Age of Empires II: The Conquerors

Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion (sometimes abbreviated to AoC) is the expansion pack to the 1999 real-time strategy game Age of Empires II. The Conquerors is the fourth installment of the Age of Empires series by Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios. The game features five new civilizations (the Aztecs, Mayans, Spanish, Huns, and Koreans), four new campaigns, eleven new units, twenty-six new technologies, new gameplay modes, new maps and a few minor changes to the gameplay.

Gameplay
The Conquerors Expansion has new gameplay features and changes such as the game modes, Defend the Wonder, King of the Hill, and Wonder Race. New maps were also included which are based on real life geographic locations and new winter and tropical terrian. In the game the infantry are able to garrison in defferent siege engines increasing their compatibility, while ships are able to form formations for more effective fighting.

Micromanagement is made easier, by an improved scripted Artificial Intelligence of villagers and siege weapons. Villagers will now commence automatically start gathering resources, if they build resource gathering sites, while siege weapons will not fire if their attack is likely to harm friendly units. Additionally, an in-game option has been added to allow the game to automatically replenish farms after they are exhausted. Chat commands are introduced, in order to communicate more effectively with allied computer players.

The Conquerors Expansion adds four additional single player campaigns. These are based on Attila the Hun's rise to power, Montezuma's defense against Cortez, and the adventures of El Cid. The fourth campaign, "Battles of the Conquerors," is actually a group of unrelated single scenarios, each based on a significant historical battle. These include the Battle of Agincourt, the saga of Erik the Red, and the Battle of Hastings, among others.

As of June 2006, The MSN Gaming Zone CD-ROM section was shut down for Age of Empires players, as well as many other CD-ROM games. GameSpy was selected by Microsoft as the official replacement for online play, although players can also choose from alternatives such as IGZones. There are several other Age of Empires II: The Conquerors servers world-wide. For example, due to technical reasons most Chinese players play in CGA, which usually has over 6000 online players at a time.

A clan is a community of players within a particular game, and in this case many players in AoC belong to a clan, to get into a clan it usually involves being "recruited". A high ranked member of a particular clan will invite members to join, joining has its benefits such as giving players a reputation, a virtual gaming "home" in which a user can get downloads, and be filled in on the latest news. Many Clans use a tag system in which a user must reflect the clans "tag". Clans are held together by the players themselves, IGZones.com has a clan based profile integrated into their website where the leader of a clan can accept, deny, promote, and demote members of their clan.

Civilizations
Five additional playable civilizations come with the The Conquerors Expansion, including the Aztecs and Mayans, who share a newly created Meso-American architectural style:

The Aztecs and Mayans completely lack the ability to train cavalry units. This is partially balanced by the fact that they start with eagle warrior infantry units, who have many of the advantages that cavalry has. Both civilizations also lack all gunpowder units. The Huns are also unique in that they do not build houses to support their population, allowing them to ignore the maximum production limit of units, and focus on building up their economy and military instead.

Units
The Conquerors Expansion introduces eleven additional unique units to Age of Empires II: Age of Kings:
 * Eagle Warrior & Elite Eagle Warrior (fast-moving infantry)
 * Halberdier (an upgrade to the Pikeman)
 * Jaguar Warrior & Elite Jaguar Warrior (anti-infantry infantry, unique to Aztecs)
 * Plumed Archer & Elite Plumed Archer (tough foot archers, unique to Mayans)
 * War Wagon & Elite War Wagon (heavily armored ranged cavalry, unique to Koreans)
 * Conquistador & Elite Conquistador (mounted gunpowder users, unique to Spanish)
 * Hussar (an upgrade to the Light Cavalry)
 * Tarkan & Elite Tarkan (anti-building cavalry, based on Tarkhan, unique to Huns)
 * Petard (one-use siege units that explode)
 * Turtle Ship & Elite Turtle Ship (heavily armored, short-range cannon ships, unique to Koreans)
 * Missionary (swift mounted monks that cannot carry relics, unique to Spanish)

New Heroes
Yi Sun Shin, Attila the Hun, Bleda the Hun, El Cid, The Imam (in the second campaign of El Cid), Oda Nobunaga, King Sancho, Montezuma, Erik the Red, Harold the Saxon, William the Conqueror, Henry V and King Alfonso.

Technologies
The Conquerors Expansion introduces in total twenty-six additional unique technologies to Age of Empires II: Age of Kings video game. This technologies can be purchased from various in-game buildings, most notably the castle (which now being able for the player to research the unique technology(ies) of the civilization), and give the player an additional bonus depending on the technology.