Age of Empires II: The Conquerors/Civilizations

A lot has changed with the introduction of The Conquerors expansion pack. Not only have new civilizations, units, and technologies been added into the mix, there are now a host of new maps, new terrain types, and even new victory conditions to experience.

This guide for Age of Empires II: The Conquerors provides everything you'll need to know about all of the features of this new expansion pack for Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, including:


 * Summaries and strategies of all the new civilizations, their strengths and weaknesses, and changes made to the previous civilizations


 * Surveys for unique units and technologies, like Parthian tactics, hussars, war wagons, and mamelukes, to name a few


 * Scenario objectives and strategies for each of the eight new historical battles


 * Detailed scenario-by-scenario strategies and objectives for the three single-player campaigns: Attila the Hun, El Cid, and Montezuma

Novices and experts alike will find this guide for The Conquerors the resource needed to effectively conquer this new challenging new expansion, utilizing all new technologies, advances, units, and tactics.

Chapter One: Civilization Summaries
Age of Kings: The Conquerors adds five new civilizations to an already crowded field of contenders. Unlike many real-time strategy games, however, the differences between civilizations in this game are not merely cosmetic; they run deeper than mere color changes to the uniforms. Because of this, this chapter takes an in-depth look at each civilization in The Conquerors and details its individual strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully, this analysis will aid you in formulating a battle strategy the next time you are called upon to play an unfamiliar civilization. In addition to the new civilizations, this chapter also covers some old ground. For play-balance purposes, The Conquerors slightly alters some of the original 13 Age of Kings civilizations. These changes are noted here as well.

Aztecs
According to Aztec tradition, the founders of its great empire, after years of wandering, settled in south-central Mexico around the year 1168. Thus began a reign of blood and terror the likes of which had never before been visited upon this peaceful land. In 1325, the Aztec capital city of Tenochitlan, meaning "Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus" arose from the swamps of Lake Texcoco. Priding themselves on their martial skill, the Aztecs believed their strength was derived from the ritual feeding of their god Huitzilopochtli, god of not only the sun but of war and warriors as well. The Aztecs raised human sacrifice to a high art, but their fascination with death produced a grim society convinced of its eventual and inescapable doom. When the Spanish appeared in the 1500s, many took their arrival as a sign that the day of judgment was at hand. Although its warriors were fierce and nearly unstoppable in combat, because of its fatalistic outlook, Aztec society resigned itself to the notion that the Spaniards were destined to deliver it to its fate - and they did. Within a few short years, the Aztec empire lay in ruins.

Unique Features
Start with eagle warrior instead of scout cavalry unit. Villagers carry +5 additional resource points. Military units are created 15 percent faster. Monks receive +5 hit points for each monastery technology researched.

Unique Technology
Garland wars: Adds +4 to infantry attack strength.

Unique Units
Jaguar warrior (elite jaguar warrior)

Team Bonus
Relics generate 33 percent more gold.

Strengths
Unlike most civilizations, the Aztecs (and Mayans) begin each game with an eagle warrior instead of a scout cavalry unit. Eagle warriors are comparable to militia units in attack strength (4) but possess more hit points (50), a greater LOS radius, and a slightly better pierce armor modifier. The main benefit of eagle warriors, besides their increased resistance to conversion, is their speed. Eagle warriors are fast - very fast. Use them as you would scout cavalry. They are invaluable for revealing terrain features early in the game. Later on, use them to scout ahead of, and to the side of, your main army, especially when moving through unfamiliar terrain.

Aztec villagers have the ability to carry five additional resource points. This may not seem like a big deal, considering that they harvest resources at the same rate as everyone else, but in fact, carrying extra resources gives the Aztecs a tremendous advantage. It lets villagers spend less time in transit per resource point, thus getting more resource points into stockpile sooner. Faster accumulation of resources lets the Aztecs advance to the dark and feudal ages sooner than their opponents and opens a wide range of other strategic possibilities.

At first glance, the fact that Aztec military units are produced 15 percent faster than other civilizations seems to be a significant advantage. It's not. When you look closely at the way real people actually play the game, you discover that the rate at which units are produced is not as important as the actual number that are produced. Essentially, every unit you build requires three things: a place of production, a certain number of resources, and a certain amount of time spent in production. Decreasing the amount of time a unit spends in the oven (so to speak) is meaningless without a corresponding increase in the resources set aside for production.

In other words, having a production rate that's 15 percent faster than everyone else just means that the Aztecs can burn through their resources more quickly. It doesn't guarantee that the resources will be there in the first place. All things being equal, the effect of this advantage is offset by the fact that most civilizations can research conscription, a technology that leads to a 33 percent increase in the rate of unit production. One final thought: Is it better to have one barracks producing units 15 percent faster or two barracks each producing at the standard rate?

Potentially the biggest innate advantage the Aztecs possess is the five additional hit points their monks receive for every monastery technology they research. Initially, Aztec monks start with a modest 30 hit points. By the time all castle and imperial age monastery research is conducted, however, these same monks possess a whopping 95 hit points. (By comparison, champion swordsman units only have a base of 70 hit points.) Sustaining this kind of damage means that monks will survive longer on the front lines and in turn convert more enemy units.

