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When you first started playing Age of Empires, you
likely thought that the computer’s artificial intelligence (AI) player was the most bril-
liant and fearsome opponent with which you’d ever cross paths. Yet, over time and
after many bloody battles, you’ve realized just how predictable and rigid its strategies
are. Days, weeks, and, even, months of testing your wits against this AI have passed.
These days, you frequently emerge victorious, effortlessly demolishing multiple AI
players simultaneously. You consider yourself to be a master strategist, even pro-
claiming yourself to be the rebirth of Napoleon.
By now, you probably think that there must be more to the game. As fate (or the game’sdesigners) would have it, there is—multiplayer games. Like a fighter pilot practicingon a flight simulator to prepare for real combat, you practice against the computer toprepare for the real challenge—battles versus live human opponents.
cM A K I N G T H E T R A N S I T I O N F R O M S I N G L E - P L AY E R TOM U LT I P L AY E R G A M E S
Not to be underestimated, the computer AI is undoubtedly a formidable foe. Althoughthe AI is generally regarded as being extremely predictable and often stupid, its instantand constant control of its units makes up for its ineptitude. The computer offers a verystatic game plan, which sets a consistent pace to learn how to play the game and useyour units effectively. However, it cannot offer you the opportunity to think logically,counterattack, use advanced tactics, or experience a variety of styles of play.
Multiplayer games take Age of Empires to a whole new dimension. They add theelement of live interactivity and the unpredictability of the human mind. Games, suchas Age of Empires, nowadays are often designed specifically for the multiplayer expe-rience. What can possibly be more satisfying than wiping out your friends’ entire civ-ilizations and taunting them afterward in front of hundreds of people?
This chapter is dedicated to teaching you everything about multiplayer strategy—from the subtle lockdown of the enemy’s resources to the use of brute force with afrontal assault. The complexity of this game makes it very difficult to go into every lit-tle detail; thus, it is assumed beforehand that you have played enough single-playergames to know what each unit and building does, as well as how to control them. It isalso assumed that you know the advantages and disadvantages of each civilization.There will be times when you are asked to refer to the game’s manual for details. Thetips, tricks, and strategies you’ll learn in this chapter will guide you in your crusade toconquer the world!
S E T T I N G U P A M U LT I P L AY E R G A M EAge of Empires makes it easy to find opponents to get a multiplayer game going. Youcan play with up to eight players over a network or the Internet, and you can play withtwo players over a modem or serial connection. However, it is not necessary for allplayers to have the CD to play. For up to three players, just one CD is required. For fourto six players, two CDs are required. For seven or eight players, however, three CDs arerequired.
Making the Transition from Single-Player to Multiplayer Games 191
cPlaying over an IPX ConnectionIf you have a local area network (LAN), you can play within that network using theIPX protocol. You should configure this in the Windows 95 Network control panel.Make sure that all the computers in the network use the same frame type, workgroupname, and network client. Consult someone who is familiar with configuring networksif you have problems.
To play an IPX game, choose that option on the Multiplayer Connection menu.The host computer should then create the game. Ideally, the host computer should bethe fastest one on the network. When the name of the host’s game is visible on thescreen, all other players should select it and join it.
Playing over anInternet TCP/IPConnectionOver the Internet, you canplay a game with up to eightplayers. However, unlesseach player has at least anISDN line, never play withmore than four playerssimultaneously. This is a great way to painlessly play Age of Empires with your friends.The host who creates the game gives all of the other players his or her IP address. Thehost then creates the game from the Multiplayer Connection menu, and each playerjoins it by selecting the Join button and typing the host’s IP address.
An Internet IP address is a series of four numbers that identifies your computer.The series will typically look something like, 198.152.193.100. The person hostingthe game will usually give you this number; if you are the host, give it to everyoneelse. To determine your IP address, connect to the Internet, and then run a programin your Windows directory called winipcfg.exe. It is a program built into Windows95 that gives you, among other things, your IP address.
Playing over a Modem ConnectionThe modem connection option allows you to connect with one other person. Usually,the modem option is used to play a game with your local friends. You can play over
If you have a network that uses the TCP/IP protocolinstead of IPX, you can use the Internet TCP/IPoption to connect each other in a multiplayer game.
cthe Internet if you want, butmodem-to-modem play ismore direct and usuallyfaster. The person who cre-ates the game answers thecall, while the person whojoins the game inputs thecreator’s phone number todial and connect.
Playing over aSerial ConnectionIf you use a serial cable to connect one computer to another, it can be an economicalway to network two computers, because you don’t have to buy network cards. Connecteach end of the cable to the computer where you normally plug in an external modem.Configure Windows 95’s serial port networking and you’re ready to go. To connect inSerial/Null Modem mode, select that option from the Multiplayer Connection menu.Again, the person with the faster computer should host the game, and the other playershould join it.
Playing over the Microsoft Internet Gaming ZoneThe best part about Age ofEmpires is that it is sup-ported by the MicrosoftInternet Gaming Zone (IGZ).Games played on the IGZare limited to four players.After you connect to the Ageof Empires section of theIGZ, there will be a list ofplayers on the right side anda list of games on the leftside. If you want to hostyour own game, find an
Making the Transition from Single-Player to Multiplayer Games 193
If your modem line has call-waiting, you may wantto disable it, so that an incoming phone call doesn’tinterrupt your game. In most cases, you do this bypreceding your friend’s phone number with thestring *70, or 1170, before you dial it. Contact yourlocal phone company if you are unsure.
