Just enough rope

The Trojans counterattack and Ajax is surrounded! Arkantos must rescue him and regain control of the battlefield.

Starting objective: Defeat the cavalry attacking Ajax. (1)

Difficulty levels:

  • Easy:
    • Troy has fewer starting units, including fewer attackers at the start of the mission
    • Start with Pickaxe, Handaxe and Watch Tower researched
  • Hard:
    • Troy starts in the Heroic Age
    • Troy has more starting units
    • Troy produces units faster and attacks more frequently
    • Trojan Base (7) has two defensive Watch Towers
  • Titan:
    • Troy has even more starting units
    • Trojan units have more upgrades

The scenario opens with Ajax under attack by Trojan Hippikons and Prodromos. (1) You command Arkantos, Odysseus, and several Hippikons and Hoplites. Move quickly to assist Ajax, since any of his units that stay alive will come under your control soon. Put your heroes into the fray first, because they regenerate damage. Be careful of enemy Prodromos, they do a large amount of extra damage to your Hippikons. Once you have defeated the Trojan cavalry, you’ll get the next objective.

New objective: Bring Arkantos and your army to Ajax’s Town Center to the southwest. (2)

This is straightforward enough. Move your army to Ajax’s town marked on the minimap (2) to gain control of it.

New objective: Build up a stronger army and destroy all the buildings in the Trojan forward military base area. (7)

Your starting situation here is fairly sparse. You have only a few villagers and no military buildings, so you’ll have to build up quite a bit. Send your villagers to hunt the deer and boar to the south of your Town Center (3) before tucking in to the pigs – since they will fatten up and hold more food if left alone. Research the Husbandry tech to increase the benefit of this. Other resources in area are two extra gold mines just to the northwest (4) and Trojan farms further north (5) that you can steal and gather food from. (You may prefer to simply build farms in your own town because they are easier to protect.)

Two relics can be found east of your Town Center and hidden south-east, near the allied Town Center (6) that you will want to retrieve with your heroes.

Troy will attempt to build a Watch Tower near the additional gold piles (4) so station units to keep a lookout for enemy villagers. The Trojans will also send villagers to try and build a Stable or Academy near your town (usually to the east of your Town Center) which once completed will produce additional units to attack you – these aren’t so important, but keep an eye out anyway. In addition to these, the Trojan base (7) will produce a steady stream of attacks – mixed units, unlike the previous scenarios. These attacks often include building destroying Petrobolii, so don’t count on merely walls or a fortress to keep the enemy out. (Though walling in certain areas – such as to the east of your Town Center and north of the gold mines – is a good idea because it will funnel enemy attacks towards your army.)

Also when you are dealing with attacks – protect your tents! You start with several tents to the north of your Town Center. (2) Each of these supports 10 population, but they are very weak and easily destroyed – and you can’t replace them. (You can and should repair them if they are damaged though.)

When building up – consider again that you are Zeus, so you gain favor extra fast. Myth units are a good idea. Athena’s Minotaur is a solid myth unit that is very cheap and easy to mass – especially if you get the Labyrinth of Minos upgrade which decreases their cost. They will also help you take down the enemy Town Center and Fortress. (And Towers if you are playing on the harder levels.) Ranged Toxotes are a good support. If you choose Hephaestus in advancing to the fourth age, his Colossus myth unit will tear down enemy buildings and only take minor scratches in the process. Alternately, you can choose Hera, and use her Lightning Storm god power to kill off enemy units when attacking the Trojan base.

Finally, when you’ve built up sufficiently…simply attack. Dionysus’ Bronze god power and Hera’s Lightning Storm will help you out here. Once you’ve wiped out all the buildings in the Trojan base, (7) you’ll be rewarded with victory.

On to mission 6

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