Age of Empires Series Wiki
Advertisement
Age of Empires Series Wiki

The Peloponnesian War reaches its grim conclusion as Lysander prepares to starve out the city of Athens. But overcoming desperate men is never an easy task…
—In-game summary

The Fall of Athens is the sixth scenario of the third act of the Battle for Greece grand campaign in Chronicles: Battle for Greece, and the twenty-first and final scenario overall.

Intro[]

Like a razor-beaked hawk swooping down on a crowd of startled jackdaws, Lysander shattered the unsuspecting Athenian fleet. At long last, the navy that shielded Athens from the horrors of siege was vanquished.

Lysander bore down on Athens, determined to have his victory - but not before driving every Athenian garrison out of Asia Minor, so that their city would packed with hungry mouths. No fleet, no hesitancy, no law human or divine stood between Lysander and the triumph he sought.

Scenario instructions[]

Starting conditions[]

Objectives[]

Main objectives[]

  • Capture the Monument on the Acropolis by defeating surrounding enemy units

OR

  • Capture and hold 0/3 Athenian Storehouses by defeating all surrounding enemy units. Holding the Storehouses will starve the Athenians into surrender.
  • Do not let the Athenians build 80 warships.

Athenian Warships: x/80

Secondary objectives[]

  • Destroy the Forts at Eleusis so that King Agis can establish a base.
  • Build a Wonder to access special technologies.
  • Use flares to direct Agis' forces.
  • Choose a mutually-exclusive technology at your Wonder.

Hints[]

  1. The Athenians cannot be allowed to regain naval supremacy. Keep the Athenian navy's numbers below 80. Destroy their Shipyards to stop them from rebuilding their fleet.
  2. Take Eleusis so that King Agis can establish a base; he will be a useful ally.
  3. This scenario features special technologies which can be researched at a Wonder if you build one. Each player you conquer will enable extra technologies. You can defeat Athenian allies by destroying their Forts and Town Centers. However, to defeat the Athenian Navy, you must destroy their Forts, Shipyards, and Ports.
  4. Athens is well-fortified; you are strongly advised to take the city through starvation. To do so, capture and hold the three storehouses outside the city. Be warned: the desperate Athenians will attempt to retake them.

Players[]

Player[]

  • Player (Spartans Chronicles Spartans): The player begins with a small fleet defending their harbor, and a decent army in their base. They have a simple economy going and many technologies already researched. They are positioned in the western corner of the map. They must capture either the Athenian Storehouses or the Monument on the Acropolis.

Allies[]

  • King Agis (Spartans Chronicles Spartans): King Agis is nowhere at the beginning of the scenario, but once the player defeats Eleusis, he lands soldiers at their base, finishes pillaging it, and builds a camp just outside its wall, training units from tents and building a Market for trading. They will defend themselves until the player directs them with flares, and then attack almost exclusively with melee infantry.

Enemies[]

  • Athenian Navy (Athenians Chronicles Athenians): The Athenian Navy has a small base on an island between Salamis and Athens, and another along Athens' coast. They also have a small base further north along the coastline. They produce warships primarily, but also have trade units and a Market on land to gather resources. They will resign once their Forts and Shipyards are destroyed.
  • Athens (Athenians Chronicles Athenians): Athens is rarely hostile unless attacked. They have a large city in the eastern corner of the map that is heavily defended and difficult to push through. Once the player has seized either the Acropolis or the Storehouses, they also have groups of units spawn in to help retake them, in addition to the many they can train already.
  • Salamis (Athenians Chronicles Athenians): Salamis controls the island in the center of the map. A walled city on the coast, with numerous units, a Fort overlooking the coast, and a Town Center in the bay, they can be aggressive by sea, and will eventually land an army to attack the player's base if allowed. They will resign once their Town Center and Fort are destroyed.
  • Oenoe & Plataea (Athenians Chronicles Athenians - Greeks): Oenoe and Plataea are two separate towns in the northern corner of the map, which are rarely aggressive unless provoked. The first has a Fort behind some mountains, guarded by some Bowmen, Hoplites, and counter-Palintonons, while the second has a Town Center near its walls and will attack the player from behind if the player assault the other town first. They produce Hoplites and Scorpions, with some cavalry units. They will resign once the Town Center in Oenoe and the Fort in Plataea are destroyed.
  • Eleusis (Athenians Chronicles Athenians - Greeks): Eleusis is a coastal city with two Forts overlooking the Gates at either end. They create a bottleneck along the land route to Athens, forcing the player to go through them to make the route safe. They use primarily Bowmen and Hoplites by land, but will harass the player's forces from the shore, or attack the player's harbor, with Monoreme and Galley-line ships. They will resign once both their Forts are destroyed.
  • Aegina (Athenians Chronicles Athenians - Greeks): Aegina has a small island base in the southern corner of the map, and attack exclusively by water. They have two Forts overlooking a number of Shipyards and Ports they use for trade as their sole economy. They will build a navy to attack the player's harbor throughout the scenario. They will resign once both their Forts are destroyed.