The red and green bars to the side of each player’sname display the player’s ping time, which is a mea-sure of the amount of time it takes for informationto get to that player and come back. Try to play withplayers with bright green bars, which generally (butnot always) mean faster gameplay.
cempty game room in which to host your game. If you want to join someone else’sgame, find a game room with players still waiting for the game and join it. Many gamerooms will have games in progress, which you probably don’t want to join.
P L AY I N G M U LT I P L AY E R G A M E SAlthough they are very different from single-player games, multiplayer games of Ageof Empires consist of familiar stages in which you must choose a civilization; build itup with units, structures, and technology upgrades; and engage the enemy empiresin strategic warfare.
C H O O S I N G A N A N C I E N T C I V I L I Z AT I O NAs you’ve probably already learned in single-player contests, the 12 ancient civiliza-tions have many similarities, yet they are all very unique. Be sure to read the Age ofEmpires game manual carefully and learn the advantages and disadvantages of eachcivilization. Some civilizations can build things that others can’t, and some civiliza-tions can build things faster than others can. Choose your civilization based on yourplaying style, your opponents’ playing styles, the terrain, the map, and your favoriteunits. You want to use fully the advantages of the civilization you pick.
c Style—do you like to attack quickly or save up to upgrade technology?
c Terrain—terrain with lots of hills and valleys slows down your unitsdrastically. You may want to pick a civilization with faster units in thistype of terrain. For example, Villagers are relatively slow and will beeven slower when they have to walk up a hill to harvest wood. Use theAssyrians to increase their speed by 30 percent.
c Maps—maps can be inland, highlands, coastal, or islands. For example,if you’re playing on a map with a lot of islands, control of the seas isvital to winning the game. Use the Phoenicians to increase the firing rateof your Catapult Triremes and Juggernauts by 65 percent.
c Units—certain civilizations have extra abilities with specific units. If oneof your favorite units happens to fall in that category, it may be a good
cidea to choose that civilization. For example, Hoplites are extremely pow-erful offensive weapons, but they are extremely slow. Pick the Greeks toincrease their speed by 30 percent.
B U I L D I N G YO U R C I V I L I Z AT I O NThe key to getting a good start is being efficient with your units and production. Keepyour level of production up by creating more Villagers, but at the same time, don’t cre-ate too many, as you need to save your food to upgrade to the next age. On the flipside, don’t upgrade to the next age too early and create only a couple of Villagers,because the lack of production and resources will set you back technologically.
Establishing Your BaseTypically, during the first 5 minutes of a multiplayer game, there is a race between theplayers to upgrade to the Tool Age first, because there is a limited supply of food closeto your base. To have efficient food production, you need to build a Market and Farms,which you can only build in the Tool Age. A step-by-step method for a productive andefficient start follows. Find out what works best for you, as there are many variationsto advancement.
1. You typically start with a Town Center and three Villagers. As soon asyou enter the game, click your Town Center and create a Villager.
2. Your first Villager should build a House.
3. Your second and third Villagers should look for the closest berry bushes.Berries will be your source for food in the early stages of the game.
4. When you find the berry bushes, look at where they are in comparisonto your Town Center. If they are close by, make your Villagers pick theberries. If the bushes are relatively far from your Town Center, build aGranary right next to the bushes. This will considerably decrease thetime it takes to harvest food.
5. Your first, fourth, fifth, and eighth through eleventh Villagers should pick berries.
6. Your sixth Villager should build another House and then harvest wood.
c7. Your seventh and twelfth Villagers should also harvest wood.
8. Build a Storage Pit.
9. Build another House.
10. Build a Barrack.
11. Wait for your food reserves to reach 500; then, upgrade to the Tool Age,move your Villagers from picking berry bushes to harvesting wood, andbuild a Market and Farms.
Preliminary DefenseIn the early stages of the game, people have very different strategies. Some people liketo stay to themselves, spending most of their resources on upgrading rather than build-ing a military. Others like to spend their resources on building a military, and don’tupgrade until later. You want to focus on upgrading to the next age, but at the sametime, you don’t want to leave your base defenseless. The best way to tackle thisdilemma is to find a good medium between the two strategies.
You can use many things to your advantage to defend from an early attack. Naturalbarriers, such as trees, are agreat source of protectionfrom an oncoming military.You never want to cut downtrees that form a naturalwall around your city. Keepan eye on your Villagers—ifthe tree line is getting toothin, select the Villagers andmake them harvest theirwood in a different area.
You start off the game with, at the very least, enough stone to build one Tower.Build the Tower near the center of your base, but within range of most of your Villagers.It’s very likely that your opponents will go after your Villagers first. If you don’t havea military by the time your opponents come in, make your Villagers run next to your
Make several Villagers work on the same building to decrease the time it takes to build it. Do this tobuild a Tower quickly if you need an immediatedefense.
cTower for protection. If your opponents choose to attack your Villagers anyway, useyour Villagers to retaliate. If your opponents decide to hang around on the outskirtsof your base, build a Barrack and fight back with a military.
