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The Ancient Relics is the fifth scenario of The New Atlantis campaign in Age of Mythology: The Titans. The main objective is to capture four Relics from queen Amanra, in order to punish the Egyptians for coming to Sikyos's defense.

At the same time, the Atlanteans must defend a special, ancient Temple from being destroyed.

Summary[]

While Kastor sailed to Scandinavia with the intention to destroy the Tower of Odin (which he did, by using Kronos' Deconstruction Wonder power), a separate expedition was sent to Egypt, in order to steal some relics to force the Egyptians to leave the city of Sikyos.

As Amanra receives information regarding the siege of Sikyos, she is suddenly visited by the now immortal Arkantos. After she and her guards bow to Arkantos, he immediately warns her that she is about to be attacked by the Atlanteans, in her own homeland, where she is undefended.

As the Egyptians prepare to muster troops to defend their lands, the Atlantean expendition lands close to an abandoned Temple, devoted to Kronos.

Objectives[]

  • Garrison the four sacred relics into the Kronos Temple. If the Kronos Temple is destroyed, you are defeated.

Relics[]

  • Marmashu guards a Relic that provides Bronze once captured.
  • Saqqara guards a Relic that provides Earthquake once captured.
  • Desert guards a Relic that provides Tornado once captured.
  • Avaris guards a Relic that provides Ancestors once captured.

Players[]

Enemies[]

Note: all enemies begin in the Archaic Age.

  • Marmashu (AoMR Ra icon Ra) - The most immediate threat in this scenario, Marmashu is located to the northeast. The first to advance to the Classical Age, they may often attack early in the game with Barracks units and Sphinxes. They have average numbers of buildings, including a Market, two Temples and three Barrackses.
  • Desert (AoMR Set icon Set) - The weakest enemy, they consist of forces that guard a Relic to the south, that include three Avengers and a large band of Spearmen. Once the Relic is picked up, they will also spawn large numbers of Animals of Set.
  • Saqqara (AoMR Set icon Set) - The second weakest player, they occupy the namesake city of Saqqara, to the west. They have less structures that the other two cities, but boast two Migdol Strongholds, as well as some starting forces, composed of Scorpion Men, Slingers and Animals of Set.
  • Avaris (AoMR Ra icon Ra) - The most distant enemy, found to the southeast, and usually the last to be encountered. They boast the most well-developped city in this scenario, including two Town Centers, a Migdol, an Armory, and three Barrackses. Their walls are Citadel Walls, one of the reasons for which early-to-mid game attacks are ill-advised.
  • Patrolling Phoenixes - Four Phoenixes that guard the outskirts of Avaris, and the second reason to avoid Avaris at early-to-mid game. Use Heroic Arci against them.

Strategy[]

This guide is applied to hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.

Setting up[]

First, set up some essential structures. Build a Manor (as the player begins with almost occupied population), then a Military Barracks, then a Docks.

After these structures are build, task one or two Citizens to wall some or all passages from enemies, in order to wall up the Temple of Kronos, and send the rest of the Citizens to the Settlement across the river. It is not advised to completely wall off every single approach, but to instead wall all but one approach to both the Settlement across the river and the Temple of Kronos, as fully walling every approach will prompt the enemy to attack the walls rather than trying to detour around them. Avoid placing towers behind any walls the player does not want to be attacked; if enemies are attacked by the towers, they will try to break down the walls to reach the towers.

As the Citizens prepare these, task the Military Barracks to produce some soldiers, to defend against early attacks from Marmashu. Also, task the Docks to produce Fishing Ships to exploit the Nile's fish, and one Siege Bireme that will harass Saqqara. The last one is especially important as Saqqara cannot yet produce military ships, so they will be at the player's mercy this way (just beware of the coastal Migdol).

Also, don't forget to scatter the troops a bit, in order to pursuit scouting Priests and kill them, sending 100 Gold down the drain for the enemies.

Early aggression[]

Once Marmashu reaches the Classical Age, prepare for attacks. The Town Center at the north should be completed by now, so wall the cliff to its northeast; this way, early raids from Marmashu will be delayed.

The waters that connect Saqqara and the player should be completely under control, to delay Saqqara's progress for as long as possible. After repulsing one or two attacks, turn some military units into Heroes and attack the Desert player's position in the south. Send the Heroes first, as the Avengers will easily massacre groups with their special attacks. After the guards are defeated, steal the Relic and leave the area; large numbers of Animals of Set will spawn, but they can be ignored.

Saqqara and Avaris should have already reached the Classical Age, and the first will immediately prepare attacks of its own. Use Tornado if they overwhelm the player, but it is recommended to save the power for later in the game.

Attacking Saqqara[]

If the player can afford it, research Enclosed Deck and find the right moment (read: after fending off one or two attack from Marmashu and Saqqara) and send a decent numbers of troops to the coasts of Saqqara (again, be careful of the Migdol). Focus on the gates that wall off the Relic and capture it. Also, send the attacking army to the south of the gates to attack nearby Laborers and ruin Saqqara's economy, to further hinder its progress.

After garrisoning Saqqara's Relic, the scenario will become much easier.

Attacking Marmashu and Avaris[]

In this stage of the game, at least two cities will have reached the Heroic Age, and will start establishing firmer defenses, including Migdols. As soon as the Relic of Earthquake is garrisoned, immediately head for Marmashu. Make an opening to its walls, and send a Hero to steal their Relic. Cast Tornado if the need arises.

