Written by: Superboc (Superboc@hotmail.com)
Copyright 2004, Dave Thomas. I would very much appreciate it if you contact me
to ask my permission before posting any or all of this FAQ on your own site.
However, if you're trying to profit from it, or if you intend to change
anything about it, don't bother contacting me.
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Version History:
Version 2.0 - This version will have a complete walkthrough for The Glory of
Greece campaign. I might also add something to the building listing. Don't
know what I'm going to add to it, yet, but I'll think about it. Let me know
if you want anything, readers!
Version 1.2 - Augh. After a more-than-6-month hiatus, I'm back to write
another addition to this FAQ. I'd like to include about half of the Glory of
Greece campaign in this version, although I'm not sure how long it'll take to
write. It also has that complete unit listing I mentioned in the last version;
I omitted a lot of stuff. Next will come that building listing. And hey,
checking GameFAQs, I never submitted version 1.1...guess I wasn't so sloppy
after all.
Version 1.1 - This version will have a complete unit listing, the beginnings of
a building listing, and of course, some more missions added to the walkthrough.
We'll see how far I get...
Version 1.0 - First version of the FAQ. I'm really not sure what I'm going to
include in this version just yet, but looking at the other FAQs on GameFAQs,
I'm sure it's going to have to be quite a bit to be competitive. I'll aim for
a complete walkthrough of the Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign. Long-term,
I'd like to include a full FAQ including all the things the other FAQs already
have, on top of the walkthrough, but that can wait. For now, that aspect will
be limited to a unit guide for the first two ages.
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Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. Campaign Walkthrough
1: Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign
Mission 1-1: Hunting
Mission 1-2: Foraging
Mission 1-3: Discoveries
Mission 1-4: Dawn of a New Age
Mission 1-5: Skirmish
Mission 1-6: Farming
Mission 1-7: Trade
Mission 1-8: Crusade
Mission 1-9: River Outpost
Mission 1-10: Naval Battle
Mission 1-11: A Wonder of the World
Mission 1-12: Seige in Canaan
2: Glory of Greece
Mission 2-1: Land Grab
Mission 2-2: Citadel
Mission 2-3: Ionian Expansion
Mission 2-4: Trojan War
Mission 2-5: I'll Be Back
Mission 2-6: Siege of Athens
Mission 2-7: Xenophon's March
Mission 2-8: Wonder
3: Voices of Babylon (coming soon!)
Mission 3-1: Holy Man
Mission 3-2: Tigris Valley
Mission 3-3: Lost
Mission 3-4: I Shall Return
Mission 3-5: The Great Hunt
Mission 3-6: The Caravan
Mission 3-7: Lord of the Euphrates
Mission 3-8: Nineveh
4: Yamato Empire of the Rising Sun (coming soon!)
Mission 4-1: The Assassins
Mission 4-2: Island Hopping
Mission 4-3: Capture
Mission 4-4: Mountain Temple
Mission 4-5: The Canyon of Death
Mission 4-6: Oppression
Mission 4-7: A Friend in Need
Mission 4-8: Kyushu Revolts
III. Units
IV. Buildings
V. Thanks
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I. Introduction
This is my fourth FAQ. I'm writing this because even after several years, I
really enjoy this game. Looking online, I noticed Jim Chamberlin's very (VERY)
detailed FAQ, but I specifically noticed that it lacked a comprehensive
walkthrough. I mean, it had everything else, but it was just too much for him
to go through each mission. I don't blame him; I get the feeling this will be
a difficult task for me, as well. Anyway, onto the important thing.
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II. Campaign Walkthrough
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1: The Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign
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The first mission in the game is a fairly simple one, meant to teach the basics
of food collection: hunting. You start with a town center, a villager, 50
wood, and 30 food. Creating villagers only takes food, and there are plenty of
gazelles around to hunt. Kill them using your villager, and then collect the
food from the body. The only real strategy worth employing, if it can even be
called a strategy, is to plan your attacks. Circle around the gazelle and get
it to run away from you, and closer to your town center. When it's really
close, then you can attack it. This way, you'll get more food from it (albeit
only a little bit more) because it gradually deteriorates. When you have 50
food, create another villager and get him to work collecting from the same
gazelle body. Repeat this process; every time you get 50 food, create another
villager and send him to collect food from the gazelle. When the food supply
of the gazelle runs out, your villagers will probably automatically hunt
another gazelle, but if they don't, simply order them to do so. If you have 4
villagers, order 1 to build a house so that you can create more villagers.
You've already got enough wood to build it, so there's no need to worry about
collecting more. After you've created 7 villagers, the mission ends, rather
anti-climatically.
Mission 1-2: Foraging
Objective: Build a storage pit, granary, and dock.
This mission is somewhat more complex than the last one. Instead of gathering
food, you have to gather wood. However, it's much easier and faster to gather
wood if you've got more villagers helping you out. You start with 3 villagers,
and within your sight you have some berries and some trees. Have 2 of the
villagers chop the trees down and collect wood while the third villager
collects food. (Note that you don't need any food at all to complete this
mission; I'm merely recommending that you collect some so that you can complete
it that much more quickly.)
You should get 50 food around the time you get 120 wood, so use the food to
create a villager. Send the new villager to the west, where you'll find a
forest. Build a storage pit somewhere near the forest, and when your 2
woodcutters are idle, send them to collect wood from the forest. This way
they'll collect wood and put it in the storage pit, which, being nearby, will
save a lot of time. By the time your storage pit is done, your woodcutters
will have collected another 30 wood total, which is enough to build a house if
you want to support more than 4 villagers. Use your builder to build a house,
and when it's done, send him to collect more wood from the forest.
Create your 5th villager when you have 50 food, and by the time he's finished,
you should have about 100 wood. Send him to the shore, and have him build a
dock. When he finishes, have him collect even more wood from the forest to the
west. You're almost done, now. Your 4 woodcutters will probably have
collected 120 wood before your 1 forager collects 50 food, so have your
forager build a granary. In later levels, the granary's location will make a
big difference, but since this level ends the moment the granary's finished,
you don't have to worry about its placement this time. As soon as the
granary's complete, the mission ends.
Mission 1-3: Discoveries
Objective: Find the 5 Discoveries before the Libyans find them.
The discoveries are white things that resemble an animal on the ground.
They're pretty large (about 3 tiles by 3 tiles), and they're arranged in a
predictable pattern: 1 near each corner, 1 in the very center of the map. You
can tell when you've "found" them by whether or not a blue flag is placed on
them. Anyway, this mission stresses the idea of knowing your territory. To
win, you have to explore, and nothing else.
You start with a villager, a town center, and 90 food. Use the food to
immediately create a second villager, and use your villager to scout out the
territory immediately to your southeast, where you'll find a berry bush. Have
the villager forage for 10 food, and use the food when you get the chance to
create a third villager. For now, don't worry about collecting food or
increasing your population any further. Just wait patiently. If you want, you
can send a villager to the southern corner to explore a little bit. The
discovery in this corner is totally unguarded, so it's a quick score for you.
Shortly after you discover it, though, you'll see a red guy riding a horse.
This is an enemy scout. The bad news is that he's tougher than a villager.
The good news is that he's not tougher than three. Lure him toward your other
villagers, then attack 3-on-1. You might lose a villager, but that's no
concern, because you have a food supply and because that scout is the enemy's
only unit. Once it's dead, you can't lose.
Be cautious, though. There are lions and alligators around, and either of
those animals can harm you. Keep one villager in your camp, collecting food,
while the other(s) explore to the north. The second discovery is also a
freebie. From here, head to the eastern corner. Along the way, you'll pass
an enemy town center, but don't worry about it. They don't have any units
left, and the town center won't do you any harm. The third discovery is
guarded by an alligator. You can fight it (but be careful, it's a little on
the risky side), or you can simply run around it, since you're considerably
faster than it. Obviously, I prefer the latter option. From here, head back
to camp temporarily.
By the time your villager gets back, you should have enough food to create
another villager. Do so, and you'll have either 3 or 4. If you have 3, have
them all forage until you have a fourth. If and when you have 4, send them to
the west of the camp. You'll find the fourth discovery guarded by a lion.
Have your 4 villagers hunt the lion, but don't bother with collecting the food
afterwards - just mark the discovery and head back to camp.
