Bad News

Bad News is the eighth scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The objective is to push through Gargarensis’ defenses and reach the mine where the remaining prisoners are working.

Summary
In their search for the remaining citizens of Ioklos taken hostage, the heroes’ path is blocked by recently built Fortified Walls. Seeing how such construction could not be the work of an average bandit, Arkantos, Ajax and Chiron split into two camps and prepare for their next battle against a foe more dangerous that they anticipated.

Objective
Build up Ajax and Arkantos’ bases and fight your way to the mine.

Players
Arkantos (Zeus) – Starts in the Classical Age with two bases, each with a Town Center.

Ajax’ base provides three Villagers and a handful of Toxotes and Hypaspists. Their only buildings are some Houses.

Arkantos and Chiron share the second base to the east. They have three Villagers, a Kataskopos, some Hoplites and Peltasts. Their buildings include a Guard Tower, additional Houses and a Temple.

Neutral
Underworld (Zeus) – Consists solely of the Greek-style passage to the underworld.

Ioklos Slaves (Zeus) – The last prisoners are being forced to excavate the passage to the underworld.

Enemies
Gargarensis (Poseidon) – Starts in the Mythic Age the harder difficulties. Has blocked off many passes with Walls and Fortresses along with other military buildings. The Cyclops himself stands above the mine where the Ioklos slaves are working.

Strategy
This guide is applied to hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.

Players should task Ajax’ Villagers in gathering Food from the Berry Bushes to train more Villagers and build their economy. Only Ajax’ base provides safe Gold Mines so more of his Villagers should be tasked on gathering Gold. Arkantos’ base only has forests available so his Villagers should be tasked on gathering Wood and Favor from the Temple. Both bases should begin construction of Academies and Archery Ranges, plus Ajax may need a Temple of his own. The buildings in his base must also be built far from the Town Center and be spread out as much as possible for reasons that will be obvious later on. One Armory should also be build as advancing to the Heroic Age as quickly as possible will make the scenario less difficult. By worshiping Apollo, players can use the Underworld Passage God Power to connect both bases, which will help Ajax bypass some of the hazards such as a Fortress atop a cliff. Some soldiers should still remain in his base to protect it from attackers.

A variety of units will be necessary take on Gargarensis’ raids, but Hypaspists are especially useful as they will deal extra damage to buildings thanks to Zeus’ benefits and Gargarensis will not train any cavalry units. Ajax’ base should also train some Toxotes as he will regularly be attacked by infantry. Arkantos on the other hand can also train Peltasts to defeat the many archers they will face. Gargarensis will first attack Arkantos with a small army of Hoplites and Hypaspists accompanied by a Minotaur. Later on, these types of soldiers will keep returning but will be accompanied instead by a Petrobolos and/or Cyclopes. Players can train their own Minotaurs but they will need protection as Hippolyta will regularly accompany the enemy.

Before launching an attack, players should research Masons (and Architects if they choose to advance to the Mythic Age) to strengthen their buildings in case they get attacked during their absence. After breaking through the first walls, Arkantos will find a Fortress to the west and some Archery Ranges just east of the walls which are the sources of some of the attacks. Destroying theses buildings should slow down the raids on Arkantos' base. Further east, there is another Fortress guarding a Settlement and the pass that Ajax would need to cross to reach Arkantos’ base if an Underworld Passage is not available. Destroying it will be necessary to get a higher Population cap. Enemy buildings should always be destroyed one at a time as they will spawn Militia which the Hypaspists will need to deal with.

Afterwards, all units can march on through the east pass to reach the mine and just need to continue destroying any building and defeating any unit they encounter. But once the player has pushed far enough, about as far north as the pond, Gargarensis will cast Meteor on Ajax’ base. He will also attack by sending a Roc transporting several Minotaurs and a Colossus. This is why spreading out buildings, upgrading them and leaving soldiers behind for protection was necessary. The main gate to Gargarensis’ mine is guarded by several Guard Towers and two Fortresses. Players will need to train Petroboli (or Colossi if they advanced to the Mythic Age) as they deal the most damage against these fortifications. Once both Fortresses overlooking the mine are destroyed, the player will be rewarded with victory. All other enemy buildings can be destroyed first if the enemy raids are hindering progress too much.

Additional Tips

 * It is best to not fully destroy any enemy walls encountered. The gaps can be used to funnel enemies in a smaller space and the enemy will not attempt to destroy their own walls.
 * Gargarensis will attack earlier if the walls closest to the player’s bases are destroyed, so it is best to leave those alone for as long as possible.
 * More defensive players can build their own walls near the enemy walls to slow down attacks.
 * One way to deal with the Roc is to build many towers by the cliff over which it will pass. Their arrows will deal enough damage to kill it and its cargo.

Closing Cinematic
Despite suffering tremendous losses, Gargarensis has succeeded in clearing the passage to the Underworld. After warning Arkantos of not interfering further, the Cyclops casts a meteor to scatter the Atlantean’s soldiers and escapes into Erebus.

Trivia

 * This is the first of two scenarios in the Fall of the Trident campaign where the player must coordinate two bases. The other one is Where They Belong.