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This article is about the expansion. For the campaign, see Battle for Greece (campaign).
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Release date: November 14, 2024

Welcome to Chronicles, a new narrative experience for Age of Empires II set in the world of ancient history. Chronicles builds on the core gameplay of Age of Empires II with innovative new mechanics and a complete visual reimagining inspired by classical antiquity.
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Chronicles features Age of Empires II gameplay set in antiquity. In Battle for Greece, the first chapter of this multi-part saga, fight with three new ancient civilizations and experience a grand narrative campaign, from the Ionian Revolt to the Peloponnesian War.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Chronicles: Battle for Greece is an upcoming expansion and game mode in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. It is the seventh expansion for the Definitive Edition, and twelfth overall for Age of Empires II. It is the second expansion which focuses solely on single-player content. The expansion is scheduled to release on November 14, 2024.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Chronicles is a new game within Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and as such, it is a spin-off in the main series. Battle for Greece is the first installment in the game, similar to how The Age of Kings is for Age of Empires II. As a new game, it has its own civilizations, campaigns, technologies, units, etc. though generic units, generic technologies, and generic buildings are heavily inspired from Age of Empires II. The civilizations from this mode are also available in base Age of Empires II game variant in all game modes other than Ranked and Quickplay.

The game was made with the involvement of the developers as well as community members such as the mod authors of the Romae ad Bellum mod, who became part of the CaptureAge team. The story of the grand campaign was written under the narrative leadership of Dr. Ben Angell, PhD in Ancient History, who is also a member of CaptureAge.[2]

Campaign[]

Chronicles Grand Campaign map

Main article: Battle for Greece (campaign)
In this inaugural chapter of a multipart saga, players will engage in a campaign that spans over a century of history. Experience the fury of Persia during the Ionian Revolt, make ready to defend Greece throughout the Greco-Persian Wars, witness the dawn of democracy in the golden age of Athens, and brace yourself for the devastating trials of the Peloponnesian War. Encounter legendary figures along your journey like the fierce warrior queen Artemisia, the cunning strategist Themistocles, and the valiant general Brasidas — each brought to life with stunning voice acting and vivid storytelling.
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The expansion introduces a new approach to storytelling in Age of Empires II with animated cutscenes, new music, and voice acting, similar to campaigns in Age of Mythology. The campaign comprises 21 scenarios covering over a century of history, with portrayals of famous battles including Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis, and features renowned historical characters including Themistocles, Pericles, and Lysander. The campaign features gameplay variety and a host of unique scenario mechanics.

Civilizations[]

The expansion introduces three new civilizations which are available only in single-player (alongside regular Age of Empires II civilizations), and in multiplayer unranked matches. They are distributed in two new architecture sets.

Architecture set Civilizations
Mediterranean (name TBA) Athenians Chronicles Athenians
Spartans Chronicles Spartans
Mesopotamian (name TBA) Achaemenids Chronicles Achaemenids

Both sets share the Archaic Age building models with each other, but not with Age of Empires II civilizations' Dark Age building models.

Ages[]

Buildings[]

  • Town Center Chronicles Town Center
  • House Chronicles House
  • Mining Camp
  • Lumber Camp
  • Mill Chronicles Mill
  • Farm
  • Market
  • Barracks
  • Archery Range
  • Stable
  • Siege Workshop
  • Temple Chronicles Temple
  • Port Chronicles Port: Economic naval building which can train civilian ships and the Lembos
  • Shipyard Chronicles Shipyard: Military naval building which can train advanced warships
  • Fish Trap
  • Academy Chronicles Academy: University equivalent
  • Outpost
  • Palisade Wall
  • Palisade Gate
  • Gate
  • Watch Tower Chronicles Watch TowerGuard Tower Chronicles Guard TowerBastion Chronicles Bastion
  • Stone WallFortified Wall
  • Fort Chronicles Fort: Castle equivalent
  • Wonder Chronicles Wonder

Units[]

