โ | Wellโฆsomeone had to come and help you put an end to this. | โ |
—Arkantos on the Trojan War |
Scratching the Surface is the third scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The main objective is to establish a base in the coasts of Troy, and destroy two Trojan harbors.
Summary[]
โ | Arkantos reaches Troy in time to reinforce the Greek armies. Now he must break through Troy's outer defenses. | โ |
—Scenario description |
After Arkantos retrieves the Trident from Kamos' pirates, he and his forces sail to Troy immediately, in order to break the siege and help the Achaeans find Helen.
Once he reached an Achaean camp, he is greeted by Agamemnon, and then, he meets Ajax, another Achaean noble and a friend of Arkantos. After a brief discussion, Ajax says that they had little luck breaking through the Trojan walls, but Agamemnon claims they will change that, and gives directions to Arkantos, who must establish a position to the southeast of the camp.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting age: Archaic Age
- Starting resources: 800 food, 750 wood, 600 gold, 20 favor
- Starting population limit: 15
- Starting units:
- Starting technologies and upgrades: Medium Ranged Soldiers, Medium Infantry
- Starting god powers: Lure
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On Easy, the Trojans have fewer units guarding the way to the unclaimed Settlement, as well as in the two Trojan harbor settlements. The harbors are not guarded by Watch Towers, and the player begins with Heavy Infantry and Watch Tower researched. There are also fewer Trojan units and towers in the pass which leads to their main base.
- On Moderate and below, the player begins with Medium Ranged Soldiers researched, and receives a free Watch Tower after discovering the unclaimed Settlement.
- On Hard and above, there are more units guarding each of the Trojan harbors, as well as more towers in the pass which leads to their main base. The Trojans start with Boiling Oil and the Hand of Talos upgrade for their Colossi researched.
- On Titan, there are no Chickens, Goats, or Gold Mines near the first unclaimed Settlement. Each of the harbors is guarded by two Watch Towers, rather than one, as is the second unclaimed Settlement in the southeast of the map. The Trojans begin with the Stone Wall and Shoulder of Talos upgrades researched.
Objectives[]
- Lead your men to the unclaimed Settlement.
(You should be able to defeat the Trojan patrols, but watch out for enemy Towers.) - Build a Town Center.
(Select Villagers, then build a Town Center on the unclaimed Settlement.) - Destroy the Trojan docks.
(When you destroy the first Dock, Agamemnon will land reinforcements.) - Destroy the last Trojan dock.
(Heroes are very good at killing myth units, such as the Colossus.)
Players[]
- Arkantos ( Poseidon): The player starts with Arkantos and Ajax themselves, as well as a small force of Hoplites, Hypaspists, and Toxotes. They are restricted to the Heroic Age.
Allies[]
- Ajax ( Zeus): This player controls just two Fishing Ships and a Trireme. They have no in-game function, other than being attacked by Trojan Juggernauts, right after the player builds a Town Center, except that the player can use his Trireme to defeat the scouts and even to protect the Dock.
- Agamemnon ( Zeus): Same as with the Ajax player, though this player also controls the Tents found near the Greek camp. The player can use his Trireme in the same way as the Trireme from Ajax. After the destruction of one of two Docks, he reinforces the player with medium amounts of cavalry, two Petrobolos, and with Agamemnon himself.
Neutral[]
- Walls of Troy ( Hades): This player has no in-game function, and simply represents a civilian part of the city of Troy, to the northeast.
- Villagers ( Poseidon): They start with ownership of three Houses, two Sentry Towers, and eight Villagers around the Settlement to the southeast of the player's starting positions. These convert to the player's control once they approach.
Enemies[]
- Troy ( Hades): The enemy of this scenario, they are in control of various patrols between the camp and the Settlement, the two Docks that must be destroyed, as well a large base to the north, that will continuously send armies, consisting of various Greek units, once the player establishes a Town Center.
Strategy[]
Land-based[]
This guide is applied to Hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.
