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A game by Ensemble Studios/Microsoft, 1997A guide by Matthew Simon Douglass (AKA BigglesTh9)[email protected]

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|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 wasprobablyone of the defining games of my childhood. As I was about eight or nine

yearsold at the time, though, I really had no idea how to play it. I justenjoyedcreating silly scenarios.

I improved, though, and gave the game a good dust-off in recent times,leadingto 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. Thesewillfirst introduce players to the basics of gameplay, before eventuallythrowing

them some real strategic curveballs. This guide offers some (usually)succinctpointers on how to get through each one.

This guide assumes a rudimentary knowledge of real-time strategy gameplay,butwill 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 FAQssection(as simply a guide to Campaign Mode). However, it was posted as a generalwalkthrough, 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 andsuchcorrected

Version 1.10 (January 23rd, 2008) - Pretty small update after this long, Iguess. Second proofread, reader strategy added, difficulty ratings forcampaign

scenarios (standard arbitrary strategy guide stuff).

*******************************************************************************THE CAMPAIGNS*******************************************************************************

You can play through the game's four game campaigns in any order youchoose.Note, though, that the game lists them in roughly ascending order ofdifficulty. Certainly, you're supposed to play the Egyptian campaign first.This guide assumes that they'll be played in this order: Egypt, Greece,Babylonand Yamato.

A brief summary of what to expect from each:

Egypt - This campaign serves as the game's tutorial. The first severalscenarios will simply be instructive of to play the game. The last couplewillleave 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 orretrieving artifacts (Artifact being the proper in-game term), withdevelopmentof a strong army being necessary.

Babylon - Most of the scenarios in this campaign will involve the totaldestruction (or assimilation) of enemy forces. This will have the mostdifficult second half of any of the game's campaigns.

Yamato - You'll have a very rough start here, as the first two scenarioswillgive you a set number of military units and no way to acquire more. Thescenarios 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 VillagersDifficulty: 0/5Strategy:This is the mission where you learn how to point and click. ;) Kill agazelleand start gathering meat. Once your guy has brought back two loads, you'llhave



enough meat to create another villager, who can join in the gathering.Repeatthis 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 PitDifficulty: 0/5Strategy:Start by chopping down the three or four trees around your startingposition.This will give you enough wood to build any one of these buildings. Crosstheshallow water and you'll find a few more trees (and a whole lot of berrybushes- but pay them no mind). Build your Storage Pit here, and you'll be able togather wood quickly. Once the few trees around your pit have beenthoroughlychopped, you should have enough wood to create the other two buildings. Dosowherever you please.

Egyptian Campaign, part 3: Discoveries (6500 B.C.)Objectives: - Find the 5 DiscoveriesDifficulty: 1/5Strategy:This is the first time you have some competition from another civilisation.Your objective here is to seek out the five 'Discoveries' (large prints ontheground in the shape on a horned animal).Your first move should be to create another villager with the availablemeat.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 forberries. Create another two villagers.3rd Discovery: A bit further East from the starting point4th Discovery: Go north from the third one, between the cliffs and thewater.You'll be jumped by an enemy Scout (a cavalry unit), but your group shouldhaveno trouble dispatching him. Turn left into the little forest enclave (butagain, look out for the lion).5th Discovery: Head North through the cliff path and your final Discoverywillbe at the end.

Egyptian Campaign, part 4: Dawn of a New Era (6000 B.C.)

Objectives: - Advance to the Tool AgeDifficulty: 0/5Strategy:This mission takes a little more time than the previous three, but you'llhaveno competition here.Have your three guys chop wood until you have 150 pieces. Build a Dock andthena 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 buildhousesalong the way).There are two conditions for upgrading to the Tool Age: having 800 piecesoffood and having two Stone Age buildings (not including your Town Center andhouses). You can easily get 800 stocks of food by fishing, especially if

youdon't create any more villagers. If you're feeling lucky, you can send yourteam South and hunt elephants, but this mightn't end well for you. In anycase,build a Storage Pit somewhere to satisfy the latter condition.Finally, go to your Town Center and click "Advance to Tool Age". Fromhere'sit's an automatic process that just takes a while.

Egyptian Campaign, part 5: Skirmish (5500 B.C.)Objectives: - Destroy the enemy tribeDifficulty: 1/5Strategy:This is probably your first taste of military combat. Don't worry - this isa

lot less daunting than it sounds.Send your troops east and you'll soon come to a plateau, with enemy troopsonthe higher ground. You'll probably see their Bowmen first, so pick them offwith yours. An Axeman will probably attack you from the side, so set a fewofyours on him. After the initial confrontation, work your way around thecliffand up the plateau. Finish off the remaining enemy units.

Egyptian Campaign, part 6: Farming (5000 B.C.)Objectives: - Control the ruins

- Stockpile 800 foodDifficulty: 2/5

Strategy:You begin this game in the Tool Age, with 100 stocks of food. Use this toupgrade your Clubmen to Axemen (select your Barracks for the upgradingmenu).Have your villagers start foraging berries and create more Axemen until youhave at least five (preferably six).Your first priority should be to take the Ruins. Send your Axemen to theWestcorner of the map (crossing over the shallows to the Southwest of yourcenter).You'll face four enemy Axemen and a Clubman. Dispatch them and set up yourremaining troops around the ruins.The supply of berries will soon run out, so you'll need to build Farms toincrease your food supplies (and you'll first need to build a Market). Have

your villagers starting chopping wood until you have enough to build aMarketand 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 (thoughyou'reunlikely 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 goldDifficulty: 2/5



Strategy:This is probably the first mission where you'll need a solid plan of actiontosurvive.The Minoans will hit you with a ferocious naval onslaught early on (they'llprobably have five ships), so your first priority is to prepare for andrepel

this. Have all of your villagers cut wood. Use your food supply to createmorevillagers. Create Scout Ships with the wood harvested. You'll only be abletoproduce one Scout Ship at a time, so they're going to get shot down by themorenumerous Minoan ships, but keep producing nonetheless. Your dock is boundtocome under fire while you're producing ships to replace those sunken, butifall goes according to plan, it won't be destroyed.After this initial wave, the Minoans will retreat and you'll have a longperiodto recover. Now focus your efforts on gathering food. Build a Fishing Boator

two, as well as a Barracks and Archery Range, and upgrade to the Battle Axeimmediately. Build an army of about a dozen troops. The other rival tribe,theLibyans, may launch an attack eventually, so you're advised to make apreemptive strike. Head down to the Southwest of your village and trashtheirs.They don't have much of a military, but be warned that they do have aBallista(a powerful projectile weapon).With both enemy forces repelled, you're free to start stockpiling. Stonecan begathered in two locations: to the East of your village, and on an islandjustoff 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 twoStoneThrowers. If you have a few Fishing Boats in action, start building TradeBoatsand send them over to the Canaan (they being your only allies) Dockstowardsthe South of the map to trade food for gold.Once this has all been set in motion, you can just relax until yourstockpilesreach the required amounts.

