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| Scramble for Survival. | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 08/30/99 07:08 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 3, Max: 8, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for .Praetor: 8.2987 |   | This was going to be my first report with pictures. At several strategic points and battles in the game, I pressed the print screen button. I even did so to note my town layout and the distribution of resources.
Unfortunately, Age of Empires does not support the Print Screen button.
Which brings me to my other point, this game is about Age of Empires.
I was on the Zone (shudder!) looking for a game. After thirty minutes finding someone with decent lag and no cheats and with people in the game... I finally stumbled on a 3v3. No one there seemed to know each other, so the host started the game on up.
For those of you not familiar with AoE and it's game setup screen, it is remarkably like the War2 screen. The settings seemed fine, it was a large random coastal map (randomly constructed, like CnC:RA) on default age and resources. I like default because we start out nomads, and this weeds out the sucky people who only know how to play in the Iron Age with a ton of money (like BGH cept you don't even have to mine). I chose Minoans, because I don't know the race advantages and I like ancient Crete. Most of the others were Phoenician.
The teams were set up, and we started off. My town center was near the left most corner (the mini-map is diamond shaped). I set out my villiagers (henceforth referred to by generic War2 names) scouting for resources. What I was hoping to find most was the coveted berry bushes, a steady source of early game food. I started training my fourth villiager at the same time.
Unfortunately, the gods did not smile upon me today, and none of my scouting peasants found significant resources. One did find the coast to the east, as well as two coastal fishing areas nearby. To the south, I found a large forest, wood being the most common resource in AoE. My western explorer found nothing but desert, and headed on south as well, eventually finding a decent-sized stone deposit.
Because the first task of any serious player is to reach the tool age (cost of 500 food), I decided to be risky and start a dock as my first structure. It is more common to start a granary (by berries) or a storage pit (by trees and game). No lucky elephants were sighted either (oh for the time I got four of them by my town hall - 300 food each, baby).
Most coastal maps have land by 3 of the map edges, with a large bay in the middle. This was no exception. What was interesting is that I was on one of the farthest penninsulas, so expansion was only south and southeast.
My allies communicated that they were on the other side of the map (sharing vision has to be researched), so I decided for a defensive rush. Most people in AoE do not build early military units, preferring to tech up to chariots or catapults. I decided to teach them the power of early military.
At my base by this time, I had three fishing ships working away, having found rich seas nearby (yay). By cutting down all the lone trees by my town hall, I was able to fund construction of more boats, as well as start a storage pit by the forest to the south. Several houses had also been built, well away from my town center to make way for future farms. I kept up consistend peasant production, and put them all on wood, since that was my only efficient resource at the time.
Scouting with one villiager, I finally found my berry patch on the edge of the penninsula I was on, in the north. Doh! I started a late granary, and began moving new peasants up there. Still scouting with one peasant, I found yellow to the south, one of my enemies. He was building a storage pit near some coastal fish in a lake, so I attacked one of his villagers with my own, then ran away. Turning my attention back to my base, I started construction of a barracks, continuing production of houses and villagers. My fishing boat fleet was at seven, and I left it there, denuding the seas.
I had plenty of wood at the time, and produced four barracks while waiting for five hundred food. Eventually that came along, and I upgraded at my town center to the Tool age. That having been done, I waited for food, and began non-stop production of club-men.
Because the designers of AoE are idiots, ranged attacks in the game are FAR more powerful than they should be, so no-one builds melee attackers. Except me. Thing is, you can't build an archery range until the tool age. With my high food intake, I had eight clubmen by the time the upgrade to Tool Age finished. I started three more, as well as the axe-man upgrade. This vastly improves the offensive power of my warriors. I also started archery ranges, eventually building three by my barracks, and a marketplace for more upgrades.
When my axemen were done, I sent the eleven down to yellow, and started scouting the rest of the map with an artifact I had passed. The axemen found no resistance, but like a fool, I decided to kill nearby buildings rather than go for the peasants, who can be a pain to run down. Yellow's storage pid dropped fast, and I headed on farther, the axemen hacking on a marketplace, granary, and town center. Yellow was at the Tool Age.
Back at my base, my berry gathers had exausted that resource. Luckily, I had an over-abundance of wood, and so I started several farms. Farms cost seventy-five wood, and can be gathered from, producing two-hundred and fify food, after a lengthy gathering time.
I was continuing to train axemen, and had collected twleve more, expecting an easy kill, I send them south, licking my chops.
As expected, yellow had not built melee attackers, and started harrassing my axemen with three bowmen. I sent in my men, and killed them easily. Bowmen are really, really bad. Unfortunately, they are all you can build from archery ranges in the Tool Age.
Back at my base, my own third range finished, and I started training bowmen, expecting to upgrade them later.
