Retro Game Walkthroughs For
"Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings"
(PC Games)

A full guide to the missions of Age of Empires II

Part One: An Unlikely Messiah
Joan Of Arc
The French Army were being trounced by the English and their
allies. Every battle has been lost, and thousands of young men
killed. Those who had survived were dispirited and demoralised,
and could not see any possible way the war could be won. Then a
young peasant girl was encountered by a group of French troops.
Her determination and courage marked her down as a clear leader
of men and as she spoke to the weary soldiers, their confidence
grew with every word. All that remained to be seen was whether
or not she could do the same for the nation as a whole...

The French Army is defeated until the words of a peasant girl
lift their spirits. Take her to Chinon, where Joan can speak her
words.

From the camp at the start, explore and you will recruit a few
more men as soon as they see Joan. Others in the camp are still
too cowardly, so you will soon be ready to leave. The scout will
warn you to go south. Follow his advice and after going through
some woods you will encounter a battle between English and
French. Stay back out of the way and pass through when it is
over. You will see a smashed bridge, and you should keep
following the dirt track. When it forks, follow it to the right.
Here a bunch of robbers take a liking to your clothes and
jewellery, so kill them quickly, keeping Joan safe. Follow the
path north and you will encounter some more. With these out of
the way you will reach a small settlement, where the foot
soldiers will pledge their allegiance to your cause. Head south
with them and attack the front gates of the Burgundian
stronghold. Once inside, kill any soldiers who attack and push
west until you can cross the river in the marshy section. Kill
the wolves in the wooded glade and as soon as you are spotted,
run to the boats and board them. Sail south down the river to
discover a small beach where you can disembark and walk through
the woods to the castle, safety, and the end of the level!

The Maid Of Orleans
Joan is given command of the Army of France. With her new armour
and horse, march with her and the banner of the Fleur-de-lis.

Fead to Blois and collect the knights and supplies there. From
here, head north-east and fight your way through the Burgundian
settlement and over the bridge to Orleans. As soon as you are
established in Orleans, get cracking. Locate the barracks and
begin training foot soldiers. Make sure that you assign a couple
of villagers to gather wood and instruct others to build and
tend farms until you have at least 6 in operation. You should be
careful about sending villagers outside of the castle walls to
gather wood, so make sure that they are being well protected by
guards if they ever leave the town. You will suffer from
annoying attacks at regular intervals on all sides, so it is a
good idea to station a few small garrisons outside the base in
the areas you are most often attacked. These men will get weak,
so allow them to return to the town centre to recover, whilst
replacing them with fresh legs at the same time.

When you have 50-55 troops, advance to the castle age and
upgrade your existing men. Build a siege factory and split your
remaining resources between the various siege weapons available
and more ground troops. If you find yourself running out of
materials, trade what you do have for whatever you need. If you
keep those farms going you will be able to finance the siege
weapons by selling food for gold and buying in wood if it
becomes too risky to chop trees down yourself.

When you are at full capacity (and you can kill off a couple of
villagers to make room for more soldiers if needed), head out of
the northernmost gate in Orleans. Head up to the north east
where you will find two gates leading to the British castles.
Take the left hand one. As soon as you are through, head
straight for the castle and attack it with everything you have
got. It is a good idea to keep Joan out of all the fighting, as
she isn't due for martyrdom just yet...

If you take a real kicking in attempting to take out this
castle, fall back to Orleans and begin again, but this takes
ages. Far better to make sure first time...

The Cleansing Of The Loire
While leaders squabble, Joan reassembles her army of misfits and
knaves. They are now an army ready to destroy the English.
This is a much tougher level in that you must destroy three
English castles. Ferry your men across the river and set up
camp. Build plenty of houses and erect a timber camp near the
trees to gather wood quickly. Send two villagers under military
escort to the east, where there is a gold mine. Whilst building
a watchtower just to the north of your settlement and getting
five or six farms going too. Make sure that you build a barracks
and upgrade to castle age as soon as you can. Next, build a
siege factory and produce five or six mangonels. Head north-east
from the castle when you reach your full compliment (but leave a
group including Joan behind to defend the town.) As you near the
central castle, use your mangonels to take out the watchtowers
and main gate from a distance. Then use the rest of your forces
to pile in and attack the castle, BUT DO NOT DESTROY IT!
Instead, pull back when it is on its last legs. Replenish your
forces, building a market to trade with others if you must. Head
east and repeat the process, retreating before the castle falls.
Return to your town and make sure that any units lost in the
previous battles are replaced. To the north west of the central
castle, you will find the third castle. As before, take out the
watch towers and main gate with mangonels, before allowing your
foot soldiers to finish the job. This time, allow the castle to
be destroyed then head to the central castle. Replenish your
forces and destroy this one before finally heading to the
eastern castle and destroying that too. Be warned that once the
first castle is destroyed, Fastolf will attack your town, so
keep Joan safe! Once the final castle has fallen, the level is
complete!

Village People
They may not carry big pointy spears or ride horses, but your
villagers are as important as anyone in your quest for glory.
Without them you cannot build or increase your stockpiles of
resources. For that reason, always make sure that your base is
defended by at least a few troops and that your town centre is
always in good shape (so you can at least make more villagers).


The Rising
Her army growing with new fighters for France, Joan must escort
the Dauphin to Rheims and three cities await liberation.
This is a very difficult level and one that may require two or
three attempts to complete, but there is light at the end of
your tunnel. From the off, head west and liberate the town. Get
building like mad! You will need the lot; a siege workshop,
barracks, archery range, plenty of farms, lumber camps, gold
mines, a monastary and a university. There is so much wood
around that you would be stupid not to use it to your advantage
by building some mangonels, upgrading all your weapons when you
have the cash. Battering rams are also to play a big part on
this level, so get 5-10 of these babies too. When you are ready,
head over the river and liberate the Chalons. As you attack the
town centre you will come under fire from knights to the east.
Kill them and destroy their stable before heading back and
recovering in town. When you have reached capacity, use monks to
try and convert enemy units who come near your village, heal
your men too. When you have plenty of battering rams and
mangonels, head east and cross the river. Liberate Troyes, where
you will take a severe beating. Once it is down, retreat and
recover. Build up another heavy force, but this time concentrate
mainly on archers and battering rams, with only a couple of
mangonels. Head north to Rheims, and use your mangonels to
destroy the EASTERN gate. Once it has fallen, the end is in
sight! Take all your men and get around the northern side of the
castle. Here, south of the cathedral you will see the town
centre. Hopefully, you will be able to get enough rams up to
knock it down before your forces are all wiped out. If you
don't, try again! There is no point in going for the watch
towers or castles in the town as they will just be instantly
rebuilt - only the town centre will do.

Oh My Guard
For goodness' sake keep the important members of your team safe.
Assign a number of troops to look after anyone who must survive
according to your mission statement (such as Joan of Arc, for
example.) It should also go without saying that only an idiot
would then send these key units into battle and risk everything.


The Seige Of Paris
The courtiers become jealous of Joan, and seek to destroy her.
She must hurry if she is to liberate Paris from the English
tyrants.

This level may look like an absolute bitch, but with your
trebuchets, it is actually very simple. Head to the far west of
the map and take out the small castle there with your
trebuchets. Then use them to punch a hole in the city wall near
to where the refugees are being held. Pour in with your ground
troops and kill the guards. From here, push to the centre of the
town where you will find a bridge. When the reinforcements have
arrived (both of them!) push through and liberate the next set
of militia. Then head to the eastern side of the town, where the
wall reaches the river. Destroy the last section of this wall to
progress. When you encounter the English roadblock, be quick to
take them out. >From here you can lure the Burgundy forces to
you by firing the trebuchet at them from the clearing in the
woods. When they come around to snoop, use your archers to pick
them off! Any men that do not follow around can easily be killed
with a massed charge of all your surviving troops. With them out
of the way, deliver the refugees to the square in Compiegne!

A Perfect Martyr
Joan is tried as a heretic. The English find her guilty and burn
her at the stake. Her death is the inspiration for a last French
push...