Villagers are surprisingly decent defensive units in the early stages of the game. Ifyour opponents try to rush you with Clubmen, your Villagers can fight back. BothClubmen and Villagers do 3 points of damage per attack. The only difference betweenthe two units is that Clubmen have 15 more hit points. Thus, if your opponents sendin a small group of two or three Clubmen and you don’t have a military to defend yourbase, use your Villagers toattack them. You shouldhave more Villagers than theopponents have Clubmen atthis point, and you will likelycome out victorious.
Last, but certainly notleast, you must build yourown military. You shoulddefinitely build at least acouple of Clubmen and dedicate them to base defense. You don’t want to spend toomuch food on building a military, because it will keep you from advancing to the ToolAge quickly—but do not leave your base entirely defenseless.
With all the different options on defense that you have, there should be no prob-lem surviving an early attack from your opponents. A tiny military, backed up byTowers and Villagers (if needed), is sufficient to thwart the most persistent of enemies.If you notice, however, that your opponents are spending all of their resources onoffense, you should adapt your play and spend more resources on building a military.Because a civilization with good defense, in most cases, has the advantage, wait untilthe enemy attacks again. After you destroy the assaulting military, counter with yourown attack. Go straight for the enemies’ Villagers. Your opponents will likely havevery few of them, because they probably spent most of their resources on the militaryrather than on Villagers for production. Once you kill off the enemies’ Villagers, theywill be a sitting ducks.
Villagers do not automatically retaliate whenattacked; manually select the Villagers and attackthe enemy’s units to engage in combat.
cPreliminary OffenseLike the dilemma you face in building a preliminary defense, you must again choosewhere you wish to devote your resources early in the game. In most situations, thedefense has a slight advantage over the attacking force. Therefore, if you plan onmounting an attack early, you must catch your opponent off guard to succeed. Thereare several factors in a successful early attack:
c Attackingquickly—you mustfind your oppo-nent’s base andattack quicklybefore it can pro-duce enough unitsto match yours.Often, people donot expect suchan early attack. Send a Villager out to scout for the enemy base right offthe bat. Once you find the base, you’re set. Build up a military and goafter the enemy.
c Catching the enemy off guard—this is the key to success in an earlyattack. If the enemy knows you’re coming, it will make it very difficult toovercome their defenses. Although you may have more military unitsthan your opponent at the time you find their base, by the time yourunits walk to the base, the enemy will have easily amassed enough unitsto counter the force you send.
c Stopping production—go after the enemy’s Villagers first, if you can. Youropponent probably spent most of their resources building Villagers toincrease production. If you can kill enemy Villagers, even if the attackfails, you have still managed to slow their production. This is goodenough to gain the edge you need to win the game.
c Keeping up your level of production—while attacking, don’t forget to con-stantly upgrade your base, even in the midst of battle.
Try not to let the enemy see your Villager. If theother player doesn’t think you know the location oftheir base, they will probably not be prepared for anearly attack.
cc Avoiding stationary defenses—stay clear of the enemy’s Watch Towers
while mounting your initial attack. If you defeat their military and theirVillagers seek shelter next to the Towers, send more units from yourbase. Keep the enemy’s Villagers from harvesting more food, and destroytheir Houses. When you have enough units, attack their Villagers. Don’tbother with the Towers—if you kill off the enemy’s ability to produce, itis worth the sacrifice of your military.
c Being lucky—there is a huge factor of luck involved in attacking early. Ifyou are lucky, your opponent won’t realize they’re being attacked untilafter the fact. You can wipe out enemy Villagers before your opponentcan react.
Using Military UnitsTo build up your empire’s military, it requires a good understanding of the strengthsand weaknesses of the units you produce. Let’s take a look at using military units ina multiplayer contest.
C L U B M E N A N D A X E -
M E N Clubmen and, later,Axemen are the first mili-tary units you can produce.Although these units areweak and are quickly sur-passed by more powerfulunits in advanced ages,they are extremely useful inthe very early stages of agame. They are great in the beginning for disrupting the enemy’s Villagers anddefending your base.
H O P L I T E S , P H A L A N X E S , A N D C E N T U R I O N S Hoplites, Phalanxes, andCenturions are the epitome of close-range fighting units. Hoplites (we will use this termto include also the other two levels of the unit, Phalanxes and Centurions) have thegreatest offensive close-range capabilities in the game. Their lone drawback is that theyare extremely slow. They do their best either up in the front lines or back on defense.Their slowness makes them extremely vulnerable to Archers and other long-range
If you focus too much on the military in the begin-ning, you will be way behind technologically within10 minutes of starting the game. Balance yourresources wisely.
cattackers. Use Hoplites todefend your long-rangeunits, such as Archers andCatapults. When your long-range units attack theenemy, the enemy will usu-ally turn its attention tokilling your long-range unitsfirst. Make a group of Hop-lites wait in front of yourlong-range units and inter-cept the enemy before it canreach them.
B O W M E N , I M P R O V E D B O W M E N , A N D C O M P O S I T E B O W M E N Bowmen,and their two more advanced descendents, are cheap and effective units that yougenerally leave in the backof the troop to do long-range damage in battle.They don’t have many hitpoints, don’t have armor,and have only averagespeed, but they will get thejob done. These units areexpendable because theyare so cheap, but with goodprotection from Hoplites orother close-range units,Bowmen can do quite a bitof damage.
