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Commanding troops in the field is the heart and soul of Age of
Mythology. The best combat generals take the greatest satisfaction from the game.
To achieve greatness in command, you must master several steps on the journey; build
an effective economy, assemble a well-balanced and mighty battle array, and deploy
it wisely.
From the official strategy guide, published by
Sybex: "The beauty of Age of Mythology is that you can't just mass one unit
type and hope to succeed. Age of Mythology's counterbalancing military system demands
planning, strategy, and careful unit selection."
We've coalesced offensive and defensive tips
from the Sybex strategy guide for your perusal. You can read more about the guide on Sybex's official site, where the
book is also available for purchase.
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We can't emphasize it enough-scouting is extremely important in all phases
of the game. Here's another reason it pays off: relics! In each game, random relics
are scattered around the map. Once garrisoned in a Temple by a Hero, relics offer
unique benefits that can enhance economy, offense, or defense. |
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Offensive Tips
Shrewd unit selection, selective researching, and wise organization: These are the
extremely important concepts that establish a general on firm foundation early in
the game. Use the following offensive tips in combination with those techniques
to enhance battle success.
- Don't think "successful offense" requires you to knock out your opponent's military
units or town structures. An attack on villagers, especially in the early parts
of a game, can be very effective. Disrupting an enemy's economy often proves even
more valuable then knocking off a few military units. Forcing your opponent to reorganize,
or to make new villagers while your resource gatherers work steadily along, can
give you a devastating advantage. Just the distraction of having to react to your
early-game attack can force your opponent to get behind economically.
- Use your offense to serve expansion. Control valuable resource positions with your
military, and starve your enemy of gold or food. Control more settlements than your
enemy, which can enable you to increase your population cap to a level your enemy
can't attain.
- Disguise the might and nature of your offensive forces by keeping them away from
nosy enemy scouts. Keep your opponent guessing, which could force him or her to
spend resources on unnecessary improvements.
- Keep the fighting on your opponent's side of the map. Apply offensive pressure at
your opponent's resource camps. Constant harassment can really distract your opponent
from executing his strategy.
- If you're reinforcing your troops during the battle, set the gather points of your
military structures close to the front lines, so you don't train units that remain
in your base doing nothing. Even better, forward-build: Put up military structures
near your opponent's town so you can quickly reinforce your attackers.
- Retreat, instead of fighting a losing battle. If you can't win, don't lose all your
units in a landslide - and especially don't fight against counter units. Your Town
Center and Towers can attack; retreat to those structures and adjust your strategy
to meet the new demands.
- Try deception. For instance, attack early with cavalry. As your foe starts spending
resources on anti-cavalry units, switch your focus to an attack force of archers
and infantry.
- God powers can be used only once, so don't waste them! Don't invoke Dionysus' Bronze
as you approach the battle; wait until the battle already rages. If you show your
cards too soon, the enemy can simply retreat, and the god power will be wasted.
- Each culture offers a method of healing units. Follow a god path to Apollo, and
research Temple of Healing or worship Athena for her Restoration god power; the
Egyptians use the Pharaoh and Priests; and the Norse have Forseti's Healing Spring
god power and Freyja's Valkyrie mythological unit. Don't underestimate the power
of healing! Restoring a unit's hit points from one to full is like training a whole
new unit - yet you saved resources! Only Poseidon has no way to heal his units.
- Support your human units with mythological units. You have several strategic and
tactical options at your disposal. If your opponent trains primarily infantry, support
your military with mythological units that inflict pierce damage. If your opponent
trains primarily archers, support your military with mythological units that inflict
hack damage.
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Use unit combinations so that all of your unit types are protected from counters.
For example, guard Greek Hippikon with Hypaspists, which counter infantry (typical
cavalry counters). Protect Egyptian Catapults with Spearmen, which counter cavalry.
Don't forget about your mythological units' charged attacks. Nearly all mythological
units feature a special attack that slowly recharges after each use. These attacks
inflict more damage than standard attacks, or cause specific events, such as the
freezing of enemy units by Skadi's Frost Giant. Micromanage your mythological units
to maximize the potential of these charged attacks: Use them on the enemy's toughest
troops.
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Walling can be useful, even if there is still an opening for the enemy
to come through. Try walling off small choke points to force the enemy to come through
one spot on the map. People will tend to come through the easy open spot rather
then try and kill your wall elsewhere, so wait for the enemy there. -Matt "Maimin_matty"
Scadding |
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Defensive Tips
A sturdy defense provides more time to focus on the economy or plan assaults.
The less time you worry about an exposed resource camp, the more time you can devote
to creating an efficient economy or utilizing the offensive tips illustrated earlier.
Use the following tips to augment defense:
- Effective defense begins as soon as you build your first House. Survey the area
around your base and consider your placement of structures carefully. Use natural
boundaries, such as impassable rock or forests, as makeshift walls. Build Houses
or other structures adjacent to these boundaries, creating barriers and forcing
your enemy to enter your base in specific areas that you can protect with Towers
and other defenses.
- Protect resource camps with walls and Towers to make it difficult for your enemy
to disrupt your economy. As the enemy weaves through the Towers and walls, flank
the position with your military units.
- Assign a few cavalry units to their own group for base defense. That way you can
quickly recall these cavalry units to counter approaching siege weaponry, which
can quickly topple your structures.
- Build Towers and Heroic Age defensive structures (Fortress, Migdol Stronghold, Hill
Fort) near the enemy's base. Once your offense is counterattacked, retreat to these
defenses. Garrison units in the Towers and structures for added attack.
- Spread out Towers and walls to avoid losing your defenses in a single invocation
of a god power. Heimdall's Undermine and Artemis' Earthquake demolish Towers, walls,
and buildings. Protect yourself with careful defensive placement before paying the
price against these powers.
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Although you're clumping defenses (which is fine if your enemy doesn't have Undermine
or Earthquake), build a wall around a Tower to force the enemy to destroy the wall
to reach the Tower. You still must defend the defenses against siege weapons, however.
Research Burning Oil if enemy units attack your Towers at close range.
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Special thanks to Sybex Strategy Guides
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