The fifth and final discovery is directly southwest of the enemy town center,
and it's guarded by another lion. Approach it from the southeast, and the
lion won't even have time to react to your presence before the mission ends.
You win!
Mission 1-4: Dawn of a New Age
Objective: Advance to the Tool Age.
This level emphasizes technological advancement by means of moving from one age
to the next. Advancing to the Tool Age requires three things: two Stone Age
buildings and 500 food. Oh, and the patience to actually advance, but that's
not really important in this mission. This time, the game will mostly require
you to fish for food, which is a new idea.
You start with three villagers. Have one start fishing for the fish jumping
around near the shore, and have the other two cut wood from the trees north of
your town center. When you have 50 food, create another villager and have him
build a house somewhere out of the way. When he finishes the house, have him
cut wood. When you have 100 wood, have one of your woodcutters build a dock
somewhere offshore to the west. Immediately after it's done, send its builder
back to woodcutting, and build a fishing boat. There's tuna directly to the
north of your town center, so collect that with the fishing boat. When you get
the chance, build another fishing boat as well. Northeast of your town center,
you'll find some whale, so collect that with your second fishing boat. At this
point, you'll have enough food really soon.
Around this point, your fisherman should run out of fish to...well, fish, on
the shore. Set him to work cutting wood to the east. When you have enough
wood, build a storage pit to the southwest. (It's not really important where
you build it, at this point, but just build one.) There's no need to spend any
more food now. Every 50 wood you collect, build another fishing boat, until
you have 500 food. Then, at the town center, advance to the Tool Age. When
it's done with its (very, very slow) counter, you advance automatically, and
the mission is complete.
Mission 1-5: Skirmish
Objective: Destroy the enemy tribe.
This is the first mission that includes military units, because it's the first
to emphasize combat. But that's all you get. You have 7 units: 4 axemen and 3
bowmen, against 6 enemy units: 3 axemen and 3 bowmen.
First, select a bowman and have him walk east and a little to the north. Leave
the others behind for now, because there won't be any combat just yet. The
bowman is just to scout out the territory immediately ahead of you. When he
reaches the northeast side of the map, bring the rest of the army up with him,
because the first battle is just around the corner of the cliff. Surrounded by
berry bushes is the first enemy axeman. Lure him in by attacking with your
"scout" bowman, then run back a little bit. He'll stop, meaning he's not
actually going to pursue you, so shoot him again to rile him up further. Keep
doing so, gradually leading him back to your main force. By the time he gets
there, he can be as low as half health, depending on difficulty. At this
point, you'll notice an enemy bowman standing nearby. It's best to avoid this
fight, so back off for the time being. Instead, circle around the trees and
attack the axeman again from the northwest. Both the axeman and the bowman
will pursue you this time, so run back behind a line of axemen and attack with
all 7 of your units. Focus on the axeman first, then when he's finished, send
everyone after the bowman. A second and even a third bowman will appear
shortly afterward, so finish them off as well. At this point, the enemy's
strength is cut to one third, and you should still be at full strength.
Moments later, another axeman will arrive. He's another easy kill. In fact,
in the game I used while writing this FAQ, he focused on one of my bowmen, but
my units prevented him from even getting close enough to land a single attack.
Simply put, the entire level can be spent just standing still after the first
battle. If you survive the enemy attack, and the level doesn't end, just go
hunting for whatever few units are left.
Mission 1-6: Farming
Objective: Control the ruin; stockpile 800 food.
Food is scarce in this level after the first berry bushes are gone, which means
you have to focus on using farming as a steady source of food. This becomes a
key concept later on in the game, so get used to it quickly.
You start with more than you've ever had before: 3 villagers, 3 clubmen,
several buildings, and 100 of each resource. Start by ordering your villagers
to forage for the berries that are conveniently located by your granary. Next,
create a villager at the town center, have him forage, and create another
villager, also to forage. Have your clubmen scout out the surroundings, but
don't spread them out too far. When you reach 100 food, research the battle
axe at the barracks. After 50 more food, create another villager and have him
start cutting wood. Create yet another villager to cut wood. When you have
150 wood, have a villager build an archery range so that you can train bowmen.
Bowmen will be very valuable throughout this campaign.
Around this point, the enemy may send a war party with several axemen. Your 3
axemen may or may not be enough to stop them, but create another at the
barracks just to be safe. You may even want to use your villagers to fight,
but be careful not to lose too many. When the berries run out (which was
probably a while ago, by now), have everyone who was previously foraging start
cutting wood around your camp. When you've got 150 wood, build a market
someplace out of the way, and you're just about ready to go.
Have the villager who built the market build a farm right next to your granary,
now. This will be a slow, but steady, source of food for your colony, so you
can create more villagers if you lost too many, or focus on research and
military if you're doing well. If you really want to grow fast, you can have
a second villager build a second farm.
As more enemy war parties come into your territory, you might consider training
bowmen to get rid of them. Their range makes it much easier to take out the
enemies, mostly because the enemies will want to focus on your villagers. With
a handful of bowmen, you can finish the enemies off pretty swiftly as they
attack you. Eventually, you'll want to build a storage pit, if only for the
technological bonuses it'll give your military units. You should also consider
researching domestication and especially woodworking at your market, for
economic purposes.
At this point, your colony is really getting started. You don't have any new
buildings to build (unless you really, REALLY like scouts), you only have a
few technologies to research, so you should spend the bulk of your new
resources on either getting new villagers to get stronger even faster, or on
developing a strong military. Either way is good, as long as your military is
comprised mostly of bowmen with a handful of axemen included. As your military
grows, be sure to keep up with your population problems by building more houses
somplace out of the way.
When you're satisfied with your military, start marching north. Your first
obstacle is an archery range on the east side of the river. Kill any enemy
units that stand in your way, then destroy the range. There may or may not
also be a house here; if there is, obviously, destroy it too. And watch out,
because the enemy might even have built a watch tower here. If they have, keep
your distance and build up a force of axemen to take it out quickly. Now, as
you destroy the archery range, be sure to kill any villagers that try to repair
it. This is standard practice; it deprives the enemy of their resources while
forcing them to expend even more resources to develop more villagers.
When the enemy presence is cleared from this side of the river, it's time to
move to the other side and start clearing them out. Focus on the houses; that
way, you limit their population. Watch out for their scout ships, because
those things have a nice range and will snipe at you if they have the chance.
If you want to rid yourself of the scout ships completely, just destroy the
dock. While you battle, you'll probably lose some forces, so make sure to
replenish them by ordering new ones at the archery range and barracks. And
while you're at it, be sure to rebuild any farms that are exhausted, just in
case you need food at some point.
The ruin is off by itself in the far western corner. Send a single bowman to
find it, and you're halfway there. Next, collect 800 food. When you've done
this, the mission is complete. It was a long one, but you win.
Mission 1-7: Trade
Objective: Stockpile 1000 stone and 1000 gold.
You start with 3 villagers, considerable resources, and several buildings. As
always, start by creating some more villagers and collecting food. Have the
dock create a scout ship, and send the ship northwest to try to guard that side
just a little bit. Don't be surprised if the Minoans send a scout ship, but
don't bother pursuing it; its range is just too much for you. Instead, focus
on keeping your dock and scout ship in good condition. Eventually the Libyans
will surprise you by sending the most advanced unit you've seen so far in the
game - the ballista. Don't worry though. It focuses on your villagers, so
have its target run back and forth to avoid taking shots, while the scout ship
continually wears it down. You should get through the initial battles with
almost no casualities and only minor damages.
At this rate, you'll run out of wood shortly, so create another two or three
villagers and have them start cutting some. At this point, you should have
around 10 villagers. When the berries are exhausted, set all your idle
villagers to work temporarily on cutting more wood from the trees scattered
throughout your area. A little to the southeast of your town center, you'll
find one last berry bush. When you have enough wood, have a villager get to
work building a market, and research woodworking immediately. After that,
build a barracks, then an archery range when you have enough wood.
Obviously, if any Libyan villagers try to wander through your base, kill them
off. Use villagers to do this, if necessary. Pretty soon, your foragers will
have finished their task (even on the extra berry bush to the southeast), so
save up and build two or three farms. The rest of your villagers can collect
wood, at least for now.