C H A R I O T A R C H E R S
Chariot Archers are themost cost-effective Archers, though they are not necessarily the best. You don’t haveto use gold to build these Archers. They are extremely quick and can easily outrunmost of the close-range units. They only inflict average damage, but the fact that youdon’t have to use any gold to build them is an extremely big plus. As for all Archers,
Group Hoplites with Catapults. Make the Catapultsattack enemy units from long range. When theenemy units come in close to attack the Catapults,make your Hoplites step up and intercept them. Theenemy should already be severely damaged by theCatapult attacks, so when they run into theHoplites, they should be mincemeat.
In the early stages of the game, use Bowmen to killClubmen. Shoot Clubmen from long range, and thenrun away. Turn back around, shoot more of them,and then run away again. Repeat this process.Bowmen have the same speed as Clubmen, soClubmen shouldn’t be able to catch Bowmen if theystart off far enough away. You can also use this tac-tic against the slower units, such as Elephants orHoplites, in the later stages of the game.
cmake a group of close-rangeunits guard in front of themto prevent the enemy’sclose-range units from get-ting too close.
E L E P H A N T A R C H E R S
Generally, you want Arch-ers to be quick and maneu-verable, because once aclose-range fighter, such asa Hoplite, gets within range to attack, it’s over for the Archers. Elephant Archers, onthe other hand, are extremely slow—but they make up for their lack of speed by hav-ing 600 hit points, like War Elephants. Their attack damage is average for Archers, butthey are outrageously expensive (costing you much food). How useful they are isbased mostly on how interactive you are with your units. If you tend to leave yourunits alone, without bothering to watch them, you should choose Elephant Archers.Since they have a lot of hit points, you can use the mentality that they can outlast theirenemy before the enemy outlasts them, no matter whether they’re in a close-range bat-tle or a long-range battle. However, if you are quick and like to maneuver your units,Elephant Archers are a horrible choice for you.
H O R S E A R C H E R S A N D H E AV Y H O R S E A R C H E R S Horse Archers are prob-ably the most efficient Archers. Although they aren’t cheap, they aren’t that expen-sive. They inflict a significant amount of damage and are extremely quick. A groupof five Horse Archers can pick apart an entire army of Hoplites. Using hit-and-run tac-tics, attack slow units, such as Hoplites or Elephants, and make them chase you. Theywill spend all day chasing you, but will never be able to catch up to you. As soon asthey commit to attacking the Archers, they have no choice but to go after you. If theydecide to give up the chase, turn around and shoot them again. Keep this up untilthey are all dead. Generally, the Heavy Horse Archer upgrade isn’t worth the hugeresource costs. Unless you have a lot of resources to spare, don’t bother upgrading.
S C O U T S Scouts have extremely long ranges of vision. They are very quick, and youshould use them mainly for reconnaissance purposes. They inflict the same attackdamage as Villagers and Clubmen, but they make up for their lack of attack prowesswith their speed. They are good units to use to finish off enemy Villagers in an early
Chariot Archers have a high resistance to conversionand inflict triple damage on Priests. If your oppo-nent is into building Priests, build Chariot Archers tohunt them down.
cattack. Scouts can travelacross the map in a shorttime, so they are good unitsto send to your opponent’sbase before your opponentcan recover from an initialattack.
C H A R I O T S Chariots arevery similar to ChariotArchers—they’re the mostcost-effective units out ofthe Cavalry, yet they’re notnecessarily the best. Again,like Chariot Archers, theyhave a high resistance toconversion, but they doonly double the attack dam-age to Priests. Chariots have few hit points, but do a fair amount of damage. It wouldbe worthwhile to make Chariots hunt down Archers, Catapults, and Priests, but little else.
CAVA L R I E S , H E AV Y
CAVA L R I E S , A N D
CATA P H R ACTS
Cavalries and their two successors—Heavy Caval-ries and Cataphracts—areextremely effective units,because they are fast andpowerful, have a decentamount of hit points, and doextra damage to Infantry.However, the main disad-vantage of building a lot ofCavalries is that they cost alot of gold (80) to build.
Make the Scouts use hit-and-run tactics onVillagers. When you initially attack an enemyVillager, your opponent won’t notice. Once theynotice, they will likely select all their Villagers toattack the Scout. When that happens, make yourScout run away. A Scout can easily outrun Villagers.Your opponent will give up the chase and make the Villagers go back to work. When you see theirVillagers turn around, go back and attack themagain. Continue doing this until you’ve taken outevery one of their Villagers.
Send a group of Heavy Cavalries to the enemy’sbase. They should be quick enough to run by thebase’s defenses without sustaining too much damage. Run around in the enemy’s base; causechaos, kill all the Villagers, and destroy all the Houses. When your opponent reacts and com-mands their forces to chase your Cavalries down,run back home to base and draw your opponent into your defenses.
cCavalries are generally regarded as the most versatile units in the game. They are fitfor every situation, whether they chase down Catapults and Archers, or fight in thefront line versus Infantry. Although they are extremely versatile and do extra damageagainst Infantry, these expensive units are better used away from the front line, wherethey can use their quickness to their advantage. Send a group of Cavalries around thefront line, to attack from behind the enemy. Take out the enemy’s long-rangeweapons, and then escape before their front-line troops engage you in combat. Aswith all of the most advanced units, the advantage Cataphracts have over HeavyCavalries isn’t enough to warrant the many resources it takes to upgrade.