Yellow had ceased harassing my axemen, having killed only three. His marketplace, granary, and town hall were burning. Suddenly, yellow attacked with nine chariot archers. Chariot archers? But they only come during the Bronze Age. I check his town center, and DAMN, he had upgraded during my attack. Worried, I pulled by axemen back until they were all together, then sent them after the lead archer.
A decent player, Yellow pulled that archer back behind the lines, giving his other chariot archers free hits. What he didn't know was that my reinforcements were arriving, trapping his archers between my two infantry lines. This is a great advantage, as now he can't use the superior speed of the chariot archers to hit and run. Trapped, they are easily cut down.
Worried, I sent my axemen at yellow's town center. It quickly fell, but there was a question. See, you can't automatically build another town center, you have to have a governmental center, which can't be built until the Bronze Age. I didn't know whether or not I had crippled yellow.
I finished yellow's granary and marketplace, and destroyed a few houses (supply centers). Yellow countered again with nine more chariot archers, this time protected by a few buildings and not trapped. He kills my axemen, but not without losing most of his chariot archers.
Back at home, I am frantically building more villiages and farms, trying to get 800 food, the requirement for the next Age upgrade. I finally get it, and start a guard tower by the eastern end of the big forest, protecting that side of my base.
My troop production places are at the other end, and I start them back up again as soon as I don't have to save up any more food. Yellow's chariots charge up to find me with six archers, and I cut three of them down.
Going back on the offensive, I send twelve axemen and twelve bowmen down south. As I travel down, I also start up the improved bowmen upgrade, and more troops.
At the storage pit and marketplace, I have also upgraded woodcutting, arrow range, along with armour for both melee and missile units. My axemen also have an additional hand-to-hand upgrade.
I notice that my artifact has long been taken over by yellow, while it was along the coast. I conclude he will be the only opponent I have to face.
Unfortunately, there is no patrol command in AoE, and while my attention is distracted, chariot archers are firing on my passing troops. Argh! But again, Yellow's careful watch backfires, and his troops are trapped back up against a lake, in the same narrow passage way as my own. Once I get back to the battle, my axemen tear into the archers, and my own archers support admirably. I still have five axemen and eleven archers to head down to yellow's base.
They shoot a few token houses, and engage more chariot archers. How many archery ranges does this guy have? All my axemen are killed, but I still have most of my bowmen, who pick off reinforcements until they finally die.
Back at my base, some bowmen have killed a few chariot archers that made it past my troops before yellow noticed them. I order up the upgrade to composite bowmen, before I notice it costs gold. Damn! The nearest gold source is south of the thinning forest I have cut down, so I order a stray peasant to start another storage pit.
My bowmen are also not upgraded, it is an archer that costs 40 food and 20 gold, not 40 food and 20 wood that I need to buy. Argh. To top it all off, yellow comes in marauding with several chariot archers. He backs off after meeting my tower, and several bowmen I send over. What he does do, is shoot down my fishing fleet, which is harvesting the coast away from my base. I don't notice until too late, but the move does give me the opprotunity to cut down his newest army piecemeal.
Pulling several workers off lumber harvesting, I get my gold running quickly, upgrading my archers further. I leave my lowly bowmen behind to defend against any chariot incursions, and send twelve upgraded bowmen and twelve axemen after yellow's army. During the march, the bowmen are upgraded to composite bowmen. yay! Taking a different route, I run into yellow building an advanced base of siege workshops and a stables.
One of the most dangerous (and annoying strategies) is for a player to get an obscene number of catapults. Determined to stop this, I attack the workshops and two catapults active. I take damage, from those cats and three more popping out. Yellow has yet to achieve a critical mass though, so I kill the base without too many casualties, my axemen surprisingly successful in stopping the catapults before they attacked my more valuable composite bowmen.
I destroy the advanced firebase, but am repelled from a further attack by elephant archers. Elephant troops are not particularly scary, as they have low offensive power, but they take forever to kill! More so than ultralisks! My troops are whittled down as I turn the behemoths into pin cushions. A second wave repells me, and I return to my base, to build more troops.
I have some lumber problems, having to replace several farms at the same time, but get twelve composite bowmen when several elephant archers and an elephant (melee) come and attack my gold mine. My composite archers use the thin forest as cover, and use their superior range to fire upon the elephant archers, which unfortunately have enough life to kill my gold miners and storage pit. The elephant archers come around to my tower, and are killed by my archers, but a constant stream of reinforcements, and two catapults destroy my last reserve of composite bowmen. Out of gold, I am reduced to building regular bowmen and a few axemen.
Finally, yellow kills me, destroying my lumber access with more elephant troopers and two more catapults. The tower never falls, but my troops simply can't compete, bowman and axemen simply outclassed.
I surrender rather than wait for the destruction of my town, having enjoyed a good game.
In the stats, yellow was doing the best of all the players. I can at least live well in the knowledge that I almost killed an experienced player. Had I got his town hall before he made it to bronze age, he would have been out of the game.
Your humble scribe,
'Praetor' Fred Wilson |
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