Destroy some of their structures if the player judges it will delay Marmashu's progress, but it is recommended to head straight for Avaris.

Before attacking Avaris, Time Shift a Palace closer to the frontlines, and build some Destroyers. Then convert any Arci available into Heroes and send the forces to the western outskirts of the city. There, kill the Phoenixes quickly, and try to make a breach to the defenses, by casting Earthquake. This should be more than enough to allow for an opening to the Relic. Storm the city and send a Hero to secure the Relic and return it to the Temple of Kronos.

All in all, there are multiple enemies, with well developed bases, but if the player reacts quickly and captures the Relics as quickly as possible, they can beat the scenario in less than 35 minutes.

Additional tips[]

  • The most important strategy for this scenario is to abuse the weak startup of the enemies. All of them begin in the Archaic Age, with few starting forces, so it is a must to put on early pressure.
  • In order to somewhat delay the progress of Marmashu, try destroying some of their Houses, found on the outskirts of the city.
  • It is highly recommended to have a single Contarius Hero in waiting, in order to quickly steal any Relics before enemies can catch up.
  • It is recommended to focus Citizens mainly on wood and gold, in order to invest in ships, archers, and buildings. Also, an excess in gold can be very helpful in this scenario in order to build large groups of Automata. They are very cheap, can repair each other (which is very useful, as the player lacks any healing methods), and are a reliable meatshield for other units.
  • Once an enemy player's Relic is stolen, they are effectively neutered and no longer a threat to the player. (Triggers accomplish this by setting that player's handicap to an extremely low number.)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the first of two scenarios in The New Atlantis campaign where Kastor is not a playable Hero, the other being Betrayal at Sikyos.
    • In Betrayal at Sikyos, Kastor appears as a unit belonging to a player controlled by AI. In this scenario, Kastor does not physically appear at all.
    • This is also the second of two scenarios that have Relics as the main objective, the first being Strangers of the Fall of the Trident campaign.
  • This is the only scenario of all campaigns in which there is no campaign hero to play. At most, Queen Amanra and Arkantos (God) appear in the cutscenes before and after the scenario.
  • Saqqara and Avaris were both real-life ancient Egyptian cities, located on Lower Egypt.
    • Oddly enough, the scenario's location is claimed to be to the very west of the Nile, to the Sahara. This is probably an oversight of the developers.
  • Ironically, the city of Saqqara worships Set, despite the events of the Egyptian part of Fall of the Trident. This was probably done since Saqqara was the ancient City of the Dead.
  • On the southern part of the scenario (where there is a body of water), if the player builds some ships, the ships will fire on the water as if there is an invisible target. Below the surface of the water there are several hidden units. These consist of an Ulfsark, Throwing Axeman, Hoplite, and Huskarl (Cinema Arkantos, Zeus, Blue); Dwarf, Throwing Axeman, Hoplite, and Ulfsark (Ruins, Kronos, Grey); Hoplite, Ulfsark, Throwing Axeman ((Unnamed Faction), Hades, Green); Hoplite, Ulfsark, Throwing Axeman (Patrolling Phoenix, Oranos, Yellow); and a Dwarf and Laborer (Saqqara, Set, Orange). These units can be seen by entering editor, loading the level, and raising the level of that part of the scenario to above the water line.
  • The player has less starting resources on this level when played on Hard difficulty compared to Titan where the player starts with lots more resources. This may be an oversight by the developers.
    • Despite the player starting with higher amount of resources on Titan difficulty, it will still prove a bit more difficult since the AI, like in regular Random scenario games, gain a +100% handicap.
Campaigns in Age of Mythology
Learn to PlayHunt for a Killer ยท Pleasing the Gods ยท Uninvited Guests
AoM foil FotT Fall of the TridentOmens ยท Consequences ยท Scratching the Surface ยท A Fine Plan ยท Just Enough Rope ยท I Hope This Works ยท More Bandits ยท Bad News ยท Revelation ยท Strangers ยท The Lost Relic ยท Light Sleeper ยท Tug of War ยท Isis, Hear My Plea ยท Let's Go ยท Good Advice ยท The Jackal's Stronghold ยท A Long Way From Home ยท Watch That First Step ยท Where They Belong ยท Old Friends ยท North ยท The Dwarven Forge ยท Not From Around Here ยท Welcoming Committee ยท Union ยท The Well of Urd ยท Beneath the Surface ยท Unlikely Heroes ยท All Is Not Lost ยท Welcome Back ยท A Place in My Dreams
AoM foil TGG The Golden GiftBrokk's Journey ยท Eitri's Journey ยท Fight at the Forge ยท Loki's Temples
AoM foil TNA The New AtlantisA Lost People ยท Atlantis Reborn ยท Greetings from Greece ยท Odin's Tower ยท The Ancient Relics ยท Mount Olympus ยท Betrayal at Sikyos ยท Cerberus ยท Rampage ยท Making Amends ยท Atlantis Betrayed ยท War of the Titans
AoM foil TotD Tale of the DragonRising Waters ยท To the West ยท From Below ยท Trapped ยท Confrontation ยท The Realm of the Dead ยท The Water Palace ยท A Way Out ยท Yin and Yang
Mythical BattlesReginleif's Rally
StandaloneClose to Home ยท E3 2001 Story Showcase (cut) ยท PAX East scenario ยท Tutorial ยท Kronos' Escape
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