Weaknesses
As strong as the Aztecs are, they possess some very serious weaknesses - weaknesses that if properly exploited can spell early defeat. The most glaring deficiency is the lack of mounted units. Because the Aztecs are prevented from building stables, they have no way of producing cavalry or cavalry archer units. The best you can hope for when playing the Aztecs is that your monks can convert enemy cavalry units. Fortunately, having eagle warriors mitigates the lack of cavalry, but only to a certain extent. The first time you play the Aztecs and get hit with an attack from Mongolian mounted archers, you'll understand what a liability the lack of cavalry is.

Besides cavalry, the Aztecs lack the ability to field an effective navy. War galleys and fast fire ships are the most powerful naval vessels they have available, which is to say, the Aztecs should concentrate on keeping their feet dry. War galleys, especially late in the game, will be hard-pressed to protect your fishing fleets much less dominate the oceans. For this reason, you are wise to avoid a naval campaign altogether. Creating a navy will only cause you to waste a lot of wood. In most cases, the payoff will not be worth the price.

Lack of key technologies does more than just limit the Aztec naval game. The inability to upgrade guard towers or build bombard towers has a significant impact on the late stages of the game. Guard towers, with their base range of eight tiles, are no match for trebuchets with a base range of 16 tiles. Generally, the Aztecs find themselves in the position of making frequent forays with their jaguar warriors to knock out enemy trebuchets that are battering down their walls. Once again, the lack of cavalry and gunpowder, especially in these instances, is a glaring deficiency.

Making matters worse, coupled with this lack of a practical response to enemy trebuchets is the inability to research masonry and architecture. In real terms, Aztec structures are extremely vulnerable to exactly the type of attack that the Aztecs can least prevent and the enemy is most likely to make, particularly as the game reaches its final stages.

General Dark Age Strategies
The Aztecs are at their strongest, vis a vis the other civilizations, during the Dark Age. The additional resources their villagers can carry help speed them through the early stages of the game. Build a workforce of about 10 to 15 villagers and have them concentrate on gathering food (in the form of deer, turkeys, sheep, and fish) and wood. Spend 50 gold researching the loom, then hunt any boar you find as well. Use your eagle warrior to scout out the surrounding countryside. You'll want to have an accurate picture of the enemy situation with an eye toward going on the attack as soon as possible.

General Feudal Age Strategies
Upon moving into the feudal age, begin to shift the focus of your resource gathering to wood and gold. Stone only becomes important if you locate an enemy village and see an opportunity to build a few towers in its midst. Since it's likely you'll be driven away from large bodies of water later on, build a dock now and harvest fish while you still can. Like all feudal age armies, your principle unit will be the man-at-arms backed up by either skirmishers or archers depending on what you have more of, wood or gold.

General Castle Age Strategies
With the dawning of the Castle Age, you gain the ability to produce jaguar warriors and monks. For the Aztecs, these units represent the meat of their offensive strike force. Unfortunately, the longer the game progresses, the less likely the Aztecs are to come out on top. The optimum time to hit the enemy may already have passed by the time you reach the castle age. Nonetheless, a combined-arms force made up of jaguars and monks has the potential of stealing the initiative away from unprepared opponents. It's critical, however, that you arm your monks with all the castle age technologies - particularly redemption.

General Imperial Age Strategies
Count yourself lucky if you've reached the imperial age and still have a shot at winning the game. Researching garland wars should be first on your list on things to do. By this time, your army should comprise primarily monks and elite jaguar warriors, but you should also build elite eagle warriors as a means of countering enemy siege equipment and archers. Monks form the cornerstone of your offense, so build as many as your gold resources permit. Don't think you can win the game simply by building a wonder and assume some bunker-like defense. As the Aztecs, you must be aggressive early on and remain so throughout the whole game.

Huns
The Huns are a nomadic people, born and bred to spend their lives on horseback. Their society centered around common ownership of cattle and other domesticated animals. Because theirs was a culture on the move, the Huns had the opportunity to come in contact with many different peoples - and since they were always in need of new grazing land, this contact often led to conflict. Forced out of their original lands by the Chinese, the Huns began a westward migration that continued for several centuries. It set in motion a chain reaction of "barbarian" migrations, known as the Migration Period, as one displaced people moved west only to displace another. It was the Huns who forced the Ostrogoths from their homes on the Ukrainian steppe in 375 CE before finally coming to rest on the Hungarian plains. By the middle of the fifth century, one powerful figure emerged from the political chaos normally associated with nomadic peoples. His name? Attila, which is today nearly synonymous with Hun society. It wasn't long before the Huns began to clash with the remnants of the western Roman empire. When Attila attacked the city of Chalon in northern France in 451 CE, the fate of all Europe hung in balance. Routed at the battle, Attila and his army withdrew. Upon his death two years later, the society he had held together in life quickly disintegrated.

Unique Features

 * Start games with - 100 wood resources (100).
 * Houses are not required to support population.
 * Cavalry archers cost 25 percent less in the castle age, 30 percent less in the imperial age.
 * Trebuchets fire with 30 percent greater accuracy.

Unique Technology
Atheism: +100 years to relic and wonder victory requirement, cost of spies/treason halved

Unique Units
Tarkan (elite tarkan)

Team Bonus
Stable creates units 20 percent faster.