Egyptian Campaign, part 8: Crusade (1900 B.C.)Objectives: - Capture (convert) the enemy Ballista and bring it to your

TownCenterDifficulty: 2/5Strategy:Of the four villagers you start with (you shouldn't need any more), havetwopick berries, one chop wood and one mine gold. With the food and wood,build aforce of about eight Bowmen. Using the gold, research Astrology at yourTemple(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 wisetomake a save file before doing so).Upon arrival at the enemy village, you'll be greeted by about a half-dozenenemy Bowmen. Your team should win this confrontation effortlessly, though.Thehard part is converting the enemy Ballista, which you'll see shortly. Have

yourremaining troops take fire for your Priests while the conversion takesplace(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: 0/5Strategy:This may prove to be the most time-consuming mission yet, but it's alsoextremely easy for one simple reason: the enemy has no mobile militaryforce.

Your first task will be to build a Dock, after which you can have all ofyourvillagers start chopping wood. Upgrade your Scout Ships to War Galleys, andbuild about four or five of them (you could probably do it all with justone,but it would take a lot longer).The island in question is a little way to the West, and will be heavilyfortified by Watch Towers. Luckily for you, your War Galleys have a longerrange of attack than them, so you can shoot them down without taking anyreturnfire. There's one a little way inland that can be hard to reach; move yourships to the West side of the island in order to get in range. While you'reatit, shoot all lions and alligators on the island.

Once the coast is clear, so to speak, build a Light Transport. Have yourvillagers build a Government Center (a requisite for building extra TownCenters) and chop another 200 pieces of wood, then send them over to theisland. Build a Town Center there, and then start raiding the local stoneminesfor the necessary resources. Build two Watch Towers, mine another fewhundredpieces of stone and head back to the mainland.The Guard Towers mentioned in the mission objectives are the last upgradeinthe Watch Tower line. While the next upgrade, the Sentry Tower, can beaccessedat your Granary immediately, Guard Towers require advancement to the IronAge

(note that these upgrades will also cost stone, which is why you wereadvisedto gather some before leaving the island). This advancement takes 1,000piecesof food and 800 of gold, so get to work!Build a few Fishing Boats (you may want to upgrade to Fishing Ships to makethem faster) as your principle source of food. There are gold mines,conveniently enough, right next to your Storage Pit, which allows the goldquota to be reached very quickly. You're likely to get the gold you needbefore



the food, so have your villagers start hunting gazelle when you're donemining.Once you're in the Iron Age, select "Upgrade to Guard Tower". Once this isdone, you win!

Egyptian Campaign, part 10: Naval Battle (1650 B.C.)Objectives: - Capture the stolen Artifact and it bring it to the Town

CenterDifficulty: 1/5Strategy:Upgrade to the War Galley immediately. Create an extra villager with whatfoodsyou have left, and have them all chop wood.This is pretty much all you need to do to secure victory. The enemy will bestraight on the offensive, but their naval force is laughable: just a ScoutShip or two. Build a few War Galleys and you can easily repel any force oftheirs and launch a devastating counterattack. Their Bowmen will appear todefend the shores, but your ships will make short work of them.Once you've made your attack on the enemy coast and effectively disabledthem(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 attheback of the village, behind some walls. The enemy shouldn't have Bowmenleft atthis point, so you can bring it over to your Transport without impediment.Thenit's just a short cruise back to your shores.

Egyptian Campaign, part 11: Wonder of the World (1625 B.C.)Objectives: - Build a WonderDifficulty: 3/5Strategy:Hoo boy! This may be your first serious challenge.Building is a Wonder is obviously far too monumental (sorry) a task to go

aboutwhile fending off attacks from enemy civilisations. Your enemy this time istheCanaanites (who you might remember were your allies not three centuriesago).The other two civilisations have no military to speak of and just tradewithyou and your enemy (though one of them might declare you an enemy, whichmeansNO 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 abitmore 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 attackyourvillage, but they'll only be Scout Ships, so they'll be easy enough todefeat.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 aStoneThrower, and since you won't have time to build an army (this one's allabout



your navy), this will probably be the end of you.Your central strategy is to keep chopping wood and building ships. Whenyou'vefended off the initial attack and your waters are safe, build a FishingBoat ortwo to gather food. Once you have four or so Galleys, you should startlaunching a counterattack on the Canaanites, whose base is on the far-West

ofthe 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 moreimportantly, they'll probably have a couple of Stone Throwers. These cantearthrough your ships with alarming efficiency, so make them your firsttargets.Next up are the enemy men, their Docks, and then anything else of interest- ifyou can level important buildings without getting in range of the SentryTowers, all the better.Once you've cleared out Canaan's military force, it's time to startgatheringthe enormous quantities of resources you'll need for your Wonder (1,000each of

wood, stone and gold). The Southern shore of the Canaan land has bountifulsupplies of gold. The island in the East corner of the map has all the woodandstone you could need.Once this is all said and done, though, keep in mind that building a Wondertakes 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 beabad idea to save just before you start building), just go and fix yourselfagood snack or something while your people are slogging away (but make sureyoudon'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 CenterDifficulty: 3/5Strategy:After all the advancements you made over the course of the campaign, you'reback to the Stone Age at the start of this one. How's that for a kick intheteeth? Mercifully, though, the enemy won't be the first to attack thistime,and they aren't likely to expand as quickly as you.First up: no Docks. While the previous few missions had you reliant on astrongnavy, ships will be all but completely useless here; the only bodies ofwater

are narrow channels, enemy Sentry Towers will prevent you from fishingearlyon, and the enemy doesn't really have anything installed along the water'sedge. Victory here is decided solely by your army.Your first priority is advancing to the Tool Age. As you have someresources atthe beginning, create a few extra villagers. Divide them evenly betweengathering food and wood. Build a Storage Pit next to some forest (this initself will help satisfy requirements for advancement).By the time you've advanced to the Tool Age, the supply of berries nearyour



Town Center will probably be almost depleted. Build a Granary, a Market andsome 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 dosomeresearching to improve industry: Woodworking and Domestication (from theMarket) 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 yourvillage). They'll put up a mighty defence, though, so don't go unprepared.Youmay consider researching Short Swordsmen and Improved Bowmen. I didn't, butitis feasible; there's a generous supply of gold in the hills to the West ofyourvillage, although it's guarded by an enemy tower. In any case, build aSiegeWorkshop and a couple of Stone Throwers.The Canaanites may have been quiet while you were on your side of theriver,but they'll really show their claws when you begin the invasion; rememberthatthis 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 theenemy'sline of Sentry Towers. If possible, continue producing troops back home,butdon't let this distract you.One of the first enemy buildings you'll come across is their Barracks,whosedestruction will remove a bit of the pressure on you. Work your way up thehilland you'll come across quite a few towers and an Archery Range. You'll befighting an awful lot of enemies here, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to pullback a bit and bring in reinforcements before you take this final step.

Justpush on a bit further from there and you'll come to their GovernmentCenter,which is surrounded by walls. If your Stone Throwers are still in onepiece,blast your way through the wall instead of trying to maneuver your armythroughthe tiny gate on the right-hand side. That's one campaign down and three togo!

