Amazons
The Storm VICTORY CONDITION: You must get building stones for your colony - do whatever you must!
Crush all foes in this area!
DEFEAT CONDITION: You have been completely annihilated.
SITUATION: As usual, there are problems with supplies, this time it is a shortage of building stones. It's a blessing that our foes are merely men. Fortunately, we have no shortage of thieves to get us what we need.
REPORT BY HELIOS: As usual, my friends hatched plans over ale while Penthesilea took up arms. Pressing her advantage she leapt to a new, larger island, undeterred by the fact that it was already inhabited. Though her only foothold was a tenuous one, Penthesilea was as determined as she was resourceful. If the ground she was on was barren of stones, then she'd simply launch a few raids and quarry them in that fashion...
Your first problem in this mission will be the shortage of building stone. The key to solving this problem is your thieves. There is a Roman settlement in the south with several storage areas (2 & 3) filled with stone. Start off by building a medium residence so that you can convert new settlers into thieves and have them swipe as much as possible from the Romans. The Romans will be occupied with garrisoning all of their towers at the beginning and won't be able to detect your thieves with patrolling soldiers. Take advantage of this situation as long as you can because it will not last forever!
While your thieves are busy, you should have your pioneers expand your territory westward to include the mountain (1) there, which has all of the minerals you need in sufficient quantities. It is still a good idea to secure the passage to the mountain in the south (4) because it contains large deposits of gems and sulfur which you can put to good use later. Your alchemist can convert these minerals into gold and iron which will, in turn, decrease your needs for coal.
Since neither of your opponents will attack so quickly, you have the opportunity to promote your warriors beforehand. Set up your manna production quickly, making sure that you always have enough warriors for the protection of your colony! Store the weapons you produce at first, but be careful that your opponent doesn't exploit this.
As soon as you have recruited 250 - 300 highly ranked soldiers, you should launch an attack on the Romans. Attack across both land passages so that your opponent is forced to defend himself on two fronts and must split his forces. Be alert during your attack that the Egyptians do not try to take advantage of this situation by attacking you suddenly. Tear down the towers of the Romans as soon as you have captured them so that the Egyptians are not tempted to attack!
As soon as you have completely conquered the Romans, begin building up another weapons production center on the mountain in the previously Roman-held settlement in the west. Now it is up to you to concentrate all your strength to be able to stymie the Egyptians.
Smelt and store as much gold as possible to increase the fighting strength of your warriors - an attack on the Egyptians with less than 100% fighting strength is almost certainly doomed to failure! Since the Egyptians have had ample time to expand and to recruit soldiers, they are very strong. You should have several well functioning weapons centers running full blast to make up for their lead. It will often be possible for your opponent to amass an army of some 700 - 800 soldiers and only seldom does he suffer from an earlier setback. As a result, you will need a huge army and should attack on several fronts. Not everyone will be able to master this mission on the first go, so remember to save your game before attacking the Egyptians so that you can reload if you are not successful on your first attempt!
Good Luck!
Bonus:
If you look carefully, you will notice that there are some weapons and gold bars near the ships (5) that are there for the taking. Use your pioneers or thieves to take advantage of this!
© Blue Byte Software Inc.
Authors: Christian Haecker & Joerg Niesenhaus