Strengths
Because historically the Huns were a nomadic people, the designers have seen fit to forego the normal use of housing to enforce population limits. This is the one great advantage to playing the Huns. No longer are you required to build houses just to increase the number of units you can have running around the map. Indeed, house icons no longer show up on your villager's build interface. You can't build a house now even if you wanted to - but why would you want to? Not having to build houses means a couple things. First, you begin each game with your population limit already maxed out, and second, the amount of wood (and labor) you save is enormous.

Building houses might not seem like a big deal; after all, they only cost around 50 wood. But if you add up the cost of building 20 or more houses, even when the cost is spread out over the course of a game, the expense is significant. But aside from the mere cost of building houses, consider the labor involved. I think most players would rather have their villagers mining gold or picking berries instead of chopping wood and constructing houses. The net effect of all this is to let the Huns rocket into the castle age - hopefully ahead of everyone else.

Once the Huns reach the castle age, they gain access to some really powerful units. In addition to the tarkan, their unique mounted unit, the Huns can begin producing knights and cavalry archers. On close inspection, the choice of pursuing a tarkan/cavalry archer-based offensive or a knight/cavalry archer-based offensive is an important one, and one that has far-reaching consequences. Details on the tarkan unit appear in Chapter Two, so for the time being, suffice it to say that you'll want to produce tarkan units when the majority of your opponent's strength is structural. When the majority of your opponent's strength is derived from actual military units, you'll want to go the knight/cavalier/paladin route.

Regardless of which type of army you decide to build, your ranged support component will almost certainly be made up of cavalry archers, especially considering their reduced cost. Both cavalry archers and elite cavalry archers cost a mere 30 wood and 53 gold. Admittedly, even at this reduced cost, building a force of cavalry archers is still pricey. But when you compare this to what other civilizations must pay for these units, you begin to see how much of a bargain this really is. For example, the Huns can build a force of ten elite cavalry archers for less than it costs other civilizations to build two bombard cannons.

It may seem a bit odd, considering the nomadic nature of the Hun civilization, that one of its advantages has to do with siege warfare, typically a more static type of fighting. Hun trebuchets are 30 percent more accurate than those belonging to their opponents. Overall, the Huns are not properly equipped to conduct assaults on fortified positions, but this is one instance where the Huns really shine. Their trebuchets couple the advantage of long range with enhanced accuracy.

Weaknesses
Being a nomadic civilization, the Huns did not spend a lot of time building fortifications or contemplating how to attack them. As a result, one of the major weaknesses of this civilization is its lack of adequate siege equipment and its inability to upgrade its wall sections and towers. When you reach the feudal age, what you get in this regard is what you get.

Naturally, the Huns are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to defending their population centers. In certain circumstances, the Huns would do well not to even try. Aside from building wooden palisades, it's hardly worth the stone (and labor) to construct elaborate fortifications. Hun walls melt very quickly when exposed to enemy fire, especially fire coming from imperial age units. Stay loose. Stay mobile.

The Huns can research most monastery technologies, and thus, on paper at least, it appears that they can field a relatively powerful force of monks. Two things prevent them from using monks effectively, however. First, since the strength of the Hun attack is based almost exclusively on mounted units, Hun players have a hard time incorporating the slower-moving monks (even with fervor). As a practical matter, mounted units wind up leaving the monks behind, usually to fend for themselves. Other liabilities with respect to Hun monks are their limited range and inability to convert enemy buildings. The Huns are precluded from researching block printing and redemption.

Overall, the Huns can be a fun civilization to play, but it takes a certain mindset to play them well. They are a mobile society, nomadic and migratory. Any attempt to play them differently courts inevitable defeat. In game terms, once you concentrate and affix your infrastructure to a single location, you make it easier for your opponent to destroy you.

General Dark Age Strategies
The Hun civilization has the potential to expand incredibly quickly if managed correctly. While others are busy chopping wood and building houses, you can concentrate on harvesting food and producing villagers. Use your light cavalry to scout out the surrounding countryside. You are primarily looking for sources of food that can be stockpiled quickly (that is, wild game and sheep). Just because you don't need to build houses doesn't mean you can neglect gathering wood altogether. You should put at least three villagers on woodcutting detail. You won't need the wood just yet, but the demand increases dramatically once you reach the feudal age.

General Feudal Age Strategies
Chances are you'll be surprised by how quickly you've reached the feudal age. To maintain this momentum, you must keep expanding your workforce. But in addition, you must start producing military units as well. This will require food - and lots of it. Use the wood you've previously stockpiled to build a dock and a modest fleet of fishing vessels. Research the heavy plow, then gradually move your villagers from hunting to farming. In general, you should avoid building too many foot soldiers. (Archers are the one exception to this rule.) Instead, spend the resources to research bloodlines and get through the feudal age as quickly as you can.

General Castle Age Strategies
Although the Huns can rapidly produce a strong civilian workforce, militarily they don't start coming into their own until they've reached the castle age. Now that you finally have access to decent mounted units such as the tarkan and cavalry archer, you should begin a prodigious cavalry-building program. Remember, you are the Huns, and as the Huns, you're expected to have hordes of cavalry. Concentrate your research efforts on those technologies that upgrade and enhance the combat power of your mounted units. While it's likely that you won't win the game in the castle age, use this time to lay the groundwork for a win in the imperial age.