===============================================================================GLORY OF GREECE===========================================================================

====

Greek Campaign, part 1: Land Grab (2000 B.C.)Objectives: - Destroy all Dorian farms

- Build five farmsDifficulty: 2/5Strategy: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 reasonablemilitary force and upgrade very quickly. While your intuition may tell youto



build a force of your own, you start with a formidable 10 units (sixClubmenand four villagers). As such, you're best off going straight into battle toprevent them from expanding.The Dorian town is to the northwest of your starting position. The firstbuilding 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

isyour priority target. They will, of course, have some units protectingtheirmilitary hub, but you'll outnumber and destroy them. Pick off the Clubmen,thenthe villagers, before destroying the building itself. Next up to the northaretheir Farms - one of your two mission objectives. There are four todestroy.Once you've conquered Doria, it will be time to set up your civilization.HeadEast from the destroyed farms and you'll come to a clearing encircled bytrees,with several berry plants dotted around. You may meet some Tyranianresistance

(probably four Clubmen), which you will need to quash. This will probablywearyou down to your last few units (hopefully you'll have some villagers left- ifnot, 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 ispractical), collecting more wood as necessary). You'll want at least fivevillagers and five Clubmen around, so produce more units as needed (theIoniansto the east may launch a small attack, but this will be of little concernifyou're prepared).Once you've built all you need to (which is likely to include houses), haveall

of your villagers forage for berries until you have enough food to advancetothe Tool Age. Gather resources (if you have more than 200 or so food left,justcollect wood) during the upgrade. Upgrade your Clubmen to Axemen so youhave areasonable defence force. Then go about collecting wood, building a Market,andfinally five Farms. Then victory is yours!

Greek Campaign, part 2: Citadel (1500 B.C.)Objectives: - Control the Ruins

- Build two Sentry Towers around the RuinsDifficulty: 3/5

Strategy:Unlike most other missions thus far, this is a battle that probably can'tbewon by army or navy alone. However, your army should be your firstpriority.Build a few extra villagers so you have six or seven; split them aboutevenlygathering wood and food. You start in the Tool Age, so upgrade to BattleAxeimmediately. Build an Archery Range. There are easily enough berries nearyour



Granary to upgrade to the Bronze Age. Once in the Bronze Age, researchSwordSwordsmen and create a few with your reserves of gold, as they'll bolsteryourarmy nicely. Research Toolworking and Leather Armor at your Storage Pit tostrength your force further.Once you have a strong army of at least a dozen or so, build a Dock and a

fewScout Ships. Upgrade to War Galleys if you can. Your first target is to theNorth of your village, on the other side of the river. You'll probably bemetby at least a dozen enemy soldiers. Have your ships offer support fire andestablish a blockade on the enemy's side of the land (it's connected toboththe enemy's land and yours by shallows). Once you've cleared out enemypresence, bring some your villagers over. You might want to build somewalls tohalt further advances from the enemy base (but leave some ways in). Startmining gold, which will allow you build more Bronze Age units - mostimportantly Stone Throwers.When you think you're ready, make your march into enemy territory. It willbe

heavily fortified by Watch Towers, and contain the remnants of their army,sobe ready. Once you've secured a path to the ruins, you'll need to bringsomevillagers over to build your Sentry Towers (which you'll also have toupgradeto). This will probably require more stone than you have; there's an amplesupply on a small island on the West side of the map, between your mainlandandthe 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 RuinsDifficulty: 2/5Strategy:Personally, I'd go with the latter objective.This mission starts fairly relaxed. You'll be in the Tool Age at thebeginning,so do the obligatory stuff: upgrade to the Battle Axe, build an ArcheryRange,and build Scout Ships and Fishing Boats. Divide your villagers evenlybetweenchopping food and picking berries, but move more onto wood-chopping as soonasyou've started fishing. Advance to the Bronze Age as soon as possible andupgrade your ships.

While this isn't the fastest-paced of missions, the Ionians will send overships 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 initialefforts and are sure you have the upper hand, send your fleet over (theirlandis to the North). Move all activity in your town towards gathering wood andbuilding more ships. As usual, destroying their Docks is likely to leavethemunable to launch any further attacks. They'll probably start building StoneThrowers 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 atthefollowing list to help you locate them:Ruin #1: On the West side of your continent, on a zigzagging peninsula. Thepoint of this peninsula will form a canal of sorts with the oppositelandmass.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 fewLydianWatch Towers around (Lydians being the other enemy civilisation, who havenoother units), so don't dawdle.Ruin #3: In Ionia, to the Northern end. It will be mostly surrounded bywalls.Bring cavalry units so you can reach it quickly.If you'd prefer to go for the Government Center, the flagged area is alongthecliff-face in Ionia's Northwest.

Greek Campaign, part 4: The Trojan War (1250 B.C.)Objectives: - Kill Hector

- Capture the Treasure of PriamDifficulty: 2/5Strategy:This may be your first encounter with "Hero" units. These units are farmorepowerful than most others, and your target, Hector, just so happens to beone.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 willbegininvading pretty soon. Unlike most scenarios, though, Transports will poselittle threat to you; you'll have a vastly superior ground force, lead byAlexander 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 andwood.Troy will make a fairly meager effort to expand its navy, so you should beableto attack once you have a half-dozen or so ships. As always, destroy theirDocks immediately. As they've built most of their city along this lengthycoastline, scour it thoroughly, destroying as many buildings and killing asmany units as possible. Keep your ships here to discourage any effort torebuild.As you're likely to be greeted by a large army once you land in Troy, leadbyHector, you'll want to spend some building up your force. There's an islandonthe South side of the map with plentiful amounts of gold. Use your Storage

Pitto upgrade cavalry units (you'll want Alexander to be as strong as possiblewhen 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 StoneThrowers.Hector has 400 hit points and probably over 25 points of attack, whichmakesdefeating him no mean feat. Alexander will have to take the lead, withamplesupport. 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 themap.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: 4/5Strategy:Whoa, this is not a fun start! You begin with just a small army in themidst ofan enemy encampment, hopelessly outnumbered. Your only option is to escapeviathe Light Transport to the South. You'll probably make it out with just afewCavalry units (your Bowmen will be too slow).You still won't be out of the woods just yet (in fact, you're about to headstraight into them). You have a small navy, but it will be rapidly fallingagainst the enemy's. This will at least provide a handy diversion for yourtransport boat to escape, though. Sail northeast along the oppositecoastlineand land as far in as possible. From there, your remaining troops will have

tomake a dash for another Light Transport on the opposite side of the island.Enemy Ballistae and Bowmen will offer resistance, but your Cavalry caneasilyoutrun them.Once you arrive at the South side of the map, though, you'll get thereinforcements promised in the scenario briefing: probably about 30 or soassorted infantry, cavalry and siege units. This is an impressive army, tobesure. But with no villagers or resources, they're all you've got.Your ultimate objective is to take back your land from the Minoans, butyou'llhave to go through Ionian territory first (this stretch of land separatesthe

North and South of the map). I recommend taking a couple of Priests andBallistae, and then as many Cavalry as a Heavy Transport will carry. Astakingon the Minoans will be a pretty significant task, you'll want to minimisecasualties here (although you can probably afford to lose this oneshipload).While clearing out Ionia, tread carefully. Cavalry are excellent fordealingwith enemy Ballistae swiftly, and your Ballistae will allow you to destroytheSentry Towers posted around the place. Heal your units between skirmishes.Finally, destroy the Ionian docks on to the West and you'll free some HeavyTransports 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 loadthemon to the newly discovered Transports). Consider placing your various unitsondifferent boats.Make for the cliffy bit of shoreline where you initially departed. Ifyou'vefollowed my advice from the last paragraph, unload you siege weapons first(butnot right where combat is about to take place) and have them startdestroying



