Capture

This article is about the scenario in the original Age of Empires. For the scenario in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, see Capture (Definitive Edition).

Capture
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires
Campaign	Yamato Empire of the Rising Sun
Civilization	Yamato
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	3
Previous	Island Hopping
Next	Mountain Temple
Other versions
Definitive Edition	Capture (Definitive Edition)
Map

Capture is the third scenario of the Yamato Empire of the Rising Sun campaign in Age of Empires, and the first in which the player can build a Yamato town. The goal is to capture an enemy Artifact, located at the peninsula in the middle of the map. It was replaced in the Definitive Edition by another map with the same name.

Scenario instructions

Description

“	Capture, 370 AD Your successful raid of the Izumo islands has inflamed your enemies and they have over-reacted by shifting too much of their strength out of position. A weakness has been detected on one of their flanks. Penetrate their defenses where they least expect attack and carry off an important Artifact that they may not be guarding adequately. If you are successful, this raid can demoralize their people and leave their rulers even more vulnerable.	”
—In-game section

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Bronze Age
• Starting resources: 400 food, 400 wood, 200 gold, 400 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 4 Villagers
  • 6 Axemen

Objectives

• Capture Artifact.

Hints

• The enemy controls resources that you need to achieve victory.
• You will need walls and towers to protect your new-found resources.

Players

Player

• Player ( Yamato) - The Player's base is located in the western corner of the map. The Player does not control any gold or stone mines at start.

Enemies

• Izumo ( Greeks): They are sited to the island to the center of the map, whose perimeter has been walled, as well as the "entrance" from the shallows to the island. Their garrison includes Centurions, Ballistae and Guard Towers.
• Izumo ( Babylonians)- They are sited to the south, and include a base similar to the player's. However, they also have a few Sentry Towers to the midway between the player's base and their base, as well as a large starting army of Axemen, that will attack the player's position from the very start of the game.
• Izumo ( Assyrians) - This player is sited to the easternmost part of the map. They also start during the Bronze Age, and have a base as established as the player's, but without many starting Axemen.

Strategy

There are several gold and stone mines on this map, located close to the enemy towns. Capturing them will make everything easier. If the player goes to north-east from their town, there are only a few towers and wandering units protecting them, so controlling the mines will be easier. But it's also quite far from the player's town, so it'll be harder to send reinforcements should the brown Izumo try to take them back. The mines to the south-east are almost in the middle of the enemy town, but that won't be a problem for long.

Build a Dock and train some warships. Having control of the lake will make the scenario easier. Then deal with the yellow town.

Train a few Stone Throwers and a few Composite Bowmen, and attack the yellow town. By taking the buildings down and shooting anything that approaches the player's siege units, the battle shouldn't last too long. Once the player is satisfied that they're defeated, send some Villagers down to gather gold and stone. A couple towers and walls east of the former base will ensure control of the area.

With one of the enemy bases removed from the map, the player can decide if they want to go for the Artifact (located at the red peninsula) or take out the brown town which will send units against the player. If the player manages to claim the Artifact, the town won't matter anymore, so going for the objective will save time.

Reach the Iron Age and upgrade the War Galleys to Triremes so that the player can train Catapult Triremes. Destroy the wall leading into the peninsula, and some of the towers. The player can now send a Scout or Cavalry into the base, take the Artifact, and declare victory.

There is actually a much easier way to beat this campaign. Immediately at the beginning, build an Academy and train as many Hoplites as possible (the player could build two Academies to speed up the process; the total number of Hoplites should be five at the beginning). Start gathering resources (mostly Wood) as the player sends their Hoplites and starting Axemen into yellow's fort and attack them. The player should be able to completely wipe them out. Start gathering Gold after yellow is gone. Build some War Galleys and more Hoplites, then attack brown. They will be fairly strong, but the ships and Hoplites should be able to deal with them. Don't focus on getting to the Iron Age; instead, destroy red's Ballistae with the War Galleys and then build a Stone Thrower to take out the towers that guard their walls. Once the towers are gone, destroy the first wall with the Stone Thrower, then move it towards the second wall and they will capture the Artifact without even getting inside the red player's fortress.

History

Historical notes

“	The Yamato leadership concluded that they could no longer be distracted elsewhere and must at least neutralize the threat presented by the aggressive Izumo clan to the west. When the Izumo and their allies moved too many troops out of position, the Yamato struck. A small Yamato force set up a base on a poorly guarded flank and then moved deep into Izumo lands. The object of the raid was to carry off Izumo relics that were greatly revered by the Izumo people. A successful raid would further lower the prestige of Izumo leaders.	”
—In-game section

Historical outcome

“	The Izumo were caught badly out of position and the Yamato force penetrated the weakened defenses. The Izumo relics were carried off, bringing despair to the people. The Izumo leadership failed again, while Yamato leaders and soldiers were taking on an aura of invincibility.	”
—In-game section

Trivia

• Despite facing Izumo forces in this scenario (which should be Yamato), they are represented by other various civilizations from the game, which are irrelevant to Yamato's history: Greeks, Babylonians, Assyrians. Whether this is intentional, or an oversight by the developers, is unknown.
  • The order of appearance of the aforementioned civilizations is the default setup when a player is creating a new scenario via the Scenario Editor in Age of Empires.
• While most scenarios in Age of Empires are placed in chronological order within their respective campaigns, this level is 5 years earlier than the prior scenario.