http://users.bart.nl/~jamin Ages of Empires Playing Guide Twelve races, four resources, four Ages, a host of units, structures and a vast technology tree. With Age of Empires providing so much scope for different strategies, a definitive guide would be practically impossible to supply. What works for the Sumerians in the Tool Age, bears little resemblance to the Egyptians of the Bronze Age. With various campaigns for the different races, many one-off scenarios and a variety of single and multi-player options on a broad range of map types and sizes, a walk-through guide also becomes a non- starter. Does this mean that we're unable to offer any assistance for all those stuck playing one of the best games of the year? Of course not. We're just going to approach it a little differently and in the process reveal some general strategies that have proved successful, along with some more specific tips for particular situations. Let's start by looking at the twelve races you can choose from. Depending on the various victory conditions that can apply and the different terrain map types, your choice of race is crucial. If you know which race your opponent is playing, this should also be taken into account. To succeed with any race you need to know its strengths and take full advantage of them. ASSYRIAN The extra speed possessed by Assyrian villagers gives a very good advantage early on in the game and this makes them a great choice on smaller maps, where a strong economy can be developed quickly and easily. This is backed up by the high fire rate of their archers. To succeed with the Assyrians you need to use your amphetamine-abusing villagers to advance you to the Tool Age as soon as possible. From here you can build a barracks and an archery range to produce bowmen. This is a good time for the Assyrians to attack, or you can push on towards the Bronze Age and research the improved bow, then upgrade to composite bowmen. If you leave it much later than this to attack you are likely to struggle, as other races will overtake you in the end game when more powerful units become available. BABYLONIAN The Babylonians come into their own in situations where you need to build and hold a Wonder. Their dwarf-like abilities at mining mean you can acquire the necessary stone much more quickly than other races. With stronger walls and towers than the opposition, they are in a very good position to repel the onslaughts that occur when construction of a Wonder commences. By sticking a couple of priests inside your city defenses you can make quick conversions of the enemy. The Babylonians are vulnerable early in the game. CHOSON The Choson need to get to the Iron Age as soon as possible. Once this has been achieved they can start producing some very durable, high quality infantry. This combined with cheap priests can make them a formidable foe if used correctly. Use the long swordsmen and legion as a screen to soak up enemy punishment. Behind them form a group of at least five priests, if possible, to both heal your infantry and convert some of the enemy to your cause. Until the Iron Age is reached the only asset of the Choson is the range of their towers, so defence is the order of the day. EGYPTIAN The Egyptians can win any religious war. Advance to the Bronze Age as quickly as possible. From here on in they are in a strong position. Egyptian chariots, and especially chariot archers, are the ideal priest hunters, combining good speed with high resistance to conversion and attack bonuses. This makes the wheel one of their primary objectives. With a good eye for gold they can create a fair number of their own priests and with the additional conversion range, most opponents will soon be rushing to join their ranks. GREEK Speed is the key with the Greeks. In the latter stages of a game they can produce some of the quickest and most powerful infantry units. They also have the quickest warships. Hit and run tactics provide the best way for the Greeks to achieve any military goals. At sea they can attack at will, then outrun the enemy retreating to a home coast when they are severely damaged. Use a villager to quickly repair the boat, then return to the fray. A similar principle can be used on land, using your phalanx and centurion units to inflict heavy casualties. Keep priests well to the rear and retreat your infantry to be healed by the priests, before the enemy catches them up. HITTITE Sturdy siege engines are the Hittites claim to fame, and the secret to their success. With this in mind they have to focus on taking out enemy buildings rather than merely concentrating on enemy forces. It is often well worth sacrificing groups of stone throwers by sending them towards enemy villages unaccompanied. You can use them to take out economic targets, so that the Hittites can then establish an economic advantage. Once this advantage has been achieved, you can employ large forces of missile troops, as all units produced at the archery range have an attack bonus. They should then be able to advance, raining down arrows on an already diminished opponent. If you accompany this with more catapults, and this time take out military installations, success should be swift and certain. MINOAN As any good Englishman knows, to build a successful empire you need to rule the waves. The Minoans knew it as well. Their cheap production of boats means that they can easily dominate in any coastal or island based scenario. Build warships to control all the trade routes, then build merchant vessels to trade food for gold. The increased production from farms means they can stand the loss of food and the gold can be used to develop a powerful religious or military force. Never trade wood. All you do is supply your opponent with the means to build a bigger fleet than you. PERSIAN Stone Age Persians are in an extremely good position, because of their hunting ability. This food bonus turns to disadvantage in the Tool Age, as their farms have poor production. Try and hold your own at sea, so that you can fish in safety, to supplement your food supply. You should concentrate on surviving until you reach the Iron Age. From here you need to try to plough all of your resources into producing war elephants and elephant archers. With the Persian bonus for speed, these units become amongst the most formidable on the battlefield. PHOENICIAN Another race that needs to bide its time. None of its advantages come into play until the Iron Age. But fortunately, the Phoenicians suffer from no disadvantages early on to hamper their progress through the ages. Like the Persians, they should focus on elephants as soon as they become available. Lacking the pace of the Persian beasts, they make up for it with sheer weight of numbers. Add to this quick firing Juggernaughts at sea and it should be apparent that if you are going to defeat the