Before you start wondering, no, I haven't forgotten about the Minoan scout ship
that's probably been causing chaos for your dock this entire time. As it
stands now, your scout ship has a range of 6, and theirs has a range of 9. If
you were to attack it, it would continuously withdraw and remain outside your
range, sniping you from a long distance. The only way to counter this is to
increase your range, and the only way to increase your range is to advance to
the Bronze Age, where you can research range-improving technologies. Save up
800 food and advance.
Your first step upon advancing should be to upgrade to the war galley at the
dock. Your second should be to research woodworking at the market. These two
technologies will increase your boats' range by a total of 2, giving you a
combined result of 8, which is enough to take on Minoan scout ships. And the
war galley has a stronger attack than the scout ship, so you can win any battle
easily. The emphasis now is on naval power. You don't need any technologies
that don't pertain to ships; storage pit techs are a waste. In fact, the only
tech you might consider researching is stone mining, because you'll need to
mine stone soon.
First, though, you have to conquer the water. Create a fleet of four or five
galleys, and send them southwest, to the mouth of the river. Have one of them
start exploring the rest of the map. On the eastern corner, you'll find the
Libyans; the Minoans are a little to the southeast of them. (Watch out for the
Minoans' stone throwers; they'll destroy a ship in 2 or 3 shots.) If you're
attacked by Minoan scout ships, simply use the same tactics you would on dry
land; group attack them with your galleys.
The next step is to clear off the Minoan island. You really only need two
galleys for this. First, send one of the galleys to attack their stone
throwers. The stone throwers are powerful, but if you're paying attention, you
can dodge their slow-moving attacks and get in shots of your own. Eventually,
both stone throwers will collapse. Next, deal with the bowmen by sending two
galleys in to attack them. When the bowmen fall, you've secured two ports, the
Minoan one and the Libyan one. At this point, you should start developing
trade boats/merchant ships to trade wood (and maybe food) for gold.
Continued sea exploration will reveal two things: 1) a landmass to the south
which supports the Canaanites, and 2) that your landmass is much bigger than
you may have originally thought. Don't worry about the Canaanites unless they
have a dock (they may or may not); if they do, start trading with them, as
well. When trading, always make sure you have plenty of the resource you're
trading away. In this case, you might consider focusing all your villagers'
efforts on collecting wood, unless you intend to trade both wood and food.
The next time you get an idle farmer, send him to the southeast to explore the
rest of your territory. When he discovers a stone deposit, have him build a
storage pit and start mining stone. At this point, with no enemies to
challenge you and virtually unlimited resources available for trade, you can't
lose. Just keep mining stone and trading wood and food for gold, and
eventually you'll reach the required stockpiles.
Mission 1-8: Crusade
Objective: Capture (convert) the ballista and bring it to your town center.
There's not much to this mission. You start with 4 villagers, a priest, a
couple hundred resources (mostly wood), and a bunch of buildings. I don't know
if it's poor level design or if it's intentional, but the only gold mine on the
map is directly southwest of you, on the shore. Don't try to mine it, though,
because the moment you do, the enemy will usually send an all-out attack,
including the ballista. You want to have some time to prepare, after all.
First, check out the forest to the northwest of your base. Have two villagers
cut some wood at the very western edge of it, right next to the cliff, and send
your priest through that little crack to the area behind it. From here, send
him southwest, following the cliff. Standing near the cliff's edge, you can
see the 8 enemies, including the ballista. Convert one of the bowmen and have
him attack the other six. Then run away with your priest. Wait for your
priest's faith level to return to 100%, and have him convert another enemy
bowman. Continue this process until either all the bowmen are dead, or the
ballista stands in the way. DO NOT convert the ballista if you haven't
finished off the bowmen yet. Leave it until the very end.
Start building a force of bowmen, about 10 strong. That should be more than
enough to finish their entire force off. While your priest attracts the
ballista's attention trying to convert it, have your bowmen move in from the
east to kill off any remaining guards. Don't let the ballista attack anyone;
quietly move it away from the battle and toward your town center. If anyone
tries to attack it, target them immediately, even at the expense of your own
bowmen. As soon as the ballista makes it back to the town center, you win.
Mission 1-9: River Outpost
Objective: Locate large Nile island; build town center and 2 guard towers on
island.
You start with 5 villagers and abundant resources. Start developing more
villagers and collecting food with the ones you've got. Don't worry about
attacks; there won't be any. Using one of your villagers, build a market
somplace out of the way. Next, build a government center somewhere out of the
way. You won't get much use out of it, but you need the technology buildings
to advance forward. Also build a seige workshop, and a dock somewhere on the
shore. These construction projects will require wood which you don't have yet,
so have a villager or two (perhaps even create a villager or two) start cutting
wood.
Around now, your foragers will run out of food. Have them cut wood, and slowly
take them off woodcutting and start them farming, one at a time. Research
craftsmanship at the market. Create a few more villagers and get them started
mining gold near the storage pit. Stockpile the gold and food until you have
enough to advance to the Iron Age. With the wood, start developing a navy. It
doesn't have to be too impressive - two or three war galleys will do the trick
for now.
The island is in the center of the map. You can't miss it. Have your galleys
attack its watch towers. The galleys can stay out of range safely. Also, be
sure to kill the alligators and lions. There are several, and they can do some
serious damage to the villagers you'll be sending over there. When you have
enough wood to spare, create a light transport at the dock, but don't send it
anywhere just yet. As you clear the island of its inhabitants, you'll notice
some huge stone mines are there. Once you've started to advance to the Iron
Age, take your gold miners, put them in the light transport, and send them to
the island.
Once on the island, build a town center somewhere between the stone mines.
Have all your villagers start mining stone. If anyone in your home base is
idle, send them across to the island to help out. When you've got 150 stone,
build a watch tower. Do this twice, giving you two watch towers and the town
center. However, it's not quite over yet. You need _guard_ towers, not watch
towers, on the island, so keep mining stone and research more advanced towers
at the granary. When you've finished researching the guard tower, the mission
will end.
Mission 1-10: Naval Battle
Objective: Recover stolen artifact and bring it to your town center.
You start with 3 villagers, 200 of each resource, and various buildings. Order
all the villagers to start foraging, and create a bunch of new villagers, which
you should also have forage. When you get up to about 7 or 8 villagers, the
new ones you make should focus on woodcutting. Your first technological
advance should be the war galley. After all, this is a naval battle. Build
an archery range, because the enemy will try to land ground units occasionally,
and bowmen are the best defense for now. Research the wheel to make the
villagers faster.
When you're done foraging, start hunting. Clear off all the animals. No need
to waste wood just yet, especially with such a huge hunting party. When
hunting dries up, start farming. Meanwhile, be sure to collect as much wood as
possible. Use the wood to develop a strong navy; 5 boats will probably not be
enough. You might also consider starting to mine for gold near the storage
pit. It's not a high priority, but it'll be useful eventually.
Send one of your new war galleys out exploring. You'll quickly find out the
importance of a navy; the middle of the map is entirely water, save a small
enemy-controlled island. Incidentally, that island has a sentry tower on it
which can really cause problems. When you've got 7 or 8 war galleys, use them
to destroy the tower. Use group tactics on every enemy galley you fight, and
make sure not to let ANY transport through. Gradually build up the strength of
your navy until you feel you can take on any number of ships safely.
Send your navy straight north. On the northeast side of the map, you'll find
the enemy dock protected by a sentry tower. Destroy the tower and any boats
nearby, but leave the dock intact -- you may want to trade later. Meanwhile,
if you leave a blockade of about half a dozen ships here, you'll be able to set
about the task of wearing down the enemy along their entire coast. Start
attacking coastal units and buildings with your galleys; meanwhile, prepare an
invasion force of composite bowmen. You should only need about five; as far as
clearing out enemies goes, your galleys should do plenty.
At this point, don't even bother with economic research. If you advance to the
Iron Age, it should be solely to improve your archers' strength. Send your
archers in to clear out any remaining enemy units, and you'll find the artifact
snugly hidden behind a small wall. But since you've found it, you can control
it like any other unit, so move it toward your transport. Put it back on your
home island to complete the mission.
Mission 1-11: A Wonder of the World
Objective: Build a wonder.