WA R E L E P H A N T S War Elephants are extremely slow, have no armor, and do amaximum of 15 points of damage per attack. However, they have an incredibleamount of hit points—600 to be exact. They also inflict trampling damage on anyadjacent enemy troops.Use Elephants to tank foryour army—make themlead the assault at thefront line. Use them to takethe brunt of the attack.The more enemy units thatattack the Elephants, themore damage they inflicton themselves due to thetrampling damage. Whileyour Elephants take thedamage, make your offen-sive-savvy units (such asHoplites) attack the enemyfrom the side.
P R I E S T S People tend to underestimate Priests. Although Priests are the mostexpensive units to create in gold (125), they are most certainly worth the expense. Inalmost every attack force you amass, have at least one or two Priests amongst thegroup. Healing does not take up any of the Priest’s faith, so it can be done even dur-ing battle. Priests have an extremely long range of vision and an extremely long reachfor healing and conversion. Priests can heal your units during battle and heal theentire military’s units to full health before going into another battle. Their healing
Priests should accompany attack forces, but theyshould stay in the rear of the forces. During battles,use the Priests to heal units that sustain a lot ofdamage. Pull the units that are hurt the most duringbattle from the front line, and replace them withnewer, fresher units. Use your Priests to heal thedamaged units, and then bring them back to thefront line. The overall efficiency of your military isincreased dramatically by having a Priest in it.
cpowers alone are worth the 125 gold you spent to create Priests. On top of their heal-ing powers, if your attacking force encounters one particular enemy unit that is caus-ing incredible amounts of damage to your military, you can use the Priests to convertthe enemy unit and use it as your own. Priests can also act as scouts with theirextremely long range of vision.
S T O N E T H R O W E R S , C ATA P U LT S , A N D H E AV Y C ATA P U LT S StoneThrowers and their two successors—Catapults and Heavy Catapults—are thestrongest military units and have the longest attack range in the game. They caninflict more damage in one blow than any other unit. They are, however, madespecifically for long-range attacks. Without proper protection, Catapults are totallyworthless. With proper protection, they can be utterly devastating to your opponent’smilitary. Catapults come in handy in several situations:
1. They are great for destroying ships. Catapults have more range than anyship, so it is a good idea to use Catapults while playing on sea levels.
2. Catapults work extremely well against Towers and walled-off bases. ACatapult bombardment will demolish the enemy’s fortified base in a mat-ter of seconds.
3. Catapults give long-range support for the front line. If you can hurt theenemy’s military before it even reaches the battlefield, you have a hugeadvantage. It can also be very frustrating for a player on the receivingend of the Catapult bombardment.
4. A pair of Catapults behind fortified Walls of a base can be deadly.Anyone who tries to break through the Walls will sustain heavy damagefrom Catapult fire.
As described in the Hoplite section, a Hoplite and Catapult combination isextremely deadly. With Hoplites defending Catapults and Catapults doing the long-range bombardments, there isn’t much that can stop them.
B A L L I S TA S A N D H E L E P O L I S E S Ballistas are more or less the same asCatapults, with just a few small differences—attack damage, firing rate, and range.
cThe tactics you use with Ballistas and Catapults are the pretty much the same.
L I G H T T R A N S P O RT S A N D H E AV Y T R A N S P O RT S Transports are very help-ful when you want to mount an attack from the sea. Often, people do not build anydefenses on their shoreline, because they assume the attack will come from land. Anattack from sea could catch your opponent totally off guard.
S C O U T S H I P S , WA R G A L L E Y S , T R I R E M E S , C ATA P U LT T R I R E M E S ,
A N D J U G G E R N A U T S Ships are an important part of the game that many peopleignore. Ships have an extremely long attack range and are very cheap to build. A seabombardment can be especially devastating if your opponent builds their village nearthe coast. Do not attack enemy ships if you are outnumbered; wait until you haveequal force before engaging in a sea battle.
BuildingStructuresA well-designed base is anextremely important part ofthe game. It can improveyour resource production,your defensive and offen-sive capabilities, and youroverall chance of survival.
M I L I TA RY B U I L D I N G S
Military buildings includeBarracks, Temples, Stables,Academies, and ArcheryRanges. In general, placeyour military buildings onthe outskirts of the base.When mounting an attack,you want your units, espe-cially the slow ones, to beready to attack as soon asthey’re created. You don’t
Buildings have no effect on the population limit. Ifyou have the resources available, build multiple mili-tary buildings, such as Academies and Stables. Thisway, when you are at the population limit and sendyour military to attack, you can rebuild your lostunits quickly.
When you have 49 units, start building as many unitsas possible simultaneously before you hit 50. You cansurpass the 50-unit population limit by doing this.
cwant your units to have to weave their way around Farms, Houses, and other build-ings just to get to the outskirts of the base. However, you will want at least one mil-itary building somewhere within your base, in case the enemy is able to sneak byyour front lines and defenses. Stables are a good choice for this interior building,because they produce fast units, which you’ll need to intercept the enemy unitsbefore they reach the critical areas of your base.
R E S O U R C E B U I L D I N G S Your resource buildings include the following buildings:
c Granaries—place Granaries near berry bushes and, more importantly, inopen areas, because you will want to surround them with Farms whenyou upgrade to the Tool Age. You want to build the Farms so that yourfarmers do not run into each other or block eachother’s path to the Granary.
c Storage Pits—the placement of Storage Pits isn’t par-ticularly important, but it is extremely important toprotect Villagers while they are harvesting or mining.Build Towers and Walls to protect scarce resources,such as gold.
c Technology buildings—you can generally place Government Centers andMarkets anywhere, because people tend not to attack them. Use them asbarriers to block the way to your Houses.