Towers. As you work your way up the cliffs, you'll inevitably come acrossenemyPriests ("the Seven Yellow Old Men" in the briefing). See that they receiveyour Bowmen's attention before they can start converting. Importantly, makesure your Catapults and Ballistae aren't destroyed. Reach the top of thecliff,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 ArtifactsDifficulty: 2/5Strategy:The outcome of this scenario will probably be decided in the first fewminutes.If you're still standing by then, you've probably won. Expect to reallypullout all the stops in these first few minutes, though; there's a massiveSpartanarmy on its way to your doorstep!The Spartans (all Phalanxes - among the most powerful of infantry units)

willadvance from the South, destroying your Farms en route. There will beseveralof your villagers scattered around there, so rope them all in quickly. Havethem start chopping wood immediately. As all the action's happening alongthecoastline, you're advised to build a few ships to give you the edge. YourGuardTowers will be crucial for defence, so preserve them well. Move yourinfantryout 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'seffectively over. You'll need to build a small army to head into enemyterritory 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 soCenturions,with a Priest or two to keep them healthy, and you'll be set. You'll needgoldto 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 bestusedfor trading.The Artifacts are on the Southwest side of your continent (where theSpartansemerged 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 CenterDifficulty: 1/5Strategy:As you start in the Iron Age with a full set of upgrades, this is wheregameplay 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 Pitandstart gathering - there's ample wood to be chopped. If you want food, buildaTown 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. Butit'squite strong enough as it is.March to the West with just a little caution, as the red-clothed Persiansliein wait. Their forces mainly consist of Broad Swordsmen, which should poseno

real threat, but beware of their War Elephants. As you have a Priest onhand,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 tobringyour villagers over and build a Dock. While you're at it, consider buildingaTown Center here. Construct a Heavy Transport and a few Triremes, andyou'reready to make the next move.On the North side of the river, you'll be greeted first by the yellowPersians,who'll have fair numbers but pose no particular challenge, especially ifyouhave cover fire on the water. When they're defeated, you'll have access to

theonly 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, becausethegold will finance the creation of some Centurions (not that you're likelytoneed them) and, more importantly, Heavy Catapults.On the way north you'll come across some brown Persian defences. Smashtheirwalls and just blitz - there's really no need for clever tactics here. Tothewest of this lies your final adversary - the oranges. They'll be a lotstrongerthan 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 fewenemyfighters - among them Hero Xerxes. You can quite easily destroy them withCatapult fire, though.Once you've cleared out orange territory, bring your villagers over - northacross the pond from here is your Government Center, and there are no DocksorTransports provided. A short sail later and you're the victor - it seemedalmost too easy!

Greek Campaign, part 8: Wonder (331 B.C)Objectives: - Destroy the enemies or their WondersDifficulty: 5/5Strategy:

This is the last scenario of the campaign, and boy howdy does the game knowit!This is a battle on three fronts. To the East, the Cambyses will havecompletedtheir Wonder, so the race is on as soon as the game begins (the "2000years" onthe game's timer is about 15 minutes real-time). Darius, to the West, willbegin building theirs several minutes into the game. The Persians, to theNorth, will not build a Wonder, but they will attack you throughoutproceedings.



You start off with reasonable resources. Create a few extra villagers tomakefor light work. You'll want to have most of them on woodcutting, but haveatleast one each on food and stone gathering. Almost immediately, you'll wanttobuild a Siege Workshop and a Temple. You should also build three Ballista

Towers along your Northern border, and Fortifications to fill in most ofthegaps (but leave one for your mobility).In preparation for your invasion of the Cambyses, you'll want to createthreeor four Heavy Catapults and a Priest (you can't mine gold right now, andthisis all your initial supplies allow for). You'll need to leave some of yourtroops at home to repel the inevitable Persian invasion (your Cavalryparticularly, as they have Catapults), but at least bring your Bowmenalong.The Cambyses city is fortified by walls and Guard Towers, which will be noproblem with a few Catapults handy. The main hazard will be their Bowmen -afew of them are bound to be killed incidentally by catapult fire, but

you'llneed some men handy to take care of the rest. Their Wonder will sustain afairblasting, and within the walls there'll be the remnants of the Cambysesforces,so you'll have to work quickly. Make note that there is some gold aroundhere,which would be a boon to access, but it might take too long to clear theplaceof enemy presence. Make sure that some of your Catapults survive.By the time you've destroyed the Cambyses Wonder, Darius will haveundoubtedlybegun work on theirs (and by the time you reach them, they'll have finishedbuilding and the countdown begins). Furthermore, their defences will be far

more solid than those of the Cambyses, employing all forms of ground unitsanda naval force along the Southern river. If you managed to secure some goldtothe East, create more Cavalry, Heavy Catapults and Priests. If not, justbuildwhatever 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 toavoid a full-scale siege: send whatever Catapults you have left (you'llwant atleast two) along the North walls of Darius' city, destroying their BallistaTowers as you go (your range will be just a bit further than theirs). Trygetthe hang of aiming at ground rather than proper targets, as this will allow

youto destroy the Towers without destroying the walls before them (if thewallsare destroyed, enemy troops will emerge and your plan will be shot). Oncethisis done, move right up to the wall and open fire on their Wonder. TheirBowmenwill try to foil your plans, though, so you'll probably need some of yourownto provide support fire.



Once the second Wonder falls, that's ultimate victory for the Greeks. Goodworkon another campaign completed!

===============================================================================VOICES OF BABYLON

===============================================================================

Babylonian Campaign, part 1: Holy Man (1760 B.C.)Objectives: - Convert or destroy all enemy unitsDifficulty: 3/5Strategy:In this rather brilliant mission, you start the game with just a lonePriest,and have to build an army by conversion.Head straight across the shallows to the Northeast, and you'll come to avillage of the yellow-clothed Akkadians. Convert one, and have him get toworkbuilding 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 timeto'recharge' his faith between conversions (watch the percentage in hisdisplay),but have him keep at it and you'll eventually have converted everyone inthevillage.This place is conveniently close to the water (without being close enoughtocome under fire from enemy ships), so it will make an ideal center ofoperations. Start developing your army, build some Docks so you can beginfishing and always be gathering resources.More likely than not, your main enemy here, the Elamites, will build a navybefore you and start carrying out attacks with Scout Ships. A risky, but

effective, strategy is bringing your Priest over to the coastline toconvertthe enemy ships (but make sure that he's adequately protected) whilebuildingsome of your own.If you can assimilate the enemy's navy and destroy their docks, you canconcentrate on building a powerful ground force. Upgrade to the Bronze Age,build a Siege Workshop and then some Stone Throwers. When you think you'reready, send your troops eastward and start wreaking havoc. Once theElamitesare 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: 4/5Strategy: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 asignificant disadvantage here.Again, you'll be up against the Elamites (who have a small, irrelevantsplintergroup) and Akkadians. The Elamites will upgrade to the Bronze Age almostimmediately and start building War Galleys. The Akkadians will bemilitarised



this time around, although they won't be on par with the Elamites. You'llinevitably be up against superior military technology here, so you'll havetocompensate in numbers.To count your blessings, you start off with 500 in every resource. Build aBarracks and advance to the Tool Age immediately. While you're waiting,build