From the very start, send every villager you have foraging. Create villagers
with all the food you collect, and send them foraging (not farming yet) until
you've exhausted the berry bushes. Then, have two of the villagers farm, while
the rest cut wood from the trees between the granary and the town center. In
total, you should have about 12 villagers at this point. Build an archery
range near the granary and create a force of ~5 bowmen. Send them near (but
not too near) your southwestern shore. The Canaanites will start by attacking
one of your buildings, probably on the southeastern shore, with a scout ship.
Let that attack go for now. Shortly, the Canaanites will send a fairly
impressive ground force against you, and you have to prepare for it. Be warned
that on higher difficulties, the Canaanite ground force arrives much, much
sooner. I had to let them destroy my stable, market, and a few houses before
I even began to get them under control.
Continue collecting wood and farming, while building up your defenses. Be
aware that the Canaanites can and will attack from both the east and the west.
Their early attacks are extremely feirce, especially considering your
military's relative weakness, so you may have to fight them using only
villagers and bowmen. When you get the chance, send three of your villagers
in a transport to the far eastern corner of the map. Drop them off, build a
storage pit, and have them start cutting wood here. This keeps your
civilization alive temporarily, at least. Even if the Canaanites wipe you out
of your home base completely (and they may), you'll have something left alive.
And if need be, you can always just start from scratch here, since it has
everything you need in the way of wood. You'll also find a stone mine here,
which is an added bonus, but you should save it for later, since you'll need
1000 stone to build the wonder.
After their initial aggression, the Canaanites back off somewhat, giving you
the opportunity to rebuild. First, focus on improving your bowmens' numbers
and abilities, just in case another ground force arrives. Second, focus on
cutting wood, because you're going to need a navy soon. However, they'll
blockade you, leaving scout ships right on your shore so as to prevent you
from even building a dock, let alone a navy. So, build it from the eastern
island instead, where they won't be watching.
When you have ~5 galleys, start exploring the sea with all of them. If you
encounter Canaanite ships, destroy them. If you find docks, leave them intact,
because they're practically your only source of gold. The nearest dock is
along the southeastern side of the map. Another is near the southern corner.
Blockade the Canaanites' dock, but don't destroy it, because that'll give them
access to gold. No reason for you to do that. Just blockade it for now, and
clear the other ships out of the sea.
Trade food for gold until you have quite a bit of it, then start stockpiling
stone on the eastern island if you haven't already. If you haven't advanced to
the Iron Age, do so. As soon as you're there, start building a wonder,
assuming you have 1000 wood, gold, and stone. Devote all your villagers to
building it, because by now there's no need for anything else. As soon as it
finishes, you win.
Mission 1-12: Seige in Canaan
Objective: Destroy Canaanite government center.
Start by foraging with every villager you've got. Once you've got ~6
villagers, start stockpiling food so that you can advance to the Tool Age.
You'll need a stable source of food soon, after all. Build a storage pit near
the forest to your west to fulfill the two-building requirement, then a granary
so that you'll have access to the market when you advance. Start cutting wood
to pay for the granary, and to get the market later. When you do advance,
build the market in the far southern corner, where it won't get in the way.
The market should be completed just as the berry bushes are exhausted, leaving
you with 300 food and a little wood.
Start exploring to your northeast, and you'll find a forest along the
southeastern edge of the map and a river which, for the most part, blocks your
path. The river is a good thing, though. Build an archery range and start
training some bowmen. When you have a decent-sized force (you may need to
build some farms to get enough food), start moving northwest. You should also
consider researching technologies to help the units you have, such as
woodworking, leather armor, and toolworking.
To your immediate northwest, there's a clubman guarding a passway. As soon as
you attack him, a pretty large force of clubmen and bowmen will attack you, but
with about 10 units with decent technology behind them, you can do surprisingly
well. Just watch out for the sentry tower immediately to your north. Once you
wipe the enemies out, you can freely explore the ridges to your northwest,
where you'll find two huge stone mines and two gold mines, as well as some
sizable forests. Now you should start to consider expanding your villager
population to 15 or so, in order to handle the increased resource availability.
The Canaanites won't fight you for these resources, so feel free to take them
as you need them.
Your next step should be to eliminate the sentry tower. I sent a force of 5
axemen and 4 bowmen, and destroyed it rather easily. Be warned, though,
because the Canaanites will send some bowmen and clubmen across the river to
defend it. It's not as big as the first battle, but after the sentry tower
weakened my bowmen, these troops finished them off, leaving only 4 axemen in my
camp. You may want to have more than 4 bowmen, therefore. After the battle,
try to move your troops north, to the shallow part of the river. It's a
bottleneck through which the enemy will have to pass to attack you from now on.
The next step should be to advance to the Bronze Age.
In the Bronze Age, you'll probably get the most use out of a temple and a seige
workshop, so build those two buildings first. Research the wheel and the more
advanced archery range units. Also start researching temple technologies.
After this, consider researching the other market technologies, and start
creating units. You only really need 2 priests, but you could develop as many
as 4 and still find a use for all of them. Also, you'll need about 10
composite bowmen and at least a pair of stone throwers.
When you've assembled this army, send it north, across the river. Immediately
you'll face a pair of sentry towers, so use your stone throwers to get rid of
them. Shortly after you start to attack them, the Canaanites will send another
small force to defend themselves, so be prepared to move in the composite
bowmen and whatever forces you have left from the first two battles. You could
spend a long time wearing their forces down here, sneakily killing off one
unit at a time without taking any damages...or you could just go for the
throat. The first passage is directly north; you'll see a barracks along the
way, and it's guarded at the top of the ridge by another pair of sentry towers.
Destroy them and continue, bearing west.
Continue northward, and you'll find yet another passage guarded by a pair of
sentry towers. Destroy them both; continue northward. You'll come to a
walled-in area with yet another pair of sentry towers inside of it. Destroy
the sentry towers, then the walls. Continue advancing northward until, inside
the walled-in area, you find the Canaanite government center. Destroy it and
you've completed the campaign.
======================================================================
2. Glory of Greece
======================================================================
Mission 2-1: Land Grab
Objective: Destroy all Dorian farms; establish 5 farms.
This mission has always frustrated me, but there's a secret I've discovered
which makes it much easier. From the very start, order all your units to head
directly to the eastern corner of the map. Ignore any enemy units (and even
the tower) that get in your way for now. In the area you reach, build a dock,
and a town center right next to it. Then start building houses and chopping
wood. When your maximum population is big enough, create some fishing boats
until you have 3 or 4, and when you have enough wood, build a barracks just
south of the town center (the trees should be cleared out by now). An
aggressive defense early on is important; kill any enemy units you meet at
this point, even villagers, and focus especially on Tyrinian villagers and
Dorian clubmen. Advance to the next age quickly.
From the start of the Tool Age, you'll want to do a few things. First, build
a market (yes, this requires a granary) on the southeast edge of the area, out
of the way. No need to do anything with it just yet, but it'll come in handy
soon. Chop wood to the north of your encampment, and develop axemen, the
stronger, the better. Also, develop a small force of archers (yes, this
requires an archery range). Using this new army of yours, spread into the area
west of you. You'll need to defend two openings, one to the west, one to the
southwest. Both are important, so split your forces evenly between them.
This new area is fairly wide-open, which lends itself perfectly to farming.
That's important, considering your fish supply is going to start to run low
soon. Remember to keep some (perhaps even most) of your villagers chopping
wood; that's even more critical than food, at this point.
Next, build a storage pit somewhere. Doesn't really matter where, as long as
it's near a source of wood. Research the available technologies there; this is
easy, because it requires only food, and it's hugely beneficial, because it's
almost all you can do to make your units as powerful as possible for this
mission. Once all these techs have been researched, all that's left to do is
to build the army that can take out the Dorians. This is no problem. Just be
sure to build enough houses to keep youself going, and be careful to leave at
least a small force behind on defense.
As you spread west, you'll encounter tons of enemies spread out across the map.
However, they're individuals, so you should have the advantage of numbers.
Just keep heading west, killing anybody you find. Eventually, you'll reach the
line of towers. This could pose a problem, because you don't have any siege
weapons yet. Remember, slow and methodical is the key to victory here. Just
tear down one tower at a time, replace any units you've lost, and move on.