This is another almightily tough level that will probably take
you ages to complete - but that's why you bought the game isn't
it? From the off, meet up with the two groups of soldiers and
attack the Burgundy settlement. Take out the watch towers with
your trebuchets whilst keeping everyone else back and out of
danger. Make sure that any soldiers who try to stop your
trebuchets are killed before they cause any damage. Leave the
walls of the castle untouched, but take out the eastern gate to
allow access into the town.

Once you get close enough, take out the town centre to capture
the Burgundy stockpile. If you are feeling very brave (and very
foolhardy) you can have a go at heading straight for the English
castle. It is recommended that you do not do this unless you
really know your stuff, so instead you will probably want to set
up your base inside the existing walls. It is well worth
building walls around to the river to the south, to stop pesky
Burgundian villagers from sneaking round the back and erecting
barracks. You will also face regular attacks from Lord
Shrewsbury to the north, so quickly secure the area by taking
out all the watch towers, then build walls to secure your town.
Knock down the second burgundy gate and replace it with one of
your own. A couple of watchtowers will be handy on the north
side, and position most of your gunners here to pick off
Shrewsbury's battering rams. Set your villagers to work building
houses, gathering wood, mining gold and stone and farming. You
will be attacked regularly, but the walls ought to be enough to
keep them out. Couple them with watchtowers when you can, to
provide a safe base from which to build. Keep the cart in the
centre of the town, so that no-one can shoot at it. Build
barracks, an archery range and a siege workshop when you can,
and a university when you have enough stone (you will be a bit
short after those walls, but there is no rush.) A market could
be handy if you need to trade (with so much wood, it may be a
good idea.) Your next step should be to progress to the Imperial
Age and research chemistry. This will allow you to churn out
some bombard cannons. If you find you are surviving comfortably,
you may want to save up to get a few more trebuchets by building
a castle, but the two you currently have should do the trick.
Once you have 10-15 bombard cannons, 5 onagers, 20 or so hand
cannoneers and 20-30 champions, you are ready for the big push.
Leave a few ranged fighters behind to guard attacks and head
south with everything else, including the cart containing the
flag. Rather than crossing the main river, try to cross at a
narrower point in the brook that runs almost north-south. Once
through here you will find the outlying defences of the British
troops - namely bombard towers. Keep well back and destroy them
with your bombard cannons and/or trebuchets. Use your other
ranged fighters to protect these units and take out the knights
who guard the area. Once you have taken out all the bombard
towers and watch towers along the north eastern side of the
town, head right up to the north west corner of the town. This
is the British Achilles' heel. Use your bombard cannons and
trebuchets to knock the side of the gatehouse down, and let your
foot soldiers go in to kill any troops in there. Take out the
last bombard tower by the square, then get the cart into the
square. The tricolour is raised, and France is free of the
English pigs forever!

Battle Tactics
You should always be aware of what your enemy's strengths and
weaknesses are, and adjust your tactics accordingly. For
example, if your rival has loads of cavalry, then plenty of
pikemen will soon see things swing in your favour. If he has
built several castles and watchtowers, use the various types of
catapult to destroy them from a distance. You should familiarise
yourself with the best units to use against the different types
of opponent, and be quick to respond to what your opponent sends
at you.

Part Two: An Arabian Knight

Saladin
The leader of the Saracens has been deemed unsuitable for
leadership by the religious leaders of Europe. The crusades have
begun in earnest, and it is up to you to ensure that the
cultured Saracens remain free to enjoy the lifestyle they choose
over the tyranny and oppression of the Europeans.
Unfortunately there is little hope of finding the knights who go
nee to help out.

Saladin takes his troops and heads south to Egypt. The Crusaders
are attacking Cairo, and reinforcements are desperately needed.


This is quite a straightforward start to the level. From the
off, head west and attack and kill the Franks there. Pushing
towards the south will reveal another small settlement where you
will gain control of a warship, and armour can be gained by
destroying the blacksmith's. Hold your ground troops on this
island for a while and take the ship. Use the impressive cannon
on board to take out the front gate to Cairo and the nearby
watch tower. Sail north up the river and take out all the
remaining watchtowers. This leaves your men with a simple route
through the town to the mosque. Once inside, you will ally with
the Egyptians and gain more troops. It is now a simple matter of
pushing east and destroying the Franks' town centre to complete
an easy victory.

Formation Dancing
You may not think much about it, but the formation you attack in
can have a huge bearing on your success or failure. If your
opponent has plenty of catapults, then keep your troops spread
out to avoid losing loads of them in one go. Similarly, lone
troops can be easily killed by outflanking them and closing in
for the kill. If you have to move important units to a certain
point on the map, keep them in the middle of the formation and
protect them on all sides.

Horns Of Hattin
The Europeans have captured a piece of the True Cross and
retreated into the desert. Saladin's forces must retrieve it.
The key to success here is the way you go about victory. If you
fight through all the enemy forces, you will be soundly
thrashed, but if you use your cunning, the level can be done in
under twenty minutes. From the off, set the villagers in the
southern camp to work mining the gold there. You will lose this
village to Jerusalem soon, but this is unavoidable so don't
worry about it. You may as well get that gold while you still
can. In the northern settlement, build farms and slaughter the
lambs there to provide food. Two or three villagers should begin
work on a lumber camp to the north, and one should be sent to
mine the gold in the east. As soon as you can, progress to the
castle age and build a monastery. Keep an eye on the perimeter
of your camp and deal with intruders and fix any gaps they make.
Train up skirmishers until you are at near- full capacity, and
mass your forces by the western wall. Now destroy a section of
your own fence and take your men west. Stick as far north as you
can until you reach the relic, which is surrounded by wooden
palisades. Smash through and try to kill the monks if you can.
Back at base, create five monks and as many skirmishers as you
can afford and head back to the relic. Remember that the monks
can also heal each other and convert enemies as you do this.
Once you see the relic, rush in and grab it. Return it to the
flagged area in the northern town, and the level is completed!

Evolution Before Revolution
On most of the missions, you must bide your time before
attacking your enemies. Waiting until you can advance an age
will make the final conflict much easier, and is an important
tactic on every mission.

Siege Of Jerusalem
The city of Jerusalem is Saladin's goal, but he does not wish to
cause any harm to come the town. He's a soldier, not a
barbarian.

At the risk of sounding like an actor in a very bad cop movie,
we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. If you really want
to, you can try to take out the settlements outside Jerusalem
before launching your final assault. This is really difficult,
however, as the pesky gits rebuild things almost as fast as you
knock them down. If you want to, feel free to try - but the rest
of us will take the easier option!

From the start build a stone wall around your town centre (which
you should erect where you start). Leave enough room for
considerable expansion, and begin farming. There is a rich
supply of stone to the west, and gold galore to the east. Build
a lumber camp and gather wood from the trees around your town.
Build a castle, and erect guard towers to protect your base from
attack. Add barracks and an archery range, then progress to the
Imperial Age. Keep mining and farming until you can attract an
army consisting of around 45-50 foot soldiers and 15-20
trebuchets (no, that isn't a misprint. You will need that many.)
Take all your men and attack Jerusalem. Head around the eastern
wall and take out the three towers round there. There is also a
gate in that section that can be destroyed. Enter the town, but
DO NOT allow your men to attack anything other than the tower,
which is in the centre by a mosque. BE CAREFUL! Once this tower
has fallen, push south east and take out the final tower to
defeat the Europeans, and reclaim Jerusalem.

Jihad
The Europeans are being thrashed and have had to retreat to
their castles. One final push, and we will be rid of them
forever!
Straight away get to work. Build a lumber camp near the wood
just outside your town and get mining the gold both within your
city and outside. Set your boats fishing for food, and buy
enough stone to build a castle. Next, create 5-10 Mamelukes and
attack the Tripoli guard to the north east of your town. These
guys are tough to kill, but will cause you bucket-loads of grief
otherwise.