at least three Fishing Boats to start gathering food and have yourvillagerschop wood. Once you're in the Tool Age, get to work immediately buildingScoutShips. You should have enough wood for at least two right of the bat.Considerbuilding a second Dock to speed up the process. Use ALL food that yourFishingBoats 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'llprobably send only one ship at a time each, but the Elamites may alreadyhaveupgraded to War Galley. This is where the enemy will bleed you white if youdon't have a constant supply of wood. Just keep building ships and you

shouldrepel the attack. But look out for Transport Ships! If they land, you won'thave an army to protect yourself (forgoing an army for now is the only waytobuild a navy that can compete with theirs).Once you've secured your shores, and you have a good 8-10 Scout Ships attheready, it's time to launch a counterattack. The Elamite and Akkadian townsareboth located to the Southeast of yours. The only apparent way of winningthisbattle is to strike hard and early and destroy their Docks. Expectresistance -they'll be bound to keep a few of their ships at home, and they'll have

archeryunits to make life more difficult for you. Make sure you keep producingships,and men to gather resources for them.Once you've destroyed both of your enemies' Docks, you can bide your timebefore making the final push to reclaim your treasures. Let your stocks offoodincrease, and advance to the Bronze Age. Invest in powerful land units suchasShort Swordsmen, Composite Bowmen and Stone Throwers. Build a few TransportShips 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, populatedbyred-clothed "Elamites". They'll attack in reasonable numbers, but they'll

onlyhave Clubmen, so victory for your side is pretty much a given. Have one ofyourships take the treasure home. This island has quite a supply of gold, sobringsome villagers over to start mining.The second treasure is in the main Elamite base. This will, of course, notbeso easy. Optimally, you'll want 15-20 strong ground units to make your raidhere and a few War Galleys to provide cover fire. Land on the West coast toavoid additional fire from Akkadian towers (the Akkadians can be ignored



entirely once their fleet and Docks have been destroyed). Keep in mind thattheenemy's final resistance will include Iron Age units such as Hoplites andCatapults. Go inland as quickly as you can to find the treasure. Once youhaveit onboard one of your ships, hightail it back to your village and thebattle

is won.

Babylonian Campaign, part 3: Lost (1595 A.D.)Objectives: - Destroy the HittitesDifficulty: 2/5Strategy:Here's a fun one!At the beginning of the mission, you're stranded on an island: one Priest,sixComposite Bowmen, with no ships, buildings or villagers. That's a doozy ofasituation, hey?Make your way to the North shore. An enemy Priest (with three Bowmen toaccompany him) will come into view. He'll start trying to convert yourunits,

but you're not going to put up with that shit. Shoot him down quickly.Shortlythereafter, an enemy Heavy Transport will arrive to collect the survivors.It'syour one ticket off the island, so have your Priest convert it immediately.With your team onboard, sail north until you reach Hittite territory;you'llknow you're there when you come until fire from Sentry Towers. Unload yourcrewas far along the coastline from these as possible. When you've landed,you'llbe attacked by a few Bowmen, followed by a whole lot of villagers. You'restrong enough to handle them all, but make sure that your Priest converts afew

of them.Once you've fended off the initial defence, have your Priest get to workconverting enemy buildings - make special note of the Barracks, ArcheryRangeand Storage Pits; Town Centers can't be converted, unfortunately. It wouldbenice to convert the Docks as well, but they're heavily guarded. Use yournewmilitary buildings to create a few units, and get to work on a good, old-fashioned massacre. Meanwhile, have the converted villagers gatherresources tofund this (particularly gold).Initially, the enemy Sentry Towers will prove to be an obstacle. Whenyou've

cleared some space and don't think enemies will interfere with yourbuilding(which they will en masse if they can), build a Siege Workshop and a HeavyCatapult 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 ElamitesDifficulty: 4/5Strategy:Like the similarly-named Greek scenario, this will have you right in thefray



from the beginning. Right off the bat, your village is being ransacked byHoplites, Cavalry and Catapults. There's nothing you can do to save it; youjust have to get a few people on the Light Transport on your Southeastshoreand flee.Obviously, you're going to have to do a lot of rebuilding before you canchallenge the Elamites. Head East you'll find some rather fertile land to

workwith. Of course, you'll need to start by building a Storage Pit. Fromthere,build the following buildings (recommended order): Docks, Town Center,Granary,Market, Barracks and Archery Range. Fishing is the best way to gather foodearly on, but make sure you stay near the coastline of your new settlement,oryour boats are likely to get shot down by enemy Catapults. Build a fewextravillagers to speed things along. Keep your supply of food up and advance totheBronze Age as soon as possible.The Elamites will launch an attack on your new home eventually, and bythen,

they may well be in the Iron Age. If they have Triremes, you'll have tooutnumber them significantly with your War Galleys. Upgrade and startbuildingas soon as you're in the Bronze Age.To truly compete on equal terms, of course, you'll need to be in the IronAge.There's a supply of gold on the North side of your new land. Whilegatheringfood, use your navy to protect your Fishing Boats (or, preferably, FishingShips). Be warned that the enemies may make landing (there's bound to be anexposed 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.ATemple should be your first Bronze Age building.

Once you're in the Iron Age, it really goes without saying that you'll wanttoupgrade to the Trireme as soon as possible. This is where you can finallymakeyour counterattack! Perhaps the enemy's greatest strategic disadvantage isthatthey're on an island; this will allow you to circle and destroy anythingbuiltalong the coast. Their Docks are first on the agenda, of course. They'llprobably have Catapults and Ballistae at the ready, so destroy them onsight.When you've cleared their coasts and are ready to make your final sweep,amassa 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. Landonthe small island connected to the main one by shallows, and bring yourTriremesaround to provide support fire. You'll encounter significant resistance. Ifyour villagers can build some Guard Towers a little way in from yourlandingzone after you've beaten the first wave, it will make it a lot easier toendure. This has been a particularly difficult battle, but it's finallywindingdown.



Babylon Campaign, part 5: The Great Hunt (1120 B.C.)Objectives: - Retrieve the ArtifactDifficulty: 5/5Strategy:You probably read the scenario title and thought that YOU would be thehunter.

Well hey, guess what!This is basically a series of little obstacle courses. While your groupwillreceive reinforcements along the way, they'll probably be just enough toreplace what you lose. Here's the breakdown:Initially, you have eight Axemen. You'll be up against six Lion Kings andtwoElephant 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 morethantwo) at a time. The Elephant Kings will hit you HARD, so make life easy foryourself by luring the last Lion King out from between them. Then just dashpast the Elephants and you'll have your first reinforcements.Once you clear the first checkpoint, six Improved Bowmen will take yourback.

Finish off the approaching Elephant Kings and advance to the East. You'llcomeunder fire from enemy (Improved) Bowmen. They'll outnumber yours, so sendinyour 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 foryou.Up ahead is a gauntlet of Sentry Towers and Bowmen. Don't stay and fight -justleg it! You have speed on your side. Forget about any Axemen and Bowmen youhave left, though, because they won't make it through.You'll be coming up to a relative lull in activity now. After you're surethatyou're clear of the gauntlet, make a save file. In fact, you'll need to

makeseveral throughout the course of this mission.Next up, you'll get six Cavalry. Head West and you'll soon be ambushed by acouple of Ballistae. Strike swiftly and you needn't suffer more than onefatality (two at most). You'll then come across two (rather separate) pairsofElephant Archers. Ignore them for now - killing them will destroy anychance ofcompleting this mission. They're easy to outrun, anyway. Finally, there'llbe acouple of Stone Throwers in your path, and two more on an island to yourright.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

willreveal two friendly Priests on the other side. Have them convert theapproaching Stone Thrower. If everyone's alive and well (you should,ideally,have at least four Cavalry units left), save your game - you're advised tomakeit a separate file to the last.Your next destination is back to the East, around where the gauntlet oftowersended. On the way, you'll need to strengthen your army, and clear up thisarea.



