefully. Cavalry are excellent for dealing
with enemy Ballistae swiftly, and your Ballistae will allow you to destroy the
Sentry Towers posted around the place. Heal your units between skirmishes.
Finally, destroy the Ionian docks on to the West and you'll free some Heavy
Transports on the North side.
Defeating the Minoans is your final objective, so mobilise ALL of your
remaining units (bring them over to the land you just conquered and load them
on to the newly discovered Transports). Consider placing your various units on
different boats.
Make for the cliffy bit of shoreline where you initially departed. If you've
followed my advice from the last paragraph, unload you siege weapons first (but
not right where combat is about to take place) and have them start destroying
Towers. As you work your way up the cliffs, you'll inevitably come across enemy
Priests ("the Seven Yellow Old Men" in the briefing). See that they receive
your Bowmen's attention before they can start converting. Importantly, make
sure your Catapults and Ballistae aren't destroyed. Reach the top of the cliff,
destroy their Temple and break down the bit of wall protecting the Artifact -
it's over!
Greek Campaign, part 6: Siege of Athens (463 B.C.)
Objectives: - Capture the enemy Artifacts
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
The outcome of this scenario will probably be decided in the first few minutes.
If you're still standing by then, you've probably won. Expect to really pull
out all the stops in these first few minutes, though; there's a massive Spartan
army on its way to your doorstep!
The Spartans (all Phalanxes - among the most powerful of infantry units) will
advance from the South, destroying your Farms en route. There will be several
of your villagers scattered around there, so rope them all in quickly. Have
them start chopping wood immediately. As all the action's happening along the
coastline, you're advised to build a few ships to give you the edge. Your Guard
Towers will be crucial for defence, so preserve them well. Move your infantry
out to receive the attack, but keep them within range of your towers.
Halting the advance won't be a cakewalk, but once you have, the mission's
effectively over. You'll need to build a small army to head into enemy
territory and claim those Artifacts, though. While this isn't a difficult task,
you'll want to do it in one fell swoop. Create a half-dozen or so Centurions,
with a Priest or two to keep them healthy, and you'll be set. You'll need gold
to do this, so trade with the yellow Spartans at the South end of the map.
You'll find an island to your East with huge amounts of stone that's best used
for trading.
The Artifacts are on the Southwest side of your continent (where the Spartans
emerged from). Simply discover all four of them and the game ends.
Greek Campaign, part 7: Xenophon's March (401 B.C.)
Objectives: - Capture the enemy Artifact
- Bring the Artifact to your Government Center
Difficulty: 1/5
Strategy:
As you start in the Iron Age with a full set of upgrades, this is where
gameplay just gets tedious, as there'll be no sense of advancement.
You have a few villagers and some wood, so have them build a Storage Pit and
start gathering - there's ample wood to be chopped. If you want food, build a
Town Center and some Farms. As you can't build a Barracks, Archery Range or
Stable, though, you can do nothing to expand your army at the moment. But it's
quite strong enough as it is.
March to the West with just a little caution, as the red-clothed Persians lie
in wait. Their forces mainly consist of Broad Swordsmen, which should pose no
real threat, but beware of their War Elephants. As you have a Priest on hand,
the Elephants are best converted. Lay waste to their town at your leisure.
Your army won't be able to progress further immediately. You'll need to bring
your villagers over and build a Dock. While you're at it, consider building a
Town Center here. Construct a Heavy Transport and a few Triremes, and you're
ready to make the next move.
On the North side of the river, you'll be greeted first by the yellow Persians,
who'll have fair numbers but pose no particular challenge, especially if you
have cover fire on the water. When they're defeated, you'll have access to the
only supply of gold on the map. Bring some villagers over and start mining.
Build an Academy and Siege Workshop here, as well as a Storage Pit, because the
gold will finance the creation of some Centurions (not that you're likely to
need them) and, more importantly, Heavy Catapults.
On the way north you'll come across some brown Persian defences. Smash their
walls and just blitz - there's really no need for clever tactics here. To the
west of this lies your final adversary - the oranges. They'll be a lot stronger
than the last three lots, with an abundance of Guard Towers, so you'll need
your siege weapons. One enclosure contains the Artifact, but also a few enemy
fighters - among them Hero Xerxes. You can quite easily destroy them with
Catapult fire, though.
Once you've cleared out orange territory, bring your villagers over - north
across the pond from here is your Government Center, and there are no Docks or
Transports provided. A short sail later and you're the victor - it seemed
almost too easy!
Greek Campaign, part 8: Wonder (331 B.C)
Objectives: - Destroy the enemies or their Wonders
Difficulty: 5/5
Strategy:
This is the last scenario of the campaign, and boy howdy does the game know it!
This is a battle on three fronts. To the East, the Cambyses will have completed
their Wonder, so the race is on as soon as the game begins (the "2000 years" on
the game's timer is about 15 minutes real-time). Darius, to the West, will
begin building theirs several minutes into the game. The Persians, to the
North, will not build a Wonder, but they will attack you throughout
proceedings.
You start off with reasonable resources. Create a few extra villagers to make
for light work. You'll want to have most of them on woodcutting, but have at
least one each on food and stone gathering. Almost immediately, you'll want to
build a Siege Workshop and a Temple. You should also build three Ballista
Towers along your Northern border, and Fortifications to fill in most of the
gaps (but leave one for your mobility).
In preparation for your invasion of the Cambyses, you'll want to create three
or four Heavy Catapults and a Priest (you can't mine gold right now, and this
is all your initial supplies allow for). You'll need to leave some of your
troops at home to repel the inevitable Persian invasion (your Cavalry
particularly, as they have Catapults), but at least bring your Bowmen along.
