Scratching the surface

Arkantos reaches Troy in time to reinforce the Greek armies. Now he must break through Troy’s outer defences.

Starting objective: Lead your soldiers to the unclaimed Settlement.

Difficulty levels:

  • Easy:
    • Troy has fewer starting units
    • Fewer towers defending Trojan base (7)
    • No towers defending Trojan Docks (6)
    • Start with Heavy Infantry researched
  • Hard:
    • Troy has more starting units
    • No towers at starting settlement
    • Troy has the Boiling Oil and Hand of Talos technologies
  • Titan:
    • Troy has yet more starting units
    • More Towers defending Trojan Base (7) and Docks (6)
    • Two Towers defending the unclaimed settlement (4)
    • No goats, no gold pile near starting settlement
    • Troy has the Shoulder of Talos technology

As the scenario opens, you command a small army of Greek units as well as Arkantos and a new hero – Ajax. Head south-east towards the settlement marked on your minimap. You’ll soon encounter a group of Trojan soldiers (1) – remember to send Ajax and Arkantos into the fray first, since they will regenerate any damage, while your human soldiers won’t.

After you reach the settlement (2) you’ll gain control of the units and buildings there.

New objective: Build a town center and advance to the Classical Age.

Place a Town Center and build up a strong economy in preparation for advancing to the Classical Age. Deer can be hunted just north of your Town Center, and goats can be found to the north-west. Bonus gold mines can be found directly north, to the east and to the north-west. (3) An additional settlement to the south-east (4) is guarded by Trojan Toxotes. You will also want to send your heroes to scout north to locate the three relics sitting in the shadow of the Trojan base. (5)

Once you have a solid economy, advance to the Classical Age. Your choices are again Hermes and Ares – the choice doesn’t matter much since we don’t need either of their myth units or improvements on this mission – though Hermes’ Ceasefire may be useful if you are having trouble repelling Trojan attacks. Once you advance, you’ll be notified the Trojans are attacking the camp to the northwest, and that you must destroy the Trojan docks. (6)

New objective: Destroy the two Trojan docks. (6)

Now that you’ve advanced to the Classical Age, the Trojan base (7) will produce a steady stream of attacks composed of Hippikons and Hoplites. Position your army north of your town to intercept them. While cavalry become available to you in this mission, Hoplites with a few Toxotes supporting them are more practical. Build an Academy and Archery Range straight away and strengthen your forces to repel the Trojan Attacks. You may also wish to build walls to the west of your town to ensure the Trojans only attack via the location where your army is waiting.

If you really want to, you can build up and attack the Trojan base (7) or the camps protecting each dock, (6) but neither is necessary for this mission. Instead, the easiest thing to do is advance to the Heroic Age and build a dock so you can build Juggernauts – siege ships. (Again, it doesn’t really matter who you choose when advancing.) Train yourself a small navy and head for one of the docks. (The eastern one is closer.) Destroy the dock.

New objective: Destroy the last Trojan dock.

Once you destroy one of the docks, two things will happen. First, the dock that you haven’t yet destroyed (whichever one it is) will be protected by additional units, both on land and sea. Second, you will gain control of Agamemnon and a small army of cavalry and Petrobolii. Use them to destroy the Town Center nearby and claim the settlement if you wish, then have them to join with your army and attack the second dock on land. The yet undestroyed dock will now be protected by several mighty Colossi – so be sure to tackle them with your heroes. Alternately, you may can add some Pentekonters and Triremes to round out your small navy before heading to destroy the second Trojan dock from the sea – this is easier, but unlike attacking on land, you’ll need to build more units before attacking. Once you destroy the second Trojan dock, you’ll be rewarded with victory.

On to mission 4

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