O T H E R B U I L D I N G S Additional buildings you will use to build up your empire areas follows:
c Houses—it is critical that you do not build Houses in huge clumps. Hugeclumps of Houses just beg to be destroyed by the enemy, especially byenemy Catapults. Build Houses in, at the very most, pairs, and placethem near the back of your base where they are harder to reach.Surround them with Walls to ensure they are safe. Houses have very fewhit points and you need them to build units. Build enough Houses tohold approximately 75 units. If your opponent infiltrates your base andtakes out your Houses, you will be glad that you built a surplus ofHouses in different areas of your base.
ment of Docksisn’t necessarilyimportant.However, you willwant to buildadditional Docksthat are closer tonew schools offish when youhave used up allthe fish aroundyour area. It’s agood idea to builda couple of Towerson the shorelinesnear your Docks.If your opponentgains control ofthe seas, you want to be able to defend your shores from a sea assaultand protect your Docks.
c Town Centers—these buildings arethe only onesfrom which youcan buildVillagers. Near themiddle of thegame, build TownCenters instead ofStorage Pits, espe-cially when youintend to work on
Late in the game, both you and your opponent maybe filled to the brim with resources. It’s very difficultto gain an advantage over an opponent who canrebuild their army in a matter of seconds. One wayto disable their ability to rebuild is to take out theirHouses. If you destroy their Houses, your opponentwon’t be able to produce more units until theyrebuild their Houses. After you take out theirHouses, wipe out their military. It’ll take some timefor the enemy to reproduce it, because they have torebuild their Houses and then their military. Next,you can go after your opponent’s military buildings(such as Academies), their Villagers, or the Housesthey are rebuilding.
If you’re playing on a map that has random patchesof water inland, build a Dock in one of the patchesthat is near commonly traveled grounds. Build several Triremes and let them sit in the water. Shipshave an extremely long attack range. Your ships candamage any enemy units walking by before theyeven meet your troops on the battlefield!
ca faraway gold mine. If you build a Town Center near the gold mine, youwon’t need to bring a bunch of Villagers with you. You can just createVillagers from the Town Center and mine the gold quickly, without tak-ing away from production elsewhere. It isalso a good idea to spread out severalTown Centers across the map. If your mainbase gets overrun, you have several otherplaces you can go to rebuild and regroup.
c Walls—it only costs 5 stone to build a Wall. Walls have extremely highhit points for their cost. Surround your base with Walls to add an extralayer of defense. Walls also buy you some time, because enemy unitshave to destroythe Walls to moveforward. A goodtactic to use whenbuilding a defenseis to build a cou-ple of layers ofWalls. Leave roombehind the secondlayer for a thirdlayer. If the enemy breaks through the first layer and is about to breakthrough the second layer, work on the third layer behind the secondlayer. If you keep building Walls behind the ones the enemy is breakingdown, it will take the enemy a long time to reachyour base. Meanwhile, it is hopeful that you havebuilt Towers behind the Walls so that any unitsattacking the Walls are under fire. If that is the case,very few enemy units should survive to breakthrough the last Wall.
c Towers—Towers are an essential part of your defense. As you progressthrough the ages, your Towers will become more powerful. In some civi-lizations, you can build Ballista Towers, which have a very long range
To build a Town Center, it only costs 80 wood morethan it costs to build a Storage Pit. A Town Center ismore versatile and is worth the extra 80 wood.
cand do 20 points of damage per attack. When you combine severalTowers with a couple layers of Walls in front of them, it is extremely dif-ficult for the enemy to get through your defense. Towers have one weak-ness, though. Catapults and the like have longer ranges than that ofTowers. If the enemy manages to get a Catapult within firing range, yourTowers will not be in range to shoot back. You should have Cavalriesready to charge Catapults if you see them near your base.
E M P L O Y I N G T H E T O W E R AT TA C K You can also use Towers as great offensiveweapons. To use the Tower attack, first build a set of Towers just outside the range ofthe enemy base. When theset is built, start buildingnew Towers progressivelycloser to the base—skip acouple of steps and buildanother Tower closer. Keepdoing this until your Towershave worked their way intothe enemy’s base. Do notspread your Towers outthin—keep at least twoTowers in the range of eachother at all times, so thatwhen one Tower is attackedby enemy units, the otherTower can shoot at thoseunits, too.
It is always a good idea to upgrade your Towers. Towers are a big part of this game,and any resources you spend to improve them are well worth it.
E N G AG I N G I N WA R FA R EIntelligent warfare in multiplayer games means knowing in advance what your ene-mies’ are planning and hampering their ability to gather resources.
