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Nineveh, 612 BCE

Finally, Babylonia has been liberated from Assyrian oppression. Civil wars, rebellions and foreign invasions have brought the once-mighty empire to its knees. The Assyrians have fallen back behind the imposing walls of their capital at Nineveh while an army of Babylonians and Medes converge on the capital of Assyria. Destroy the Wonder in Nineveh to break the power of the Assyrian definitively.
—In-game campaign description in the Definitive Edition

The Conquest of Nineveh (named Nineveh in the original) is the eighth and last scenario of the Voices of Babylon campaign in Age of Empires. The goal is to destroy the Wonder that is being built by an enemy team.

Scenario instructions

Starting conditions

Description

Nineveh, 612 BCE

Finally, Babylonia has been liberated from Assyrian oppression. Civil wars, rebellions and foreign invasions have brought the once-mighty empire to its knees. The Assyrians have fallen back behind the imposing walls of their capital at Nineveh while an army of Babylonians and Medes converge on the capital of Assyria. Destroy the Wonder in Nineveh to break the power of the Assyrian definitively.

Hints

  1. You and your allies are in a disadvantageous position. It is vital to your success to quickly turn the odds and gain control over major resource deposits.
  2. Catapults are your best chance of destroying enemy walls. Use these weapons wisely to gain control of the map.
  3. The Medes re sending their best soldiers and ships to help tear down the walls of Nineveh. Your scouts report that they will arrive from the northeast.

Objectives

  • TBD

Starting conditions

Description

The Assyrians have been pushed back from Babylon and now the tide has turned. The Assyrians have fallen back behind the mighty walls of their capital at Nineveh. Destroy Nineveh's Wonder to break the power of the Assyrians forever. If necessary, destroy any Assyrian allies that stand in your way.

Objectives

  • Destroy Nineveh's Wonder.

Players

Player

  • Player (Babylonians): The player starts with an advanced town with some villagers and a little fleet of War Galleys, in the south island.

Enemies

  • Nineveh (Assyrians):
  • Nimrud (Assyrians): Nimrud has an advanced town with walls and towers in the west side of the river.
  • Assyrian Defenders (Assyrians): The Assyrian Defenders have an advanced town with walls and towers in the west side of the river.

Player

  • Player (Egyptians): The player starts with an advanced war camp (without Town Center nor Villagers) and a little fleet of Scout Ships in the south island.

Enemies

  • Ninevah (Greeks): This player will build a Wonder that the player must destroy onset of the game, using a single Villager. They have a large fortified town to the north of the map, which is guarded by a huge army at all directions.
  • Enemy (Babylonians): This player has a town with in the west side of the river. will aggressively attack the player throughout the game.
  • Enemy (Assyrians): This player owns some Sentry Towers on the island to the southeast and northwest of the map.
  • Enemy (Minoans): This player owns a few Catapults in an enclosure southwest of Nineveh near the port of the great city.
  • Enemy (Hittites): This payer owns a couple of Sentry Towers and a couple of Catapults in an enclosure northwest of Nineveh
  • Enemy (Phoenicians): has a couple of Villagers trapped in a forest in the west side of the river

Strategy

This guide is suited for playing the original Age of Empires version.

Babylonia (Blue, Egyptians) start off at the southern end of the map, with a sizable town, but no Villagers. Ninevah immediately starts building a Wonder.

There are six enemy teams on this map, but four of them are only represented by a handful of units or buildings, and represent no strategic threat. The other two are the red Ninevah (Greeks, and the yellow Enemy (Babylonians).

You don't have any Villagers, so start training a few Priests to convert some, and some Hoplites and Stone Throwers to protect them. As the units train, some enemy ships might get too close for comfort. If this happens, send your navy to deal with them, and train some new ships in case you lose any.

Send your units to the yellow island. Destroy all towers with the Stone Throwers, and use the Hoplites against soldiers. Convert any Villagers you come across. Ship some of them back to your base, to build a Town Center and gather resources, and keep others to build military buildings on the yellow island.

Keep destroying troop-producing buildings and towers until you feel in control of the yellow island. Start gathering resources for your final assault.

Ship units across to the red island - the south side is a good landing site. Destroy anything that represents a threat, apart from those soldiers you convert (Elephant Archers and Phalanxes are particular good conversion targets). Once you find the Wonder, destroy it to win the scenario.

Historical outcome

Nineveh has been destroyed and the Assyrian Empire has been broken. A new era has arrived - one of Babylonian rule. The coalition congratulates you on a job well done.

The combined assault by resurgent Babylonia and the Medean newcomers from the east took Nineveh in 612 BC, ending Assyrian power forever. In a few decades, the mighty Assyrians went from capturing Babylon (648 BC) and Susa (639 BC) to ceasing to exist as an empire.

Babylonia entered its last period of glory. Nebuchadnezzar II was its most successful king, remembered best for capturing Jerusalem, capital of Judah, in 597 BC. Following the revolt of Jerusalem in 587-586 BC, many residents were carried off to Babylon and kept there for several generations. This was the Babylonian Captivity described in the Bible.

The Babylon of this period was perhaps the most impressive city in the world. The wealth of trade and empire was expended on monuments, ziggurats, and palaces. The giant walls and Ishtar Gate were described in detail by Herodotus and listed as a wonder of the world. The famous Hanging Gardens were built to resemble a verdant mountain and remind Nebuchadnezzar's wife of her homeland.

The final Babylonian Empire lasted until 539 BC. During that year, the people of Babylon surrendered their city to the great Persian king Cyrus. They had grown tired of incompetent rulers and were ready to accept the wise and powerful Persian king.

Trivia

  • It is possible to ally with the grey enemy by tributing them resources. They will even share a victory with the player.
  • In the original Age of Empires, the player plays as the Egyptians despite representing Babylon. It is unclear whether it was an oversight or purposely done.
    • This may represent Babylon allying with the Medean forces (according to the game's historical outcome).
Campaigns in Age of Empires
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Names in brackets represent campaigns and scenarios renamed and/or reworked in the Definitive Edition.
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