Once you've freed the Priests, have them heal any wounded units. Your StoneThrower can make short of the two nearby Sentry Towers. Make absolutelysurethat you convert the two Stone Throwers on the small island; as their rangeisthe same as your Priests', though, this will include a considerable amountof

risk. Move your Priests' out of firing range as necessary. Have the twoPriestsfollow the arrow on their side of the wall to reveal a Light Transport,whichyou can use to retrieve your two new Stone Throwers.On the way back East, make sure you convert all four Elephant Archers (haveyour Priests pair up to convert them one at a time, retreat, and then waituntil your faith is regained to try the next one). On the East side of themapis 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,fourElephant Archers, four Cavalry and two Priests (all of these are entirelynecessary) - create a new save.Here comes the really horrific part. Head up the foothill and you'll be

greetedby about a half-dozen Ballistae and a Catapult. Use your forces asefficientlyas possible to defeat them (while it's tempting to try to covert aCatapult,this is almost certain to result in your Priests being killed, and you needthem here). Move just a little bit further forward and you'll encounteranotherfive Catapults. Finally, a huge legion of Improved Bowmen and Priestsemergesto finish you off.The outcome of this will be decided by a combination of quick reactions andsheer luck. As long as you manage your forces very well and heal betweeneach

wave, though, the odds won't be too badly against you. The last wave isparticularly nasty, as you'll have very few units left by now and can'taffordto have any of them converted by the enemy. As always, of course, Priestsarethe priority target. If you come out of all this with two or threeElephantsstanding, as well as at least one Priest, heal everyone and create a newsavefile.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 blastedbyBallistae and Catapults throughout, so you must move quickly and choose a

goodroute. My winning course involved moving along the coast to the center ofthemap (aligned with the North and South points), moving North until seeingtheoutline of the island, and sweeping round to the landing point on the Westside. This is where you're in the most danger of being shot down, so keepmaneuvering evasively until you've landed. Once on dry land, move aroundand upthe hill on the double (you're still being shot at). The Artifact is rightat



the top.You've just finished the hardest scenario in Campaign Mode, so enjoy thesenseof relief!

Babylonian Campaign, part 6: The Caravan (1119 B.C.)Objectives: - Return the Artifact to your Temple

Difficulty: 2/5Strategy:Here you finally get a mercifully brief and easy scenario, but don't gettoocomplacent!Your Artifact will be guarded by five Composite Bowmen. They're the onlyunitsyou have for this mission, so exercise some caution.Head Northwest along the forest path and you'll be ambushed by some redElamiteAxemen. Since you have the considerable advantage of range, you should takenodamage here (or at least very little).Further to the West, you'll come across the yellows, whose presence is madeclear 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 comeforyou, but you should be able to shoot them down before they strike. On thecliffs before you stand two Priests. If you pick them off quickly enough,theymightn't be able to convert any of your units (fingers crossed). On the wayoutof yellow territory, you're likely to come across a Cavalry and a Phalanx.TheCavalry is fast and will probably get a few hits on you before you can killhim. The Phalanx really hits hard, so keep your distance.Heading northeast from here, you'll come to a dense area of forest withGuardTowers 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 ChaldeansDifficulty: 5/5Strategy:You may have been hoping for more than one easy scenario in a row, but itisn'tgoing to happen. Indeed, this is perhaps the most difficult of theconventionalbuild-and-attack scenarios.You'll start in the Bronze Age, but only have Tool Age technology. TheChaldeans are settled on the North side of your land, and will send over

theirarmy frequently. The Assyrians, settled on the landmass in the East, willsendover their navy. To complicate matters further, the Chaldeans will alsosend anavy to attack, and the Assyrians can send over troops via Transport. In asense, you can be fighting as many as four battles at once. To have anyhope ofsurviving this constant assault on all fronts, you'll have to beginproductionFAST, and luckily, you do have good resources.



Build a few extra villagers, and divide them between gathering wood (whichyou'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,withmaybe one each on stone and gold. But have at least one head up North andbuilda wall (near the shallows and alongside the forest) and a Watch Tower to

staveoff Chaldean attacks for a while. Yes, this will have your manpower spreadpretty thin.Your first military objective will be to destroy Assyria's Docks, whichwill -assuming they don't rebuild, which is unlikely to happen - effectivelyremovethem from the game (though you'll have to return to finish them offeventually). 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-producingScout Ships instead. Meanwhile, research the Short Sword and startproducingtroops, because your barrier to the North will fall eventually.Next on the itinerary, you'll have to eliminate the Chaldeans, who arerivals

for your land and resources, as well as a constant military threat. Itwould beto your advantage, though, to take some time to advance to the Iron Agefirst.If you're fairly sure you have control of the sea, you can build FishingBoats(and upgrade to Fishing Ships) to satisfy the food quota. If not, use theberryplants and gazelles inland, and build Farms when they're depleted. There'squite a lot of gold around, but you'll be competing with the Chaldeans forit.Once you have advanced, upgrade your Short Swordsmen to the Broad Sword,andthen 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 atleastresearch Astrology and Monotheism. You might also want an Archery Range andsome Composite Bowmen, as well as a Stable and some Cavalry, but don'tthink ofeither as a requirement.Your strategy for invading Chaldean territory will have to be sound. HaveyourCatapults destroy their Guard Towers (they're likely to have made thisupgradeby now), which will be posted around the entrance to their village. YourPriests will be needed to heal your other units, but if they have a sparemoment, convert useful buildings such as the Market and Government Centerrather than destroying them. Chaldea's Docks will be a priority target, in

anycase. 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 totheWar Galley, if you haven't done so already, and research Artisanship andCraftsmanship (you'll want your ships to have as much range as possible).Asyou raid their shores, you're likely to be met by Chariot Archers,Catapultsand Ballistae. Destroy as much as you can by the sea to make your invasioneasier. 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 toretreat at various points to protect your Catapults.In the end, this comes down to a war of attrition; by the end of the game,yourresources will likely be depleted. The key is to act quickly but nothastily,and not waste your resources.

