Anatolia

Anatolia is a Random Map, featured in Age of Mythology. It represents Asia Minor, the modern day Asian part of Turkey.

Overview
''The cold desert beyond the Mediterranean is carved by cliffs and gorges that protect Gold Mines. -Map description.''

This map feels like a combination and inversion of two Age of Empires II maps: Mongolia and Scandinavia, as it features a steppe environement, with many gorges, but also two stripes of sea, covering the north and south part of the map. At the same time, it features many Berry Bushes (unlike in Scandinavia), found close to starting positions, but also scattered around the steppe.

It is recommended to be highly aggressive in this map, even when worshiping a Turtler Major God. The central part of the map is rich in Gold, while most of the wild animals live around the cliffed regions, while some Settlements may be found close to enemy positions.

On land, Castle Drops, Rushes and Booming are all great ways to outperform the enemy's economy, keep the pressure on foes, and prevent them from expanding towards the center. On sea, there should be less emphasis, but do not let the water stripes fall entirely into enemy influence, as they will be able to Boom with Fishing Ships, providing them with an enormous advantage.

Environment
Huntables include Boars, Deer, Wolves and Chickens, while stray Goats are scattered all around the region. There are also moderate amounts of Fish in the two stripes of sea.

As mentioned, there are many cliffs and gorges throughout the central part of the map, where most of the Gold Mines and Relics can be found, but beware of Wolves. The environement itself is one of the most beautiful in the game, combining unique orange lighting (accesed in the Scenario Editor) with a landscape that harmonically merges snow, sand and Pine Forests.

Trivia

 * While the game claims that Anatolia is a cold desert, in reality it can be considered more as a steppe and a semi-arid plateau, as in real life.
 * While Asia Minor appears in-game, Hittites and other natives, such as Phrygians, don't, except for the Trojans, who live however in a coastal region, to the Hellespont, far from the Anatolian Steppe. It is possible that the Hittites were considered as a playable culture (due to the presence of Troy), but ultimately not chosen, for unknown reasons.