  • Town Center Chronicles Town Center
    • Villager female ChroniclesVillager male Chronicles Villager
  • Barracks
    • Levy Chronicles LevyMaceman Chronicles MacemanSwordsman Chronicles SwordsmanParagon Chronicles Paragon: All-purpose infantry unit
    • Spearman Chronicles SpearmanGuardsman Chronicles GuardsmanElite Guardsman Chronicles Elite Guardsman: Anti-cavalry infantry unit
    • Hoplite Chronicles HopliteElite Hoplite Chronicles Elite Hoplite: Greek regional heavy infantry unit which grants armor to other nearby Hoplites
  • Archery Range
    • Bowman Chronicles BowmanLaminated Bowman Chronicles Laminated BowmanRecurve Bowman Chronicles Recurve Bowman: Basic archer unit
    • Skirmisher Chronicles SkirmisherElite Skirmisher Chronicles Elite Skirmisher: Anti-archer archer unit with minimum range
    • Cavalry Archer Chronicles Cavalry ArcherHeavy Cavalry Archer Chronicles Heavy Cavalry Archer: Mounted archer unit
    • Gastraphetoros Chronicles Gastraphetoros: Archer unit with a powerful attack which is inaccurate at long range (Hand Cannoneer equivalent). Requires Flaming Arrows.
  • Stable
  • Siege Workshop
    • Battering RamCapped RamSiege Ram
    • MangonelOnager
    • ScorpionHeavy Scorpion
    • Siege Tower
  • Fort Chronicles Fort
    • Palintonon Chronicles Palintonon: Trebuchet equivalent
  • Temple Chronicles Temple
    • Priestess Chronicles Priestess: Monk equivalent
  • Market
    • Trade Cart
  • Port Chronicles Port
    • Lembos Chronicles LembosWar Lembos Chronicles War LembosHeavy Lembos Chronicles Heavy LembosElite Lembos Chronicles Elite Lembos: Scouting ship with weak melee attack that costs no gold. Strong vs. Galleys and Catapult Ships, weak vs. Monoremes and Incendiary Rafts.
    • FishingShipDE Fishing Ship
    • Transport Ship Chronicles Transport Ship: Its carry capacity increases automatically on Age-ups, rather than being tied to technologies.
    • Merchant Ship Chronicles Merchant Ship: Trade Cog equivalent; trades between Ports. Can choose the ratio of wood and gold generated while trading when Antiquity Mode is enabled.
  • Shipyard Chronicles Shipyard

Unique units[]

  • Immortal melee ChroniclesImmortal ranged Chronicles Immortal: Achaemenid infantry that can switch between melee and ranged modes
  • Strategos Chronicles Strategos: Athenian infantry unit that increases the attack value of nearby units.
  • Polemarch Chronicles Polemarch: Spartan hero unit with a build limit. Increases attack speed of nearby units.
  • Hippeus Chronicles Hippeus: Spartan heavily armoured infantry unit.

Technologies[]

Quill icon This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.
  • Barracks
    • Suplliesicon Supplies
    • SquiresDE Baggage Carriers - Squires equivalent
    • ArsonDE Arson
    • Battle Drills Chronicles Battle Drills - Two-Handed Swordsman upgrade equivalent (benefits the Levy line exactly like the Two-Handed Swordsman upgrade does, and costs the same)
  • Archery Range
    • ThumbRingDE Thumb Ring
    • ParthianTacticsDE Parthian Tactics
  • Stable
    • BloodlinesDE Bloodlines
    • HusbandryDE Husbandry
  • Port Chronicles Port
    • GillnetsDE Scoop Nets
    • DryDockDE Drums
    • ShipwrightDE Shipwright
  • Shipyard Chronicles Shipyard
  • Academy Chronicles Academy
    • Target Practice Chronicles Target Practice: Ballistics equivalent
    • Flaming Arrows Chronicles Flaming Arrows: Chemistry equivalent, unlocks Gastraphetoroi and Leviathans
    • Lighthouse Chronicles Lighthouse: Heated Shot equivalent
  • Temple Chronicles Temple

Unique technologies[]

Here lies is the bigger difference from Age of Empires II - in each of the third and fourth Ages, there are two mutually exclusive technologies that can be chosen at the Fort. Players can research one of two unique technologies in the Classical Age, and one of another two in the Imperial Age.