This is a war of attrition, but the computer won't be able to hold out as well
as you will.
Once the line of towers has been breached, it's pretty much smooth sailing.
Tear down their houses so they can't replace units, then tear down their
production structures so they can't build them in the first place. Kill
anything that moves, and then close in on the farms. Most of them will be
further north within their town, and may be protected by more towers, not to
mention a vicious scout ship. Once you think you've gotten all the Dorian
farms, all that's left is to build 5 of your own, and the mission is completed.
You'll start with a handful of villagers and clubmen. Get the villagers to
work first. I sent two foraging (near the granary) and one cutting down random
trees. The clubmen should be used for exploration, because they can't do much
else right now. Keep your town center busy developing new villagers until you
have about 12. Hostilities will flare up between you and Thebes rather
quickly, so start improving your clubmen, researching the axe and some storage
pit technologies. Build a dock and a stable, and start scouting out the
territory using units from those buildings. You're looking for gold and stone.
(Doing this will also allow you to develop stockpiles of food and wood.) When
you've stockpiled 800 food, advance to the Bronze Age.
Once you reach the Bronze Age, start researching, but do so carefully.
Remember, you still don't have a reliable source of gold yet, so don't research
any units that require gold; it's a waste, at least at the moment. Any
research that requires food and wood, or any economic research that requires
gold, is worth it. Don't forget about the Bronze Age buildings; a government
center is always a good thing to build.
Your next step is to find a gold mine, preferably without spending any gold.
Start building up your forces with axemen and bowmen. You can send them, as
well as a few villagers, to the northeastern edge of the map. If you follow
the land north, the northern corner holds some gold, about 1200 worth, and a
little stone guarded by a watch tower. The gold's easy enough to take, without
worrying about the tower, but the stone requires you to destroy it. But hey,
you've got a steady source of gold, so it's no problem, right?
Be ready for an attack once you take this stuff; they WILL want their territory
back. Now you can start developing higher-tech units, though, such as
hoplites. And you can do it on their ground, by using the villagers you sent
over. Develop 3 hoplites and 2 bowmen, and cross the river to the south with
them. Clear off any units you see; most of what you fight will be axemen
anyway. Farther to the south, you will find another, much larger gold deposit,
guarded by another watch tower. Destroy it and establish a storage pit of your
own in its place, and you're on your way.
The next step is to sweep back up along this oddly-shaped land formation. This
is only meant to secure your borders, so you could probably get away with not
doing it, but it'll make the attack easier in the end. Follow the land
northeast until you circle around, making sure to clear off any enemies you
encounter. Eventually, you'll come back to the shallow water that you can
cross from your storage pit. At this point, you've sealed the enemies off
completely. Next, wipe out their camp. It's not very impressive, and you've
probably eliminated most of their units already.
You might want to deal with their ring of watch towers first. They're a
nuisance, but a sizeable force of hoplites can clear them out with no problem.
Next, destroy their regular buildings. Finally, move in to the northwest.
You'll find the ruins. There's an odd bug here, I think; when I played
through, I was declared the winner as soon as I captured the ruins. I didn't
have to build the towers at all. I'm not sure why, but...eh. If you don't
discover the same error I did, then simply take out their towers and send in
some villagers to build two of your own in the same place. Simple.
Mission 2-3: Ionian Expansion
Objective: Establish a government center on Ionia inside flagged region OR
find 3 ruins.
This mission is a bit tricky. From the start, get your villagers collecting
food and wood. The wood will be crucially important in developing a navy
shortly. Have one of your clubmen scout out the shoreline so you realize just
how small the island you're on is. Keep developing villagers; you'll need a
good many for this. Consider building ~2 houses, and build a building to allow
you to advance to the Bronze Age (you'll also need the 800 food, of course).
Advancing to the Bronze Age is absolutely critical to this mission.
The first ruin is to your northwest, on your landmass. It's the easy one to
find. You'll also discover a sizeable deposit of stone, much closer to your
camp. Now, start developing a navy. At first it can be made up of scout
ships, because they'll develop into galleys soon. This should take place as
you start advancing to the Bronze Age. It also means you have to start really
working to collect wood, of course. There's a good supply of it to your south
and west; this can all easily be cut by the villagers who were all too recently
foraging, because the bushes will probably nearly have expired by now. You'll
also need a food supply; you can fish for this using a few villagers. (If you
prefer, you can hunt for food, but I don't recommend it -- too wasteful. You'd
need to devote a lot of villagers to the task to avoid a large amount of waste,
and you need a lot for woodcutting already.)
At the start of the Bronze Age, there are two technologies that should be your
immediate focus. The first, of course, is the war galley. This is the single
most important tech for you to develop in this mission. The second is
artisanship. Not only does it give you a +4 (counting craftsmanship's bonus)
woodcutting, it gives a +2 missile weapon range, giving you just a slight
advantage over enemy ships. Once you've got war galleys, start exploring the
high seas.
You'll find an island to the far west, the target continent to the northeast,
and an island in the center of the map. The two islands are both protected by
Lydian watch towers, but they're no match for your galleys. They can be taken
out with a little patience. The only problem here is presented by the Ionian
war galleys. Yes, they roughly keep up with you technologically. But they
only attack one at a time, so you can take them out by attacking with two
galleys at once, and by keeping a spare villager nearby to repair.
Once you've cleared off the central island (notice how it had nothing WORTH
defending?), you can continue exploring north. You'll find a chain of islands
with substantial gold reserves on it. This will come in handy shortly. But
for now, let's initiate a blockade. You should have at least half a dozen
ships, and some knowledge of the Ionian coastline. Using your galleys,
surround their dock, and destroy any ships that move near it. And keep those
ships there, to prevent future attacks (they've probably invaded your landmass
at least once by now, right?).
If you successfully blockade their dock, you can now focus on mining gold.
Transport some villagers up to the northern islands and build a storage pit,
then get to work. When you have enough gold, advance to the Iron Age. As soon
as you reach the Iron Age, develop the trireme. They REALLY don't like your
blockade, and they will REALLY try to break through it, so triremes are
crucially important in keeping up with them. In fact, you may even decide to
completely destroy their dock, along with any other buildings of theirs that
are in range of your new ships.
Finally, you're going to need some military force. As in the last mission,
probably the best force you can put together would combine bowmen with academy
units. To that end, start developing phalanxes and bowmen. When you have a
force of 10 or so, you can take them over to the Ionians' eastern coast and
start attacking. At this point, it's a foregone conclusion; without a navy,
they can't possibly beat you, and with your army occupying them, they'll
eventually just run out of resources. You might want to bring in a priest to
hurry their defeat.
Now you can choose your method of victory. Ruin #1, as I already said, is on
your landmass; it's the "easy" ruin to get. Ruin #2, the "medium" ruin, is on
the western island, guarded by more Lydian watch towers. This one's really
not that tough to get and hold, either, and it provides you with a substantial
wood supply if you need it. Ruin #3, the "hard" ruin, is in the Ionian town.
If you manage to conquer their territory pretty thorougly, you'll find it at
the northeastern edge, about a third of the way up from the eastern corner.
The area in which you can build a government center to win is the northwestern
edge of the Ionian territory, blocked from the north by the map's edge and some
cliffs. The only way you can approach it is from the southeast. Watch out for
their towers, too. Generally, neither path is easier. If you can accomplish
one, odds are you can accomplish the other. Although I suppose it'd be
possible to charge in to the Ionian territory with a force of scouts, run to
the back of their lands, find the ruin, and claim victory by holding it for
half a second, that's not really the point...what fun would the game be without
total destruction?
Mission 2-4: Trojan War
Objective: Kill Hector; Capture the treasure of Priam.
You start with reasonably good forces, including the Hero Alexander and several
villagers. You're going to need a navy, so it doesn't hurt to start scouting
the sea by developing a scout ship or two now. In the southern sea is an
island with nothing but lions and gold; in the north, you'll find a small gold-
and stone-laden island that's scarcely defended by yellow sentry towers. Those
will come in handy later, when you've taken out their defenses with galleys.
For now, develop technologies that will give your navy an advantage; as with
the last mission, artisanship and the war galley are crucial. Fortunately,
none of these requires any gold, so you can focus on woodcutting, foraging, and
farming for your supplies early on.