Phoenicians you need to make a quick kill. SHANG Cheap villagers and strong walls. Not the most inspiring, or exciting race to play, but the Shang can make dangerous opponents. They are most effective in defensive situations, such as constructing a Wonder, or defending artefacts. Their cheap villagers give them an edge early on and they can build a solid economic base from which to progress. This race is one of the few where the priests should consider researching Jihad. Often fighting off enemy hordes, they find themselves in a position where cheap expendable fighting villagers are an asset and usually operate from a sound supply base, so can tolerate the drawbacks that go with Jihad. SUMERIAN There are no runts in Sumerian litters. The high constitution of their villagers assists with survival in the Stone Age. Once they reach the Tool Age they have but a single objective. Build a market, then farm for all their worth. The huge farming bonus will ensure massive stockpiles of food, which can be employed any way you choose to good effect. They can accentuate this advantage by using their quick firing siege engines to demolish enemy supply sources. Once economic superiority has been established use weight of numbers to overwhelm the enemy. YAMATO One of the most powerful and impressive all-round races, the Yamato have strength in depth. Quick villagers ensure economic success. Stoutly built ships enable you to compete at sea. Military encounters can usually succeed due to a full range of cheap cavalry from scout to cataphract. Develop a well balanced civilisation, utilising all these assets and the Yamato are sure to do well. This Map Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us This all sounds well and good, but putting it into practice may well be a different matter. To help you further we're now going to provide you with a step-by-step guide to playing the deathmatch. This is sure to be one of the most popular ways of playing Age of Empires and with the single player options provided for this format, everybody can enjoy the deathmatch, even without a modem. Follow our guide and you should be able to embarrass the computer at the 'Hard' level, and even challenge at the 'Impossible' setting. We set the game up for Egyptian vs. Shang on a large inland map. Difficulty was set to Hard and Standard victory conditions were selected. STONE AGE Create an extra villager, build a barracks and a granary. Set the diplomacy to neutral. Use the third villager to build extra houses. Once the two buildings have been completed advance to the Tool Age. While your City centre is progressing use your villagers to explore the surrounding area. If any stone or gold deposits are located, build a storage pit and start mining. If you find the river's edge, build a dock. Boats can be used to explore. TOOL AGE Create several new villagers and use them to create a stable, market and archery range. When two of the buildings have been completed advance to the Bronze Age. Start checking your buildings for research and upgrades. Carry out all the research available, as resources in deathmatches aren't a problem. Spare villagers can be used for farming. Train some scouts at the stable and use these to explore further. You should find an artefact and a ruin. Return any artefacts found to your City centre. You may need to defend them later in the game. Keep your scouts out on post duty and use them to explore further during any free moments that arise. BRONZE AGE Build a temple, government centre and academy, create more villagers and set them to farming and preferably gold mining. When two of the three buildings are complete, advance to the Iron Age. More research will now be available at all your buildings. If you have several storage pits you can do separate research at each one. Carry out all research at the temple, but don't train any priests yet. If you've researched the wheel at the market start producing some chariots at the stable. At the archery range, upgrade to the composite bow, before training any chariot archers. Build a siege workshop and start producing stone throwers. As military units become ready use them to form a ring around your city for a hasty defence. IRON AGE War elephants and elephant archers should make up the bulk of your force. You will also need some chariot archers to hunt down enemy priests. Once you have researched everything at the temple, except Jihad, start producing priests. Build triremes at the docks and use them to explore as much as possible. Set the diplomacy to enemy, as you are now ready to start hunting your prey. Use your scouts to find the Shang town centre. They will still be in the Stone Age, or the Tool Age. You can now form your army into four groups. Priests in one; chariots in another; siege engines in a third and your elephants in the fourth. Lead all four groups towards the enemy camp with the elephants in front and the priests at the rear. Combat happens at a frenzied pace, but there are ways to optimise your army's effectiveness. Use the elephants as the vanguard, to soak up the Shang attacks. Chariots should be used on the flanks for quick response and to guard your priests. Siege engines should focus on destroying enemy buildings. Priests should be used to convert the biggest threat that appears to your cause. Use the priests to convert military buildings to your faith. This provides you with a source of reinforcements and slows down enemy production of troops. When using priests,remember that although you form them into a group to move them, they must make conversions or healing individually. Otherwise they'll become fatigued from a single conversion and become vulnerable.Once you have taken care of the military buildings, switch to mopping up mode. This can involve some extensive exploring of the map to find the odd storage pit. In the process you will probably find the balance of the artefacts and take control of all the ruins. If you haven't the patience to do this set your villagers to the task of building a Wonder. Change the speed setting to fast and you'll soon see an impressive pyramid and the words YOU ARE VICTORIOUS. The two most obvious ways to cope with early assaults from nearby neighbours are either to forego some of your early research at the military establishments and produce some lower level troops, or to build sentry towers at strategic points encompassing the city. These towers will attack enemies who come into range, but you can also click on them like any other unit to pick out specific targets. A less tempting possibility is to offer tribute. This can be done from the diplomacy menu. There is no shame in this and in some scenarios it is the only way to give your race enough breathing space to build up their empire. You now possess all the information necessary to become a great leader of your chosen people.