The Cambyses city is fortified by walls and Guard Towers, which will be no
problem with a few Catapults handy. The main hazard will be their Bowmen - a
few of them are bound to be killed incidentally by catapult fire, but you'll
need some men handy to take care of the rest. Their Wonder will sustain a fair
blasting, and within the walls there'll be the remnants of the Cambyses forces,
so you'll have to work quickly. Make note that there is some gold around here,
which would be a boon to access, but it might take too long to clear the place
of enemy presence. Make sure that some of your Catapults survive.
By the time you've destroyed the Cambyses Wonder, Darius will have undoubtedly
begun work on theirs (and by the time you reach them, they'll have finished
building and the countdown begins). Furthermore, their defences will be far
more solid than those of the Cambyses, employing all forms of ground units and
a naval force along the Southern river. If you managed to secure some gold to
the East, create more Cavalry, Heavy Catapults and Priests. If not, just build
whatever units you can. You'll have an epic siege ahead of you.
There is one handy little trick that I discovered, which will allow you to
avoid a full-scale siege: send whatever Catapults you have left (you'll want at
least two) along the North walls of Darius' city, destroying their Ballista
Towers as you go (your range will be just a bit further than theirs). Try get
the hang of aiming at ground rather than proper targets, as this will allow you
to destroy the Towers without destroying the walls before them (if the walls
are destroyed, enemy troops will emerge and your plan will be shot). Once this
is done, move right up to the wall and open fire on their Wonder. Their Bowmen
will try to foil your plans, though, so you'll probably need some of your own
to provide support fire.
Once the second Wonder falls, that's ultimate victory for the Greeks. Good work
on another campaign completed!
===============================================================================
VOICES OF BABYLON
===============================================================================
Babylonian Campaign, part 1: Holy Man (1760 B.C.)
Objectives: - Convert or destroy all enemy units
Difficulty: 3/5
Strategy:
In this rather brilliant mission, you start the game with just a lone Priest,
and have to build an army by conversion.
Head straight across the shallows to the Northeast, and you'll come to a
village of the yellow-clothed Akkadians. Convert one, and have him get to work
building a Town Center (you begin the game with enough Wood to do so), building
a Barracks and gathering resources. Your Priest will need to take some time to
'recharge' his faith between conversions (watch the percentage in his display),
but have him keep at it and you'll eventually have converted everyone in the
village.
This place is conveniently close to the water (without being close enough to
come under fire from enemy ships), so it will make an ideal center of
operations. Start developing your army, build some Docks so you can begin
fishing and always be gathering resources.
More likely than not, your main enemy here, the Elamites, will build a navy
before you and start carrying out attacks with Scout Ships. A risky, but
effective, strategy is bringing your Priest over to the coastline to convert
the enemy ships (but make sure that he's adequately protected) while building
some of your own.
If you can assimilate the enemy's navy and destroy their docks, you can
concentrate on building a powerful ground force. Upgrade to the Bronze Age,
build a Siege Workshop and then some Stone Throwers. When you think you're
ready, send your troops eastward and start wreaking havoc. Once the Elamites
are defeated, destroy what's left of the Akkadians to claim victory.
Babylonian Campaign, part 2: Tigris Valley (1755 B.C.)
Objectives: - Capture 2 enemy treasures
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
Like so many of this game's scenarios, this one is about a fast naval build -
conveniently, you start right by the coast. However, you'll be playing at a
significant disadvantage here.
Again, you'll be up against the Elamites (who have a small, irrelevant splinter
group) and Akkadians. The Elamites will upgrade to the Bronze Age almost
immediately and start building War Galleys. The Akkadians will be militarised
this time around, although they won't be on par with the Elamites. You'll
inevitably be up against superior military technology here, so you'll have to
compensate in numbers.
To count your blessings, you start off with 500 in every resource. Build a
Barracks and advance to the Tool Age immediately. While you're waiting, build
at least three Fishing Boats to start gathering food and have your villagers
chop wood. Once you're in the Tool Age, get to work immediately building Scout
Ships. You should have enough wood for at least two right of the bat. Consider
building a second Dock to speed up the process. Use ALL food that your Fishing
Boats gather to create more villagers, and have them all chop wood.
It won't be long until the two enemy civilisations begin their attack. They'll
probably send only one ship at a time each, but the Elamites may already have
upgraded to War Galley. This is where the enemy will bleed you white if you
don't have a constant supply of wood. Just keep building ships and you should
repel the attack. But look out for Transport Ships! If they land, you won't
have an army to protect yourself (forgoing an army for now is the only way to
build a navy that can compete with theirs).
Once you've secured your shores, and you have a good 8-10 Scout Ships at the
ready, it's time to launch a counterattack. The Elamite and Akkadian towns are
both located to the Southeast of yours. The only apparent way of winning this
battle is to strike hard and early and destroy their Docks. Expect resistance -
they'll be bound to keep a few of their ships at home, and they'll have archery
units to make life more difficult for you. Make sure you keep producing ships,
and men to gather resources for them.
Once you've destroyed both of your enemies' Docks, you can bide your time
before making the final push to reclaim your treasures. Let your stocks of food
increase, and advance to the Bronze Age. Invest in powerful land units such as
Short Swordsmen, Composite Bowmen and Stone Throwers. Build a few Transport
Ships and fill them with these units (but leave a couple of spaces free).
You can find your first treasure to the Southwest of your base, populated by
red-clothed "Elamites". They'll attack in reasonable numbers, but they'll only
have Clubmen, so victory for your side is pretty much a given. Have one of your
ships take the treasure home. This island has quite a supply of gold, so bring
some villagers over to start mining.