Don't bother researching the broad swordsman. Instead, build an academy and
train hoplites. They're stronger, better defended, and the only disadvantage
is cost (slightly more expensive) and speed (slightly slower). You get exactly
what you pay for with both units, and speed is a moot point if you train a
couple archers, making broad swordsmen almost worthless. But this is getting
ahead of ourselves. For now, develop a competitive navy. At least half a
dozen ships should do it. I like to develop bigger forces, so I built around
10 galleys.
You might want to build a wall on your starting landmass. I built one to block
the gap in the northern cliffs. That way, you can focus on guarding your vast
southern and eastern shores. By now, you should have a nice-sized navy, strong
enough to fight off anything the Trojans throw at you. Send them east to
blockade the Trojan dock. Be sure to sweep in in such a way that no ships slip
past you unnoticed; there are only a few routes they can use in this mission,
so keep an eye on those as you move in. Next, start mining gold. I only sent
one villager to the southern island at first, because I was still concerned
that I might want to collect more food and wood first. What you focus on is up
to you.
At this point, you can take your time. Collect resources and just try to wear
them down by attacking their coastal forces. Train an army of hoplites and
bowmen, and when you're ready, send them over. I moved into a two-front
attack; my first force was my navy, which wore down the enemies near their
dock, eventually destroying the dock entirely. My second force, my army, I
landed in the south, in an attempt to wipe them out completely. Take a priest.
Take several, in fact. If you need to be healed, do so, and if you come across
a lonely enemy hoplite, convert him and cause some chaos with a unit that isn't
really yours.
Soon you'll be at the walls of Troy. Pretty simple plan, here. Sit outside
the walls, converting enemy units and making them your own, until you have a
force too big to be dealt with. Killing Hector's no big deal. I sent about
half a dozen hoplites to attack him, and only lost one in the process. Their
walls and towers are no match for your seige weapons. You'll find the treasure
in the northern corner, protected from the sea by a wall. But it's not
protected from you. All in all, this is an easy battle. If you're patient and
prepared, you'll win easily without much worry at all.
Mission 2-5: I'll Be Back
Objective: Capture the artifact; Destroy the temple.
Run like a chicken. All of your forces are on the northern edge of the map,
and they're going to get decimated early on. Flee to the southeast, get in
some transports, and get away with what few units you can save. I saved 6
cavalry; saving archers is preferable due to their vision, but they're harder
to save, because they're slower; cavalry will work just fine. Cross this river
and continue heading south toward your other boat. Don't try to fight your way
through; just run. Head to the southern corner once you reach the transports.
You'll find a large wall that just happens to be yours. Lead your troops
inside, but before you do this, take the time to explore this river thoroughly
with the war galleys given to you.
Inside the walls, you'll find a nicely established city, military and
everything. Unfortunately, no villagers, but that's okay. They gave you
priests, and that's all you really even need. Now, time to start your advance.
From here on in, taking your time is advisable.
Take two priests across the river to the west. You might even want to take all
four, really. Convert at least one brown unit there, possibly all three.
Then, send a catapult in to destroy the red sentry tower. A little beyond this
tower, you'll find three large transports to help you cross the northern river.
Hang on to them for now. Send the catapult scouting north, and you'll spot a
brown ballista. Use your priests to convert it if you want, but be careful not
to lose them in the process. Basically, you just want to keep doing this.
Convert as many units as you can to make your forces stronger and theirs
weaker.
At the far western corner, you'll find a brown dock guarded by roughly half a
dozen composite bowmen. Convert as many as you can, but also guard your
priests against those you can't, by using your own bowmen. When you're done
with the central landmass, it's time to start paying attention to the yellow
base.
The yellow base has very few actual weak points. I would advise against
landing your priests there; they'll get slaughtered if you do. Instead,
establish a beachhead using your bowmen, and bring the priests over only when a
foothold is secured. Now, start converting units again. Push your way,
slowly, through their western corridor, clearing out towers and enemies as you
go. Eventually, you'll start running into the priests. You can snipe these
guys with your catapults. When you get to their storage pit, you can wipe out
large numbers of villagers by allowing them to try to repair it, only to kill
them in one shot.
The temple is located near the very northern corner of the map; you can't miss
it, since it's where you started. The artifact is right next to it, trapped
behind walls. First, destroy the temple. Then, move in on the artifact, not
even worrying about the walls. As soon as the artifact (automatically) changes
colors, you win.
Mission 2-6: Seige of Athens
Objective: Capture enemy artifacts.
Here's the problem: from the very start, you're under attack. Not only that,
but the only resources within the walls of Athens are trees. Immediately pull
all your farmers within the walls. They'll be useful cutting wood. Set a
fishing boat to work, and trade wood for gold in the south. There's a large
island in the central/western region of the map with a large stone deposit,
which will be crucial to maintaining your walls. You'll need to establish a
storage pit there, though.
The Spartans will send a few units to wipe you out, but they won't be enough.
Your walls and towers should suffice to repel them, and if not, your phalanx
units are a match for theirs. At this point, you might run into another
resource problem. The trees inside the city have all been cut down, and the
stone on the central island is faltering. You can use both, so have the stone
miners start cutting wood instead (unless there's still stone to mine), and
transport the remaining villagers in the city to the far eastern island, where
you'll find huge wood and stone supplies.
Now, just take your time. Let your fishing ships harvest food, and let your
merchant ships collect gold. Start building an army of centurions. Added to
your phalanxes, you only need a few, but the more, the better, I suppose. Head
west from the city, toward a nearby gold mine which is guarded by 4 enemy
phalanxes. After you wipe them out, you no longer need to trade for gold.
You're also probably safe to resume farming, at this point.
Once again, priests come in handy here. It's much easier to convert enemy
units than it is to spend valuable resources building your own, even if your
own units will be statistically superior. You can also convert the Aegina
Heavy Cavalry; they'll prove very useful against Spartan infantry. Gradually
spread west, augmenting your forces with converted units as you go. The four
artifacts are near the western corner, under a substantial guard. It won't
take much effort for you to sweep in and take them by force and win the
mission.
Mission 2-7: Xenophon's March
Objective: Capture Artifact; Escort Artifact to your Government Center.
I still want to name my first-born son Xenophon, just to be cool...anyway.
You start with a decent, but not incredible, force in the southern corner.
Explore a little with the priest first. Eventually, a little more than halfway
along the southwestern edge, you'll find the first threat: some lions. Just
leave them for now, let's plan a little first.
Build a storage pit somewhere convenient; anywhere will do, because this area
is almost totally secure. Gather wood like crazy, and build a town center.
Chop down some more trees to make room for houses, then build some. (This step
is really optional, but I enjoy the empire-building aspects of the game, so I
like to do this.) Take out the lions with a Helepolis. At the western corner,
there's a couple Persian broad swordsmen. Bring up your entire military,
leaving your villagers behind for now, to defend; after all, this is the only
way to get to your camp.
Just let your villagers gather wood. Consider building a farm to develop a
stable source of food. Now, try to convert the Persian broad swordsmen one at
a time. It should work, but if it doesn't take, you'll have to kill them off
quickly to save your priest. Get used to this pattern; you'll use it a lot in
this mission. As you progress, you'll soon encounter the red camp. Keep
converting. You'll even find a pair of war elephants, which will come in handy
later. Pretty soon, you will have converted all of red's units, leaving them
unable to fight. Feel free to employ your newly expanded military to finish
their buildings off.
Your next step is to cross the river. First, you might want to convert the two
yellow composite bowmen, as their ranged attack could cause problems otherwise.
Next, bring one of your villagers to the front line to build a dock. (By now
you should have more wood than you'll ever need.) First, build a trireme.
Explore down the river a little, and you'll find a yellow sentry tower.
Destroy it with the trireme. Next, build a heavy transport. Send the priest
downstream and unload him onto a clearing on your side of the river. Convert
another composite bowman from here. There should only be one bowman left to
get; cross the river and finish the job. But be careful not to lose the priest
in the process! Ideally, he should avoid taking any damage at all.