Use the Tower attack early in the game. Send someof your first Villagers to mine stone right off thebat. Early on, when your opponent has only Clubmenas military units, your Towers will easily outmatchthe enemy Clubmen. You should place your firstTower near the enemy’s Villagers, because you wantto slow down their production immediately. Workyour way deeper into their base. The enemy will notbe able to recover if you can build two or threeTowers inside their base.
cReconnaissanceIn war, there are winners and there are losers. Throughout the years, there has beenone prevalent and proven factor that sways the war to one side’s favor. In almost everyinstance, the side with the better reconnaissance (recon) emerges victorious. Theadvantages of having good reconnaissance are phenomenal. It is frightening to thinkof the power that you possess when you know at all times what the enemy is up to.With good recon, you also know the following things:
c The location of the enemy’s base
c Where the enemy is expanding to
c The strong and weak points of the enemy’s defense
c The location of the enemy’s military
c When the enemy is amassing troops for an attack
The list goes on. It is impossible to surprise an opponent who has reconnaissancethat extends far beyond their base’s boundaries. By the time you reach the enemy’sbase with your military, they will have had plenty of time to build Towers and Wallsfor defense and intercept your oncoming military.
The best reconnaissance unit you have is the Scout. It has an extremely long rangeof sight and is extremely fast. However, with the 50-unit population limit, if you havetoo many Scouts, it will curbthe size of your military.Instead, make only a hand-ful of Scouts patrol the morecommon areas, and buildTowers instead of Scouts ondifferent areas of the map.Make sure your reconnais-sance covers every passage-way possible, from at leastthe middle of the map toyour base. If you see a holeon the map where yourrecon used to be, you knowthat your enemy is likely
Have recon near the enemy base at all times. Whenyou see your opponent amassing their military onone side of the base, send in a group of quick units,such as Cavalries, to attack the opposite side. Whenthe opposing military attacks your units, run yourCavalries back home. This hit-and-run tactic is veryeffective, because it forces the opposing military tospread out to protect all sides of its base.
ccoming through that area. This will give you time to prepare for an attack and will giveyou a good sense of the direction from which the enemy is coming.
To rid the map of enemy reconnaissance, send out a small band of Cavalries andone Priest to scour the area. When you see enemy Scouts or Towers, you can attackor convert them. Do not advance into enemy territory; instead, comb the map todestroy your opponent’s information web. Do this several times over the course of thegame. Send your military through one of the areas the enemy no longer has recon inand surprise them.
Controlling the Key ResourcesAlthough every one of the resources (food, wood, stone, and gold) is necessary for awell-rounded civilization, certain resources are more critical in different stages of thegame. In the early stages, food and wood are vital to your survival and your ability toadvance your civilization.However, in the later stagesof the game, when bothplayers have advanced tothe Bronze Age, mining goldis an absolutely essentialpart of the game. You cannotbuild any of the advancedunits without gold. Stone,on the other hand, is animportant resource in every stage of the game. Without stone, you cannot build Towersor Walls, which are necessary for a good, solid defense.
P R E V E N T I N G T H E M I N I N G O F G O L D It is ordinarily very difficult to preventthe enemy from harvesting food and wood early in the game, especially if you con-centrate on upgrading quickly rather than on building a formidable military. It maynot be necessary to focus on slowing down your opponent’s food production earlyon, if you can prevent your opponent from mining any gold.
Send out Scouts early in the game to the gold mines nearest the enemy’s base.When you see the enemy build a Storage Pit near the gold mine, allow them to finishbuilding it. Then, bring a small army and a Villager close to the mine, but not closeenough that they can be seen. Use your Villager build a Tower near the Storage Pit. As
If you build Towers near all the gold and stonemines, it is a great way to prevent your opponentfrom mining them.
csoon as opposing Villagers come to mine gold, wipe them out. Keep your Scouts nearseveral of the gold mines around the enemy’s area and repeat this process.
If you can keep this up, while building Hoplites and Cavalries, your opponent willbe limited to building Scouts and Axemen. Send in your Hoplites and Cavalries to com-pletely wipe out their entire base, because they will have no significant defense. If youfail to wipe them out, you have still managed to slow their gold production to a crawl.It will take quite some time for your opponent to catch up. By the time your opponentcan build ordinary Bronze Age units, you will have upgraded to the Iron Age and willhave a military with twice the strength of theirs.
P R E V E N T I N G T H E M I N I N G O F S T O N E You use stone for only three things inthe game: building Towers, building Walls, and building Wonders of the World.However, two of the three structures are essential parts of a solid defense. A defenseconsisting of just Walls and Towers can withstand an attack from an entire military.When the game starts, there is only enough stone for one Tower. If you can preventyour opponent from mining stone early in the game, you won’t have to worry aboutdealing with Towers in their base. Knowing that, it will make it safe to send a militaryby their front line, straight to their Villagers. You know there won’t be a line of Towersdefending their base, so you can walk freely around their base without being dam-aged. Use the same tactics you would use to prevent the enemy from mining gold.
Expanding Your TerritoryIt is extremely important that you don’t get too caught up in battling and forget aboutexpanding your territory. When two sides are fully entrenched in their bases withheavy defense, success comes down to which side can outlast the other side. Whileyou battle the enemy forcontrol of the invaluableresources, such as gold,remember to keep up theproduction of your moreplentiful resources. Remem-ber that Farms run out, socheck back often to makesure they are still cultivable. Continually rebuild your Farms so that you never havea shortage of food. Make sure that the rest of your Villagers continue to do worthwhile
cthings. If you cannot find something worthwhile for them to do, delete them to makeroom for a bigger military.