Progress to the Imperial age as soon as possible - and you know
what's coming don't you? That's right, trebuchets by the lorry
load, and plenty of mangonels, battering rams and foot troops.
You will also need a few warships to defend yourself from sea
attacks. Once you have a suitably impressive force, launch your
attack on Ascalon, to the south of your base. They are a town of
weaklings and you should be able to crush them easily, before
returning to town and replenishing your forces. You will need to
fight through to the wonder at the centre of their civilisation,
destroying it and the villagers who built it. This should not
present significant problems. You are now best off turning your
attention toward Tiberias. To begin with, take out the castle
from a distance with your trebuchets. You must now destroy all
of the lumber camps and the town centre quickly, leaving them
unable to build. Don't worry about it too much if the town
centre keeps being rebuilt - It will increasingly be built in
easier areas for you to attack. Just look out for large
gatherings of blue on the map - these are the villagers who
built it.

The Lion And The Demon
A new wave of forces led by Richard the Lionheart threatens the
peace in the Holy Land. He wants to destroy Acre, stop him!
The aim on this level is to build a wonder and protect it for
300 years. From the off, get mining, farming and gathering wood.
Send the warships in your harbour round to the west side of your
town and begin to train troops, especially swordsmen. A few
mangonels will also be needed early on, along with two
trebuchets. Repel the enemy attacks and repair any damage caused
to your walls - don't worry too much about the towers that fall.
It is vital that you know where your men are, and for this
reason they should be set to a defensive stance. Horsemen will
make useful additions to your fighting force when you can afford
them.

Split your men into groups around the perimeter wall as you will
be attacked from all sides. If you are feeling brave, you may
want to venture out and destroy some of the enemy castles and
buildings to the north, but this usually ends in tears. When you
have at least 1500 in every resource, build your wonder to the
south, within sight of the lower castle but not too near the
see. Use the rest of your stone to build loads of walls -
concentric rings are the best - and gather as many troops as you
can on the perimeter. The attacks will come. Try to get your men
to destroy trebuchets and ranged weapons as quickly as you can.

You do get some reinforcements, but not as many as you'd like.
Just keep replacing lost units and repairing what you can in
between waves of attacks - and don't forget to keep your
villagers gathering those precious resources!

In particular look out for battering rams that seem to sneak
past you, but if you have enough walls up at sensible distances
from your wonder, then you ought to be able to repel those
attacks for long enough. Richard the Lionheart grows weary and
decides that it is probably best not to bother you again.
Congratulations - you won the crusades!

Know Your Goals
Carefully read what your mission is at the start of each level
and act accordingly. This can save you a lot of time, as it is
often not necessary to kill everything on the map. Remaining
clearly focussed and knowing what the job requires can save you
hours in a game like this.

Part Three: Cruciple

Ghengis Khan
This legendary leader united the warring Mongolian tribes and,
against all the odds, turned them into one of the most feared
armies ever to walk the face of the earth. It is now up to you
to do the same.

The Mongols are about to leave Mongolia. In order to make the
move successful, the tribes must be united to form one,
powerful, army.

This level is all about uniting warring factions. Don't stray
too far north to begin with, but visit all the allied tribes.
Head to the far east of the map and slay the wolf to win the
friendship of the Uighurs. Change your diplomatic stance to the
Tayichi'uds to that of enemy, and take your new friends to kill
them. Return to the Nai'man and they will also join you. In
between these attacks, visit the monks of the Kereyids to
recover from any injuries. Then take all your men and push north
from the Kereyid's camp to the sheep farm of the Kara Khitai.
Kill them and deliver the sheep, and any in the surrounding area
to the Kereyid. You may have to scout around a bit to find
enough sheep to convince them. Now that they have joined you,
you can go and get the relic to the north of the Nai'man camp,
guarded by wolves. This will persuade the Ungirrads to join you,
so that Ghengis Kahn will have a suitably impressive army to
lead into battle.

A Life Of Revenge
In the depth of winter, Kushluk is trying to overthrow Khan's
leadership. Crush the traitor, and any who try to shelter him.
From the tent, head north and kill the soldiers, at which point
the villagers will join you. Get mining the stone and gold to
the north of this new settlement and set other villagers to hunt
animals and gather wood. As soon as you can, build a new town
centre by Ghengis' tent and surround it with a brick wall. As
and when you get enough stone, build 5 or 6 guard towers (after
you have progressed to the feudal age). This should keep the
place safe enough while you gather resources. Once the gold and
stone to the north of the settlement runs out, you can find more
to the south of the tent. Build a market as you will have loads
of gold to trade with, and also erect a stable. Research the
castle age as soon as is possible, and go crazy with knights. By
this stage, finances should not be much of a problem as long as
your villagers have kept busy. Gather up an almighty posse of
knights and head towards the area where the Kara Khitai are
entertaining their guests. The best way to reach this area is to
go around the north side of the base, which is relatively
trouble free. As soon as you are spotted, Kushuk will sensibly
leg it. Give chase, hacking down the fence in the way. You will
be attacked by Kara Khitai knights, but you ought to be able to
hold them off and give chase. Once you catch him up, kill him -
do not get drawn into fights with his troops as this wastes time
and costs you valuable energy. The mision is then complete -
provided your tent is still standing!

Into China
The traitorous Chinese have reneged on a promise of support.
Khan will have to show them that he is not a man to be lied to.

The first thing to be aware of on this level is that only a
total fool will attempt to attack through the Great Wall of
China. Instead, use your noodle. Head east top find a transport
ship and cross the river. You will encounter an engineers' camp
where the villagers will join you once the soldiers are dead.
Destroy the stables and leave one villager behind with two or
three troops. Get him busy mining the gold where you started,
and make sure he is kept safe. Sail the transport boat round to
the area just south of the engineers camp and get your men and
equipment into it and over the river to the eastern shore. Move
further east and build a village centre, a market, a barracks, a
castle and set your villagers to work gathering wood and
farming. This should allow you to build quite quickly up to the
castle and the imperial age, before the Jin build a wonder. Do
not panic yet, and wait until you have an impressive force of
four or five trebuchets and plenty of foot soldiers and
specialist horsemen. When you are ready use the trebuchets to
take down the watchtowers and gates, allowing you into the town.
Don't necessarily head straight for the wonder, as it can often
be more profitable to take out barracks, archery ranges and
stables first, but then get cracking on the wonder. It should
then be a simple enough process to wander around, killing any
survivors and destroying the remaining buildings until the Jin
are defeated. You will probably need to build a dock to reach
the Jin ships patrolling the river. When everything on this side
of the river is under your control, set most of your villagers
to work mining the gold and gathering the wood that was
previously being used by the Jin. Use your transport ship to set
up a base on the far side of the river, where you should try to
build a barracks, archery range and castle (if you can). This
will form the base of your assault on the final three opponents
in the game, who should be attacked pretty simultaneously.
Locate the town centres as soon as you can and try to attack
them all at the same time, taking out any dangerous buildings
with foot troops. As on previous levels, don't worry too much if
the town centres are rebuilt as they tend to move closer
together making it easier for you. Also remember that you have

all the resources on the far side of the river to yourself, so
make the most of them. Burning down any lumber camps you
encounter will also pay dividends. The main thing to remember is
that there is no rush, but that taking out anything that enables
the villagers to rebuild and repair will pay dividends in the
long run. You should also destroy the watch towers in the Great
Wall, but it will be easiest if you attack from the south to do
this.

The Horde Rides West
As the main army pounds Persia, a small force is sent to the
north to Russia. Win this battle, and Asia is under your
control.
Although your main enemy on this level is the Khwarzm, it is the
Russians who will probably provide your sternest test. From the
start, take the men in the southern village and go to the
Khwarzm shah. The assassins will kill him. It is a good idea to
save the game before trying this, as they may fail on the more
difficult skill settings. If they do, just send some men with
them, building a barracks in the south to produce the men. It is
vital that you kill him as it means the end of the level is so
much easier. Set your men in the south to work mining the rock
and gold like nobody's business, then switch to the men in the
north. Take them west and kill the two cavalry you encounter.
This will give you access to a nice big village with ready-made
facilities. Get mining again, and build a castle as soon as you
can. Progress to the imperial age, but make sure that your
village is well defended first. When you can, create plenty of
trebuchets and Mangudai and head west to attack Russia. Ignore
the three stables and barracks to the east of the camp and
concentrate instead on bringing down the castle. This done, the
rest of the camp should be within reach. Destroy any lumber
camps and the town centre, then pick off the rest of the
buildings and men for an easy victory.