The second treasure is in the main Elamite base. This will, of course, not be
so easy. Optimally, you'll want 15-20 strong ground units to make your raid
here and a few War Galleys to provide cover fire. Land on the West coast to
avoid additional fire from Akkadian towers (the Akkadians can be ignored
entirely once their fleet and Docks have been destroyed). Keep in mind that the
enemy's final resistance will include Iron Age units such as Hoplites and
Catapults. Go inland as quickly as you can to find the treasure. Once you have
it onboard one of your ships, hightail it back to your village and the battle
is won.
Babylonian Campaign, part 3: Lost (1595 A.D.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Hittites
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
Here's a fun one!
At the beginning of the mission, you're stranded on an island: one Priest, six
Composite Bowmen, with no ships, buildings or villagers. That's a doozy of a
situation, hey?
Make your way to the North shore. An enemy Priest (with three Bowmen to
accompany him) will come into view. He'll start trying to convert your units,
but you're not going to put up with that shit. Shoot him down quickly. Shortly
thereafter, an enemy Heavy Transport will arrive to collect the survivors. It's
your one ticket off the island, so have your Priest convert it immediately.
With your team onboard, sail north until you reach Hittite territory; you'll
know you're there when you come until fire from Sentry Towers. Unload your crew
as far along the coastline from these as possible. When you've landed, you'll
be attacked by a few Bowmen, followed by a whole lot of villagers. You're
strong enough to handle them all, but make sure that your Priest converts a few
of them.
Once you've fended off the initial defence, have your Priest get to work
converting enemy buildings - make special note of the Barracks, Archery Range
and Storage Pits; Town Centers can't be converted, unfortunately. It would be
nice to convert the Docks as well, but they're heavily guarded. Use your new
military buildings to create a few units, and get to work on a good, old-
fashioned massacre. Meanwhile, have the converted villagers gather resources to
fund this (particularly gold).
Initially, the enemy Sentry Towers will prove to be an obstacle. When you've
cleared some space and don't think enemies will interfere with your building
(which they will en masse if they can), build a Siege Workshop and a Heavy
Catapult or two. I don't need to tell you what to do from here.
Babylonian Campaign, part 4: I Shall Return (1125 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Elamites
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
Like the similarly-named Greek scenario, this will have you right in the fray
from the beginning. Right off the bat, your village is being ransacked by
Hoplites, Cavalry and Catapults. There's nothing you can do to save it; you
just have to get a few people on the Light Transport on your Southeast shore
and flee.
Obviously, you're going to have to do a lot of rebuilding before you can
challenge the Elamites. Head East you'll find some rather fertile land to work
with. Of course, you'll need to start by building a Storage Pit. From there,
build the following buildings (recommended order): Docks, Town Center, Granary,
Market, Barracks and Archery Range. Fishing is the best way to gather food
early on, but make sure you stay near the coastline of your new settlement, or
your boats are likely to get shot down by enemy Catapults. Build a few extra
villagers to speed things along. Keep your supply of food up and advance to the
Bronze Age as soon as possible.
The Elamites will launch an attack on your new home eventually, and by then,
they may well be in the Iron Age. If they have Triremes, you'll have to
outnumber them significantly with your War Galleys. Upgrade and start building
as soon as you're in the Bronze Age.
To truly compete on equal terms, of course, you'll need to be in the Iron Age.
There's a supply of gold on the North side of your new land. While gathering
food, use your navy to protect your Fishing Boats (or, preferably, Fishing
Ships). Be warned that the enemies may make landing (there's bound to be an
exposed section of your coast), and they may have with them Hero Alexander.
Nothing on your side will be able to defend against this - except a Priest. A
Temple should be your first Bronze Age building.
Once you're in the Iron Age, it really goes without saying that you'll want to
upgrade to the Trireme as soon as possible. This is where you can finally make
your counterattack! Perhaps the enemy's greatest strategic disadvantage is that
they're on an island; this will allow you to circle and destroy anything built
along the coast. Their Docks are first on the agenda, of course. They'll
probably have Catapults and Ballistae at the ready, so destroy them on sight.
When you've cleared their coasts and are ready to make your final sweep, amass
a solid army, including Priests, Catapults and villagers (you'll see). If
you've converted the enemy's Hero unit, things will be a lot easier. Land on
the small island connected to the main one by shallows, and bring your Triremes
around to provide support fire. You'll encounter significant resistance. If
your villagers can build some Guard Towers a little way in from your landing
zone after you've beaten the first wave, it will make it a lot easier to
endure. This has been a particularly difficult battle, but it's finally winding
down.
Babylon Campaign, part 5: The Great Hunt (1120 B.C.)
Objectives: - Retrieve the Artifact
Difficulty: 5/5
Strategy:
You probably read the scenario title and thought that YOU would be the hunter.
Well hey, guess what!
This is basically a series of little obstacle courses. While your group will
receive reinforcements along the way, they'll probably be just enough to
replace what you lose. Here's the breakdown:
Initially, you have eight Axemen. You'll be up against six Lion Kings and two
Elephant Kings along the way. If that doesn't scare you, it will in time.
Advance cautiously and try to fight one Lion King (and certainly no more than
two) at a time. The Elephant Kings will hit you HARD, so make life easy for
yourself by luring the last Lion King out from between them. Then just dash
past the Elephants and you'll have your first reinforcements.
Once you clear the first checkpoint, six Improved Bowmen will take your back.
Finish off the approaching Elephant Kings and advance to the East. You'll come
under fire from enemy (Improved) Bowmen. They'll outnumber yours, so send in
your Axemen first of all, and have your Bowmen just provide cover fire.
