Achaemenids

This article is about the civilization in Chronicles: Battle for Greece. For civilization in other games, see Persians.

Civilization	Technology tree

“	I am skilled both in hands and in feet. As a horseman, I am a good horseman. As a bowman, I am a good bowman, both on foot and on horseback. As a spearman, I am a good spearman, both on foot and on horseback.	”
—Inscription from the tomb of King Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam^[1]

The Achaemenids are an Asian civilization in Chronicles: Battle for Greece.

They correspond with the Persians from Age of Empires and are the ancestors of the later Persians from Age of Empires II.

Characteristics[]

Civilization bonuses[]

Shipyards work 15% faster (-13.04% time taken).
Town Centers can be individually upgraded to be more powerful starting in the Civic Age.
Stable technologies research 50% faster (-33% time taken).

Unique unit[]

/

Immortal: Fast unit which can attack in melee mode as an infantry and in a short ranged mode as a foot archer.

Unique technologies[]

Sparabaras: Spearmen give +1 pierce armor to nearby units.
Reed Arrows: Bowmen, Cavalry Archers, ranged Immortals, and Galleys fire 25% faster (-20% reload time).
Scythed Chariots: War Chariots have +60% trample radius.
Karda: Infantry and foot archers +15% hit points.

Town Center upgrades[]

Civic Age onwards, the Achaemenids can choose to upgrade their Town Centers individually, improving them and/or granting specific buffs in a radius. Each Town Center can be upgraded permanently by one of three upgrades:

Economic Town Center: Nearby Villagers gather 15% faster.
Military Town Center: Nearby military production buildings work 50% faster.
Defensive Town Center: Increases the Town Center's durability and firepower while enhancing the attack speed of nearby units by 15%.

Team bonus[]

Houses are built 100% faster (-50% time taken).

Overview[]

The only economic bonus of the Achaemenids is via their Economic Town Center upgrade, which improves Villager work rate around the specific upgraded Town Center. They also have faster-building Houses, which can save a few Villager-seconds in the early game and translate to slightly more resources collected.

Their unique unit, the Immortal, is a versatile and fast infantry unit which can switch between melee and ranged modes. It is not particularly strong in either mode, and has very few hit points while also being countered by Skirmishers.

The Achaemenids have excellent cavalry, due to having a full Stable tech tree, including access to the exclusive War Chariot line (which also gains a unique technology), as well as due to faster researching Stable technologies. Their Cavalry Archers have all important technologies, lacking only Ring Archer Armor. However, their foot soldiers are sub-optimal. Their foot archers are great up until the Classical Age, but do not scale well in the Imperial Age due to lacking the Recurve Bowman upgrade, Gastraphetoros, and aforementioned Ring Archer Armor. However, the presence of Bracer ensures their foot archers are decent. If the player chooses to research Reed Arrows, their Galleys and archers, including the Skirmisher and ranged Immortal lines, fire 25% faster, outshining most foot archers in terms of damage output.

Their heavy infantry is horrendous. The only good thing about it is the presence of Supplies. They lack the Battle Drills technology and Paragon upgrade. As a non-Greek civilization, they do not have the Hoplite. Just like their archers, their infantry also lack the last armor technology, which makes it even worse. The only saving grace is the presence of the Elite Guardsman. However, the Spearman line has an aura effect with Sparabaras. The lack of Plate Mail Armor also means that Elite Immortals are effectively two pierce armor weaker than their Castle Age counterparts. Their infantry and archers, including Immortals and Cavalry Archers, can get even stronger if the player chooses Karda, which grants +15% hit points to these units.

Their navy benefits early on from their faster-working Shipyards, but due to lacking access to the Heavy Incendiary Ship and Onager Ship, they have reduced late-game options. They can still pack a punch due to Reed Arrows improving Galley line Rate of Fire. Their siege is average, having access to Siege Rams, but not to Heavy Scorpions. Their Monastery is below-average due to lacking several technologies. They have decent defenses, lacking Architecture, but having access to all defensive buildings as well as the Defensive Town Center upgrade.

Campaign appearances[]

The Achaemenids are playable in the first seven (1–7) scenarios of the Battle for Greece grand campaign.

In-game dialogue language[]

Villager

Military

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Priestess

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King

For unknown reasons, the King doesn't have any voice lines in Chronicles, nor even sound files related to this unit.

AI player names[]

When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Achaemenid AI characters.