Strategy[]

This map is nigh-identical to Within the Long Walls, only the roles are reversed.

The more pressing concern is naval combat and expansion, as most of the fighting will be at sea, and if the Athenian Navy rebuilds their fleet, the player will lose. Therefore, the player should send their army out to defend their Farms from the occasional attack by land, and focus on building up the navy.

Getting the Galley-line ships and some Triremes and Lemboi up to scratch, and adding in some Leviathans, is the first priority. It is also good to build a second fleet to defend the player's harbor from the other players while the player focuses on the Athenian Navy. Sail the main fleet, and Leviathans, around Salamis to the small island base of the Athenian Navy and wipe it out, focusing on Ports and Shipyards first. This battle should provoke the Athenian Navy to send their fleet, which could number at least 20 ships by now, so it is vital to be prepared. Once the island is cleared, move up to the coast to Athens and repeat, focusing on their naval production buildings.

If the player captured the three cities designated by Cyrus in the previous scenario, Cyrus will send a Tribute Ship with some ships for the player, keep those ships with the Tribute Ship as its guard. The Milesian Oligarchs may also send a sizeable fleet with some Leviathans that the player can use to reinforce the player's main fleet if they were supported in the previous scenario. While this is happening, build a Wonder to unlock a series of unique technologies that will drastically improve all of the player's units (especially infantry). New unique technologies will be unlocked with each enemy player eliminated.

Once the shore is cleared, move the player's fleet up the clifftop base of the Athenian Navy, making sure to eliminate their Market to stop trading with Athens itself, and take out their Fort. Shortly northwest of the Fort is another small base for the Athenian Navy. Eliminate this, and the Athenian Navy resigns.

From here, the player should move south to defeat Salamis, taking out its Fort and Town Center with the Leviathans while the fleet defends them, and take out the Priestesses that try to convert them. Once Salamis is defeated, move to the southern corner and take care of Aegina by destroying their Forts and clearing up their fleet. Once the Forts are down, Aegina is defeated. If the Statue of Helios was given to Polycritas in Wrath of the Regent, Lysander will capture it and ostensibly gain a stat boost.

Around this time, the player should start building up the army and researching technologies to benefit them. They should train a few Palintonons as well.

Sail the navy up to Eleusis. There are two small rivers on either side of the city that should let the Leviathans get in range of the Forts while the player's navy clears out their meagre ships. Once both Forts are down, Eleusis is defeated, and King Agis moves in to clear it out and build his camp to assist.

At this point, the player can scuttle their fleet, except the Leviathans, which can head back to Athens, sail up a river, and eliminate some towers, a Gate, and a Siege Workshop, if the player is careful against the Priestesses, Scorpions, and Mangonels.

Use the freed-up population capacity to expand the player's army. Send the forces north and take care of Oenoe and Plataea. After breaking the Gate of the northern base, the player should send their army in to eliminate the enemy Palintonons, then pull them back as they use theirs to level the Fort. Move east and use Palintonons to destroy their Town Center while the player's army holds back to defend them, minimizing casualties.

With every enemy except Athens taken care of, move up to build a forward base near King Agis' camp, and decide the approach. Either path will face powerful resistance, as Athens has a large army and can produce many more units quickly. Going to the Acropolis is arguably faster, as there is less travel, but the player needs to push through Athens' many buildings and several Forts to reach it. The Storehouses have less in the way, but are three separate posts the player needs to defend as opposed to one, spread over a larger distance. Instead of normal units, the Storehouses will be attacked by Starving Villagers, who are weak and constantly lose hit points, but are spawned in very large numbers.

Whichever objective the player chooses, eliminate the troops around the objective and hold it for a period of time. Once the timer ends, the scenario is won.

Achievement - "Combined Arms"[]

To get this achievement, the player cannot research any of the infantry-related special technologies at the Wonder. This can be done similarly to above, although the player will need to incorporate a wider mix of unit types into their forces.