Babylonian Campaign, part 8: Nineveh (612 B.C.)Objectives: - Destroy the enemy's WonderDifficulty: 4/5Strategy:This is quite the suitably epic final scenario. Nineveh, settled to theNortheast, 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 oftimeto stop them. An awful lot of time, that is, until you consider that thisis arather great task. As the Wonder will be revealed on the map, check itsprogress 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 beplaying Egyptians here, which will have an effect on available technology(butalmost certainly for the better).You start off with six Scout Ships at your disposal, so it goes withoutsayingthat you'll want to upgrade to the War Galley immediately (at the sametime,create a Priest as well - we'll get to that in a moment). No sooner willyouhave upgraded, though, than the enemy begins a vicious naval assault, withWarGalleys, Triremes and Catapult Triremes. You'll be outclassed in bothnumbers

and technology, so you'll just have to maneuver well.There is a way of circumventing the initial lack of villagers, which willprobably be necessary to achieve victory: along the strip of coastline ontheland opposite yours (the yellow "Enemy" settlement) between the forest andthewater, there may be a villager out to chop wood, who your Priest canconvert.This will probably have to be done VERY early on, though (preferably,immediately after the first wave of Nineveh ships). If you're successful inconversion, bring your new villager over and build a Town Center, thenadvanceto 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.Whiledestroying Nineveh's navy as quickly as possible is essential, you may wanttodestroy the yellow Docks before going for Nineveh's, or you'll be facingshipments of yellow troops throughout the game.Nineveh is likely to have a few Docks, with a fair supply of Triremes todefendthem. Build a few of your own, along with a Catapult Trireme or two (thoughyou'll have to research for these), and begin your raid. They'll have anassortment of Sentry Towers and Ballista Towers around; the latter will



probably be too hard to destroy, but the former should go now (this way,youcan 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'llwant an assortment of Hoplites, Catapults, Priests, Composite Bowmen andmaybe

a couple of elephant units. Land at the clearest spot possible, have yourshipsclear away whatever enemies come to meet you at the shore, and move inlandcautiously, destroying whatever towers stand in your way, before finallygivingtheir Wonder everything in your arsenal - you know the drill. Chalk up anoverall victory for the Babylonians!

===============================================================================YAMATO EMPIRE OF THE RISING SUN===============================================================================

Yamato Campaign, part 1: The Assassins (365 A.D.)

Objectives: - Kill the Izumo leaderDifficulty: 5/5Strategy:I'll say it straight off: this mission is just plain frustrating, and theoutcome will largely be dependent on luck.You have five units (three infantry, one cavalry and a "Hero" bowman), andnoway 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 thinkyoucan, make sure you don't fight more than one at a time, and move woundedunitsto the back of your ranks. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE that none of your unitsdie.

Upon arrival, you'll meet a Priest who will handily heal your units (butyou'llhave to move them right up close to him - to the point where you're more orless touching). Assuming that everyone is still alive, save here.Head Southwest towards the enemy village. You'll fight a few more lions ontheway. Cross the shallows, and you'll be in enemy territory. If you've takenanydamage AT ALL fighting the lions, you're advised to go back to the Priestandheal now.Once you're on the other side of the shallows, head northwest and you'llarrivein 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 clearlyflagged entrance between them. This is the part you'll really hate.Go straight through the gates and IT'S ON! Enemy Hoplites, Sentry TowersandStone Throwers will make short work of you if you don't think fast. Make amaddash 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. Hejustso 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. Goodluck!-Alternate strategy, submitted by Seah Lay Kian [[email protected]]:"Firstly, thanks for your guide which helped me quite a bit when I gotstuck inthe game, especially Canyons of Death in the Yamato campaign. I have some

contributions which I would like to share for the Assassins game of theYamatocampaign. I realise that Xerxes is located near the port towards thenorthernend of their peninsula, so I got all my units to stick as close to thecoast aspossible and make my way to the priest hiding there. The trouble along thewayis the guard tower, but there is a nice patch of land where the priest is,withthe tress acting as barrier between where Xerxes stood and my units. So Iusemy knight and swordmen to go out and lure Xerxes so that he comes intorange ofmy 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 beeasy because the bowman has the advantage of range."

Yamato Campaign, part 2: Island Hopping (370 A.D.)Objectives: - Recapture the six stolen treasuresDifficulty: 4/5Strategy:Again, you'll be given a few units at the start and will have to make dowiththem alone.The Izumo have a small village to the Southwest of the map. This includes aDock that will be producing War Galleys continuously. Obviously, you won'tbe

able to defend against a growing enemy force for long, so your first taskis toput an end to this.You'll have to confront two of their ships almost immediately. Don't loadyourTransports yet, because you'll need your Catapult to destroy the enemyGalleyswithout yours taking too much damage. After this initial effort has beenquashed, it's time to weigh anchor.Sail through the narrow path between islands until you reach theaforementionedpoint on the map. Upon arrival, land on the small island next to the enemyvillage. They may still have a War Galley or two around, so sink thembefore

trashing their Dock. At this point, none of your ships and neither of yoursiege weapons should be destroyed, and casualties otherwise should beminimal.Once this is done, there will be a lot less to threaten you. Sail around totheother islands and begin reclaiming your treasures in any order you please(though I've numbered them in roughly clockwise order, which worked forme).Load them onto your Light Transport so they don't get mixed up with yourtroops.Treasure #1: On the island where you should be right now.



Treasure #2: Somewhere on a little archipelago (mass of small islands) intheEast corner of the map. There will be several enemy Bowmen, but your WarGalleys will make short work of them.Treasure #3: On a larger island just north of the archipelago. There willbe aformidable enemy force here, but the treasure is very close to the shore,

soyou can wheel it away without having to engage them.Treasure #4: On an island in the North corner of the map. It will beprotectedby 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 willbedangerous animals (lions and elephants) around. The Artifact will come intoview as soon as you land, so you can move it to your landing point withouthaving to approach it.Treasure #6: On a cliffy island immediately West of the last one. TwoCompositeBowmen will be all that keep you from your quarry.

Yamato Campaign, part 3: Capture (375 A.D.)

Objectives: - Capture the ArtifactDifficulty: 3/5Strategy:This map is basically an enormous lake with an encirclement of land, and asmall island in the middle. This means, of course, that naval control isthekey.Begin the game by building walls to the North and South of your village -thiswill buy you a fair bit of time as the enemy sends small groups of Axemenfromboth sides. It would also be worth building a Watch Tower to the South,wherethe bulk of attacks come from. After that, focus your effort on developing

anavy. Create a couple of extra villagers to accelerate the process. UpgradetoWar Galley and start building. The brown Izumo to the Northeast will soonbeginbuilding a formidable navy of their own, so beat them to the punch. Afteryou'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 toassault the island at the center of the map. There will be FortificationsandBallista 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 theriver bank, and you'll eventually find some much-needed gold mines, with asole

enemy Sentry Tower to protect them. This gold can be used to create anyPriests, Cavalry and Hoplites you feel you need.Begin your assault on the island by circling with your ships. There are afewenemy Ballistae and Catapults that you'll want to destroy before you sendyourground force in. Make your landing on the shallows just to the East of theisland (NOT on the island's shoreline, as this will place you straight intheline-of-fire of their Ballista Towers) and begin a standard siegeoperation.



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 stoodDifficulty: 3/5Strategy:

You'll begin this one in the Stone Age, so you'll have to do a bit of worktoget your army started, and you have very little space to do so initially.Create two or three extra villagers, and divide them between wood choppingandberry picking as seems appropriate. Build a Barracks and either a StoragePitor Granary (not hugely important which, though I'd go with the StoragePit).And upgrade to the Tool Age as soon as you have the necessary foodsupplies.The yellow Kibi faction on the East side of your island will soon send overClubmen (followed by Axemen) to attack. You begin the game with two WatchTowers, 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 ahalf-dozen or so. Shoot down any Axemen in sight, lay waste to their Barracksandwork your way up the hill to their village. Once they've been defeated,thiswould be an ideal place to expand your settlement, with rich resources andalot 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'llhaveaccess to gold and stone. Advance at least to the Bronze Age, construct therequisite buildings and create some Stone Throwers (Composite Bowmen,

Cavalryand Hoplites couldn't hurt either).Your ultimate target, of course, is the Izumo. While they make no effort toexpand their force, their island will be exceptionally well-fortified tobeginwith. It will be a fair slog to the top of the Izumo's mountain, so don'tcomewithout a strong force (by now, you should have a fair idea what thismeans).They have Guard Towers posted on their beach, so you'll inevitably take abitof damage before destroying them. Their Bowmen and Catapults will rain downonyou 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 outswinging!