General Imperial Age Strategies
By the time you reach the imperial age, you're going to need two things: a large stockpile of food and a large stockpile of gold. Naturally, this same statement can be made of nearly all civilizations, but it is particularly true when it comes to the Huns. As soon as you reach the imperial age, you're going to want to upgrade your tarkan and cavalry archers to elite status. Taken together, these two upgrades cost 1,900 food and 1,000 gold. Add in another 300 food and 300 gold to upgrade your knight units plus the cost of researching parthian tactics, bracers, and blast furnace, and you're looking at spending nearly 3,000 food and 2,000 gold all within a very short time. Also consider buying spies as it's only half the price compared to other civilizations. Being able to see what your opponents are building is a huge advantage.

Koreans
Known as the "Land of the Morning Calm," the Korean peninsula has, for most of its history, been anything but calm. Cursed by geography, Koreans have been forced to maintain their unique cultural identity surrounded by larger, stronger, and more aggressive civilizations, namely the Mongols, Chinese, and Japanese. From its earliest beginnings, Korea has been the scene of intense dynastic struggles. Though unified in the late seventh century, it was the Koryo who would rule Korea as a distinct nation-state beginning in the tenth century. But Koryo rule was itself only a transitional period. Three centuries later, a Mongol invasion conquered the Koryo, leaving Korea a dependent state for almost 100 years. In 1392, King Taejo founded the Chosun dynasty (the peoples portrayed in Age of Empires) and began a reign that is often referred to as Korea's golden age. Politically, the Chosun grew close to the Ming rulers of China, so when the Japanese landed in Korea during the late 1500s, the Chinese came to its aid. The Chosun armies forced the Japanese to withdraw after a protracted conflict lasting seven years, proving themselves to be fierce warriors on land and innovative tacticians at sea. Although the peninsula would remain a place where foreign ideologies could meet and do combat, the Chosun maintained its rule until the 20th century.

Unique Features

 * Villagers have a +2 LOS (line of sight radius).
 * Stone miners work 20 percent faster.
 * Tower upgrades are free (bombard tower requires chemistry).
 * Tower range increased by +1 in the castle age, +2 in the imperial age (for a cumulative total of +2).

Unique Technology
Shinikichon: +2 increase to the range of mangonels and onagers.

Unique Units

 * War wagon (elite war wagon)
 * Turtle ship (elite turtle ship)

Team Bonus
Mangonels and onagers have a +1 range.

Strengths
Koreans are often called the "Byzantines of the Far East" because of the impressive and tremendously strong fortifications they can build. Their civilization is blessed with several unique advantages that aid them in constructing elaborate protective barriers and backing them with lavish numbers of deadly towers. First and foremost is the increased speed (20 percent faster) at which Korean villagers mine stone. Forget the percentage for a moment and think of this in terms of getting an extra miner for every five villagers you put to work mining stone.

Since stone is the primary ingredient for building walls, towers, and castles, mining stone 20 percent faster means that, on average, Koreans are usually among the first civilizations that can wall in their villages - and protect them adequately with watch towers. Once the Koreans reach the castle age, their watch towers are automatically upgraded at no cost to guard towers. In addition to this free upgrade, castle age towers have their range increased by +1. (In the imperial age, these towers are upgraded to keeps and have their normal range increased by +1 again for a cumulative total of +2.) The upshot of these range increases is that Korean towers can fire farther than all but a select few opposing units.

Korean melee units, both foot and mounted, are neither fish nor fowl, as the saying goes. They're neither good nor bad, they're simply functional. The true strength of the Korean military is based upon its ranged support units (that is, units that hurl stones, spears, arrows, and so on). The tech tree makes a variety of these units available in the castle age, including hand cannoneers, once chemistry is researched. Among the best of these ranged units is the unique Korean war wagon. The unique technology shinikichon further strengthens your ranged support capability by increasing the range of your mangonels and onagers by +2.

The Korean navy can often play a decisive role in any game involving a map that features large bodies of water. With the exception of the demolition ships and elite cannon galleon, all manner of naval shipping is available, including a unique Korean unit known as a turtle ship. The turtle ship is an armored warship with a powerful, albeit short-rang, cannon. Though it is expensive, the turtle ship has a tremendous capacity to absorb damage. As long as you have villagers nearby to keep them well maintained, these vessels will be unbeatable.

Weaknesses
Of all the Asiatic civilizations represented in the game, Koreans are the least equipped to advance into the feudal age. They start out slow, gain momentum gradually, and never really peak until the imperial age - if they last that long! The Koreans suffer from what can rightly be termed "an embarrassment of riches." Their army contains a wealth of ranged support units, and while it might seem strange to think of this as a weakness, having too much of a good thing in this case is likely to lead to confusion and decision. Players wind up asking themselves the question: What type of army am I trying to create? More importantly, they ask: What are the units I must produce to best support this army I'm building? The answers aren't as obvious when playing the Koreans. Many times, the Korean army will simply end up being a mish-mash of unit types with no real tactical purpose or effort at coordination.

If the Koreans are going to lose the game, they will lose it early on. There are a couple ways this can happen. First, all the stone mining advantages in the world won't mean a thing if there's no stone to be had. Watch out for other civilizations attempting to keep you away from stone piles. Secondly, Koreans are vulnerable to feudal age cavalry rushes because of their lack of camel units and because it's likely that your miners will concentrating on mining stone rather than gold. Less gold means fewer cavalry units; leaving you with only footmen to oppose a mounted attack.