Concentrate now on developing a large squad of trebuchets
guarded by plenty of pikemen (you will need to build a barracks
in the north). Head down to the Khwarzm town and destroy the
north-western gate. Do not destroy the town centre just yet, but
concentrate on the first castle, and any stables or barracks
within reach. Push through and destroy the wonder and then go
through to take the eastern castle. Return to destroy the town
centre and keep on causing mayhem in the town until nothing is
left and you are victorious!

The Promise
The ageing Genhis Khan hands over the war to his son Ogatai. He
takes the army to Poland in a bid to finish what his father
started.

This is a right swine of a level and no mistake, but it is not
as hard as you might make it for yourself. The first thing to
realise on the level is that YOU DO NOT NEED TO KILL EVERYONE!
You need only get a man in to grab the flag in each of the three
enemy camps. In the first two instances, this ought not be too
tough. Build stables and get your cavalry to ride in to the
Polish and the German camps to grab the flag. You will lose a
few men in the process, but it really is that simple - although
in the German camp you will have to sneak through the gate while
it is open to claim the flag. Next, make your way to the flagged
area in the centre of the map and ensure that you have enough
stone for three castles, enough wood, food and gold for a huge
army of men and that all your villagers are safely out of the
way - but keep them mining. When you can, build two castles in
the flagged area and create plenty of men. Erect a third to
provoke a Bohemian attack, and use your men to repel it.
Hopefully, you will have just enough. Try to ensure that any
siege weapons are given short shrift. Once this original assault
is over, build a few trebuchets and head north to the Bohemian
castle. Destroy the gun towers and break through the front gate,
before blasting a hole in the wall. As before, you now only need
to get your men in to the flag to complete the level.

Pax Mongolia
This is almost two levels in one. To begin with, you must merely
survive for forty minutes, by playing it nice and safe. Get
cracking with your villagers, mining rock and gold, gathering
wood and farming. When you can, build a brick wall around the
bridge area. Two, three or four concentric walls means that the
first part of the mission - to survive - is easily attainable.
When reinforcements arrive, take a handful of men over the
bridge, which will then be destroyed. Instead, upgrade to siege
onagers and take a number of these weapons and plenty of men to
cross the river to the east of the bridge, where the river is
frozen. Kill the two monks and clear a path through the woods.
Bring up plenty of trebuchets and destroy any gun towers nearby.
Your next stop should be the wonder, along with the two castles
within spitting distance of it. You must now simply kill
everything else in the village. The most effective way of doing
this is to take out any "production" buildings first, then
destroy the houses. This prevents more enemies being created,
and allows you to finish off what forces have survived with
relative ease. You can use your saboteurs as soon as possible to
take out the houses to make things easier - they can sneak past
the defences on the bridge if you want to try that from the very
start of the level.

Part Four: Holy Roman Emperor

Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa must attempt to forge a strong kingdom from
amongst the arguing German fiefdoms, incorporating them into his
Holy Roman Empire. This must then be defended from the Italian
State. Can it be done, or are you too afraid to take the
challenge?

Barbarossa is a man whose iron will held together the mighty
Roman Empire for years. Demonstrate his awesome power.
You can play this level in two ways - aggressively, or just
doing the bare minimum. If you fancy the aggressive technique,
then you should flatten ever village you attack as this saves
having to defend later. If you want to do the bare minimum, just
grab the relics from each monastery and leg it back to base. To
begin with, gather plenty of wood, gold and stone from around
your base and get farming too. When you can, build a siege
workshop and build some onagers. Head west and take out the
forces there, destroying the monastery. Take two or three monks
with you and keep them out of the fighting. When the relic is
exposed, rush through and grab it before using your surviving
forces to protect them until they return to your base. Now, if
you are not bothering to destroy enemy forces, make sure that
you always leave some defences on all sides of your base while
you go on the rampage. If you destroyed the western forces, just
leave defences to the north and south of your base.

When you can, head east to the green town. Skirt around the
university to the north of the town and you will find an easier
route to the monastery. Repeat the process from before, and
retreat to your base. Build up your forces again and this time
attack the dark blue forces to the north-east of the green town.
The monastery there contains two relics, so take them both at
the same time before garrisoning them in your monastery. This
will complete the level. If at any point you find the time and
resources to reach the imperial age, this level will be made
even easier. It is not vital, ut if you have the aid of
trebuchets, those monasteries can be turned into rubble much
quicker.

Praise The Lord

Although they are expensive to create, monks are a worthy
addition to any army. They can convert enemies to your cause,
saving you the cost of having to create them yourself.
As if this wasn't good enough, they can also heal your troops
and garrison relics, building up more cash to lavish on your
men. A must have for any budding world ruler...

Henry The Lion

Barbarossa enlists the help of Henry the Lion, to test whether
or not he really is an ally. Watch your back...
This mission is all about knowing what to do BEFORE it happens,
and a bit of foresight will reap dividends. From the off, build
as many battering rams as you can. Take half of them, along with
half your men, and position them by Henry the Lion's castle.
This may seem odd, considering that he is your ally, but that
won't last too long!

Take the other half to the north of your village where you will
encounter a Polish castle. Attack and destroy this, preferably
from the west so that your men cannot be picked off by the
archers in the watchtowers. As it falls, you will receive more
tributes and Henry the Lion changes his diplomatic stance to
that of enemy. As soon as he does, use the forces by his castle
to burn it to the ground. While this is happening, build more
rams and more Teutonic Knights and Men-At-Arms and carry on
attacking Henry's castle. Above all else, take out the barracks,
stables and watchtowers once the castle is down. You can then
release the villagers in the far west and concentrate on picking
off any surviving troops and buildings with ease. Poland will
probably resign during this period, but with those villagers
they will be easy to crush anyway once Henry is out of the way.


Pope And Antipope

Barbarossa is struggling to force the Pope to bow before him. He
will clearly have to use a bit of muscle to show the Pope who's
boss.

This level can be a real swine unless you twig very early that
the best place to attack from is over the river. From the start
of the level, head east and destroy the small town of Crema.
Take with you three of your monks. Use them to heal your men
during the assault, convert villagers and to take the nearby
relic back to the monastery. Once you have villagers, create a
few men-at-arms, pikemen and war ships and get mining the
plentiful supplies on your side of the river. Build plenty of
houses, progress to the Imperial Age and make sure that you can
defend your base at all times, and you should be able to amass
some pretty serious wealth after a while. When you want to,
build a transport ship and take one of your villagers over the
river to the far north. Set up a new town centre at the edge of
the woods and construct a castle and a monastery. Create a huge
strike force of Teutonic Knights and trebuchets and attack the
western wall of Milan. Punch a hole in the wall and pour
through, turning your attentions to the castle on the far side
of town. Once this has fallen, head to the south where the
monastery is located and destroy the stables and barracks behind
it. Pull surviving troops out, and create monks and Teutonic
Knights to protect them. You should research all the skills that
allow your monks to convert buildings faster, increase their
speed and so on before taking all your remaining troops and
pushing south to the cathedral. When you reach it, use your
monks to convert it while your knights protect them - monks can
heal your fighters if you look like losing the battle. When the
cathedral is converted, Milan is yours for the taking!