Continue to the North, and a couple of friendly Scouts will be waiting for you.
Up ahead is a gauntlet of Sentry Towers and Bowmen. Don't stay and fight - just
leg it! You have speed on your side. Forget about any Axemen and Bowmen you
have left, though, because they won't make it through.
You'll be coming up to a relative lull in activity now. After you're sure that
you're clear of the gauntlet, make a save file. In fact, you'll need to make
several throughout the course of this mission.
Next up, you'll get six Cavalry. Head West and you'll soon be ambushed by a
couple of Ballistae. Strike swiftly and you needn't suffer more than one
fatality (two at most). You'll then come across two (rather separate) pairs of
Elephant Archers. Ignore them for now - killing them will destroy any chance of
completing this mission. They're easy to outrun, anyway. Finally, there'll be a
couple of Stone Throwers in your path, and two more on an island to your right.
Destroy one of those in your way and run from the other.
You'll soon come across a wall, which you need to move right up to - this will
reveal two friendly Priests on the other side. Have them convert the
approaching Stone Thrower. If everyone's alive and well (you should, ideally,
have at least four Cavalry units left), save your game - you're advised to make
it a separate file to the last.
Your next destination is back to the East, around where the gauntlet of towers
ended. On the way, you'll need to strengthen your army, and clear up this area.
Once you've freed the Priests, have them heal any wounded units. Your Stone
Thrower can make short of the two nearby Sentry Towers. Make absolutely sure
that you convert the two Stone Throwers on the small island; as their range is
the same as your Priests', though, this will include a considerable amount of
risk. Move your Priests' out of firing range as necessary. Have the two Priests
follow the arrow on their side of the wall to reveal a Light Transport, which
you can use to retrieve your two new Stone Throwers.
On the way back East, make sure you convert all four Elephant Archers (have
your Priests pair up to convert them one at a time, retreat, and then wait
until your faith is regained to try the next one). On the East side of the map
is a cluster of Sentry Towers that you can destroy with your new firepower.
Once this done - assuming that you still have the three Stone Throwers, four
Elephant Archers, four Cavalry and two Priests (all of these are entirely
necessary) - create a new save.
Here comes the really horrific part. Head up the foothill and you'll be greeted
by about a half-dozen Ballistae and a Catapult. Use your forces as efficiently
as possible to defeat them (while it's tempting to try to covert a Catapult,
this is almost certain to result in your Priests being killed, and you need
them here). Move just a little bit further forward and you'll encounter another
five Catapults. Finally, a huge legion of Improved Bowmen and Priests emerges
to finish you off.
The outcome of this will be decided by a combination of quick reactions and
sheer luck. As long as you manage your forces very well and heal between each
wave, though, the odds won't be too badly against you. The last wave is
particularly nasty, as you'll have very few units left by now and can't afford
to have any of them converted by the enemy. As always, of course, Priests are
the priority target. If you come out of all this with two or three Elephants
standing, as well as at least one Priest, heal everyone and create a new save
file.
Your final objective is to reach the island in the North corner of the map.
You'll have one Light Transport to get you through, and you'll be blasted by
Ballistae and Catapults throughout, so you must move quickly and choose a good
route. My winning course involved moving along the coast to the center of the
map (aligned with the North and South points), moving North until seeing the
outline of the island, and sweeping round to the landing point on the West
side. This is where you're in the most danger of being shot down, so keep
maneuvering evasively until you've landed. Once on dry land, move around and up
the hill on the double (you're still being shot at). The Artifact is right at
the top.
You've just finished the hardest scenario in Campaign Mode, so enjoy the sense
of relief!
Babylonian Campaign, part 6: The Caravan (1119 B.C.)
Objectives: - Return the Artifact to your Temple
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
Here you finally get a mercifully brief and easy scenario, but don't get too
complacent!
Your Artifact will be guarded by five Composite Bowmen. They're the only units
you have for this mission, so exercise some caution.
Head Northwest along the forest path and you'll be ambushed by some red Elamite
Axemen. Since you have the considerable advantage of range, you should take no
damage here (or at least very little).
Further to the West, you'll come across the yellows, whose presence is made
clear by their flag. Once it's in sight, turn to your left into the little
alcove with the Ruins. Almost immediately, two Broad Swordsmen will come for
you, but you should be able to shoot them down before they strike. On the
cliffs before you stand two Priests. If you pick them off quickly enough, they
mightn't be able to convert any of your units (fingers crossed). On the way out
of yellow territory, you're likely to come across a Cavalry and a Phalanx. The
Cavalry is fast and will probably get a few hits on you before you can kill
him. The Phalanx really hits hard, so keep your distance.
Heading northeast from here, you'll come to a dense area of forest with Guard
Towers scattered around. Just move swiftly - if you lag around, some War
Elephants from further up North will arrive. If you arrive first, though,
you'll reach your Temple quite unabated.
Babylonian Campaign, part 7: Lord of the Euphrates (648 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Assyrians and Chaldeans
Difficulty: 5/5
Strategy:
You may have been hoping for more than one easy scenario in a row, but it isn't
going to happen. Indeed, this is perhaps the most difficult of the conventional
build-and-attack scenarios.
You'll start in the Bronze Age, but only have Tool Age technology. The
Chaldeans are settled on the North side of your land, and will send over their
army frequently. The Assyrians, settled on the landmass in the East, will send
over their navy. To complicate matters further, the Chaldeans will also send a
navy to attack, and the Assyrians can send over troops via Transport. In a
sense, you can be fighting as many as four battles at once. To have any hope of
surviving this constant assault on all fronts, you'll have to begin production
FAST, and luckily, you do have good resources.
