GUIDE TO CONQUEST
A REVIEW OF
THE OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE TO THE CONQUERORS EXPANSION TO AGE OF
EMPIRES II: THE AGE OF KINGS
Originally Published December 24,
2000
By
Jim Werbaneth
Mark H. Walker’s work should be familiar to
computer gamers, especially those whose hard drives contain real time
strategy games. He is a prolific
free-lance writer and author of numerous articles and books, including the
official Microsoft Press strategy guide to Age of Empires II: The Age of
Kings.
He followed that up this year with the release of a
new book on The Conquerors expansion kit to the game. For anyone with an enthusiasm for the game,
it is recommended reading. That even,
or especially, goes too for the wargamer who might differ with some of his
strategies.
Walker’s book
begins by introducing each of the new cultures-----Aztec, Mayan, Hunnish,
Korean, and Spanish-----one by one. He
gives a good, clear and comprehensive overview of the characteristics,
strengths and weaknesses of each.
From the beginning, even an experienced player can
find something to learn.
Walker’s
analysis of matching technologies and units to situations is excellent. For example, I am on record as saying that
the Aztec and Mayan lack of cavalry is a serious handicap. Walker finds
advantages in the Eagle and Jaguar Warriors that constitute their mobile and
reconnaissance arm, including a mobility that actually surpasses that of men
on horses. As he shows, one cannot
play the Mesoamerican civilizations as though they are clones of the
cavalry-rich peoples of the steppe, but these New World peoples’ more fleet
units can do things that are beyond the means of the Mongols and Huns, for
example.
Not that there is any discrimination against the
Huns, who come across as one of the most fearsome peoples anywhere in the
game. Their lack of need for houses,
Walker points
out, frees up their people and resources for militant pursuits. In addition, their unique unit, the tarkan
cavalry, is extremely strong against buildings, with the author going so far
as to call a formation of them “a wrecking machine equal in might to the most
formidable siege engines but with the added advantage of speed.”
As he does throughout the strategy guide,
Walker
prescribes unique tactics to exploit a unique capability. In this case, it is to form columns of
tarkan to charge into an enemy settlement, break things and smash buildings,
and use their mobility to escape before the victims can react.
Another Walker’s other
favorite peoples appear to be the Spaniards.
They too have a latent military strength, with strengths in a variety
of land-based and naval units. In
addition, their monks are a strength, and they stand alone in having a
mounted monk the missionary, as a unique unit.
He consistently emphasizes using monks
as offensive assets, and not just as camp-following healers for the
armies. The book stresses developing
clerical capabilities when possible in order to convert both enemy units and
buildings. For the Spaniards, that can
mean using missionaries to get into the opposition’s rear areas, mounting
raids of conversion similar in outlook to the Huns’ raids of destruction.
I have to say that I find clerical assets much more
difficult to use than military ones.
They are too frail to use alone in many cases, requiring some of sort
of protection. Even the missionaries,
in my opinion, are best used in concert with armies. Ultimately, when given the choice of
building up a big army or amassing equally numerous monks and missionaries, I
generally choose the sword and the bow over the Book.
Yet as with the Mesoamerican Jaguar and Eagle Warriors,
Walker shows
that there is more than one approach, and his more positive view of temporal
power has undeniable merits.
He and I share a very healthy regard for the
Koreans. Similar to the Vikings, they
have two unique units, war wagon cavalry on land and the inimitable turtle
ships at sea. The former are just what
the name says; heavy archers riding wagons instead of marching or riding
astride horses. The latter constitute
one of my personal favorite weapons systems.
Lacking in mobility, they are early ironclads that can stand up to a
lot of punishment in battle.
The Mesoamericans come out in a lesser light. The Aztecs lack both naval potential and
staying power for a long game from Dark Age to Imperial Age. Therefore they must come out strong, and
not hope to build momentum with time, which is not really on their side. The Mayans lack the military might of their
northern neighbors, though they are better on the water, and require finesse
to be played effectively.
Walker
amplifies his findings in a second section that analyzes the campaigns and
scenarios in The Conquerors.
Here, he goes into detail about how to exploit the strengths, and
minimize the weaknesses, of the cultures, in specific game situations.
If there is a place where the book drags a little bit, it
is here. It is not a real fault of
Walker’s
writing skill or style, which is clear and concise, yet lively. It is more due to the structure of the book
and the section, and the need to draw specific lessons from the more general
principles of the first part.
On the other hand, it does have its value. Even if a gamer never plays any of the
prepackaged campaigns, the author’s lessons can be applied in standard,
multi-sided conflicts, as similar situations are likely to arise sometime and
somewhere in there.
There is one chapter as well that stands out as more
valuable than the others, and not coincidently it is on strategies for
multi-player games. Here,
Walker makes
the connection between the new peoples of The Conquerors and those of
The Age of Kings. This is
vital, both because most of the empires in the game will be of the older set,
and because the expansion introduces new technologies and abilities to the
existing cultures.
The third part of the book is the shortest, but has the
longest name: “Inside Moves: Information You Won’t Find Anywhere Else.” It starts with an introduction to the
“Battlebits,” scenarios downloadable
from Microsoft that tie in with the lessons imparted earlier in the
book.
Additionally, Walker offers opinions
from three other games, including their views of what new culture is the
strongest in the game. Ironically, two
choose the Mayans, which require the most skill, and the third likes the Huns
and Spaniards, much more obvious choices.
With or without The Conquerors, The Age of
Kings is a game that demands cunning to play well. Acquiring that level of strategic skill
demands experience with all the civilizations on the disks. Even if one especially dislikes playing a
people, taking their side occasionally teaches their strengths and
weaknesses, and those of the ones currently opposing them, from a fresh
angle. There is always something to be
learned.
That is the main strength of the strategy guide to The
Conquerors. In it,
Walker brings
his own experience and perceptions to the table. Through them, the novice gains a clear view
of the game and how to play it. For
the experienced player, the book presents another set of views, sometimes
opposing views, of how to play the game.
Considering that The Age of Kings and The Conquerors do
not reveal all their nuances even after playing dozens of games, another pair
of eyes and experienced brain are welcome.
With all that considered, The Conquerors’ strategy
guide is a worthy addition to the library of players of all experience levels.
