Naval Battle (Age of Empires)

This article is about the scenario in Age of Empires. For the scenario in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, see Naval Battle (Age of Empires II).

Naval Battle
Scenario information
Game	Definitive Edition
Campaign	Tutorial Campaign: Ascent of Egypt
Civilization	Egyptians
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	10
Previous	River Outpost
Next	A Wonder of the World

Naval Battle
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires
Campaign	Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign
Civilization	Egyptians
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	10
Previous	River Outpost
Next	A Wonder of the World

Naval Battle is the tenth scenario of the Tutorial Campaign: Ascent of Egypt which teaches the player the importance of Artifacts, and optimizing naval combat.

Scenario instructions

Description

“	The forts along the Nile have brought peace to the south, but the Libyans have once again become a problem. T hey have been raiding the coasts and intercepting trade ships bringing goods from other lands to Egypt. Recently, they captured an important Ship belonging to the pharaoh himself, and carried off a treasured Artifact sent to him by the kings of Canaan. Build a naval base in this area of the coast and attack the Libyan raiders in the Nile Delta. Recover the stolen Artifact and return it to your Town Center.	”
—In-game section of the Definitive Edition

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Bronze Age
• Starting resources: 300 food, 250 wood, 200 gold, 200 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 3  Villager

• Gaia units: None

Objectives

• Recover the stolen Artifact and bring it back to your Town Center.

Hints

• Quickly build up your navy to clear the sea of Libyan ships and invade their encampment.
• The island off your coast is fortified by enemy towers, so be cautious when exploring the water.
• Woodcutting technologies not only improve your wood gathering rate, but also increase the range of your ships, towers, and ranged land units. This makes them very important.
• After you gain control of the seas, build up an invasion force of chariots, archers, and infantry and use transports to carry them to the island.
• You need only to fight your way into the center of the Libyan town, capture the Artifact, and bring it back to your Town Center. Destroying all the Libyan units and buildings is not necessary to complete the objective.
• There is gold near your Town Center that can be used to research technologies at the Storage Pit that will improve the fighting ability of your soldiers.

Description

“	The Nile forts have brought peace to the south for many generations but the Libyans have once more become a problem. They have been raiding your coasts and intercepting trading ships heading for the Nile delta. They recently captured an important ship belonging to the Pharaoh and carried off a treasured Artifact sent to him by the kings of Canaan. Build a naval base in this area of the coast and attack the Libyan raiders at their homeport. Recover the stolen Artifact and return it to your Town Center.	”
—In-game section

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Bronze Age
• Starting resources: 200 food, 200 wood, 200 gold, 200 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 3  Villagers

• Gaia units: None

Objective

• Recover stolen Artifact and bring it to your Town Center.

Hints

• Quickly build up your navy to clear the sea of Libyan ships and invade their homeland.
• The fortified island off your coast is inhabited only by enemy towers and lions.
• After you gain control of the seas, build up an invasion force of chariots, archers, and infantry and use transports to carry them to the island.
• You need only to fight your way into the center of the Libyan town, capture the Artifact, and bring it back to your Town Center.
• There is gold near your Town Center that can be used to research technology at the Storage Pit that improves your fighting ability.

Players

Player

• Player (Egyptians): The player starts with a base on the south-western piece of land. There is no stone available so the initial stock must suffice.

Enemies

• Libyan Raiders (Egyptians): The Libyan Raiders with a base on the northern piece of land and have also no access to stone. The enemy also owns some Sentry Towers on the island east of the player and train Ships, Chariots, and Bowmen.

Player

• Player (Egyptians): The player starts with a base on the south-western piece of land. There is no stone available so the initial stock must suffice.

Enemy

• Enemy (Greeks): The enemy (whose name is picked randomly from the pool of Egyptian AI names) starts with a base on the northern piece of land and has also no access to stone. The enemy also owns some Sentry Towers on the island east of the player and trains Ships, Cavalry, Hoplites, and Stone Throwers.

Strategy

The key to victory is a strong navy, so gather plenty of wood and build a few docks. Once the enemy navy has been sunk, the player can send over a few soldiers - Hoplites and Chariot Archers are both quite effective. Find the artifact (located at the back of the enemy base) and finish the scenario.

Don't waste any time looking for resources on other islands, because apart from a few trees, there is nothing to find.