Build a few extra villagers, and divide them between gathering wood (which
you'll have to gather from the forest to the East of your starting point,
because the forest to the North is a valuable natural barrier) and food, with
maybe one each on stone and gold. But have at least one head up North and build
a wall (near the shallows and alongside the forest) and a Watch Tower to stave
off Chaldean attacks for a while. Yes, this will have your manpower spread
pretty thin.
Your first military objective will be to destroy Assyria's Docks, which will -
assuming they don't rebuild, which is unlikely to happen - effectively remove
them from the game (though you'll have to return to finish them off
eventually). While it would be tempting to upgrade to the War Galley first,
time is of the essence in this initial stage, so I recommend mass-producing
Scout Ships instead. Meanwhile, research the Short Sword and start producing
troops, because your barrier to the North will fall eventually.
Next on the itinerary, you'll have to eliminate the Chaldeans, who are rivals
for your land and resources, as well as a constant military threat. It would be
to your advantage, though, to take some time to advance to the Iron Age first.
If you're fairly sure you have control of the sea, you can build Fishing Boats
(and upgrade to Fishing Ships) to satisfy the food quota. If not, use the berry
plants and gazelles inland, and build Farms when they're depleted. There's
quite a lot of gold around, but you'll be competing with the Chaldeans for it.
Once you have advanced, upgrade your Short Swordsmen to the Broad Sword, and
then to the Long Sword. Build a Siege Workshop, upgrade to the Catapult and
build a couple. You'll also need some Priests, so build a Temple, and at least
research Astrology and Monotheism. You might also want an Archery Range and
some Composite Bowmen, as well as a Stable and some Cavalry, but don't think of
either as a requirement.
Your strategy for invading Chaldean territory will have to be sound. Have your
Catapults destroy their Guard Towers (they're likely to have made this upgrade
by now), which will be posted around the entrance to their village. Your
Priests will be needed to heal your other units, but if they have a spare
moment, convert useful buildings such as the Market and Government Center
rather than destroying them. Chaldea's Docks will be a priority target, in any
case. Once their navy has been destroyed, yours can aid in the destruction.
Invading Assyria is something that can be done at your own pace. Upgrade to the
War Galley, if you haven't done so already, and research Artisanship and
Craftsmanship (you'll want your ships to have as much range as possible). As
you raid their shores, you're likely to be met by Chariot Archers, Catapults
and Ballistae. Destroy as much as you can by the sea to make your invasion
easier. As they'll have Guard Towers, you'll need at least one Catapult.
They're also likely to have a lot of their force inland, so you may have to
retreat at various points to protect your Catapults.
In the end, this comes down to a war of attrition; by the end of the game, your
resources will likely be depleted. The key is to act quickly but not hastily,
and not waste your resources.
Babylonian Campaign, part 8: Nineveh (612 B.C.)
Objectives: - Destroy the enemy's Wonder
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
This is quite the suitably epic final scenario. Nineveh, settled to the
Northeast, will begin constructing their Wonder at the game's onset - however,
they'll only have one man on construction, so you'll have an awful lot of time
to stop them. An awful lot of time, that is, until you consider that this is a
rather great task. As the Wonder will be revealed on the map, check its
progress frequently.
Two things of note: firstly, you'll have huge amounts of resources at the
beginning, but no Town Center or villagers. Secondly, you'll actually be
playing Egyptians here, which will have an effect on available technology (but
almost certainly for the better).
You start off with six Scout Ships at your disposal, so it goes without saying
that you'll want to upgrade to the War Galley immediately (at the same time,
create a Priest as well - we'll get to that in a moment). No sooner will you
have upgraded, though, than the enemy begins a vicious naval assault, with War
Galleys, Triremes and Catapult Triremes. You'll be outclassed in both numbers
and technology, so you'll just have to maneuver well.
There is a way of circumventing the initial lack of villagers, which will
probably be necessary to achieve victory: along the strip of coastline on the
land opposite yours (the yellow "Enemy" settlement) between the forest and the
water, there may be a villager out to chop wood, who your Priest can convert.
This will probably have to be done VERY early on, though (preferably,
immediately after the first wave of Nineveh ships). If you're successful in
conversion, bring your new villager over and build a Town Center, then advance
to the Iron Age (you already have the necessary resources and buildings).
Upgrade your War Galleys to Triremes.
The yellow "Enemies" to your West will be a constant thorn in your side. While
destroying Nineveh's navy as quickly as possible is essential, you may want to
destroy the yellow Docks before going for Nineveh's, or you'll be facing
shipments of yellow troops throughout the game.
Nineveh is likely to have a few Docks, with a fair supply of Triremes to defend
them. Build a few of your own, along with a Catapult Trireme or two (though
you'll have to research for these), and begin your raid. They'll have an
assortment of Sentry Towers and Ballista Towers around; the latter will
probably be too hard to destroy, but the former should go now (this way, you
can clear a path along the far north of Nineveh's territory).
If your naval attack has succeeded, it's time to prepare for invasion. You'll
want an assortment of Hoplites, Catapults, Priests, Composite Bowmen and maybe
a couple of elephant units. Land at the clearest spot possible, have your ships
clear away whatever enemies come to meet you at the shore, and move inland
cautiously, destroying whatever towers stand in your way, before finally giving
their Wonder everything in your arsenal - you know the drill. Chalk up an
overall victory for the Babylonians!
===============================================================================
YAMATO EMPIRE OF THE RISING SUN
===============================================================================
Yamato Campaign, part 1: The Assassins (365 A.D.)