Once the player begins the game, there are two quick options for reaching the Settlement. The first is to walk to the coast, thus minimizing the number of Trojan patrols that attack their units. The other (and the most recommended one) is to simply use the Transport Ship to ferry the starting forces to the Settlement's location, thus avoiding injuries, as Poseidon players cannot heal their units. When the forces reach the Settlement, the player will be given several Villagers, in order to construct the Town Center.
Once the Town Center is completed, the camp and the ships anchored there will suddenly be under attack by five Juggernauts, that will make short work of everything in the area. These come from two Docks, one to the northwest, and one to the east of the player's base. In order to beat this scenario, the player must destroy both Docks.
Immediately start accumulating as many resources as possible, in order to advance to the Classical Age (or even up to the Heroic Age) and train enough forces to destroy the eastern Dock. Do not waste time, as the Trojans will start their counterattacks around minute 10. Also, avoid creating any structures close to the sea, as the Juggernauts will attack them later, and wall as many forests as possible, in order to delay counterattacks, and make them more predictable.
Once on the offensive, quickly reach the Dock and attack it, even ignoring the defenders if possible. Once it goes down, Agamemnon's forces will reach the coast, and come under the player's side; these include 8 Hippeus, 8 Prodromi, 2 Petroboli and Agamemnon himself.
The next step is to move to the next Dock. Go through the center, and destroy the Watch Towers guarding the area, along with any Trojan counterattacks. Advance with the heroes, instead of the army, as when the player reaches the harbor, there will be three Silver Colossi. Distract them, and use the Petroboli to breach the walls, and attack the Dock. Once the second Dock goes down, the player beats the scenario.
Additional tips[]
- Don't invest in the sea, as there is the danger of being attacked by Juggernauts.
- Quickly go for the first Dock, as the army that will arrive soon will make this scenario a piece of cake.
- Ares is a good minor god, because of his Cyclopes, but it might also be a good idea to choose Hermes, because of Spirited Charge, which boosts Agamemnon's cavalry and stacks well with Dionysus' Dionysia and Thracian Horses.
- Train additional heroes once Troy reaches the Heroic Age, as they will often attack with Nemean Lions and Minotaurs.
Water-based[]
Despite common misconception, a Water-Based Strategy is extremely viable for this scenario.
Follow the above strategy, however instead of focusing on massing land force, instead train up to 12 hoplites, and 12 Toxotes (to counter Trojan raids) and wall off the area around the player's base, Get to the Heroic Age as quickly as possible, after this is done, unless the player has to train more defensive forces, or research upgrades the player should shift food gathering villagers onto Wood and Gold. Then train many Pentekonters and Juggernauts, the Trojans will only use Triremes and Juggernauts, which are countered easily by Juggernauts and Pentekonters respectively. Using this units, focus on destroying the docks, and whatever ships in the way, before then going onto the next dock, the player will not have to worry about Agamemnon's army and can use them either defensive or aid the defensive forces. After both docks are destroyed, the player wins.
Additional tips[]
- Advance to Heroic as quick as possible to train Juggernauts and Pentekonters.
- Do not train Triremes, as they are a trivial/pointless unit for this scenario, and are countered easily by Juggernauts.
- Scyllas are great vs. Ships but take some time to destroy buildings, so invest in Juggernauts to destroy the Docks quickly.
- Agamemnon's army has little use when landing, so either use it to aid the ships, delete the units (apart from Agamemnon) or use them as defensive, reserve soldiers.
Titan difficulty[]
- There are Watch Towers near the Town Center, so make sure to get rid of them before sending Villagers.
- If a water-based strategy is used, the player should advance to Heroic age with Dionysus, as he provides sea myth units, which can protect the Fishing Boats with a relative low cost.
- It is recommended to build walls around the Town Center.
- There are only a few Gold Mines on this map; if needed, siege the city to the left for gold.
Trivia[]
- To the west of the northwestern harbor, there is an islet, with a Monkey, similar to the one seen in Omens, probably as a recurring gag.