The Lombard League
The surviving cities of Italy have united to repel Barbarossa.
He must conquer them one by one, and conquer them he shall...
This level is actually a bit of a doddle, truth be told. The key
is knowing which town to go for. Repel the first attack and
build a castle with a few Teutonic Knights and some trebuchets.
Attack the small Padovan settlement and pick off the surrounding
soldiers. Sail your boats out of the dock and meet some
reinforcements, and get your men busy gathering wood, mining the
gold around your camp and farming. Build some houses to increase
your capacity and gather together a bunch of Teutonic Knights
and a few trebuchets. Head directly north from your village and
destroy the castle in Venice - the purple city. When it is down,
smash through the walls and kill any nearby guards. You will
come under fire from the sea, so build some warships and sail
your forces around to combat the threat. While the sea battle
rages, sneak in a few villagers to build the wonder (don't
forget to save some resources for this bit!!) As soon as the
building is up, you have won! taking!

Barbarossa's Match
Germany and Italy are his at last, but Barbarossa is still
hungry. He now heads to the Holy Land, to start a second
crusade.
This is another swine of a level, so be very careful and follow
this guide exactly, or it'll all end in tears. From the off,
take your ground troops and head south-west. You will meet some
Saracen troops who you should be able to kill easily. Use your
monks and heal. Call up your siege weapons and approach
Constantinople. You will be refused entry. Use the trebuchets to
take out the main gate and the gun towers around the base, while
your ground troops should take out the soldiers who attack. When
you can reach the castle with your trebuchets, destroy it but
THEN PULL OUT. All will be revealed shortly.

Leave a couple of men outside the town and sweep east with
everything else. Kill the Saracens you encounter en route
(including their dock and the gun tower on the island you can
see from the shore) until you reach the friendly port. Get all
your men (or as many as you can) into the transport boats.
Quickly zip back to Constantinople and approach the wonder to
receive use of the navy there. As soon as you do, pull it out of
the harbour and attack the Saracen Army. While this sea battle
is going on, take control of the transport boats and land
directly south of Constantinople. Disembark quickly and kill any
troops you meet. Head around to the west, taking out the first
castle with your trebuchets until the earthquake hits. Once it
has, you can skirt round to the north of the surviving forces
and head safely into the Hospitaller's castle. Congratulations!


The Sleeping Emperor
Even in death, Barbarossa will succeed. His army will carry him
to Jerusalem to lay his body to rest.
This is a really tough level, it will test you to the limit. You
will need to use all the skills you have acquired so far, and
need a fair amount of luck too! From the off, establish a base
where your men begin. Get ALL your villagers working, and build
houses for more troops. Next build a siege workshop and a
castle. Upgrade to capped battering rams, send them to the west
when the timer is nearly out, along with several foot troops.
You should be able to punch a hole in the wall to the west of
the gate, where you will be helped by Richard's troops for a
while. Once through, locate and destroy Saladin's castle to
lessen the threat to you.

Now consolidate your position and construct plenty of trebuchets
and troops to protect them. Head through the hole in the wall
and attack Jerusalem's castle. You will need to be very careful
that the monks in Jerusalem do not convert too many of your men,
so it may be a good idea to build a monastery and carry out the
necessary research to make this tougher - although this is not
essential. Once the castle is down, break a hole in the wall
near to where it was and clear a path through to the Dome of
Rock by taking out all of the towers. This done, set the
surviving troops loose destroying stables, barracks and
monasteries, but DO NOT attack the Dome. Back at base, create
some more troops and order them to guard the cart carrying
Barbarossa's body. March down to the Dome of Rock and place
Barbarossa in his final resting place to complete these
missions.

I hope this guide proves helpful and I would like to say
thankyou to cheat codes HQ for various parts of text I used and
re-wrote.
-kyz-

Age of the Empires II: Age of the Kings units and buildings walkthrough.

By Silent Thunder

A walkthrough that will guide you through every single unit and building you will encounter in the game. I have included some detailed uses of the units and when and how to use them efficiently through out the game. I have put them in order of the Ages. E.g. The Dark Age. I hope it helps!


The Dark Age, Units and Buildings:

In this age the enemy won’t attack you unless you attack them first. Their main concern is to get through this age as quickly as possible. You should follow suit. Don’t spend much time building or creating units, just build two Dark Age buildings. E.g. the mill and the barracks. Then, when you have enough resources, you can advance to the Feudal Age. You can find out how many resources you need by clicking on the town centre, then hover the cursor over button labelled, “The Feudal Age”. Also in this age use your Scout to search around for resources and enemy camps. Now the buildings and units:

Barracks – This is probably one of the first buildings you should build. It is the heart of foot soldiers, from here you can train units until they are Champions or you can have less strong men at the rank of Men-At-Arms. In the Dark Age the unit’s strength is limited to men walking around with a spiky stick. But like I said you can upgrade them when you advance to the next ages. In the Dark Age and Feudal Age the barrack is quite weak and can easily be destroyed so when you advance to the Castle Age I would advise you to research stronger buildings at your University. When creating units you can either send them out straight away by selecting and placing the flag, which you will find by selecting the barrack and then right clicking, at your desired location. Or you can garrison them inside the barrack straight away by placing the flag on top of the building. Once you have the building selected just right click on it.

Militias – Created from the Barrack these men are very weak if not upgraded when you advance through the ages. They wield a spiky stick at first, but soon these primitive ways will be forgotten as wood is replaced with metal when they pick up their swords. Your enemy will always, when attacking, use these men to lead the attack. They will simply cut down villagers. Militias can be garrisoned in their barracks (see above) or any other buildings. Buildings that they can be garrisoned in include town centres, castles and watchtowers. Each with a garrison limit. To place them in the building simply select them with cursor and right click on the building. This unit, like the others, can be put into simple formations from patrols to defending siege weapons, using these formations can prove to be very useful whilst avoiding the enemies archer’s fire.

Docks – Obviously this building will have to be placed in the water, it doesn’t matter if the water is a river of the sea. Also you will have to place it near the shore so if it gets damaged you can assign villagers to repair it. At the docks you can make: fishing ships, galleons, fire ships, demolition ships and cannon galleons. All of these can be upgraded and you can research how you can make your ships faster and stronger. Docks are quite vulnerable and can be quite weak so you should probably protect them with your own ships or you could place a few guard towers and/or bombard towers. Both will keep the dock well protected from your enemy.

Fishing Ships – Small and weak, but very cheap and they can supply you with large amounts of food. It would be best to have about four out at a time; this will keep a constant flow of food. Like I said these boats are weak, if their fishing grounds keep getting attacked by the enemy you can guard them with your own ships. Another thing you can do with your ships is guard fishing patches, they can run low at times and enemies will actually fight anyone over them. For fishing ships to return their fish you must have a fully functional harbour, otherwise they just sit in the water. You can tell which fishing boat is yours and which ones are your enemies as their sails will be a different colour. When this boat gets damaged the only way to fix it is to get a villager. First you will need to bring the ship on shore, then simply assign a villager to the task.

Outposts – Weak little buildings that are made from wood and a bit of stone. They are cheap, but they are extremely useful if you want to know the steps of your enemies. You can place them anywhere around the map, but just remember two things: one you have to get villagers to that location, not just the plan of the outpost. Two: like I said outposts are weak and can be easily destroyed, so you may have to be willing to defend them if you want to keep them. Now, what they do, they basically just light part of the map, which allows you to see anyone currently in that area, very helpful indeed, for such a cheap building.

Palisade Walls – This is just a wooden, weak fence. At an extremely cheap price you can’t expect these to stop the enemy for a long period of time, but they are good for slowing them down, especially if you can shoot them with archers over the fence and weaken them. I recommend you just place them simply and slightly randomly around your settlement(s) this will slow any enemies down and if they do attack it you will be alerted to their presence. The best weapons against them are the siege weapons, which simply crush them.

Houses – You will need to build a lot of houses so your population can increase. Each house you build will allow you to create five new villagers. So if you destroy the enemy’s houses you will cause a bad affect, as they won’t be able to create any new units, whether they are villagers, soldiers, archers or even siege weapons, each one counts towards your population. Sometimes you can get over your current limit of population; you will need to build quite a few houses to get this back to normal. Each time a unit dies the population will go down by one. If a house is destroyed your population limit will decrease.

