Archaic Age (Chronicles)

This article is about the first Age in Chronicles. For the first Age in Age of Mythology, see Archaic Age (Age of Mythology).

Archaic Age
Age
Availability
Introduced in	Chronicles
Civilization	All civilizations
Age number	1
Followed by	Civic Age

The Archaic Age is the first Age in Chronicles in standard games. It is followed by the Civic Age. It corresponds to the Dark Age in Age of Empires II.

Strategy

Much like the Dark Age in Age of Empires II, the Archaic Age is about setting up an efficient early economy, scouting the map for resources and enemy positions, and to carry out and plan an attack or economic strategy to follow in the next Ages.

Available buildings

Civilian buildings

• Town Center¹ - trains and upgrades Villagers (only 1 can be built)
• House - provides +5 population room
• Mill - drop-off point for food
• Lumber Camp - drop-off point for wood
• Mining Camp - drop-off point for gold and stone
• Farm - provides food (175 initially)
• Port² - drop-off point for food from fishing and gold from Oysters, creates and upgrades Civilian ships and Lemboi

1. The Town Center is also a defensive structure.
2. The Port also produces one type of military/scouting unit.

Military buildings

• Barracks - trains and upgrades infantry

Defensive structures

• Outpost - simple tower; does not attack, but provides visibility in a large area
• Fortified Outpost (upgrade of Outpost) - attacks enemies and makes nearby friendly units move faster (Macedonians and allies only)
• Palisade Wall - hinders enemies for a short time
• Palisade Gate - integrated into Walls, allows allies to pass

Available units

Civilian units

At the Town Center:

• Villager - constructs buildings and gathers resources

At the Dock:

• Fishing Ship - gathers food from fish and Fish Traps
• Transport Ship - transports units

Military units

At the Barracks:

• Levy - basic infantry unit

At the Port:

• Lembos - early scouting ship

Available technologies

• Loom - Villagers receive +15 HP and +1/+2 armor

Civilization-specific mechanics

Athenians

The player's policy can be changed at will (for a gold cost) from the default (Economic Policy) to Military Policy or Naval Policy.

Macedonians

The player can toggle between one of three Recruitment Doctrines at the Barracks to change the cost and/or training time of units.

Trivia

• The shield in the icon is this Persian shield. It is a crescent-shaped shield, which were widely used in Mesopotamia, appears in Scythian artwork, and was also found in Thrace, where it was called pelta and commonly used by the Peltasts.

Gallery

Archaic Age buildings are the same for all civilizations, except the Lumber and Mining Camps