Main article: Unique technology (Chronicles)

Unique gameplay mechanics[]

  • Achaemenids - Town Center upgrades: Civic Age onwards, the Achaemenids can choose 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, Military Town Center, and Defensive Town Center.
  • Athenians - Policies: The Athenians can choose one policy out of three at any Town Center which provides an additional bonus to the player, viz. Economic Policy, Military Policy, and Naval Policy.
  • Spartans - Polemarch: The Spartans have a unique hero unit that empowers nearby allies. They get one for free in the Civic Age, and are limited to one. They get another one in the Classical Age, and are henceforth limited to two. The Polemarch can choose between one of two additional technologies to add an additional effect to its aura, in addition to increasing its aura radius. The Polemarch itself becomes stronger with Age ups and two other technologies.

Multiplayer[]

2DE Chronicles civilization sets

New and old civilizations in Age of Empires II game variant

The self-contained game offers limited multiplayer experience, as it does not feature any ranked ladder. Players can play them in any non-Ranked multiplayer game mode in Chronicles variant alongside base Age of Empires II civilizations. They are also available in the Age of Empires II variant in all singleplayer and multiplayer modes other than Quickplay and Ranked; players can change their "civilization set" in lobby settings to switch between Age of Empires II (default), Chronicles (so that only Chronicles civilizations are shown), and All Civilizations (so that both base game and Chronicles civilizations can be selected simultaneously).

Naval rework[]

One of the major features of the expansion is the new approach to naval warfare for the new civilizations, which differs significantly from the base Age of Empires II system, and is based on the system in Romae ad Bellum. It includes the division of the economic and military naval aspects into two different buildings and addition of various new types of warships.[3] It removes suicide units (the Incendiary Raft line in Chronicles) from the counter triangle, and introduces the Monoreme. Further, the Fire Ship equivalent is now a trash unit, and has a more defined counter role. Galley deathballs are also prevented by the addition of the long range Catapult Ships. Lastly, each warship is upgraded separately right from the start, instead of the common Castle Age War Galley technology that Age of Empires II civilizations utilize. The Leviathan flagships are the only specifically anti-building warship, which also adds a bit more spice through its aura effect.

Resources[]

  • Oysters Chronicles Oysters: A shoreside resource which can be harvested by Villagers and Fishing Ships for 450 gold.
  • Mouflon: New huntable containing 140 food.

Lobby settings[]

Players can choose to enable Antiquity mode in lobbies, which allows Oysters to spawn and trading ships to choose the ration of wood and gold they generate.

Scenario Editor objects[]

All the new Scenario Editor objects are available in the base Age of Empires II game mode variant as well:

Heroes[]

  • Aristagoras Chronicles Aristagoras
  • Aristides Chronicles Aristides
  • Artaphernes Chronicles Artaphernes
  • Brasidas Chronicles Brasidas
  • Cleon Chronicles Cleon
  • Darius Chronicles Darius
  • Datis Chronicles Datis
  • Leonidas Chronicles Leonidas
  • Lysander Chronicles Lysander
  • Pericles Chronicles Pericles
  • Themistocles Chronicles Themistocles

Hero ships[]

  • Artemisia Chronicles Artemisia
  • Dionysius Chronicles Dionysius
  • Themistocles Chronicles Themistocles, Warship

Units[]

  • Bactrian Archer Chronicles Bactrian Archer
  • Camel Raider Chronicles Camel Raider
  • Cretan Archer Chronicles Cretan Archer
  • Ekdromos Chronicles Ekdromos
  • Goat aoe2DE Goat (Unconvertible)
  • Greek Noble Cavalry Chronicles Greek Noble Cavalry
  • Mercenary Hoplite Chronicles Mercenary Hoplite
  • Mercenary Peltast Chronicles Mercenary Peltast
  • Rhodian Slinger Chronicles Rhodian Slinger
  • Sakan Axeman Chronicles Sakan Axeman
  • Scythian Axe Cavalry Chronicles Scythian Axe Cavalry
  • Sickle Warrior Chronicles Sickle Warrior
  • Sparabara Chronicles Sparabara
  • Tarantine Cavalry Chronicles Tarantine Cavalry