Objectives: - Kill the Izumo leader
Difficulty: 5/5
Strategy:
I'll say it straight off: this mission is just plain frustrating, and the
outcome will largely be dependent on luck.
You have five units (three infantry, one cavalry and a "Hero" bowman), and no
way to create more. Your first destination is the East corner of the map.
You'll have to fight several lions on the way. Avoid them where you think you
can, make sure you don't fight more than one at a time, and move wounded units
to the back of your ranks. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE that none of your units die.
Upon arrival, you'll meet a Priest who will handily heal your units (but you'll
have to move them right up close to him - to the point where you're more or
less touching). Assuming that everyone is still alive, save here.
Head Southwest towards the enemy village. You'll fight a few more lions on the
way. Cross the shallows, and you'll be in enemy territory. If you've taken any
damage AT ALL fighting the lions, you're advised to go back to the Priest and
heal now.
Once you're on the other side of the shallows, head northwest and you'll arrive
in the enemy village. Progress a bit further and you'll come to some stone
walls (on the far left-hand side, there's another Priest) with a clearly
flagged entrance between them. This is the part you'll really hate.
Go straight through the gates and IT'S ON! Enemy Hoplites, Sentry Towers and
Stone Throwers will make short work of you if you don't think fast. Make a mad
dash to the northwest, and then northeast (using the walls as your guide).
You'll see some more flags, indicating that the enemy leader is nearby. He just
so happens to be a Hero Xerxes - perhaps the ultimate infantry unit. You'll
need your whole team at just about full health to bring him down. Good luck!
-
Alternate strategy, submitted by Seah Lay Kian [[email protected]]:
"Firstly, thanks for your guide which helped me quite a bit when I got stuck in
the game, especially Canyons of Death in the Yamato campaign. I have some
contributions which I would like to share for the Assassins game of the Yamato
campaign. I realise that Xerxes is located near the port towards the northern
end of their peninsula, so I got all my units to stick as close to the coast as
possible and make my way to the priest hiding there. The trouble along the way
is the guard tower, but there is a nice patch of land where the priest is, with
the tress acting as barrier between where Xerxes stood and my units. So I use
my knight and swordmen to go out and lure Xerxes so that he comes into range of
my hero bowman. Hero bowman can be hidden safely behind the trees near the
priest, and once he is in sight, everyone can kill off Xerxes. It should be
easy because the bowman has the advantage of range."
Yamato Campaign, part 2: Island Hopping (370 A.D.)
Objectives: - Recapture the six stolen treasures
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
Again, you'll be given a few units at the start and will have to make do with
them alone.
The Izumo have a small village to the Southwest of the map. This includes a
Dock that will be producing War Galleys continuously. Obviously, you won't be
able to defend against a growing enemy force for long, so your first task is to
put an end to this.
You'll have to confront two of their ships almost immediately. Don't load your
Transports yet, because you'll need your Catapult to destroy the enemy Galleys
without yours taking too much damage. After this initial effort has been
quashed, it's time to weigh anchor.
Sail through the narrow path between islands until you reach the aforementioned
point on the map. Upon arrival, land on the small island next to the enemy
village. They may still have a War Galley or two around, so sink them before
trashing their Dock. At this point, none of your ships and neither of your
siege weapons should be destroyed, and casualties otherwise should be minimal.
Once this is done, there will be a lot less to threaten you. Sail around to the
other islands and begin reclaiming your treasures in any order you please
(though I've numbered them in roughly clockwise order, which worked for me).
Load them onto your Light Transport so they don't get mixed up with your
troops.
Treasure #1: On the island where you should be right now.
Treasure #2: Somewhere on a little archipelago (mass of small islands) in the
East corner of the map. There will be several enemy Bowmen, but your War
Galleys will make short work of them.
Treasure #3: On a larger island just north of the archipelago. There will be a
formidable enemy force here, but the treasure is very close to the shore, so
you can wheel it away without having to engage them.
Treasure #4: On an island in the North corner of the map. It will be protected
by three Composite Bowmen, so unload as soon as you arrive.
Treasure #5: On an island a bit South of the center of the map. There will be
dangerous animals (lions and elephants) around. The Artifact will come into
view as soon as you land, so you can move it to your landing point without
having to approach it.
Treasure #6: On a cliffy island immediately West of the last one. Two Composite
Bowmen will be all that keep you from your quarry.
Yamato Campaign, part 3: Capture (375 A.D.)
Objectives: - Capture the Artifact
Difficulty: 3/5
Strategy:
This map is basically an enormous lake with an encirclement of land, and a
small island in the middle. This means, of course, that naval control is the
key.
Begin the game by building walls to the North and South of your village - this
will buy you a fair bit of time as the enemy sends small groups of Axemen from
both sides. It would also be worth building a Watch Tower to the South, where
the bulk of attacks come from. After that, focus your effort on developing a
navy. Create a couple of extra villagers to accelerate the process. Upgrade to
War Galley and start building. The brown Izumo to the Northeast will soon begin
building a formidable navy of their own, so beat them to the punch. After
you've destroyed their Docks, head south and do the same to the yellows.
Once this is said and done, you'll have to put together a ground force to
assault the island at the center of the map. There will be Fortifications and
Ballista Towers, so you'll need a Siege Workshop and some Stone Throwers.
Destroy your walls to the North of the village and head that way along the
river bank, and you'll eventually find some much-needed gold mines, with a sole
enemy Sentry Tower to protect them. This gold can be used to create any
Priests, Cavalry and Hoplites you feel you need.
Begin your assault on the island by circling with your ships. There are a few
enemy Ballistae and Catapults that you'll want to destroy before you send your
ground force in. Make your landing on the shallows just to the East of the
island (NOT on the island's shoreline, as this will place you straight in the
line-of-fire of their Ballista Towers) and begin a standard siege operation.
