A Long Way From Home

A Long Way From Home is the eighteenth scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The main objective is to reach the Tamarisk Tree and recover the third Osiris Piece Box hidden within.

Summary
Chiron’s team has arrived at the location of a large Tamarisk Tree which he explains hides the head of Osiris. Before they can proceed, a group of Norsemen led by Niordsir arrive to seek the whereabouts of Gargarensis, who has caused Midgard to fall mostly in ruins. Seeing how the Cyclops is in Egypt, Chiron asks the Norsemen if they are willing to assist them in their fight and they agree.

Objectives

 * 1) Seek help from the desert nomad camp to the east
 * 2) Send Laborers to cut down the Tamarisk tree and recover the head of Osiris.

Players

 * Chiron (Isis) – Starts in the Classical Age with Chiron, a Priest, four Axemen, four Raiding Cavalry, three Jarls and two Ox Carts. Upon arriving at the Nomad Town Center, it will convert to the player’s colors.

Neutral

 * Nomad (Isis) – Supplies the player with a Town Center, Tents, Towers, a Temple, a Market, four Laborers and an additional Axeman.

Enemies

 * Gargarensis (Set) – Occupies a massive city north of the map. Will regularly send troops to attack the player from different sides.
 * Musty Old Tomb (Set) – Consists of two Temples that will train pairs of Mummies to attack anything near the nomad camp, whether it is Chiron or Gargarensis’ soldiers. On Titan Difficulty, they will not attack Gargarensis.

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

The starting army should follow the nomad camp’s Axeman to its Town Center which is just a few steps east of the starting position. Immediately upon arriving, it will convert to the player’s team. Many Laborers need to be trained to get a good economy going. As the player starts with a decent stockpile of Gold, Food should be the initial focus. Some Laborers can begin gathering from the Goats before they resort to farming. There are Zebras nearby that can be hunted but sending Laborers away from the safety of the camp is dangerous. Other Laborers can gather from Wood the nearest palm trees. Wood is scarce on this map so it should be spent cautiously. Pharaohs cannot empower the Ox Carts so these should be deleted as they use up population space (Egyptian drop sites are free afterall).

Pairs of Mummies will attack at intervals until their respectful Temples have been destroyed. One Temple is located just east of the Town Center, which the Norsemen and Chiron can easily destroy on their own. When that’s done, 1500 Gold will be salvaged but two Scarabs will spawn from the rubble. Chiron and the Jarls can easily kill them both. With the Gold obtained, players can begin building Academies to train Axemen and construct additional Towers on the west and north sides of the camp. Houses and an Armory can be build afterwards with the Pharaoh being used to empower the construction sites. Aside from the Towers, it is advised to avoid building on the west side as there is another Temple still standing that will send Mummies to attack that area. Gargarensis’ troops will initially consist of Spearmen, Slingers and Anubites and the first attack will come from the north side. Priests should be trained from the Temple to support the Axemen while the Norse cavalry handle the Slingers. Sometime later, another attack will come from the west, then from the north again and so on.

When the starting Gold stockpile runs dry, one group of Laborers can be sent to claim the Gold Mine west of the camp near a Settlement. A second group can claim the second Gold Mine south of the map. After all gold gathering technologies have been researched, the Pharaoh can empower one of the Mining Camp and the player can cast Prosperity to obtain a massive amount of Gold. Players should be prepared to send some of their troops to respond to potential raids by the enemy. Meanwhile Chiron should be sent to grab the Wedjat Eye Relic south of map and the Nose of the Sphinx Relic located on a hill overlooking the camp. A Monument should also be built to begin generating Favor needed to raise Myth Units later on.

When advancing to the Heroic Age, Hathor is the better choice as she provides cheaper buildings and the Petsuchos Myth Unit who will substitute for Chariot Archers (these cost Wood which is too scarce on the map). Gargarensis will not train as many Myth Units so Nephthys’ technologies will not be as useful in this scenario. His fourth attack however will be much stronger, with an army consisting of a Siege Tower, War Elephants, Scarabs and Axemen. Players can begin training Spearmen who can take on the pachyderms while being supported by Petsuchos and Axemen. Construction of Migdol Strongholds will be needed for additional defense and to train Camelry who can assist taking out the Siege Towers. After an attack from Gargarensis, players can use this brief moment of peace to send Chiron and Camelry past the walled Temple of Gargarensis to attack another Temple that spawns Mummies in the upper west corner of the map. This one will provide an additional 1500 Gold but will also spawn two Scarabs. If more Gold is needed, players can also build an additional Town Center to the west and set up a trade route with their existing Market.

Once the player has two sufficiently strong armies, one can stay behind to continue defending the camp from attacks while the other one moves ahead to defeat any of Gargarensis’ units guarding the Tamarisk Tree. The Crocodiles should also be killed as they will attack Laborers. Once the path is clear, any idle Laborers can be tasked into cutting it down. Roughly 30 Laborers can hack at the Tamarisk Tree at once. Gargarensis will cast Plague of Serpents when the player’s Laborers approach but they can easily kill the cobras on their own. Before hacking at the tree, additional defensive structures should be built around it for defense. Gargarensis may send Laborers of his own to build Towers or Walls, but the player’s army standing guard can easily take them out. It is not necessary to build a Lumber Camp as the tree does not actually provide Wood. The player can continue to play on the defensive until the Osiris Piece is recovered. Gargarensis will also attempt to raid the Laborers by sending an army of Anubites so heroes should be ready to dispatch them. If the camp is overwhelmed, it can always be abandoned. As long as the Osiris Piece is recovered, the player will be rewarded with victory.

Additional Tips

 * Shortly after the scenario begins, Gargarensis will cast Vision on the player’s Town Center to confirm its location. This cannot be avoided unless a Monument is built very early but that will not increase the player’s chances of survival.
 * It is not necessary to attack Gargarensis’ base but more aggressive players may do so partly to stop attacks and partly for fun. This will require many attempts.
 * Player may send Laborers to wall off some of the shallow passes across the river to force any enemy units to pass through specific locations, making attacks more predictable.
 * There is no use in defending the Norsemen provided in this scenario as they cannot benefit from many Egyptian technologies. If they are killed, they can be replaced with Camelry.