Although the Koreans have access to a wide range of technology, most of what they are prevented from researching happens to be concentrated in the monastery. The missing technologies include heresy, atonement, redemption, and illumination and represent 40 percent of the total number of monastery technologies. Of these, the lack of atonement and redemption is the most serious deficiency. It means Korean monks cannot convert enemy buildings or other monks.

Finally, the Korean navy is among the strongest in the game, especially when turtle ships are added to the mix. Because the cost of building these vessels (200 wood and 200 gold) is high by comparison, it's easy to go overboard (so to speak) when building them. A few of these vessels go a long way. So before you wind up with a massive fleet of turtle ships, consider that for the cost of building five turtle ships, you could produce dozens of champion swordsmen units.

General Dark Age Strategies
Unlike the other Asiatic civilizations, once you discount the +2 village LOS radius, the Koreans have nothing in the way of unique abilities that would aid them in the Dark Age. Feel free to conduct a standard opening. Put your three villagers to work acquiring food and wood, while your scout cavalry unit scours the countryside looking for resources and key terrain features. Since your objective is to get into the next age as quickly as possible, forego assembling a huge civilian workforce just yet. Chop enough wood to build one or two houses, then sink your food resources into advancing to the feudal age.

General Feudal Age Strategies
Now that you've made it to the feudal age, you can begin to erect wall sections made of stone instead of wood. You also can begin building watch towers, another important advantage. Look upon towers not only as a means of defending yourself, but also as a means of attacking your enemy. Towers are great area denial weapons. Find out where your opponent's villagers are working, then build a tower there. You may not kill many of them, but you'll certainly keep them from coming back. (This is especially true with regard to villagers tending farms.) Disrupting your opponents this way will have lasting - and crippling - effects.

General Castle Age Strategies
Korean players must be content to keep a low profile and hope that everyone else in the game forgets how powerful they suddenly become once they reach the castle age. But, now that you've made it to the castle age, you have the means to be a little more aggressive. As far as strategies are concerned, the Koreans have access to a wide range of units, technologies, and military options. As stated earlier, most problems will stem from indecisiveness over the type of army to build not from any lack of resources.

General Imperial Age Strategies
Having reached the imperial age, the Koreans are one of a few civilizations that can actually win the game consistently by remaining on the defensive. With their stone gathering bonus and ability to research chemistry, masonry, and architecture, Koreans can simply build a wonder, seal themselves behind their walls, and wait for the clock to run out. The free tower upgrade advantage ensures that every tower will be either a keep or a bombard tower. The enhanced range of these deadly towers is guaranteed to take a dreadful toll of any enemy force trying to bash its way in.

Mayans
As early as the second century BCE, a recognizable Mayan culture was flourishing in the Yucatan rain forest. Built on the foundations of the first great society to inhabit this region, the Olmecs, the Mayans quickly adopted social institutions that organized their world along the lines of classical Greek city-states. Individual kingdoms within the Mayan empire might rise and fall, but collectively, the Mayans prospered, their temples reaching up to the heavens from under a sea of green. At first, Mayan warfare consisted of ritualized combat, where the taking of captives, not the taking of lives, was the highest expression of martial prowess. Not until the fourth century CE, when Great Jaguar Paw defeated a neighboring kingdom, did the idea of killing one's enemies, like the hunting of wild game, revolutionize Mayan warfare. It would be left up to later Mayan warlords to perfect this new "blood" warfare, sanctifying their victories with human sacrifice. The empire reached the peak of its power in the tenth century, but from this point on, until the coming of the Spaniards, Mayan culture slowly declined. It did not end in some sudden cataclysm as is sometimes suggested, but rather, as a result of a weakened central authority and an apathetic populace. In time, the rain forest would reclaim the empire that had grown up within its midst.

Unique Features

 * Start with an eagle warrior instead of scout cavalry unit.
 * Start with one extra villager but -50 food (150).
 * Resources last 20 percent longer.
 * Archery range units cost 10 percent less in the feudal age, 20 percent less in the castle age, and 30 percent less in the imperial age.

Unique Technology
El Dorado: Eagle warriors possess 40 additional hit points

Unique Units
Plumed archer (elite plumed archer)

Team Bonus
Cost of wall and palisade sections is halved (3 stone/wall, 1 wood/palisade).

Strengths
As you might imagine, the two pre-Colombian civilizations in the game (Mayan and Aztec) are very similar in make-up, and yet there are some subtle differences that drastically change the way each civilization should be played. The Aztecs, with their unique jaguar warrior, favor a melee-intense ground game, while the Mayans are more inclined to use ranged weaponry in the form of their plumed archers.

The Mayans begin each game with an extra villager (four instead of three). However, because they also start with -50 less food, at first glance, you might conclude that the two even each other out. The fact is that most non-Mayan players begin the game by having one of their villagers chop wood, another build a house, and the third look for food. The Mayans, with the extra villager, can assign a second villager to start harvesting food right from the start. Within the first minute or two, the -50 deficit is more than made up by the second villager with no slow down in villager production due to lack of food.

