Terrain (Age of Empires: The Age of Kings)

This page contains information about the types of terrain in Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, and how they affect the player in-game.

Overview

Being a turn-based strategy game on square grid maps, similar to the Advance Wars series of handheld games, terrain and building tiles play an important role in-game, as they provide bonuses to units that are placed on top of these.

Some provide improved cover that boosts the defence of the units, whereas other types of tiles provide faster movement and/or cover. Others are impassable (and unbuildable).

Units can move onto all of their player's buildings and most of the terrain tiles. Its important to use the terrain to one's advantage. Units can't move or attack diagonally. Even ranged attacks have their distance calculated in right angles.

Types of terrain

Buildable terrains

Plains

Common grass lands. All wheat (food) resources are located on this terrain. Horse cavalry receives a bonus fighting here. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 2
• Sight cost- 2
• No defence, range or sight bonuses or penalties.

Plains Road

Roads on grass plains that improve movement. Horse cavalry receives a bonus fighting here. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 1
• Sight cost- 2
• No defence, range or sight bonuses or penalties.

Desert

Desert is identical to plains, but is only common on some maps, or as beaches near oceans. Camel cavalry receives a bonus fighting here. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 2
• Sight cost- 2
• No defence, range or sight bonuses or penalties.

Desert Road

Roads in the desert that improve movement. Camel cavalry receives a bonus fighting here. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 1
• Sight cost- 2
• No defence, range or sight bonuses or penalties.

Hills

Hills are a higher elevation of plains. They are similar to mountains in that they provide a +1 range bonus, but the defence and sight bonus is smaller, but also easier to move in. Gold resources are occasionally on this terrain. Although they have different tile sets for plains and deserts, neither horses or camels get any attack bonus. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 3
• Sight cost- 2
• Defence bonus- +20%,
• Range bonus- +1 range
• sight bonus- +2 sight

Hills on the plains

Hills in the desert

Hill Road

Hills roads remove the movement penalty for travelling across hills but still providing all the bonuses to defence, range and sight.. In game, they have different tile sets for plains and deserts hill roads, but neither horses or camels get any attack bonus. Hill roads share the same portrait and combat background as plains road. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 1
• Sight cost- 2
• Defence bonus- +20%,
• Range bonus- +1 range
• sight bonus- +2 sight

Forest

Forests are a common terrain that have both positive and negative effects. Forests are difficult to move and see through and they reduce ranged units attack range, but they also provide extra defence and are great for ambushes with fog of war. The Frankish unique unit, Throwing Axemen, get an attack bonus when fighting in forest terrain. All building types may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 3
• Sight cost- 3
• Defence bonus- +20%,
• Range penalty- -1 range
• No sight bonus

Mountains

Mountains are a terrain that is difficult to move though, but provide some great stats bonuses. Gold resources are occasionally found here. Units obtain a powerful defence, range and sight range, making this a great location for scouting or bombarding the enemy. Only castles or mines may be built here. Siege units may not enter onto this terrain unless there is a road on it (this can be negated by building a castle over the mountain, which will essentially turn a mountain into a mountain road).

• Move cost- 4
• Sight cost- 3
• Defence bonus- +40%,
• Range bonus- +1 range
• Sight bonus- +4 sight

Mountain Road

Mountain roads are some of the best terrain in the game as it provides units with the defence, range and sight benefits of mountains but without the large movement penalty. Mountain roads share the same portrait and combat background as plains roads and both hill roads. Only castles may be built here. All units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 1
• Sight cost- 3
• Defence bonus- +40%,
• Range bonus- +1 range
• Sight bonus- +4 sight

Non-buildable terrains

Bridge

Bridges are essentially roads over water, but they also provide a large boost to defence when positioned on one. They do cost one more movement point than a road. All units may move freely on this terrain and they are the only way to move siege equipment over water.

• Move cost- 2
• Sight cost- 2
• Defence bonus- +40%
• No range or sight bonus

Ford

Fords are naturally occurring spots in a river that allow crossing, but are much more difficult to cross compared to a proper bridge. These fords take more movement to cross and provide a small defence boost. All units except siege units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 3
• Sight cost- 2
• Defence bonus- +20%,
• No range or sight bonus

Swamp

Swamps are the most difficult terrain. They are similar to forests with small defence boost and range penalty, but no buildings may built, and siege units and cavalry are not able to enter. Melee cavalry are actually not able to attack units positioned in swamps, but they may retaliate. All other units may move freely on this terrain.

• Move cost- 3
• Sight cost- 2
• Defence bonus- +20%,
• Range penalty- -1
• No sight bonus

Impassible terrains

River

Rivers are thin stretches of water that often divide up maps. These are impossible to enter, but units can see and uses ranged attacks over them. To cross a river, players need to find a ford or bridge. It shares the same terrain portrait as a ford.

• Move cost- N/A
• Sight cost- 2
• No defence, range or sight bonuses or penalties

Ocean

Oceans are wide stretches of water representing real oceans at the boundaries of the map or lakes in the center of the map These are impossible to enter, but units can see and uses ranged attacks over them. The only units that are present on oceans are ships during campaign, but players cannot to interact at all with them.

• Move cost- N/A
• Sight cost- 2
• No defence or sight bonuses or penalties
• Range penalty- -1 (though it is not possible to be affected by this)

Special details

Building placement

It is important to consider where to build the town buildings or Castles, as the terrain affects the units positioned there. One important consideration is to not put Archery Ranges on top of forest terrain, since this will reduce the range of archers, which might prevent them from retaliating when attacked at range. Units on top of a building take the building's defense bonus, not the terrain below.

Since buildings reduce movement costs to that of regular roads, the player can use buildings to help reduce travel over difficult forest or hill terrain. Castles can also be used to help bridge mountains.