Gaining a Better Fighting PositionWhen you set up a base or defensive position, build on high ground. If you fight at ahigher elevation than that of the enemy, it gives you a 25-percent chance of causingtriple damage. If you set up your base on a plateau, wall off the base, and place Towersbehind the Walls, it willmake the base extremelyhard to invade. Additionally,when you know that theenemy is about to attack,move your units onto a hillor plateau and make theenemy come to you. Whenthey attack, your militarywill have a huge advantage,because every unit in yourmilitary has a 25-percent chance of inflicting triple damage.
Use long-range units to counter the altitude advantage. Do not advance your close-range units until it’s safe to move on.
Invading the Enemy’s BaseLate in the game, the player who is losing will often fully entrench themselves in theirbase, putting them in an extremely good defensive position. If you simply attack theopponent’s base with a frontal assault, it will cause an extreme amount of losses foryou. There are several ways to handle this situation.
B E S I E G I N G T H E E N E M Y ’ S B A S E If you besiege their base, it cuts off all of theirresource production outside of the base. Move some of your military to the outskirtsof their base to prevent any units from coming out, while a smaller division of yourmilitary scours the map looking for their units. When you’ve made sure the map isclear of enemy units other than those inside their base, it’s safe for you to attack. Byinvading this way, you fully control the production of all the resources; thus, you can
If you know you are outmatched in a battle, flee to the highlands and wait for the enemy to come to you.
cafford the repeated attackson the enemy base, becauseyou’ll regain the resourcesas you lose them. However,the enemy will become aprisoner behind its ownwalls, with absolutely noway to add to their resourcestores. Build some militarybuildings right outside theirbase, so that your units are only a few steps away from battle as soon as they’re cre-ated. Eventually, after many attacks, your opponent will no longer have the resourcesto sustain a military and will be forced to surrender.
G O I N G T H R O U G H T H E E N E M Y ’ S D E F E N S E S The most effective way ofgoing through a base that isheavily defended is to uselong-range bombardmentto knock down Walls,destroy Towers, and thenweaken the enemy’s frontline. Catapults and shipshave extremely long-rangeattack capabilities. By usingthem to destroy yourenemy’s fortified defenses,you don’t have to chargeyour close-range combatunits past the Walls. Afteryou break down the Walls,use long-range attacks to draw out the enemy’s military units. When they come out,launch an all-out assault and rush into their base.
G O I N G A R O U N D T H E E N E M Y ’ S D E F E N S E S Sometimes, a full-on confronta-tion with the enemy’s front line is not the best idea. A head-on clash may even thebattlefield for your opponent, who is encamped at a higher elevation. Instead of tak-ing the enemy head on, go around the bulk of their defenses. Have a Scout walk
Use Priests to convert enemy Towers. It is a goodway to turn the enemy’s beefed-up defenses intoyour offense.
If you bring Priests along, you can use your regularunits to attack the Walls and Towers. When your unitshave sustained about half of the damage they canwithstand, pull them back and put in a new set ofunits. Use Priests to heal the damaged units. Dothis several times, until the Walls are broken andyou’re ready to take on the entrenched military.
caround the natural boundaries that your opponent uses as defense. It is possible thatyour opponent’s Villagers unintentionally chopped through the natural forest with-out knowing it. If this is the case, you can send your military into the enemy’s basethrough the hole the Villagers created. Using a similar idea, build a Storage Pit on theother side of the thinnest area of the opponent’s surrounding forest. You must do thisstealthily, because if your opponent finds out, they will just build Towers on the otherside. However, if you manage to pull it off, you can make your Villagers cut throughthe enemy’s trees secretly, creating a hole through which to send your military.
Another way you can get into the enemy’s base is by sea. An opponent doesn’toften protect their base on all sides. It takes a lot of resources and time to do that.Typically, people build the bulk of their defensive structures at the front line, facinginland. Using Transport ships, you can sneak in through the back and catch the enemyoff guard. The best way to do this is to send a tiny attack force against the enemy’sfront line, and then send in the Transports while the enemy’s attention is focused onyour military’s attacks. Take out the enemy’s Houses, so that they cannot instantlyrebuild their military. Then, attack from the rear, where the enemy is weak.
C O N T R O L L I N G T H E S E A S The importance of controlling the seas varies widely,depending on the map type on which you’re playing. However, if you have control ofany portion of the map, you definitely have an advantage. If you have sea control, itallows you to do many things that directly affect your land battles. First, ships haveextremely long-range attacks. If you bombard the enemy’s base from the sea, it canbe very disruptive. While your opponent’s attention is focused on the sea troubles,attack the opponent on land. At the same time, bring in Transports from the sea andland them on the enemy’scoast. It is nearly impossi-ble for the enemy to defendtheir base on two frontswhile trying to avoid bom-bardment from the sea.
Ships are also a greatsource of defense. If youplace your ships on thecoasts of narrow passage-ways, you should be able to fire at enemy units that have to walk across the passage-ways. This will give you a huge advantage when you meet on the battlefield.
Keep your ships moving at all times, even in battle.You can dodge Catapult and enemy ship fire if youconstantly move.
cIf you have control of the seas, you also have control of fishing. Fishing is a great
source of food. You don’t have to rely solely on Farms for food if you have control ofthe seas.
This chapter enlightened you on the skills, tricks, and techniques you’ll need tocrush your opponents in a friendly game of Age of Empires. The most important thingto remember is that the game is played for fun. Chat with your opponents before andafter the match. Playing games is as social as it is entertaining. Winning and losingare part of the game. Now, let’s go conquer the world! See you online!