Mayan civilizations have the potential to become economic powerhouses due to the 20 percent bonus increase in (in-ground) resources. What this means is that Mayan miners can extract 960 gold from a standard 800-resource tile of gold or 168 resources from a normal 140-resource sheep. Armed with this benefit, Mayans usually rocket through the first couple of ages. This also means that expansion and exploration become somewhat less important, since you can make your existing resources last longer.

The Mayans produce reduced-cost archery range units beginning in the feudal age. While the feudal age 10 percent reduction doesn't amount to a significant savings, by the time you reach the imperial age, the cost has been reduced by 30 percent. The dilemma you face is whether to build archery range units and take advantage of the savings and firepower or build plumed archers and take advantage of their speed and extra hit points. It's a tough call. The difference in cost only amounts to 14 wood. Both units cost equal amounts of gold (32).

Another important advantage lies in the fact that all the blacksmith technologies, except those dealing with cavalry, are open to you. This means you can enhance your combat unit's defensive strength to the maximum allowed in the game. Likewise, you have all ram and siege engine upgrades available except the siege onager. The effect of not having siege onagers is negligible - they won't be missed. Since speed is one of your greatest assets, both in the form of eagle warriors and plumed archers, you are better off relying on trebuchets.

Weaknesses
In the final analysis, the Mayans are very powerful. They have many advantages and very few negatives. Like the Aztecs, Mayans are prevented from building stables and, thus, cannot field cavalry units. (They can use converted cavalry units, however.) Mayan eagle warriors more than make up for the lack of cavalry. They are stronger (after researching El Dorado) than those produced by the Aztecs.

Although the Mayans can research chemistry, they cannot produce gunpowder units such as the hand cannoneer or bombard cannon. Other siege engines, like the onager and scorpion, can be used as substitutes, but they lack the same long range. Absence of gunpowder means your ranged support units will be closer to the fighting and suffer higher casualties as a result. But Eagle Warriors can remedy this, if used properly. Due to their speed to close the distance quickly and slight attack bonus against bombard cannons and other siege engines(refer to game manual), Eagle Warriors can be formidable opponents for any siege weapons not backed up by other military units, except archers, because Eagle Warriors also have substantial pirce armor (and health with the El Dorado tech). For long-range duels, the Mayans are limited to using trebuchets.

The Mayan plumed archer is a fine unit, but it does have certain weaknesses that a crafty opponent can exploit. Although it can sustain a moderate amount of damage (50 hit points) and has a small inherent pierce armor modifier (+1), the plumed archer has a relatively weak attack strength and a very limited range. Even when upgraded to elite status, these units possess an attack strength of only five hit points and a range of only five tiles. By contrast, the Briton's imperial age elite longbowman has an attack strength of seven hit points and a range of six tiles.

Although this may appear to be a large obstacle, the Plumed Archer and Longbowman are more equal that one might think. Due to the thumb ring technology researched at the Archery Range, Plumed Archers fire faster and more accurately than the Britons since that research item is not available to them; the Plumed Archer also has more health to last as well as far greater speed. And, in a duel between a Plumed Archer and Longbowman, started at the Longbowman's greatest extent of his attacking range, the victory could go to either side because (all upgrades available to each civilization affecting the specified unique unit in play) the Plumed Archer could sustain 13 hits from the Longbowman while the latter could only sustain 10 hits from the former. This would then allow the Plumed Archer to take two hits while closing the distance between to get in attacking range. After all that it really would just depend on how accurate the shots will fire. Since the thumb ring tech is active for the Plumed Archer, it might be more likely that the Plumed Archer will be victorious.

Another problem associated with the lack of long-range support units is the high percentage of Mayan units that are lost due to religious conversion. Losing a unit to conversion is a double-whammy, not only do you lose the unit, but now it's working against you. Mayans, in particular, must be on guard against having too many of their units, especially their plumed archers and Eagle Warriors (don't let the "resistant to conversion" bonus lure you into a false sense of security!), fall prey to enemy monks. Though expensive, researching heresy is a must!

General Dark Age Strategies
The Mayans are one of only a couple civilizations that can open the game using non-standard moves. In their case, the extra villager gives them the option of assigning another villager to harvest food, chop wood, or simply double the workforce building their first house. Be particularly aware that since certain types of food take longer to stockpile than others, you want to concentrate on getting to the fast food sources (and we're not talking McDonald's here): turkeys, sheep, and boars. Use your eagle warrior just as you would a scout cavalry unit (that is, to scout out the local countryside looking for resources and key terrain features).

General Feudal Age Strategies
All things being equal, though they rarely are, the Mayans should be among the first civilizations to reach the feudal age. If you've used your eagle warrior properly, you should have an adequate picture of your surroundings. Now, you can better tailor your workforce. When playing as a member of a team, your reduced cost wall sections make it easier to cordon off resource deposits. Even if you aren't part of a team, get into the habit of walling off your resources during the feudal age. The Mayan resource bonus means your villagers will be remaining at a resource spot 20 percent longer. Build some towers and make 'em feel safe.

General Castle Age Strategies
By the time the Mayans reach the castle age, you should already have a solid economic infrastructure. Now, it's time to start using your economy to build a powerful military strike force. The Mayans are blessed with two key military units: the eagle warrior and the plumed archer. Produce both units in great numbers. Unless you are really short of resources, which you shouldn't be if you're playing the Mayans, produce plumed archers rather than crossbowmen or skirmishers. Even though the cost of archery range units is reduced by 20 percent in the castle age, the plumed archer is the better bargain in the long run. Finally, consider researching the thumb ring and El Dorado mandatory.