In the current version of the game, this achievement is bugged and can be obtained despite researching infantry-related special technologies.

Custom technologies[]

These custom technologies are gradually unlocked at the Wonder as the player conquers their enemies. Each pair is mutually exclusive, like unique technologies:

  • Upon conquering Salamis:
    1. Imperial UT 1 Chronicles Reinforced Prow (200 wood, 300 gold): Ships receive ​+1 Armoricon aoe2demelee / ​+1 Range-armoricon aoe2depierce armor. (Carrack)
    2. Imperial UT 2 Chronicles Paean (650 food, 550 gold): Infantry and cavalry attacks ignore armor. (Wootz Steel)
  • Upon conquering Aegina:
    1. Classical UT 1 Chronicles Forced Levies (550 food, 400 gold): Swordsman-line gold cost is replaced by additional food cost. (Forced Levy)
    2. Classical UT 2 Chronicles Harmosts (400 food, 300 gold): Farmers slowly generate gold in addition to food. (Burgundian Vineyards)
  • Upon conquering Eleusis:
    1. Imperial UT 1 Chronicles Hipparchs (650 food, 400 gold): Melee cavalry gain +5 attack. (Farimba)
    2. Imperial UT 2 Chronicles War Dances (450 food, 750 gold): Infantry gain +4 attack (Garland Wars)
  • Upon conquering Oenoe & Plataea:
    1. Classical UT 1 Chronicles Hippotoxotai (600 wood, 400 gold): Cavalry Archers +1 attack, +1 range (Recurve Bow)
    2. Classical UT 2 Chronicles Othismos (900 food, 500 gold): Infantry damage adjacent units. (Druzhina)
  • Upon defeating the Athenian Navy:
    1. Imperial UT 1 Chronicles Double Wine Rations (600 food, 450 gold): Infantry get an attack bonus vs. cavalry. (Chieftains partially)
    2. Imperial UT 2 Chronicles Thessalian Warhorses (600 food, 450 gold): Cavalry receive ​+1 Armoricon aoe2demelee / ​+1 Range-armoricon aoe2depierce armor. (Silk Armor)
    3. Classical UT 1 Chronicles Black Broth (550 food, 400 gold): Infantry (except Spearman-line) +30 hit points, Priestesses +100% heal speed. (Fereters)
    4. Classical UT 2 Chronicles Lysander's Furor (750 food, 450 gold): Siege Workshop units gain +40% hit points. (Furor Celtica)

Outro[]

Proud Athens, which had once gorged itself on the fruits of its empire, now starved. Sallow-faced and trembling, the Athenians begged Lysander to lift his siege. To make sure that Athens would always remain at his mercy, Lysander tore down the long walls to the mocking music of flute girls.

Lysander finally had his victory, and he made sure it was never forgotten: at Delphi, the center of the Greek world, he had himself sculpted in bronze. But - as you must have learned by now - great men rarely meet great ends. And before long, Lysander was dead, his legacy scorned by the kings he served, his memory blackened with accusations of arrogance, violence, and greed.

You might think that after spending nearly three decades at war, the Greeks would settle down, at least for a little while. Alas, they were at each other's throats again soon enough, endless configurations of cities in alliances and leagues and empires, fighting for gold or territory or honor, or sometimes for no good reason at all.

No, the Greeks would never stand together by choice, only by necessity - or compulsion. And indeed, the day would soon come when unity would be forced upon them, by a man whose cunning eclipsed Themistocles, whose swiftness was greater than Brasidas, whose ruthlessness was beyond even Lysander, and whose ambitions were a match for any king who ever lived.

But I grow weary now. Return on the morrow, and I shall continue our tale.

Trivia[]

  • This is the only scenario in the Battle for Greece grand campaign to have an outro.

Gallery[]

Campaigns in Chronicles
Battle for Greece
Achaemenids Chronicles Achaemenids Prologue: Gates of the Gods · Greeks Bearing Gifts · The Ionian Revolt · A City Ablaze · Chasing Smoke · Death to Traitors · Earth and Water
Athenians Chronicles Athenians The Battle of Marathon · Raise the Sails · The Hot Gates · Divine Salamis · Across the Wine-Dark Sea · Wrath of the Regent · The Fruits of Empire · Within the Long Walls
Spartans Chronicles Spartans I am Brasidas · Pyres on the Coast · Speeches and Spears · To the Wall! · Blood and Gold · The Fall of Athens
Advertisement