Age of Empires/Holy Man

This campaign covers over 1,000 years of the history of Babylon, sometimes ascendant, sometimes in decline. The first two scenarios, at about 1,750 BC, are from the time period of Hammurabi, who founded the first Babylonian empire. The third scenario, at about 1,600 BC, is from the time of a war with the Hittites. The next three scenarios, at about 1,100 BC, are from the time of Nebuchadnezzar I. Scenario 7, at about 650 BC, is from the time of a (losing) struggle with Assyria. Scenario 8, from 612 BC, simulates the destruction of the Assyrian empire. Nebuchadnezzar II assumed the throne of Babylon a few years later, and the period of the last Babylonian Empire began.

Rating: Easy

You start in a resource-rich area. (You will find an awful lot of resources in this scenario.) Head east, according to the scenario instructions. Shortly after you cross the river, you will encounter the first Akkadian villager. Convert him.

You will have seen a large berry patch near the right side of the map by now. Build your Town Centre there. Keep converting the Akkadian villagers. If you do this as rapidly as possible, you should be able to get about 10, and then Akkad will be dead. If you take the blood more slowly, you will leave the host alive longer, and then it will produce more blood, but it is hard to judge this properly.

Collect only food and wood with your villagers. Reserve most of the food for military production. You will need about 6 Clubmen ASAP. You could calculate your food availability carefully, but producing either more or less is probably dangerous. You will need about 15 villagers. Again, you probably can't afford to have more or less at this time. You will need 5 Houses and a Barracks ASAP. After that, build both a Granary and a Storage Pit, and a dock when you have some excess wood.

Don't harvest the trees to the left of your Town Centre. Build your large buildings in the open areas on the outskirts of your camp to provide warning of Elamite attacks. You can also build the Houses there, but then you might lose some. Distribute your troops on the fringes of your camp, because you want to see the attack come in before you start losing villagers. Position your priest well away from the fringes of your territory.

Elam attacks you with groups of about 3 Axemen and one archer. The first attack and maybe the second are the only threats that you will face in this scenario. Six Clubmen plus one Axeman vs. two Axemen plus one archer is pretty scary, but 8 Axemen vs. two Axemen plus one archer is an easy win, and after that, you will have archers.

The first attack will probably arrive before you reach the Tool Age. Run all your threatened villagers away. Group all of your troops. Attack the first enemy unit with your priest, but be prepared to switch to the second one, depending on how the battle plays out. You really do need one conversion, but don't lose your priest! Your best tactic is probably to attack each enemy unit with your entire ground force as long as you retain tactical control. Even though your troops have difficulty getting into attack position, they will get in the way of the enemy troops as they do so, which is also a good thing. Try to save your wounded troops.

Enter the Tool Age ASAP. After that, your first expenditure must be the Axe upgrade. You will likely be fending off the first Elamite attack as this happens. If you are too slow, you might be in trouble. Start pumping out warships, and produce a couple of archers and Towers. Once you have a small fleet, interdict the river ford. After that, all enemy attacks will be easily stopped at the ford.

Once your camp is secure, ramp up your economy, explore the map, and crush Elam. There are no further surprises or threats.