Darius (Old Persian: 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavaʰuš): Also known as Darius the Great, was the third ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, grandson of Cyrus.
Datis (Old Persian: Dātiya): Median military commander who served in the Persian army during the Ionian Revolt and the first Persian invasion of Greece.
Artaphernes (Old Persian: Artafarna): He was the half-brother of Darius and the satrap of Lydia, which he presided over from his capital at Sardis
Cyrus (Old Persian: 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 Kūruš): Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, liberating Persia from Median rule.
Cambyses (Old Persian: 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 Kambūjiya): May refer to Cambyses I, King of Anshan in Persia and father of Cyrus the Great, or to Cambyses II, second ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, and the son of Cyrus.
Xerxes (Old Persian: 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 Khshayārsha): Xerxes was the son of Darius, known for invading and defeating the Greeks at Thermopylae and Artemisium, and capturing and sacking Athens.
Artaxerxes (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 Artaxšaçāʰ): The name of several Achaemenid emperors, including Artaxerxes I, third son of Xerxes and fifth ruler of the Achaemenid Empire.
Mardonius (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎼𐎯𐎢𐎴𐎡𐎹 Mr̥duniyaʰ): Nephew of Darius, and a Persian military commander during the Greco-Persian Wars.
Boges: Persian military commander serving under Xerxes I, known for his decision to burn the Persian fort at Eion, along with himself and all its occupants, rather than surrender it to the Athenians.
Tissaphernes (Old Persian: Ciçafarnāʰ): Satrap of Lydia and Ionia, and a Persian military commander who served under several Achaemenid emperors.

Portrayal[]

“	Ruling over an originally nomadic Persian people, the Achaemenids came to prominence in the mid-sixth century BCE under the legendary King Cyrus. Cyrus rebelled against the Medes who ruled over his people, then launched a series of stunning campaigns that saw him conquer both the mighty Babylonian Empire and the wealthy kingdom of Lydia. Military might may win empires, but administrative skill is required to retain them. The Achaemenids divided their empire into provinces called satrapies (governed by men called satraps). An enormous highway known as the royal road spanned the empire, traversed by armies, administrators, the travelling court of the king, and speedy messengers who formed an institution known as the Angarium. From their vast empire, the Achaemenids could summon enormous armies, levied from an extraordinary variety of peoples. Describing the army of Xerxes, the historian Herodotu mentions Sakan axemen, Assyrians with helmets of twisted bronze, Indians bearing reed bows, Ethiopians draped in leopard skins, mounted Sargatians equipped with lassos, and innumerable other contingents, drinking rivers dry as they marched towards Greece. In Battle for Greece, this terrifying empire is yours to command if you have the strength – or yours to defy, if you have the courage.	”
—^[1]

Trivia[]

The icon and emblem of the Achaemenids is the Persian version of the Sphinx or the Lamassu, whose murals and sculptures can be found in Achaemenid art and architecture, especially in their ceremonial capital of Persepolis.
The following units and technologies are unique to the Achaemenids, but are not marked as such: Heavy Cavalry Archer, Parthian Tactics, (Elite) War Chariots, Raider, and Imperial Cavalry.
Internally, the names of the Town Center upgrades have the suffix "Satrapy" in the game files.
The Scenario Editor flag object uses the Shahbaz bird art when the player's civilization is set as the Achaemenids. This mythical creature is also emblazoned in the civilization icon of the Persians in Age of Empires.
The Achaemenids are the second iteration of the Persians in the series to not have access to any elephant units, after the Persian civilization in Age of Empires Online, as well as the first iteration of the Persians to have access to the final range technology for their Archery Range units.
- While the Persians were historically heavily associated with elephants, their usage by the Achaemenid Empire in warfare, especially against the Hellenistic states, seems to be extremely scant, with the only record being the use of a mere 13 war elephants at the Battle of Gaugamela against Alexander. Additionally, the mountainous geography of Greece makes it difficult to utilize war elephants effectively.
The Achaemenids have several similarities to the Persians in Age of Empires II, such as the swordsman line being upgradeable only to the third Age form, having cavalry and archer bonuses and technologies to boost them, and faster ship production. On the other hand, they differ significantly from the Persians in Age of Empires, who also depict the Achaemenid Empire, as the Persians lack the Chariot line entirely and focus instead on elephant units, which the Achaemenids in Chronicles do not have. The Achaemenids can improve the attack rate of their Galley line with a unique technology, which is a civilization bonus for the Persians in Age of Empires. Like both previous iterations, the Achaemenid army is also vulnerable to conversion due to lacking an important conversion resistance technology.