Two rows of Fortification are all that protect the Artifact.
Yamato Campaign, part 4: Mountain Temple (376 A.D.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Izumo Temple
- Build a Temple where the Izumo Temple once stood
Difficulty: 3/5
Strategy:
You'll begin this one in the Stone Age, so you'll have to do a bit of work to
get your army started, and you have very little space to do so initially.
Create two or three extra villagers, and divide them between wood chopping and
berry picking as seems appropriate. Build a Barracks and either a Storage Pit
or Granary (not hugely important which, though I'd go with the Storage Pit).
And upgrade to the Tool Age as soon as you have the necessary food supplies.
The yellow Kibi faction on the East side of your island will soon send over
Clubmen (followed by Axemen) to attack. You begin the game with two Watch
Towers, which should stem the first few waves. Once you're in the Tool Age,
though, you'll want to build an Archery Range and start producing Bowmen to
form a more mobile defence, and begin your counter-attack when you have a half-
dozen or so. Shoot down any Axemen in sight, lay waste to their Barracks and
work your way up the hill to their village. Once they've been defeated, this
would be an ideal place to expand your settlement, with rich resources and a
lot of space.
Your next target is the brown Kibi, who will probably be developing a navy.
Build a Dock and get to work on one of your own. Take this land and you'll have
access to gold and stone. Advance at least to the Bronze Age, construct the
requisite buildings and create some Stone Throwers (Composite Bowmen, Cavalry
and Hoplites couldn't hurt either).
Your ultimate target, of course, is the Izumo. While they make no effort to
expand their force, their island will be exceptionally well-fortified to begin
with. It will be a fair slog to the top of the Izumo's mountain, so don't come
without a strong force (by now, you should have a fair idea what this means).
They have Guard Towers posted on their beach, so you'll inevitably take a bit
of damage before destroying them. Their Bowmen and Catapults will rain down on
you on the way up, so you'll need to be able to return fire. It's easy for
waves of weak forces on your side to be dispensed with, so come out swinging!
Yamato Campaign, part 5: Canyon of Death (380 A.D.)
Objectives: - Retrieve the Artifact and bring it to the flagged area
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
You're given a seemingly infallible force at the onset, but as with the first
two scenarios in this campaign, what you see is what you get - apart from some
reinforcements towards the end, there's no way of replacing fallen units. As
you'd imagine, this makes things pretty challenging. Consider dividing your
four types of units (Cavalry, Horse Archer, Composite Bowman and Broad
Swordsman) into separate groups for the sake of mobility.
Your first opposition will come from a large group of Axemen and Bowmen. They
should pose no real threat, but try to take out the Bowmen immediately, and
make sure you protect your Horse Archers. The next wave of enemies will be
handily taken care of by some roaming Lion Kings. The lions are no friends of
yours, though, so pick them off before they get close to you.
Head right from here and you'll come to path leading up a cliff face. Sentry
Towers will serve as a minor obstacle, but you can use your Horse Archers and
their superior range to your considerable advantage. As you work your way up,
though, enemy Catapults and Composite Bowmen will try to halt your advance.
Your Horse Archers are likely to be occupied with the towers, so have the rest
of your force protect them. At the summit, there will be a huge force of
Composite Bowmen and Short Swordsmen waiting for you. You're bound to lose a
lot of units, but at least make sure that your Horse Archers live.
From here, you'll have to begin a fairly arduous trek south. Of course, there
will be plenty more Sentry Towers to make your life hard. There will also be
several more Composite Bowmen to wear down what remains of your troop. Again,
you'll need your Horse Archers to destroy the Towers while the rest of your
team provides support. You'll eventually come to a wall with a final Sentry
Tower within its range. The tower will need to be destroyed before you can
start on the walls. Be wary also of the enemy Catapult.
Once the wall has been broken, though, things begin to turn around. Head to the
beach and load your remaining soldiers onto the provided Heavy Transports. Sail
a bit to the West, and you'll find your reinforcements (which, thankfully,
include Catapults and Priests).
Finishing this mission is now a matter of raiding the enemy island and
retrieving the Artifact, which is no mean feat. Have your Priests heal the
wounded, because you'll need to be in top shape. Your island is, of course, an
ideal save point.
The enemy still has no shortage of manpower - you'll probably see no less than
dozen Phalanxes (!), supported by Composite Bowmen and Catapults, rise to the
occasion here. Hopefully, though, your concentrated firepower will bring them
down before they can land many hits. Your Catapults will certainly help in
breaking through the hordes here. Clear the island and out and retrieve your
Artifact.
Yamato Campaign, part 6: Oppression (385 A.D.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Kyushu Government Center
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
As you'll have enemy Phalanxes rudely patrolling your village from the start,
you'll need to act fast to survive.
The Kyushu (or rather, the Tang) will demand payments of 200 gold every few
minutes to keep the peace. As "tributes" involve an extra 25% fee on top the
nominal amount, it'll cost you 250 each time. You'll have 400 to begin with -
do the math!
Get your bearings immediately. Just up from your Market, there'll be a gold
mine that you can use to satisfy the demands - but not for long, as it'll only
provide an additional 400 pieces. You'll need to escape before the well runs
dry, so to speak, and the Tangs get aggressive.
Start producing villagers until you have 10 or so (or as many as your initial
supplies of food will allow). Have a couple of them head a bit north and start
mining gold and rest move over to the coastline. Build a Storage Pit (there'll
be plenty of wood to chop right by the coast) and then a Dock. Next, create a
couple of Light Transports, followed by as many Scout Ships as you can afford
(but keep at least 120 pieces of wood in reserve).