Villagers (Male) – All villagers are created from the town centre. These people are the heart of your land; they keep everything going and will supply you with all of your resources. When you are in trouble you can ring the town bell and all the villagers will be garrisoned in the town centre or the nearest building that allows them to be garrisoned (e.g. a castle). They will then use their bows and arrows on the enemy if they are within range. So what jobs do they do? Well first of all whenever a building is damaged you can get a villager to repair it by selecting the tool button and clicking upon the building that needs repair work. You can have as many villagers as you want repairing a building; obviously the more there are the faster the repair job. Secondly they bring in food; they farm, hunt and pick berry bushes, all of which will go towards your food total. When hunting you should assign about five villagers to this task because some animals can be dangerous, but the more villagers you have, the greater the chance of their survival. Next they can mine gold and stone, again the more villagers assigned to this task the faster you will get these resources in. Finally they cut wood, try and keep your lumber camps as close to the forest’s edge as possible so they don’t have to walk far, equalling faster resource income. And once again the more villagers assigned the faster the wood will come in.

Villagers (Female) – Basically they’re exactly the same as the male villager, as not to be sexist. ;-)

Mining Camps – Without these it is quite hard to mine gold and stone, the only other place where villagers can return the resources to is the town centre, but of course the town centre won’t always be near the gold or stone. The closer to the stone and gold the better because the villagers can return the resource quickly, so in turn you can use the resources quicker. At the mining camps you can research ways to create more improved tools and ways of mining.

Lumber Camps – They’re basically the same as the mining camps but they are used to cut down and collect wood. And again the closer to the trees the better so the villagers won’t have to walk as far. Once again you can also research ways to create more improved tools and ways of lumbering. There are different types of trees; some have more wood than others, to find out the tree’s information simply click on it.

Mills – In the Dark Age these will be build out of wood and will be quite vulnerable to almost any attacks, but as you advance through the ages the mill will soon be able to be upgraded to a stronger building. Primarily in the Dark Age you should build the mill next to berry bushes or excellent hunting grounds of turkeys, deer or wild boars. Mills can also be placed by water edges, and then villagers will be able to fish around the area. You should assign many villagers on these tasks so you can get the valuable food in quickly. After you exhausted the natural resources you can move onto farming, place the farms as close as possible so the villagers can bring in the food quickly.

Farms – Like I said you should place the farms as close you can to either the mill or town centre, as both will except this type of resource. Farms down take long to get fully up and running and so you should use many of them at any time. They are cheap as they only cost a bit of wood, but you will get a good amount of food from them. You research upgrades for the farms, such as crop rotation and better tools, at the mill. This research may bring in extra food faster. Also you can only have one villager per farm.


The Feudal Age, Units and Buildings:

The enemy may launch small attacks in this age, but it’s still unlikely. Your and their main focus should be building up resources like wood, stone, gold and mainly food. These will be needed to advance and also to be able to build or create anything. To advance to the next age you will need to build two Feudal Age buildings. E.g. an Archery Range and a Market. To see how many resources you need follow the same instructions as in the Dark Age introduction. Now the buildings and units of this age:

Archery Ranges – This should be one of the first buildings you build when you advance to the Feudal Age as it provides you with: archers, skirmishers, hand cannoneers and Calvary archers. This building will start off weak but of course you will be able to upgrade its strength at your University when you advance to the Castle Age. The units produced here range from very cheap to expensive. The archers are quite cheap, but extremely useful. The Calvary archers, also very useful, will cost a little bit more. To upgrade units, which are produced from this building, strength, speed and armour you can research them here. Remember: to upgrade the Calvary archers you will need to do so at your stables.

Archers – Produced from the archery these men will be vital to your army, they both attack and defend extremely well. At the start their range will be pretty poor, meaning that they will have to get quite close to their target to actually get hits on them. But as you advance through the ages you will be able to upgrade their armour, range and speed on foot, each vital for a successful unit in battle. In battle you should guard these units with Calvary because they can get there fast and are very strong compared to an archer versus a man on a horse. Also when it battle you don’t want to just use a few archers, use many then you will be able to take out an enemy quickly and then move on. Finally the cost of this unit is very cheap, so there is no reason not to create lots at one time.

Skirmisher – Basically these are men with giant shields and spears. In the Castle Age you can upgrade them to Elite Skirmishers by researching it at the archery range. These men are weak at taking out Calvary, and at the beginning very inaccurate, so you will need to research ways of improving this skill. When they are elite they will have greater armour, range and hit ratio then before. So they aren’t good at hitting moving targets, but they are very good at hitting slow or stationary ones, such as monks, villagers or foot soldiers, so this is when you should use them. They shouldn’t be used to lead a main attack, they should really only be used to defend.

Man-At-Arms – These are the upgraded version of the Militias. To upgrade them select the barracks and then research upgrades from there. They basically are the same in principal, except they now use swords, walk faster in an organised way and also are highly trained whilst being very strong. For ways to garrison them please read the Militias information. The enemies priority will to be upgrade all their units a.s.a.p. so you should do the same. If you loose you scout you should use these men as they can defend themselves well and they move fast.

Stables – One of the main units in the game are the horse units, they are fast, powerful and strong and this is the building you will need to create such units. There is a wide range of units you can create here from scout Calvary to Pladins. Also available at the stables are upgrades for your units to make them faster, stronger and well equipped with the latest weapons. The building is quite strong but as I said before research stronger buildings at your University in the Castle Age for maximum protection.

Scout Calvary – At the beginning of every level you will always start with a scout, but now in the Feudal Age you can create them too. They are quite weak and are only there for one purpose, to scout, as the name would suggest. They may be weak and not very well armoured but they are fast and that’s all you need to scout and get away from any troubled areas or enemies. Your enemy’s scouts won’t attack you in the first two ages unless you attack them first because they only want to scout. But I recommend you take as many scouts out as possible because then your enemy will have a disadvantage of not knowing your camp. You will be able to upgrade this unit into Light Calvary in the Castle Age, they are faster, stronger and more well equipped, but still shouldn’t really be used in battles, they should only be used for scouting.

Fish Traps – In the Dark Age you were limited to fishing boats only, but now technology has advanced! Yes, now you are able to use fishing traps. Now you may think it’s a waste of money, but it isn’t at all. If there are hardly any fishing places left just use one of these, it only costs a bit of wood and you will get a good 500 food out of it. Simply place it in the water and then assign any amount of fishing boats to the trap, they will then carry on like it was a fishing place.

Transport Ships – These boats do exactly what they say on the label, transport people and units. They are especially useful on levels full of islands or where there is just no bridge to cross water. They are very fast, but quite weak. But you can upgrade them at a later age at your dock. In the Feudal age you are limited to 10 units per boat, but once you upgrade them you will soon be able to have 25 units per boat. When this boat gets damaged the only way to fix it is to get a villager. First you will need to bring the ship on shore, then simply assign a villager to the task.

Galleries – These are first war ships you will encounter in the game. They are quite weak at this early stage, very small and only fire arrows. But as you go through the ages you will be able to upgrade them, eventually you will upgrade them to Galleons, which fire more powerful weapons and move faster. But for now these Galleries will be your main naval defence. Use them to defend your docks, fishing boats and transport boats. Try and always out number your enemy with boats so you will always come out the victor. When this boat gets damaged the only way to fix it is to get a villager. Simply bring the ship a shore and then assign the villager to the repairing task.

Trade Cogs – In the Feudal Age you will now be able to build trade cogs, they are basically a way of getting free money for doing nothing but trading. Here’s how to trade with your Allies: first you will need a dock, obviously, then create a few trade cogs. When your allies have established a dock all you have to do is select your trade cogs and right click on their dock, then the ships will keep going back and fourth, each time generating gold. The further away the dock the more money generated.