Yamato Campaign, part 5: Canyon of Death (380 A.D.)Objectives: - Retrieve the Artifact and bring it to the flagged areaDifficulty: 4/5Strategy:You're given a seemingly infallible force at the onset, but as with thefirsttwo scenarios in this campaign, what you see is what you get - apart fromsome



reinforcements towards the end, there's no way of replacing fallen units.Asyou'd imagine, this makes things pretty challenging. Consider dividing yourfour types of units (Cavalry, Horse Archer, Composite Bowman and BroadSwordsman) 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, andmake sure you protect your Horse Archers. The next wave of enemies will behandily taken care of by some roaming Lion Kings. The lions are no friendsofyours, 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.SentryTowers will serve as a minor obstacle, but you can use your Horse Archersandtheir superior range to your considerable advantage. As you work your wayup,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 therestof 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 losealot 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,therewill be plenty more Sentry Towers to make your life hard. There will alsobeseveral 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 yourteam provides support. You'll eventually come to a wall with a final SentryTower within its range. The tower will need to be destroyed before you canstart on the walls. Be wary also of the enemy Catapult.Once the wall has been broken, though, things begin to turn around. Head to

thebeach and load your remaining soldiers onto the provided Heavy Transports.Saila 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 andretrieving the Artifact, which is no mean feat. Have your Priests heal thewounded, because you'll need to be in top shape. Your island is, of course,anideal save point.The enemy still has no shortage of manpower - you'll probably see no lessthandozen Phalanxes (!), supported by Composite Bowmen and Catapults, rise tothe

occasion here. Hopefully, though, your concentrated firepower will bringthemdown before they can land many hits. Your Catapults will certainly help inbreaking through the hordes here. Clear the island and out and retrieveyourArtifact.

Yamato Campaign, part 6: Oppression (385 A.D.)Objectives: - Destroy the Kyushu Government CenterDifficulty: 4/5Strategy:



As you'll have enemy Phalanxes rudely patrolling your village from thestart,you'll need to act fast to survive.The Kyushu (or rather, the Tang) will demand payments of 200 gold every fewminutes to keep the peace. As "tributes" involve an extra 25% fee on topthenominal 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 goldmine that you can use to satisfy the demands - but not for long, as it'llonlyprovide an additional 400 pieces. You'll need to escape before the wellrunsdry, so to speak, and the Tangs get aggressive.Start producing villagers until you have 10 or so (or as many as yourinitialsupplies of food will allow). Have a couple of them head a bit north andstartmining gold and rest move over to the coastline. Build a Storage Pit(there'llbe plenty of wood to chop right by the coast) and then a Dock. Next, create

acouple of Light Transports, followed by as many Scout Ships as you canafford(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 firsttwodemands. You won't be able to sustain this for long, though. After thesecondpayment, move everyone over to your Dock, and be ready to load everyoneontoyour transports and flee once the third ultimatum comes.Your new home will be an island on the West side of the map. While yourtransports make their way over there, have your Scout Ships sweep aroundthe

Tang's Southern coast and raid their Docks (you don't want to compete withthemlater 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 cornerofthe map. Build first a Storage Pit to start gathering wood, followed by aTownCenter, Market, Granary and Docks (you'll free up a bit of coastline on theEast side of the island as you chop wood). All the food, wood and stoneyou'relikely to need will be on this island and gold can be mined on the islandjustnorth. Once you have the aforementioned buildings, have most of your guyspick

berries. Build next a Barracks and either an Archery Range or Stable (thischoice is pretty much irrelevant, but you'll need one), and advance to theBronze Age when you have the necessary food.When you're in the Bronze Age, you can begin striking back. Upgrade to theWarGalley and sweep the enemy's coasts. You'll at least destroy most of theirCatapults this way. Your key target, the Government Center, is built quiteclose to the coast. With the range upgrades, your ships should be able toattack it, but there will probably be villagers just out of range repairingit.



Back at your island, build an Academy and train five Hoplites. Ship themoverand they'll aid considerably in the assault. Just finish things quickly,beforeenemy reinforcements arrive from further inland.

Yamato Campaign, part 7: Friend in Need (400 A.D.)

Objectives: - Protect the Hyuga town- Destroy Kyushu townDifficulty: 2/5Strategy:This one will open with a pretty full-on battle between the Hyuga andKyushu,with a few of your troops mixed in. There's very little you can do toaffectthe outcome of this, but the Hyuga are likely to come out on top. Whilethereare many units at your base, this is on the other side of the map, so thebattle will be over by the time you can send them over. Have them sit thisoneout.Once the Hyuga town (and particularly, their Government Center) has been

protected, you'll have to strike back at the Kyushu. Make your way Northtowards their town, and you'll first come across some gold mines. Bringsomevillagers over and assume control of these immediately to gain the upperhand.You might want to build an Academy, Siege Workshop and Temple here so youcanproduce units without them having to make the long trek over from your neckofthe woods.From here, it's a pretty standard siege. The Kyushu's towers will certainlyhave above-average range, but if you research Engineering at yourGovernmentCenter, your Stone Throwers can top this. The game's penultimate scenario

willbe over before you know it!

Yamato Campaign, part 8: Kyushu Revolts (405 A.D.)Objectives: - Destroy the Kyushu cityDifficulty: 4/5Strategy:This is it - the grand finale of Campaign Mode. You weren't expecting thegameto go easy on you, were you?The land will be divided into three stretches by narrow rivers. The Kyushuwilloccupy 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

middlestretch contains bountiful natural resources, victory will be dependent onseizing it.You'll need to use the resources on your side of the divide veryeffectively.Just to the South of your Storage Pit, there'll be some gold mines thatwill beessential 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 plantsand



Farms provided for food. You have a Scout at the beginning, so you him tomapout your surroundings.The Yamato's trademark in land combat is the cavalry charge, as illustratedbytheir reduced production cost. Amass a strong army of Cavalry, and supportthem

with Metalworking and Scale Armor. You also want some Priests; as theenemywill have a vastly superior army in size, you'll have to wear them down afewat 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 ofthemap. Across this stretch of land, there will be little plateaus with anabundance of wood, food and - mostly crucially - gold. Each one will beheavilyguarded (with a Sentry Tower on each one - consider bringing a StoneThrower ortwo), and most will be only accessible from the Kyushu's side. You'll needastrong force to make a breakthrough here, after which you can bring over

somevillagers over to the plateaus, wall yourself in and start mining.Establishing your hegemony (look it up) in the middle section of the landwon'tbe easy, but when it's done, victory is yours. If you like, you can useyournew supplies of gold to advance to the Iron Age, upgrade your Cavalryfurtherand create more Priests and Stone Throwers. With just the thin strip ofland tothe 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 copyrightonthis guide, because that would really be patently (no pun intended!!!!!)ridiculous. I'm not making any money from it, and it's based on somethingthat's already copyrighted (the game itself). "Information wants to befree" isone 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), andmake 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 finishedthegame 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).