Further south, you'll find some more yellow troops guarding a gold mine. Take
your time clearing them out. If you can get away with moving a transport in,
by all means do so, to get your newly converted troops out of harm's way; if
not, no worries. The gold is what's really important here. Yellow has a
surprising number of troops, and some are rather difficult to convert safely;
just take your time, and before you know it you'll be tearing their buildings
down.
The next enemy, brown, starts out almost giving units to you. 3 broad
swordsmen are trapped between their own walls. You'll probably only get 1.
If you can get 2, you're pretty fortunate; if you can get all 3, you're very
lucky. Next, use your seige weapons to destroy the outer wall, then the nearby
ballista tower. Beyond this you'll find a lone broad swordsman, another easy
conversion. Brown introduces a new element into this: a cataphract, who, if
you're not careful, may kill your priest. But it's a valuable conversion if
you can get it. A useful technique I've found for converting enemy units:
throw another unit between them and the priest. It slows down the enemy just
enough to give the priest another moment or two to finish the task. It usually
means the difference between a dead priest and a strengthened army.
Anyway, keep marching northeast. You'll find their village. Use the
cataphracts as you move up your helepoles, and take out everything in sight,
except the wall blocking your way. Be sure to finish the orange guard tower,
too -- no reason to leave that right now. In the eastern corner, you'll find
another, much smaller gold mine to exploit.
Start exploring again with your priest. You can score two more cataphracts
along the coast here. As you continue to push west, keep converting enemy
cataphracts by creating walls with your own units. Don't worry, you have more
than enough to be able to afford to lose a few; besides, they probably won't do
too much harm. Start wiping out orange buildings, being careful to convert or
kill any enemies that come your way. (Watch out to the south, there's a nasty
catapult down there which can cause serious trouble.)
At some point, you'll need to build a dock on the northern shore. If your
population is way over the limit, you'll have to sacrifice a handful of broad
swordsmen to get it back under, so that you can build a transport. Now, all
that's left is to transport the artifact to your government center, and you
win.
Mission 2-8: Wonder
Objective: Destroy all enemies or their Wonders.
You start out in the center of the map, with lots of resources collected and
several good units. The problem is that a wonder has already been built, which
means you have a time limit. Start by building walls. I don't like using
walls usually, but in this case, you'll need them to keep the brown forces out,
because you don't have any gold to work with, only stone. Build up some towers
while you're at it. Do this to block off three of your four entrances. Also
build a siege workshop and develop a heavy catapult, preferably two. Send
these east.
Brown will attack you shortly. Just try to maintain your defenses as best you
can, and repel their attack with whatever you've got. Use the catapults to
wear down red until they can't fight you off at all, then destroy the Wonder.
I pulled this off with under a century left on the time limit, but I'm sure
it's not only possible, but easy to do it faster than that.
Shortly (if not immediately) after you destroy red's Wonder, yellow finishes
theirs. This task is more difficult, because yellow has more forces. Cross
the map with your catapults and start wearing them down. This strategy
requires a fair amount of skill and/or luck to succeed, though; in the end, I
got desperate and rushed them with everything I had, with only about 200 years
left. They converted or killed every unit I had except for a single heavy
cavalry and a heavy catapult, which were enough to finish it with a hundred
years or so to spare. Sometimes the AI doesn't even attack you if you don't
provoke it.
======================================================================
III. Units
This list will be sorted according to age.
---------
STONE AGE
---------
Villager
Found: Town Center
Cost: 50 Food
HP: 25
Attack: 3
Speed: Medium
Other: Gathers food, wood, gold, and stone; builds buildings. Can be used in
battle, but has limited attack power.
Fishing Boat
Found: Dock
Cost: 50 Wood
HP: 45
Attack: N/A
Speed: Medium
Other: Fishes in the deep sea. Collects up to 15 fish in a trip.
Trade Boat
Found: Dock
Cost: 100 Wood
HP: 200
Attack: N/A
Speed: Fast
Other: Travels to other civilations' docks and trades food, wood, or stone for
gold. In exchange for 20 units, you get a certain number of units of gold,
based on the distance it had to travel. (If it travelled much further, the
value will be higher.)
--------
TOOL AGE
--------
Axeman
Found: Barracks (Upgrade from Clubman for 100 Food)
Cost: 50 Food
HP: 50
Attack: 5
Speed: Medium
Other: N/A
Bowman
Found: Archery Range
Cost: 40 Food, 20 Wood
HP: 35
Attack: 3
Range: 5
Speed: Medium
Other: N/A
Scout
Found: Stable
Cost: 100 Food
HP: 60
Attack: 3
Speed: Fast
Other: Large range of vision.
Light Transport
Found: Dock
Cost: 150 Wood
HP: 150
Attack: N/A
Speed: Medium
Other: Carries up to 5 units of any kind across water.
Scout Ship
Found: Dock
Cost: 135 Wood
HP: 120
Attack: 5
Range: 5
Speed: Fast
Other: N/A
Improved Bowman
Found: Archery Range (Research for 140 Food, 80 Wood)
Cost: 40 Food, 20 Wood
HP: 40
Attack: 4
Range: 6
Speed: Medium
Other: N/A
Composite Bowman
Found: Archery Range (Upgrade from Improved Bow for 180 Food, 100 Wood)
Cost: 40 Food, 20 Wood
HP: 45
Attack: 5
Range: 7
Speed: Medium
Other: N/A
Chariot Archer
Found: Archery Range
Cost: 40 Food, 70 Wood
HP: 70
Attack: 4
Range: 7
Speed: Fast
Other: High resistance to conversion; triple attack vs. Priest. Requires
Wheel.
Cavalry
Found: Stable
Cost: 70 Food, 80 Gold
HP: 150
Attack: 8
Speed: Fast
Other: +5 Attack vs. infantry.
Chariot
Found: Stable
Cost: 40 Food, 60 Wood
HP: 100
Attack: 7
Speed: Fast
Other: High resistance to conversion; double attack vs. Priest. Requires
Wheel.
Stone Thrower
Found: Seige Workshop
Cost: 180 Wood, 80 Gold
HP: 75
Attack: 50
Range: 10
Speed: Slow
Other: Fire rate once/5 sec.; small damage area; minimum range 2.
Fishing Ship
Found: Dock (Upgrade from Fishing Boat for 50 Food, 100 Wood)
Cost: 50 Wood
HP: 75
Attack: N/A
Speed: Fast
Other: Fishes in the deep sea. Collects up to 20 Food each trip.
Merchant Ship
Found: Dock (Upgrade from Trade Boat for 200 Food, 75 Wood)
Cost: 100 Wood
HP: 250
Attack: N/A
Speed: Fast
Other: Travels to other civilations' docks and trades food, wood, or stone for
gold. In exchange for 20 units, you get a certain number of units of gold,
based on the distance it had to travel. (If it traveled much further, the
value will be higher.)
War Galley
Found: Dock (Upgrade from Scout Ship for 150 Food, 75 Wood)
Cost: 135 Wood
HP: 160
Attack: 8
Range: 6
Speed: Fast
Other: N/A
--------
IRON AGE
--------
Long Swordsman
Found: Barracks (Upgrade from Broad Sword for 160 Food, 50 Gold)
Cost: 35 Food, 15 Gold
HP: 80
Attack: 11
Armor: 2
Speed: Medium
Other: N/A
Legion
Found: Barracks (Upgrade from Long Sword for 1400 Food, 600 Gold)
Cost: 35 Food, 15 Gold
HP: 160
Attack: 13
Armor: 2
Speed: Medium
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Fanaticism.
Phalanx
Found: Academy (Upgrade from Hoplite for 300 Food, 100 Gold)
Cost: 60 Food, 40 Gold
HP: 120
Attack: 20
Armor: 7
Speed: Slow
Other: N/A
Centurion
Found: Academy (Upgrade from Phalanx for 1800 Food, 700 Gold)
Cost: 60 Food, 40 Gold
HP: 160
Attack: 30
Armor: 8
Speed: Slow
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Aristocracy.
Horse Archer
Found: Archery Range
Cost: 50 Food, 70 Gold
HP: 60
Attack: 7
Range: 7
Speed: Fast
Other: +2 armor vs. missile weapons, ballista, helepolis.
Heavy Horse Archer
Found: Archery Range (Upgrade from Horse Archer for 1750 Food, 800 Gold)
Cost: 50 Food, 70 Gold
HP: 90
Attack: 8
Range: 7
Speed: Fast
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Chain Mail (Archers). +2 armor vs. missile
weapons, ballista, helepolis.