History

Historical notes

“	Amenemhat IV (c. 1815 — 1807 BCE) stepped in the footsteps of his father, Amenemhat III, and his grandfather, Senusret III. He finished his father's building projects and launched several military and trade expeditions to secure Egyptian interests within her sphere of influence. Trade was thriving, especially with the cities in the Levant, such as Byblos in modern Lebanon. Amenemhat IV died without a male heir so his sister, Sobekneferu, became the first woman to rule Egypt. Only two years after her succession, She died suddenly without an heir, ending the 12th dynasty. The 13th dynasty was considerably weaker than its predecessor and Egypt descended into a gradual decline. lts rulers, unable to control the whole country, allowed Libyan raiders and migrating semi-nomadic peoples from the northeast to move freely into Lower Egypt. Of these peoples, the Hyksos were the most dangerous. T hey started to replace local rulers, creating their own State within Egypt's borders. This period is described as the Second Intermediate Period by historians, and lasted until the eviction of the Hyksos many centuries later. Egyptians were early innovators in boat building because of the importance of the Nile for transporting goods, and the role of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. Naval battles were comparatively rare in Egyptian history, however, as the Egyptians did not have ambitions to become a maritime power during this period. Nevertheless, Egypt fought in two notable sea battles for the defense of the kingdom. The first was the siege of the Hyksos capital of Avaris between c. 1570 and c. 1544 BCE when the Egyptians used boats to take control of the canals around the City. The second battle was much later, during the reign of Ramesses III, Who fought a naval battle against pirates and raiders of the Sea Peoples at the Battle of the Delta (c. 1175 BCE). Ramesses won the battle and Egypt was one of the few civilizations to survive the initial decades of the Bronze Age Collapse, when migrating peoples destroyed most of the established Near Eastern civilizations. Sea warfare of this era revolved primarily around hand-to-hand fighting. Ships closed with each other and soldiers boarded enemy ships or engaged in missile fire. Ships needed to be fast to catch enemies, but also had to carry a contingent of troops for boarding. Successful battles depended on bringing overwhelming strength to bear on isolated parts of the enemy fleet.	”
—In-game section

Victory

“	The Libyan raiders are defeated and their ships burned. lt is unlikely that this will be the end of them, however. As long as the trade between Egypt and her neighbors prospers, there will always be those wanting to steal our wealth.	”
—In-game section

Loss

“	Your hastily built navy was destroyed as quickly as it was constructed. Your ships lie at the bottom of the sea, where the fish will use them as homes. Your surviving sailors are furious and have tied your legs with a hemp rope. You would feel better about the situation if the other end of the rope was not tied to a heavy boulder-anchor, which is being pushed overboard. You are about to become seafood.	”
—In-game section

Historical notes

“	The Egyptians were early innovators in boat building because of the importance of moving up and down the Nile. They never became noted as a maritime power, however, perhaps because they were a rich culture lacking the incentives that drove the Greeks, Canaanites, and others to sea. The Egyptians did not ignore the sea completely. They maintained a lively trade down the Red Sea and there are several accounts of Egyptian ships engaging in naval battles. Persistent irritants at sea were pirates and raiders from the North African coast, notably nearby Libya. In contrast to the Egyptians, the Libyans were relatively poor and the rich trade passing in and out of the Nile was a continual temptation. Sea warfare of this era was primarily a matter of hand-to-hand fighting. Ships closed with each other and soldiers boarded enemy ships or engaged in missile fire. Ships engaged in warfare needed to be fast to catch prey or enemies, but had to carry a substantial contingent of troops for boarding. Successful tactics depended mainly on bringing overwhelming strength to bear on isolated parts of the enemy fleet.	”
—In-game section

Historical outcome

“	Sea raiders and invaders were defeated consistently for most of ancient Egypt's history. The most famous attempted invasion took place around 1170 BC. A combined fleet of Libyans and other invaders, referred to by the Egyptians as the Sea Peoples, were defeated in a massive naval engagement at the mouth of the Nile. The Pharaoh, Rameses III, had mobilized every man of fighting age for the defense. The battle is portrayed in great detail on the walls of the temple he built at Medinet Habu. The Egyptian records of land and naval fighting of this era are the best of the few surviving accounts that offer some explanation for the destruction of Mediterranean civilization around 1200 BC.	”
—In-game section