General Imperial Age Strategies
Having reached the imperial age, the Mayans should have both a powerful economy and a strong military. Because of the strength and range of your plumed archers, plus the fact that arbalest units cost 30 percent less than normal, the Mayans can be successful following a defensive strategy. However, the speed and strength of your El Dorado-enhanced eagle warriors makes a successful offensive strategy just as likely. Don't forget about your monks either. Although you are denied redemption and illumination, your monks will play an important role no matter which strategy you decide to employ.

Spanish
When you look up great imperialist empires in the dictionary, there should be a picture of 16th century Spain pasted there. Five hundred years previous to this, however, the territory of Spain itself was part of a larger Islamic world. Late in the 11th century, minor Christian states in the north of Spain began a campaign to retake the Iberian peninsula known as the Reconquista. Over the next several hundred years, Arabs were driven out. The last Islamic state, Granada, fell in 1492. Ironically, the year 1492 would figure prominently in the next great chapter in Spanish history, for it was in this year that Christopher Columbus made the first of several voyages of discovery to the new world. With their colonial aspirations in the known world held in check by England and France, Spanish nobles, known as conquistadors, were quick to carve out an empire in the Americas. Aided by advanced technology and the spreading of disease to local populations, the Spanish destroyed once great empires in a relatively short time using relatively small armies. Taking a cue from their experience fighting the Arabs centuries before, after conquering the territory, the Spanish sought to conquer the people as well by the aggressive introduction of Christianity.

Unique Features

 * Builders work 33 percent faster (except on wonders).
 * Blacksmith upgrades do not cost gold.
 * Cannon galleons benefit from ballistics technology.

Unique Technology
Supremacy: Villager combat skills are increased.

Unique Units

 * Conquistador (elite conquistador)
 * Missionary

Team Bonus
Trade cart and trade cog carry 33 percent more gold

Strengths
One of the biggest advantages the Spanish possess is that it can research every blacksmith technology in the game, and it can do this research without spending gold. If you add up the savings, it amounts to 1,695 in gold - a very significant sum. But aside from the obvious benefit of low-cost armor upgrades, what this advantage really does is let the Spanish player quickly fund research on monastery technologies; and of these two benefits, the latter is perhaps the more important one.

The Spanish conquerors are very strong when it comes to the power of their religion. Every monastery technology in the game is open to them. Because of this, your monks will be at least as strong and fast as everyone else's and have a conversion range that's at least as long. Since few other civilizations have access to all the technologies, you know right away that your monks are guaranteed to be better in some respect. The primary benefit of having strong monks is, of course, the ability to convert enemy buildings and other monks. Oh - and don't forget about your missionaries either. Except that they can't carry relics, these shorter-range monks are every bit as good, plus they can keep up with your conquistadors.

The Spanish feature a standard mix of infantry and cavalry. Most can be upgraded several times throughout the course of the game. For example, the lowly Spanish militia unit can be upgraded four times until it reaches champion status. Because infantry units are less expensive than mounted units (at least in terms of gold), it is easy to find yourself treating them as nothing more than cannon fodder. This is a mistake, and if you fall victim to this mentality, you should immediately stop what you're doing and concentrate on producing mounted units instead.

Besides, if you're looking for real cannon fodder, consider using villagers instead of infantry. Spanish villagers begin the game with 25 hit points, no armor, and an attack strength of 3. By the time you reach the imperial age, researching supremacy increases their hit points by +40, gives them modest armor bonuses (+2/+2), and increases their attack strength by 6! Considering the cost (400 food/250 gold), researching supremacy is a minor investment with a big payoff.

Given these stats, you're almost justified in creating villagers for the sole purpose of entering combat. Couple supremacy with sappers, and you wind up with villagers on steroids. Not only can they perform combat duties, they retain their ability to repair structures and siege equipment. It's like producing your own little contingent of combat engineers or seabees. Don't pass up the opportunity to employ villagers in these non-standard roles.

Mounted units, such as the heavy cavalry archer, paladin, hussar, and conquistador, are some of the strongest units in the Spanish inventory. Because they are expensive, you can never produce as many as you need. Still, cavalry units such as these should compose roughly 35 percent of your total military force. They represent the attack wing of your army and, without them, you concede the initiative to your neighbors.

Although the Spanish do not receive any bonuses when it comes to naval construction, they do have access to every naval technology and upgrade available in the game. By the time the Spanish reach the imperial age, their docks can produce fast fire ships, heavy demolition ships, and elite cannon galleons. (Spanish cannon galleons benefit from ballistics, remember.) No other navy can boast this kind of strength and versatility at sea. Of course, this is really only a benefit on maps containing open bodies of water. Nonetheless, the Spanish navy will rule the waves in most games.

Weaknesses
Considering how strong the Spanish ultimately become, they are surprisingly weak during the early stages of the game. As is the case with many civilizations, their only real chance at winning the game lies in getting to the castle age in a hurry, preferably with lots of resources already stockpiled. The trouble is, however, the Spanish are not particularly well equipped to gather resources. They possess no economic or resource-gathering bonuses unless you factor in the trade bonus they receive when playing as a member of a team.