Heavy Cavalry
Found: Stable (Upgrade from Cavalry for 350 Food, 125 Gold)
Cost: 70 Food, 80 Gold
HP: 150
Attack: 10
Armor: 1
Speed: Fast
Other: +5 attack vs. infantry; +1 armor vs. missile weapons, ballista,
helepolis.
Cataphract
Found: Stable (Upgrade from Heavy Cavalry for 2000 Food, 850 Gold)
Cost: 70 Food, 80 Gold
HP: 180
Attack: 12
Armor: 3
Speed: Fast
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Metallurgy. +1 armor vs. missile weapons,
ballista, helepolis.
War Elephant
Found: Stable
Cost: 170 Food, 40 Gold
HP: 600
Attack: 15
Speed: Slow
Other: Trample damage to adjacent units; attack strength not upgradable.
Ballista
Found: Siege Workshop
Cost: 100 Wood, 80 Gold
HP: 55
Attack: 40
Range: 9
Speed: Slow
Other: Fire rate once/3 sec. Minimum range 3.
Helepolis
Found: Seige Workshop (Upgrade from Ballista for 1500 Food, 1000 Wood)
Cost: 100 Wood, 80 Gold
HP: 55
Attack: 40
Range: 10
Speed: Slow
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Craftsmanship. Fire rate once/1.5 sec.
Minimum range 3.
Catapult
Found: Seige Workshop (Upgrade from Stone Thrower for 300 Food, 250 Wood)
Cost: 180 Wood, 80 Gold
HP: 75
Attack: 60
Range: 12
Speed: Slow
Other: Fire rate once/5 sec. Medium damage area. Minimum range 2.
Heavy Catapult
Found: Seige Workshop (Upgrade from Catapult for 1500 Food, 1000 Wood)
Cost: 180 Wood, 80 Gold
HP: 150
Attack: 60
Range: 13
Speed: Slow
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Seigecraft. Fire rate once/5 sec. Large damage
area. Minimum range 2.
Heavy Transport
Found: Dock (Upgrade from Light Transport for 150 Food, 125 Wood)
Cost: 150 Wood
HP: 200
Attack: N/A
Speed: Fast
Other: Carries up to 10 units of any kind across water.
Trireme
Found: Dock (Upgrade from War Galley for 250 Food, 100 Wood)
Cost: 135 Wood
HP: 200
Attack: 12
Range: 7
Speed: Fast
Other: Fire rate once/2 sec.
Catapult Trireme
Found: Dock (Research for 300 Food, 100 Wood, when Trireme developed)
Cost: 135 Wood, 75 Gold
HP: 120
Attack: 35
Range: 9
Speed: Fast
Other: Fire rate once/5 sec. Small damage area.
Juggernaught
Found: Dock (Upgrade from Catapult Trireme for 2000 Food, 900 Wood)
Cost: 135 Wood, 75 Gold
HP: 200
Attack: 35
Range: 10
Speed: Fast
Other: "Ultra" unit. Requires Engineering. Fire rate once/5 sec. Medium
damage area.
======================================================================
IV. Buildings
This list will be sorted alphabetically.
Academy - trains elite infantry units.
Units: Hoplite
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: Phalanx, Centurion
Available: Bronze Age, with Stable
Archery Range - trains archers. Archers are weaker than most infantry, but can
fight from a range, making them more dangerous.
Units: Bowman, Elephant Archer, Horse Archer, Chariot Archer
Researches: Improved Bowman
Upgrades: Composite Bowman, Heavy Horse Archer
Available: Tool Age, with Barracks
Barracks - trains basic infantry units.
Units: Clubman
Researches: Short Swordsman
Upgrades: Axeman, Broad Swordsman, Long Swordsman, Legion
Available: Stone Age
Dock - builds ships to travel over water.
Units: Fishing Boat, Trade Boat, Light Transport, Scout Ship
Researches: Catapult Trireme
Upgrades: Fishing Ship, Merchant Ship, War Galley, Heavy Transport, Trireme,
Juggernaut
Available: Stone Age
Farm - non-technology building. Provides 250 food, but food must be farmed by
a villager.
Units: -none-
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Tool Age, with Market
Government Center - as the name says, the government capital. Offers several
important researches.
Units: -none-
Researches: Nobility (+15% Cavalry/Chariot/Horse Archer HP), Writing (Shared
exploration w/ allies), Architecture (-33% construction time, +20%
building/wall HP), Engineering (+2 siege weapon, siege ship range), Aristocracy
(Academy units 25% faster), Alchemy (+1 Ballista, Helepolis, missile weapon
attack), Ballistics (Increased missile weapon and siege weapon accuracy)
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Bronze Age, with Market
Granary - stores food, but also useful for some technology.
Units: -none-
Researches: Small Wall, Watch Tower
Upgrades: Medium Wall, Sentry Tower, Fortification, Guard Tower, Ballista Tower
Available: Stone Age
House - non-technology building. Increases your maximum population by 4,
unless you hit the absolute maximum of 50.
Units: -none-
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Stone Age
Market - economic center of your empire. Offers several important researches.
Units: -none-
Researches: Woodworking (+1 missile weapon range, +2 woodcutting), Stone Mining
(+3 stone mining), Gold Mining (+3 gold mining), Domestication (+75 food
production for farms), Artisanship (same as Woodworking; cumulative), Wheel
(Villagers 30% faster; required for chariots), Plow (same as Domestication;
cumulative), Craftsmanship (same as Woodworking; cumulative), Siegecraft (+3
stone mining; villagers can destroy walls and towers), Coinage (+3 gold mining,
free tribute), Irrigation (same as Domestication; cumulative)
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Tool Age, with Granary
Siege Workshop - builds your siege engines, the weapons that are best suited to
tearing down enemy buildings.
Units: Stone Thrower, Ballista
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: Catapult, Helepolis, Heavy Catapult
Available: Bronze Age, with Archery Range
Stable - trains units that ride on animals. These are (generally) faster and
effective against infantry.
Units: Scout, Cavalry, War Elephant, Chariot
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: Heavy Cavalry, Cataphract
Available: Tool Age, with Barracks
Storage Pit - stores wood, gold, stone, and hunted food. Also valuable for
research.
Units: -none-
Researches: Toolworking (+2 hand-to-hand unit attack), Leather Armor - Infantry
(+2 armor for barracks/academy units), Leather Armor - Archers (+2 armor for
archery range units), Leather Armor - Cavalry (+2 armor for stable units),
Metalworking (same as Toolworking), Scale Armor - Infantry (same as Leather
Armor), Scale Armor - Archers (same as Leather Armor), Scale Armor - Cavalry
(same as Leather Armor), Bronze Shield (+1 infantry armor vs. missile weapons),
Metallurgy (+3 hand-to-hand unit attack), Chain Mail - Infantry (same as
Leather Armor), Chain Mail - Archers (same as Leather Armor), Chain Mail -
Cavalry (same as Leather Armor), Iron Shield (same as Bronze Shield)
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Stone Age
Tower (Watch/Sentry/Guard/Ballista) - non-technology building. Fights off
enemy units with arrow attacks.
Units: -none-
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Tool Age; must be researched at Granary
Town Center - creates new villagers, can be used as a storage pit/granary, and
is literally the center of all your activity. Also advances to the next age
when ready.
Units: Villager
Researches: Tool Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Stone Age, if nothing has been built yet; otherwise, Bronze Age,
with Government Center
Wall (Small/Medium/Fortification) - keeps invaders out.
Units: -none-
Researches: -none-
Upgrades: -none-
Available: Tool Age; must be researched at Granary
======================================================================
V. Thanks
Just a quick thanks section to wrap the FAQ up:
- CJayC, creator of GameFAQs. Without Ceej, I would never have bothered to
write a FAQ for anything. I know, everyone on the site thanks him all the
time, but he deserves it.
- Microsoft, who made a great game here.
- The people who e-mail me. I don't know what you folks have problems with
instinctively. The only way I can find out is if you e-mail me at
Superboc@hotmail.com and let me know. I'm more than happy to help, and your
input could very easily go toward improving the FAQ.
======================================================================