So long as you have a guy or two mining, you'll be able to meet the first two
demands. You won't be able to sustain this for long, though. After the second
payment, move everyone over to your Dock, and be ready to load everyone onto
your transports and flee once the third ultimatum comes.
Your new home will be an island on the West side of the map. While your
transports make their way over there, have your Scout Ships sweep around the
Tang's Southern coast and raid their Docks (you don't want to compete with them
later for control of the waters while you're struggling to rebuild).
You'll have to make your landing along a small peninsula in the West corner of
the map. Build first a Storage Pit to start gathering wood, followed by a Town
Center, Market, Granary and Docks (you'll free up a bit of coastline on the
East side of the island as you chop wood). All the food, wood and stone you're
likely to need will be on this island and gold can be mined on the island just
north. Once you have the aforementioned buildings, have most of your guys pick
berries. Build next a Barracks and either an Archery Range or Stable (this
choice is pretty much irrelevant, but you'll need one), and advance to the
Bronze Age when you have the necessary food.
When you're in the Bronze Age, you can begin striking back. Upgrade to the War
Galley and sweep the enemy's coasts. You'll at least destroy most of their
Catapults this way. Your key target, the Government Center, is built quite
close to the coast. With the range upgrades, your ships should be able to
attack it, but there will probably be villagers just out of range repairing it.
Back at your island, build an Academy and train five Hoplites. Ship them over
and they'll aid considerably in the assault. Just finish things quickly, before
enemy reinforcements arrive from further inland.
Yamato Campaign, part 7: Friend in Need (400 A.D.)
Objectives: - Protect the Hyuga town
- Destroy Kyushu town
Difficulty: 2/5
Strategy:
This one will open with a pretty full-on battle between the Hyuga and Kyushu,
with a few of your troops mixed in. There's very little you can do to affect
the outcome of this, but the Hyuga are likely to come out on top. While there
are many units at your base, this is on the other side of the map, so the
battle will be over by the time you can send them over. Have them sit this one
out.
Once the Hyuga town (and particularly, their Government Center) has been
protected, you'll have to strike back at the Kyushu. Make your way North
towards their town, and you'll first come across some gold mines. Bring some
villagers over and assume control of these immediately to gain the upper hand.
You might want to build an Academy, Siege Workshop and Temple here so you can
produce units without them having to make the long trek over from your neck of
the woods.
From here, it's a pretty standard siege. The Kyushu's towers will certainly
have above-average range, but if you research Engineering at your Government
Center, your Stone Throwers can top this. The game's penultimate scenario will
be over before you know it!
Yamato Campaign, part 8: Kyushu Revolts (405 A.D.)
Objectives: - Destroy the Kyushu city
Difficulty: 4/5
Strategy:
This is it - the grand finale of Campaign Mode. You weren't expecting the game
to go easy on you, were you?
The land will be divided into three stretches by narrow rivers. The Kyushu will
occupy the North stretch, you the South, and the one between would be a no-
man's-land, except the Kyushu will have Sentry Towers posted. As this middle
stretch contains bountiful natural resources, victory will be dependent on
seizing it.
You'll need to use the resources on your side of the divide very effectively.
Just to the South of your Storage Pit, there'll be some gold mines that will be
essential for building your army; they won't last you the rest of the game,
though. There's plenty of wood to be chopped, and you'll have berry plants and
Farms provided for food. You have a Scout at the beginning, so you him to map
out your surroundings.
The Yamato's trademark in land combat is the cavalry charge, as illustrated by
their reduced production cost. Amass a strong army of Cavalry, and support them
with Metalworking and Scale Armor. You also want some Priests; as the enemy
will have a vastly superior army in size, you'll have to wear them down a few
at a time with hit-and-run tactics (using your Priests to heal in between).
The Kyushu will have already staked their claim in the middle section of the
map. Across this stretch of land, there will be little plateaus with an
abundance of wood, food and - mostly crucially - gold. Each one will be heavily
guarded (with a Sentry Tower on each one - consider bringing a Stone Thrower or
two), and most will be only accessible from the Kyushu's side. You'll need a
strong force to make a breakthrough here, after which you can bring over some
villagers over to the plateaus, wall yourself in and start mining.
Establishing your hegemony (look it up) in the middle section of the land won't
be easy, but when it's done, victory is yours. If you like, you can use your
new supplies of gold to advance to the Iron Age, upgrade your Cavalry further
and create more Priests and Stone Throwers. With just the thin strip of land to
the North under their control, the Kyushu will collapse eventually.
Congratulations on finishing Campaign Mode! But this is just the beginning.
*******************************************************************************
LEGAL STUFF
*******************************************************************************
I'll just make my position on this clear right now: I don't claim copyright on
this guide, because that would really be patently (no pun intended!!!!!)
ridiculous. I'm not making any money from it, and it's based on something
that's already copyrighted (the game itself). "Information wants to be free" is
one of my guiding maxims.
As such, you can reproduce this guide wherever you like. For honour's sake,
though, do so IN WHOLE (or with reference to the complete publication), and
make mention of me and the document's original place of publication (GameFAQs).
I don't demand prior written permission, but drop me a line about it, too.
*******************************************************************************
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
*******************************************************************************
- Ensemble Studios for developing this beauty of a game.
- Microsoft for publishing it.
- GameSpot for producing a guide that I would probably have never finished the
game without (if my strategies aren't working for you - although THEY WILL -
check theirs out).
- My family and friends for being my family and friends.
- More specifically, my dad for getting me into this game.
- Anyone who reads this (and especially anyone who writes back).
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