Watch Towers (Guard Towers in the Castle Age and Keeps in the Imperial) – At the beginning these towers are just made out of mainly wood and a bit of stone. As you go through the ages though they will be upgraded into far superior towers. These towers simply fire out an arrow at the enemy if they are within range; you can make the arrow have a stronger impact by researching it at your University in the Castle Age. If the enemy try and storm the tower garrison some units in there. The more units in the tower the more arrows fired out on to the enemy.

Stone Walls and Gates (Fortified in the Castle Age) – Quite simply, walls. Much stronger than the Palsied walls as they now made out of stone. When you build these walls stone will be deducted from your resources. You can use them wherever you want just as defence for your camp. As they are made of stone it will make a tough job to get through, the best weapons against them are the siege weapons.

Black Smiths – This one of the most useful buildings in the game, this is where you can research a lot of improvements to your units armour. And that’s about all it does. It won’t cost you much to research these upgrades, but as you advance they will become more expensive. The building itself is quite weak at the beginning but once you’re into the next age you will be able to research stronger buildings at your University.

Markets and Trade Carts – Again, another extremely useful buildings. This building not only allows you to sell and buy any resources, but it also just gives you money for trading with allies. Here’s how to trade: First of all you will need a market, obviously, then create a trade cart or two, I recommend about four so you can take maximum advantage of this free gold. Then when your allies have set up their own market you can trade. Simply click on your trade carts and then right click on your ally’s market. The trade carts will then go back and fourth from each market, each time generating money for you. The further away the market the more gold it’s worth as it’s a more dangerous journey. Sometimes you may have to guard your trade routes from enemies, keep it clear for the gold. Remember: by attacking your enemy’s trade routes, preventing their trading, you will stop them from having a good income.


The Castle Age Units and Buildings:

To advance to the Imperial Age all you need to build is a Castle. This will require a lot of stone, but you should have mined a lot in the Feudal Age. Advancing to the Imperial Age is very expensive to see how many resources you need follow the instructions used in the Dark Age introduction. In this age the enemy will be in main conflict with you and any others. Defence is crucial and having an army waiting is equally vital. Here’s the list of units and buildings in this age:

Crossbow Men – In this age you can research an upgrade of your archers. They will throw down their bow and arrow and pick up a crossbow. This is much more accurate and delivers a stronger punch to the enemy. Not only does the weapon get better, but also the crossbow men’s armour, speed and range will evolve into much more superior things. You should always use these men in battle and they are great for defence too, for tactics on how to use them effectively in battle please read about the Arbalests in the Imperial Age section.

Cavalry Archer – If you need skilled archers to defend or support an attack these are the guys to use, they are fast, strong and have a good range. But these points still can be improved by doing some research in the Archery Range. In the Imperial Age you can also upgrade this unit to Elite Cavalry Archers, meaning even more strength, speed and power over your enemies. By himself one Cavalry Archer is pretty useless and easily slaughtered, but in large groups they can become the slaughterers. They are great for attacks because you can keep them back and then mop up any surviving enemy. As for defence uses they are best in a line formation that will let nothing past and stop mostly everything. Their only weakness is siege weapons, so have backup Calvary to deal with them at any time.

Pikemen – Made from the barracks these units are just strong men with shields and pikes, which they are trained with extremely well. This is the unit to use against any type of enemy Calvary as they can easily avoid their attacks and simply cut down the man off his horse. Although one pikeman on his own won’t do much, about four or five will have the perfect effect. Their main roles are defence at base when enemy Calvary attack and also when in battle and Calvary are approaching. One final use of them are destroyed siege weapons, the siege weapons usually miss the Pikemen, which allows them to easily get right next to them and simply slice the weapon to pieces.

Camels – Only certain Civilisations will be able to create camels. In the Imperial Age you can upgrade this unit into Elite Camels, but until then just make sure all armour upgrades are researched so you can have the strongest possible units. This unit uses swords as its weapon and can easily cut any other unit down if they are in a large enough groups. They all simple gather around in their group and then cut their way through it. This makes them perfect for destroying siege weapons, foot soldiers and Calvary. You must remember that the only reason they are so successful is because of the large number of them, it simply over powers the enemy. They move at quite high speeds as well, which makes them a good scout if you want to use them as that too.

Knights (Cavaliers in the Castle Age and then Paladins in the Imperial) – Everyone has heard of knights. This is the basic man on horse unit. They are fast, strong and powerful. They work best when they work together, in large groups they can easily conquer any enemies. Their only weakness, like a few other units, is the siege weapons. As the knights are quite large they find it quite hard to dodge the reign of fire from the weapon. A fragmented formation will work best because if they can’t avoid the fire at least only one or two will be killed. As always you should research everything you can to make this unit as effective as possible. Later on you can upgrade them to Cavaliers and then finally Paladins.

Light Cavalry – The faster and stronger version of the weak Scout Calvary. You should only really use them for scouting because in battle they will just be slaughtered by one knight a lone. As they are fast it lets them get away from any enemy or difficulty, which is a great use. Any Light Calvary you come across in the game you should kill as they are seeing how you have advanced and what you have in your settlement. A great advantage if they get away with it too.

Fire Ships – Ships and fire, you wouldn’t have thought they would have mixed too well, but this has to be one of the best weapons in navy warfare in the game. They are extremely fast and spurt fire out of them onto other ships. Just two of these ships could easily destroy an Elite Cannon Galleon or just a Galleon, without much damage returned back onto them. Like many other units they work best in-groups, the groups don’t have to be big but the bigger the better. If you want to lead a battle at sea you will have to include these ships, they both lead and defend your ships. At the dock you can research ways of improving them and finally in the Imperial Age you can upgrade these boats to Elite Fire Ships.

Demolition Ships – They look like a much smaller version of a fire ship, but they could be considered much more deadly. They are simply a boat full of explosives that just need the slightest bump to trigger them. So what to do with them? Just send them straight into the enemy’s ships and watch them both sink. And that’s about it, also you can send them at docks as well, but that may not result in total destruction so use three or four on docks. The only upgrade available for these ships are armour, so they don’t get destroyed, and speed for a better explosion.

Monasteries and Relics – This is a new building, which will only become available in the Castle Age. I think it’s pretty obvious that this is where you create monks, but there are a few things I’ll go through that you may miss. Firstly this is, obviously, the monk creator and if you research certain things here you can make them have skills that include converting enemy buildings and units. Next are relics, you will find white boxes placed all over the map, you should collect them as soon as possible. Only monks can carry these and only one at a time too. Simply select the monk and then right click on the relic, he will then pick it up then right click on the monastery. Once placed inside the monastery the relic will generate one piece of gold every five seconds or so. The more relics the faster the process, so get collecting! You can un-garrison relics at any time by clicking on the monastery and then on the relic symbol. Finally the building over all, it’s quite a strong building but don’t to forget to research stronger buildings in your University.

Monks – Monks have three main uses that are: Number one to heal wounded units, siege weapons not included, simply select a monk and then click the heal symbol on to the desired injured unit. It will take only seconds to heal. Secondly, conversion, monks are great when they allow you to convert enemy units and buildings, and they can be practically any thing. Simply select the conversion tool and click over an enemy unit. A monk can only do this once every four minutes or so though. And thirdly, I have mentioned, collecting relics. To see how please read the above paragraph.

Castles – In the Castle Age it would seem pretty obvious that you can build castles. Each castle will require 250 stone and a wee little bit of wood. Quite expensive so place castles wisely. The best place to position them is defensive positions where they can be used to fight against enemy units. You can garrison many people in these castles, the more people in them the more arrows that will be fired out in defence. Not only is the castle a great defence it can also be used for research, such things include researching spies (see below for more information). Also you can create units at castles, only two, but they are good units. You can create trebuchets and your unique units (please read below about these units).

Unique Units – Every single civilisation will have a different unique unit they can range from the English longbow man to the Roman special horse guard. Every single unique unit has its own special training in a certain field. These are the units you should be using to fight battles and wars as they are the most powerful you can get. In the Imperial Age you can upgrade this unit into their Elite form, meaning they will be faster, stronger and generally better in every field. Don’t forget the old blacksmiths though; research the type of armour that is appropriate for your unique unit. Remember: You can only create these units from a castle.