Buildings[]

  • Tent army small aoe2DE Greek Army Tent
  • Tent army small aoe2DE Greek Commander Tent
  • Temple Chronicles Oracle's Temple
  • Sapper Tunnel Chronicles Sapper Tunnel

Decorations[]

  • Marble cliff type
  • Garden piece
  • Archaic fence piece
  • Hedge
  • Shrine
  • Athena statue
  • Ares statue
  • Tropaion
  • Weapon rack
  • Table
  • Pillar
  • Potted plant
  • Siege weapons under construction
  • Siege camp eqiupment
  • Ruined wall
  • Shipwreck
  • Leather tanning rack
  • Market stall
  • Stake barricade
  • Mesopotamian tomb
  • Mesopotamian ruins
  • Mediterranean ruins
  • Fire shrine
  • Grape vine fence
  • Coin pile
  • Shells
  • Lavendar bush
  • Tholos shrine
  • Treasure chest
  • Sacred Tree
  • Athenian, Achaemenid, and Spartan flags
  • More Broken Cart variations

Other features[]

  • New graphical models including 55 new land units, 19 new naval units, and 85 new buildings.
  • Overhaul of naval combat with six military ship types, including ramming and catapult ships.
  • New options for gathering and trading resources at sea.
  • Unique civilization mechanics, including customizable Town Centers and government policies
  • Mutually-exclusive technologies present strategic dilemmas.
  • Customizable commanders boost nearby units.

Comparison with Age of Empires II[]

Chronicles lacks the following entirely:

Trivia[]

  • This is first expansion after the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to introduce new architecture sets, and includes new variations of Scenario Editor objects like:
  • The internal code name of the expansion is Paphos.

Gallery[]

Promotional

References[]

Age of Empires
Main series
ReturnRome-AoEIcon Age of EmpiresRomeIcon The Rise of Rome
Age of Empires Definitive Edition icon Definitive Edition
AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome
AoE2-DLCicon-0 Age of Empires IIAoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings (Release) · AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors
Aoe2 hb HD Edition: AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten · AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms · AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas
AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition (AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last Khans) : AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the West · Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the Dukes · AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India · AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome · AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain Royals · Aoe2 hb Victors and Vanquished · Chronicles: Battle for Greece
Aom original icon Age of MythologyAoM The Titans icon The Titans
AoM Extended icon Extended Edition: AoM Extended icon Tale of the Dragon
AoMIcon-Retold Retold: AoMR Promotional art Freyr New Gods Pack: Freyr · Blank profile Immortal Pillars
3Icon48px Age of Empires III3WCIcon48px The WarChiefs · 3ADIcon48px The Asian Dynasties
Age3DE Icon Definitive Edition: AoE3 USA DLC United States Civilization · Age3DE Icon The African Royals · AoE3 Mexico DLC Mexico Civilization · Age3DE Icon Knights of the Mediterranean
GameIcon-AoE4 Age of Empires IVAnniversary Edition · The Sultans Ascend
Spin-offs
Chronicles logo ChroniclesBattle for Greece (Release)
OnlineAge of Empires Online Age of Empires Online
HandheldAoe2DSicon Age of Empires: The Age of Kings · AoMDSicon Age of Empires: Mythologies
MobileAge of Empires II Mobile (Deluxe) · Age of Empires III Mobile · Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties Mobile · Age of Empires Castle Siege logo Age of Empires: Castle Siege · Age of Empires - World Domination logo Age of Empires: World Domination · AoE Mobile old icon Age of Empires Mobile
TabletopAge of Empires: Expandable Card Game · Age of Mythology: The Boardgame · Glenn Drover's Empires: The Age of Discovery
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