Migration selection
Migration is a random map in Age of Empires II and Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition.
Age of Empires II[]
Description[]
| “ | A tiny island that can't support you for long before you must move to the mainland, where the fighting is fierce. | ” |
Migrations is a map that promotes naval warfare as well as moving out early from the initial location. The map depicts a large central continent with plenty of resources, especially wood, however stone and gold mines are somewhat more scarce. Wild Boars, herdable animals and Berry Bushes can also be found on the central continent. Normally, the continent in the center also has cliffs and mid-sized elevations and hills. All Relics can only be found on the continent. The continent also has wild predators that can be found scattered and in small numbers.
All players start on small islands with the basic start-up found in most maps, with the exception that there are no Wild Boars on the initial island. The sea has also plenty of fishes.
Viable strategies[]
As the resources on the initial locations are scarce and very limited, players should go and fight for control of the central continent. However, if the players are forced out of the continent, they may still try to get control over the surroundings seas and getting wood through market interchange. Fortunately, the continent is large enough for every player to create a second settlement.
Tactics that work on Archipelago or Islands may work on Migration only to a degree, since migrating to the continent and putting more focus on taking it, is always an option for the opponent. Early Galley rushes may disrupt an opponents' early economy and Land-to-rush tactics may enable the player to conquer early an opponent island and take the resources there instead of migrating to the continent. Preventing an opponent from escaping from his island can end the game quickly.
Once the players lands on the central landmass, the first thing they should do is scout the central areas and find a place where they can create a settlement that they can defend from both land and sea raids, while also searching for steady sources of stone and gold. Turtling on the central landmass is a viable strategy, but it may leave the player's original settlement on the initial island prone to be invaded.
Civilizations that have advantages in Migration:
- Naval civilizations: Vikings, Spanish, Byzantines, Malay, Italians, Portuguese, Persians, Koreans, Japanese, Saracens, etc.
- Civilizations with good defense and particularly good towers and Castles: Koreans, Incas, Teutons, Byzantines, Turks, etc.
- Special mentions: Since Cumans can create a second Town center since the Feudal Age, they can migrate very effectively to the continent early on, despite having one of the worst navies in the game. As there are boars, herdables and Berry Bushes on the continent, civilizations that have bonuses regarding those items may get an advantage if getting control of the central landmass. These include: Franks, Mayans, Tatars, Celts, Britons etc.
Civilizations that may struggle:
- Civilizations with poor navy: the Aztecs for example.
Similar maps[]
- Archipelago
- Islands
- Team Migration
- Vinlandsaga (Age of Mythology)
- Ceylon (Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties)
Age of Empires IV[]
| “ | While initially safe, players must soon migrate to more prosperous lands for both space and resources | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description | ||
Migration was released in Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition at the start of Season Five and shares many similarities with its earlier implementation in Age of Empires II.
Features[]
Just like its earlier counterpart in the series, Migration features each player starting on a small island with limited resources, with a large island in the center. Parts of the shore on this island are lined with cliffs, although not enough to make landing or docking an issue. This island also contains 1 or 2 Sacred Sites (3 vs 3 and 4 vs 4 seem to more regularly spawn 2), and 1 Trade Post in the center. Curiously, despite being a naval map, the map does not contain any Coastal Trade Posts, and given the size and contested nature of the small island, trade with the available Trade Post is not likely to be profitable. The central island also always contains three Relics, while each player will start with one of the other Relics on their island. Stealth Kelp Forests dot the sea surrounding the islands.
Resources[]
As the map description implies, the starting islands do not contain many resources. Each player starts out with 1 medium Berry Bush patch, 1 Small Gold Mine, 1 Small Stone Outcropping, 11 Sheep, one large Deer pack, and a few small patches of forest. And while players may need to expand to the central island for extra space, they won't actually find too many more resources there compared to on some other maps. 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 have the same amount of resources on this island: 2 medium Berry Bush patches, 2 Huntable Boar, 4 large Deer patches, and 3 Large Stone Outcroppings and Large Gold Mines, along with additional irregularly shaped patches of wood. These numbers increase in 3 vs 3 and again in 4 vs 4. Because of the somewhat cramped nature of the resources on the central island, resources are more likely to be blocked by other features. As with most naval maps, Deep Water Fish and Shoreline Fish abound.
Gallery[]