Trebuchets – Like the unique unit you can only create trebuchets from a castle. In battles and wars you should use this weapon to destroy and flatten defensive and threatening buildings such as castles and towers. They are easily mobilised as they travel on four wheels and unravel when needed, simply click, once you have selected the trebuchet, on the icon labelled ‘unpack’ when you want them to unpack. And then click this icon again to pack up again. They are extremely powerful and can bring a building down within seconds if you use two or three at one time. Although powerful they are weak and enemy horses can easily destroy them so defend them well.

Town Centres – You have always had a town centre, but now you can build them too, now you may think great, but what’s the point in that, here’s the point. First of all you can start new settlements anywhere over the map, they will all need a centre to start off with. Secondly you can build one when an area is covered in resources and they are all quite close to each other. So instead of building a lumber camp, mining camp and mill in a congested area build a town centre where every single resource can be taken. Finally you will be able to create more villagers faster at two different places, so they don’t have to walk. Lazy, but worth it.

Siege Workshops – This is the building that will allow you to create siege weapons, there are three types that you can create, mangonels, battering rams and scorpions (see below for information on each). And that’s all it does except when you want to upgrade the units to elite you can do so here.

Mangonels – Elite mangonels are far the strongest as expected. They are wooden vehicle type units that spray their enemies with hot rocks, which will crush and kill them easily. Their only two disadvantages are that they are very weak when attacked and can’t get away from the attack because they are slow and their range limits what they can fire at. This is a good tip to remember when fighting these units, if you are right next to this unit they can’t hit you as they will damage themselves. Units on horses are the best at destroying these units as they can avoid the fire quickly and destroy them easily. If you want this unit repaired assign a villager to the task by selecting them and then right clicking on the appropriate unit.


Battering Rams – This is simple technology at its greatest. These rams are cheap to produce and still have devastating effects on targets. Although useless against men and horse units they are great at flattening walls and buildings. If you want to make a good entrance into an enemy base this is the unit to use. Not only do they crush these buildings but they can also garrison men units in side. As you upgrade them, eventually into the siege ram, you will be able to garrison more men inside. As before if you want this unit repaired assign a villager to the task by selecting them and then right clicking on the appropriate unit.

Scorpions – This is the last siege weapon I’ll talk about. I have to admit I’m not a fan of this unit as it’s weak and has little effect on any enemy targets. So what is it? Basically it is a giant crossbow that fires large wooden missiles at targets. Some damage is caused, but if you want real damage to be inflicted have lots of them all firing at once. Against buildings these units are also pretty good, but they are no battering ram. For upgrades visit the siege workshop and do some research. And like before for repair work simply select the villager and right click on the unit. As the unit is repaired some resources will be deducted from your stockpile.

Universities – This is the building of all research if you want to be the best of the best. You can research all kinds of things here from stronger walls to Chemistry, which will allow you to have units using gunpowder. The building itself is very strong, but after you have researched everything don’t worry if it gets destroyed or anything, as it will become quite abandoned.


The Imperial Age Units and Buildings:

This is the final age. In this age you can research the elite of every single unit. This will prove very useful; you will have a greater chance of winning every battle you fight, as you will be stronger. If you are not yet involved in any conflicts the game will become boring, get out there and fight. Now! Here’s the list of units and building you will have in the Imperial Age:

Arbalests – These are the extremely advanced archers back from the Feudal Age. They are now more well equipped, are stronger with better armour that is hard to pierce, have a better range and can do a lot more damage. Having 40 arbalests may sound a little crazy, but it’s far from it. Just 40 of these men can lead and succeed in battle. Nothing, not even the best unit, stands a chance against 40 of these men. They fire in sequence and as soon as their arrows strike the enemy they will be killed. Occasionally there will be to many enemies and they may get slightly over powered so always have some Calvary prepared to be brought in and mop up any enemy left. Over all though this type of unit should always play a major part in any battle. Their only weakness is siege weapons, as they simply can’t handle such heavy weapons.

Hand Cannoneers – (requires chemistry to be researched at your University) As technology advanced through the ages you now have the ability to use gunpowder and what other great way to use it than guns. Alone one of these units won’t last, but having many of them together could win a battle easily. Like the Arbalests having about 40 of this unit is no bad thing. They will shoot together and the enemy will just drop to the ground. They won’t let any enemy get close enough to even draw a sword. You can upgrade their armour, speed and shot at the Blacksmiths and your University.

Champions – Remember the Militias back in the Dark Age? Now look how far they’ve come, not only to they look and walk smart they now are stronger and well armoured. This unit also walks very fast compared to the originals too. Just four of these men can easily take out two Light Calvary, which is very impressive. This unit is great for both defending and attacking so wherever you place them you can’t go wrong. The line up formation probably will work the best for this unit, as they will create a human blockade, which won’t allow anything through.

Wonders – If you want a fun game full of battles and wars I suggest you don’t build Wonders. They are huge buildings that when fully built will end the game because you managed to build one without it being destroyed, hardly fun at all. Although if you do choose this path of completion I recommend you use as many villagers as possible to build it. It will take a very long time otherwise. As soon as the enemy knows you’re building a Wonder they will attack with maximum power, so you will need to defend as well as build.

Galleons – You should remember those little, scrappy boats called Galleries back in the Feudal Age, well now look at them all grown up. Spectacular really. They now can move extremely fast, their weaponry has vastly improved and they are heavily armoured. If you want to lead a naval assault you should have a few of these ships in there at least. Their only weakness will be from fire ships, but their speed should help them get out of such sticky situations. Remember: to research speed and armour at your dock though! Like with the Galleries if you need them to be repaired simply land them on the shore and assign a villager to the task.

Elite Cannon Galleons – (requires chemistry to be researched at your University) This is one of the toughest ships in the game. It fires cannon balls and is very strong, but can be easily overwhelmed by other ships so it will need defence. It may be strong, but fire ships can easily destroy them without proper defence in the way. As for their weapon it can easily destroy one house with one or two well placed hits, other buildings will also fall easily. The great thing about the Cannon Galleons is that they have a great range and so can hit a castle without having returned fire on themselves. Another bad point is they are slow and fire ships can easily catch up with them so you will definitely need that defence.

Keeps – The extremely advanced version of the watchtowers. New features and advantages now include, a stronger stone structure, which is almost impenetrable, a greater range and hit rate. Also you can now garrison more units inside the building so more arrows can be fired out of it, a great use if there are strong enemy units out side of the building. If you have to go against these buildings the best thing to do is use trebuchets, the range of keeps may be good, but the trebuchet’s range trumps it by miles. Just remember the enemy will also know this.

Bombard Towers (requires chemistry to be researched at your University) – These towers are as strong as Keeps, but wield a much stronger and more powerful weapon: cannon balls. They simply fire cannon balls out at the enemy, crushing them to death. If you want successful defences use these towers with a mixture of Keeps, each one will defend each other in turn. The only way of getting past the enemy’s Bombard Towers is to use trebuchets as they can destroy them from a distance. Please remember that Bombard towers can not fire if an enemy is directly underneath them.

Bombard Cannons (requires chemistry to be researched at your University) – These units are basically the mobile version of the bombard towers and in my opinion they are much better. They can be moved quickly in place and you can have a large number of them firing on the same target, which is very useful if you want to crush a building into the ground. These can also be used to destroy ships out at sea too because they are quite accurate shooters, two hits on any ship should be enough to sink them.

Spies – This isn’t actually a unit, but just something you can research at your castle, it’s well worth mentioning. Once you research this you will be able to see every single thing your enemies do on the map, which is extremely useful. It costs a lot, but the reward is well worth it. Once this is researched it can’t be undone, even if the castle that you researched it at is destroyed.


Well that is every single unit and building the game has. I hope this walkthrough has been very helpful and will let you have a greater knowledge of all the units within the game. It’s a great game so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

By Silent Thunder.