“ | Turn back now, mortal. You do not know what you are dealing with here… | ” |
—Gargarensis warns Arkantos and his companions |
Bad News is the eighth scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The objective is to push through Gargarensis' defenses and reach the mine where the remaining prisoners are working.
Summary[]
“ | Invade the bandit stronghold in a two-prong attack to find out what Gargarensis is hiding. | ” |
—Scenario description |
In their search for the remaining citizens of Ioklos taken hostage, the heroes' path is blocked by recently built Fortified Walls. Seeing how such construction could not be the work of an average bandit, Arkantos, Ajax and Chiron split into two camps and prepare for their next battle against a foe more dangerous that they anticipated.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting age: Classical Age
- Starting resources: 800 food, 550 wood, 400 gold, 25 favor
- Starting population limit: 110
- Starting units:
- Starting technologies and upgrades: Copper Weapons, Copper Armor, Copper Shields, Medium Infantry, Medium Cavalry, Medium Ranged Soldiers, Guard Tower, Pickaxe, Hand Axe
- Starting god powers: Bolt, Restoration
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On Easy, Gargarensis has fewer towers guarding his base, and will receive fewer reinforcements by Roc later on in the scenario. Gargarensis does not cast the Meteor god power.
- On Hard and above, the player starts with fewer towers and no Military Academy in Ajax' base. Gargarensis starts in the Mythic Age worshipping Hephaestus, and his reinforcements include additional Minotaurs and Colossi.
- On Titan, Gargarensis' reinforcements include still more Minotaurs and Colossi, and he begins with Hand of Talos and Shoulder of Talos researched.
Objectives[]
- Build up Ajax and Arkantos' bases and fight your way to the mine.
(Your Heroes are initially separated by cliffs. Different types of resources can be found at each site. Some enemy defenses may be more easily reached from one side than the other. Use your forces on each side to help the other progress toward the mine.)
Players[]
- Arkantos ( Zeus): Starts in the Classical Age worshipping Athena. Arkantos' and Ajax' forces are initially divided in two, each beginning with a base in the south of the map with Town Center, with access to different types of resources (abundant wood near Arkantos' town and plentiful food and gold near Ajax'). They must progress northward up the map towards the mine where Gargarensis is forcing the slaves from Ioklos to uncover an Underworld Passage, assisting each other along the way until they can reunite their forces.
Neutral[]
- Underworld ( Zeus): Consists solely of the Greek-style passage to the underworld.
- Ioklos Slaves ( Zeus): The last of the Ioklos prisoners are being forced to excavate the passage to the underworld. They also initially own some Pigs near the east corner of the map.
Enemies[]
- Gargarensis ( Poseidon): Starts in the Mythic Age the harder difficulties. Has blocked off many passes with Walls and Fortresses along with other military buildings. The Cyclops himself stands above the mine where the slaves from Ioklos are working. His forces in the Heroic Age worshipping Ares and Apollo.
Strategy[]
This guide is applied to Hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.
Players should task Ajax' Villagers to gathering food from the Berry Bushes to train more Villagers and build their economy. Only Ajax' base provides safe Gold Mines so more of his Villagers should be tasked to gathering gold. Arkantos' base only has forests available so his Villagers should be tasked on gathering wood and favor from the Temple. Both bases should begin construction of Military Academies and Archery Ranges, and Ajax may need a Temple of his own. The buildings in his base must also be built far from the Town Center and be spread out as much as possible for reasons that will be obvious later on. One Armory should also be build as advancing to the Heroic Age as quickly as possible will make the scenario less difficult. By worshiping Apollo, players can use the Underworld Passage god power to connect both bases, which will help Ajax bypass some of the hazards such as a Fortress atop a cliff. Some soldiers should still remain in his base to protect it from attackers.
A variety of units will be necessary to take on Gargarensis' raids, but Hypaspists are especially useful, as they will deal extra damage to buildings, thanks to Zeus' bonus, and Gargarensis will not train any cavalry units. Ajax' base should also train some Toxotes, as he will regularly be attacked by infantry. Arkantos, on the other hand, can also train Peltasts to defeat the many archers they will face. Gargarensis will first attack Arkantos with a small army of Hoplites and Hypaspists, accompanied by a Minotaur. Later on, these types of soldiers will keep returning, but will be accompanied instead by a Petrobolos and/or Cyclopes. Players can train their own Minotaurs, but they will need protection, as Hippolyta will regularly accompany the enemy.
Before launching an attack, players should research Masons (and Architects if they choose to advance to the Mythic Age) to strengthen their buildings in case they get attacked during their absence. After breaking through the first walls, Arkantos will find a Fortress to the west and some Archery Ranges just east of the walls which are the sources of some of the attacks. Destroying these buildings should slow down the raids on Arkantos' base. Further east, there is another Fortress guarding a Settlement and the pass that Ajax would need to cross to reach Arkantos' base if an Underworld Passage is not available. Destroying it will be necessary to get a higher population cap. Enemy buildings should always be destroyed one at a time as they will spawn Militia which the Hypaspists will need to deal with.
Afterwards, all units can march on through the east pass to reach the mine and just need to continue destroying any building and defeating any unit they encounter. However, once the player has pushed far enough, about as far north as the pond, Gargarensis will cast Meteor on Ajax' base. He will also attack by sending a Roc transporting several Minotaurs and a Colossi (or Hypaspists depending on the difficulty level). This is why spreading out buildings, upgrading them and leaving soldiers behind for protection is a good strategy. The gates to Gargarensis' mine is guarded by several Guard Towers and two Fortresses. Players will need to train Petroboli (or Colossi if they advanced to the Mythic Age) as they deal the most damage against these fortifications. Once both Fortresses overlooking the mine are destroyed, the player will be rewarded with victory. All other enemy buildings can be destroyed first if the enemy raids are hindering progress too much.
Additional tips[]
- It is best to not fully destroy any enemy walls encountered. The gaps can be used to funnel enemies in a smaller space and the enemy will not attempt to destroy their own walls.
- There is only one way in and out of this map, so make sure to wall it (or double wall it) and guard it with Fortresses / Watch Towers.
- Gargarensis will attack earlier if the walls closest to the player's bases are destroyed, so it is best to leave those alone for as long as possible.
- More defensive players can build their own walls near the enemy walls to slow down attacks.
- Use the Pegasus to scout, as there are many cliffs in this map.
- It is possible to pull off a surprise attack by advancing to the Heroic Age by Apollo, utilizing the Underground Passage god power near the Fortresses, and destroying them as quickly as possible.
- One way to deal with the Roc is to build many towers by the cliff over which it will pass. Their arrows will deal enough damage to kill it and its cargo.
Closing Cinematic[]
Despite suffering tremendous losses, Gargarensis has succeeded in clearing the passage to the Underworld. After warning Arkantos of not interfering further, the Cyclops casts a Meteor to scatter the Atlantean's soldiers and escapes into Erebus.
Trivia[]
- This is the first of two scenarios in the Fall of the Trident campaign where the player must coordinate two bases. The other one is Where They Belong.