โ | A swampy forest line divides the team forests.It cannot be sealed and it may become the last source of wood. | โ |
—Map description |
Sandbank is a random map introduced in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas. The map features multiple Sandbanks separated from each other by wide channels.
Overview[]
As with the majority of maps featured in the expansion, Sandbank features amphibious terrain where both land units and ships may clash.
Players will start out in their own sandbank or will share it with their teammates in team matches. Each sandbank has no fixed shape and can form thin and snaky edges with some sandbars extending off. The sandbanks are separated by wide channels that can traversed through all the way to enemy islands by land units as well as ships.
There are shallows along the edges of the Sandbanks which the land units can cross through, while the deeper pools of water farther in the channels will only be accessible to ships to move across.
Environment[]
Just like the other Southeast Asian maps, the players will start out with Water Buffaloes and Rhinoceroses except they will be not be found as close to the player's starting position. Deer will be found grazing near the shallows and will be a risky choice of to hunt from Villagers as they will be far from the center of the sandbank. Individual Tigers will also be found in the sandbanks and will attack soft targets on sight.
The trees featured in the players' starting positions consist mainly of rainforest trees. 2-3 individual trees will be close to the player's Town Center with larger individual forests farther away near the coast. A giant grove of Mangrove Trees will be featured in the center of the map and will be a dangerous source of Wood and will be extremely difficult to take control of just as the map's description states.
One positive note to the map is that Gold Mines and Stone Mines will be very close to the player's Town Center, providing easy and safe access to Gold and Stone. Gold and Stone Mines will also be found in fair numbers in the large grove of Mangroves trees in the center of the map.
Box Turtles will be thriving in the turquoise colored shallows providing an easy Food source and Tunas will be found in the deeper pools where Fishing Ships can gather them.