Considering that the two things the Spanish need most, especially late in the game, are food and gold, it's a shame that they're preventing from researching gold shaft and crop rotation. In practical terms, what this means is that you'll be forced to maintain a large number of villagers mining gold and tending fields right until the end. This is particularly troublesome, since every villager behind the lines counts toward your maximum population limit and more importantly, is one villager fewer you can use as a combat unit after researching supremacy.

The Spanish are prevented from producing crossbowmen or arbalests but instead of considering this a weakness, think of it as a blessing in disguise. You're going to get much more mileage out of other types of ranged units. This just keeps you from wasting resources. You're also prevented from producing camel units. Again, you're response should be: So what! The main benefit of camel units is the bonus they receive when fighting cavalry. As the Spanish, you're really not in need of any anticavalry bonuses. After researching bloodlines and husbandry, your equestrians are among the finest in the game.

General Dark Age Strategies
Although the Spanish have a 33 percent increase in speed when it comes to constructing buildings, they have nothing in the way of resource-gathering bonuses. For this reason, the Spanish should stick to a standard opening. Have one of your three villagers look for food, have the second one start chopping wood, and the third build a house. Once the house is built, raising your population limit to ten, your town center can start cranking out additional villagers. Instead of racing to the feudal age like other civilizations, the Spanish must use their food points to raise villagers instead. The optimum size for a Dark Age workforce seems to be twelve. Don't worry about advancing to the next age until after you reach this number.

General Feudal Age Strategies
Since the majority of new construction occurs in the feudal age, the fact that your villagers work 33 percent faster works to offset the resource-gathering bonuses possessed by other civilizations. By itself, this benefit won't win the game for you, but it'll help in keeping others from getting too far ahead. The Spanish must assign the vast majority of their villagers to harvesting food. Obviously, fast food sources are preferred, but in the absence of wild game, build at least a half dozen farms near your town center. Second only to acquiring food is mining gold. Fortunately, your first real advantage comes once you build a market and begin trading with other players. Spanish trade bonuses produce a lot of extra gold - and you're going to need it. This makes pursuing trade alliances well worth the effort.

General Castle Age Strategies
Until now, the Spanish have been just hanging on, barely in the game, trying to stay out of everybody's way. All this changes with the coming of the castle age and the availability of chemistry. Gunpowder is the Spanish player's best weapon. Although your main attack effort will likely be based upon conquistadors later on, at this stage of the game, you should concentrate on infantry units. Why? Infantry units are less expensive and can be produced in greater numbers. More importantly, however, you should expect to have to defend against a castle age rush. For this, you're going to need units already in play, not sitting in some production pipeline.

General Imperial Age Strategies
Once you reach the imperial age, foot soldiers are going to take a back seat to conquistadors, paladins, and even cavalry archers. Continue taking advantage of inexpensive blacksmith upgrades, while spending gold to research monastery technologies. Concentrate on upgrading your mounted forces and siege weapons. There aren't too many civilizations that can stand up to a concerted imperial age attack from Spanish horsemen, especially when backed up by missionaries, hand cannoneers, and bombard cannons. It's a variation on the bumper sticker: "God, Guns, and Guts: Let's keep all three!" Surprisingly, your best imperial age foot soldier may be your villagers. Researching supremacy is not mandatory, but it's a low-cost way to add a little extra muscle to your army.

Changes to Pre-existing (AOK) Civilizations
In addition to receiving new technologies and units (as discussed in Chapter Two), several civilizations originally appearing in Age of Kings have had certain of their unique characteristics altered slightly in an effort to maintain play balance. These alterations are outlined here.

Briton

 * Town centers cost 50 percent less wood beginning in the castle age (changed from town centers costing 50 percent less wood beginning in the Dark Age).
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Byzantines
Team bonus: Byzantines are a defensive civilization.
 * Monks heal damaged units 50 percent faster than other monks (changed from 300 percent faster).
 * Can produce halberdier units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.
 * Combination of Bombard towers and walls is crucial.

Celts

 * Woad raiders are created faster and have a +1 pierce armor modifier (changed from no pierce armor modifier).
 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Chinese

 * Begin the game with -50 wood (change from no reduction in wood).
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Franks
Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Goths

 * Goth villagers can carry an additional 15 points of meat (change from no carry bonus).
 * Huskarl units have their pierce armor modifier increased by +2 (changed from original pierce armor modifier of +4).
 * Can produce halberdier units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Japanese

 * Samurai move faster and have an increased attack bonus versus unique units (change from original abilities).
 * Can produce halberdier units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Mongols

 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Persians

 * Can produce halberdier units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Saracens

 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Teutons

 * Town centers have a +5 LOS (line of sight radius) (changed from a +5 range).
 * Can produce halberdier units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Turks

 * Hussar upgrade free (Hussar unit did not exist in previous game).
 * Gunpowder units have 25 percent more hit points (changed from 50 percent more hit points).
 * Can produce hussar units beginning in the imperial age.
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.

Vikings

 * Cost of building docks reduced by 25 percent (change from dock cost reduction of 50 percent).
 * Berserk units have piercing armor modifier of +1 (change from no pierce armor modifier).
 * Can produce petard units beginning in the castle age.