The Mountain Temple

This article is about the scenario in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. For the scenario in Age of Empires, see Mountain Temple. For the building, see Temple.

The Mountain Temple
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
Campaign	Yamato, Empire of the Rising Sun
Civilization	Yamato
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	4
Previous	Capture
Next	The Canyon of Death
Other versions
Original	Mountain Temple
Map

The Mountain Temple is the fourth scenario of the Yamato, Empire of the Rising Sun campaign in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, replacing the scenario of a similar name in the original. In the scenario, the player must destroy the enemy Temple and build one of their own in its place.

Scenario instructions

Description

“	Izumo-taisha, 300 CE It has been many years since the reign of Queen Himiko and war once again grips Japan. Your clan the Yamato, controls the Kansai region, where you, Homutawake, rule a king. Rival lords, however, threaten your rule in this life and the next. They compete with one another over farming lands and the construction of giant burial mounds to house their remains. But you know that the great Shinto shrines are more prized than any rice paddy or mound. Your rivals, the Izumo clan, control one such shrine. Destroy it and build a greater shrine where it once stood to weaken your rivals' influence, and receive the blessings of the gods.	”
—In-game section

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Bronze Age
• Starting resources: 200 food, 200 wood, 100 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 4 Axeman
  • 3 Villagers

Objectives

• Destroy Izumo Temple.
• Build a Temple where Izumo Temple once stood.

Hints

1. The Kibi control the resources you need for victory; attack them early before they claim these resources as their own.
2. A combined arms approach is best for defeating the Izumo. Cavalry can chase down their Composite Bowmen and Ballistae while heavy infantry and Stone Throwers can do the rest.

Players

Player

• Player ( Yamato): The player starts in the western corner of the map with a Town Center, some Villagers and four Axemen.

Enemies

• Kibi ( Shang): Brown Kibi controls an island with important resources in the south of the map, and will send units across the river with transports.
• Kibi ( Shang): Yellow Kibi starts at the same land of the player, at the south.
• Izumo ( Shang): Izumo controls a heavily fortified mountain and the Temple that the player have to destroy.

Strategy

The map encourages turtling: it is imperative that the player immediately walls up the southern entryway between the forests, as enemy Villagers and Axemen are quick to flood into the player's town. The four Axemen can dispatch any invaders while the Villagers are building the wall. After that, the player can construct Watch Towers on their side of the wall. Upon completing this, the player is now largely safe to improve their empire and train their army, though the Watch Towers may require occasional maintenance as Archers and Slingers will try to attack them. The player can also instead construct an Archery Range and research Improved Bow to train some Improved Bowmen, who can dispatch off any invaders on the other side of the wall due to their superior range.

Once they have a well-armed force trained (usually after the local Gold Mines are depleted), the player can delete a section of the wall and send the units to the (yellow) Kibi southwards, making short work of their unadvanced town and its inhabitants. There is some more Gold and Stone to the west that the player can seize. The player should construct at least two Docks on the defeated Kibi's shores, and produce about a half dozen or so Triremes. Sending this fleet down the east shore, they will quickly come across the surviving (brown) Kibi, who usually have a few War Galleys guarding the waters. The Trireme fleet should have an easy time taking out the unadvanced Kibi navy and it can devastate the Kibi on land, but it will take at least a Light Transport full of combatants to exterminate the rest of the Kibi, as the Triremes cannot shoot far enough. There is some more Gold and Stone on this island.

The player should now direct their fleet to destroy the Izumo's Guard Towers, preferably starting with the ones closest to shore, then they can focus on devastating the Izumo city uphill in the meantime. Once the eastern Guard Towers at ground level are gone, the player can now send their army to the far eastern edge of the shore and properly begin their invasion of the Izumo empire. Catapults can easily take out the Guard Towers that the Triremes could not reach, but should station some troops near the Catapults to protect them from any hostile Cavalry. As the player smashes their way through the empire, they will encounter several hostile Priests northwards, and it would be best to send some horse-mounted units to take them out as soon as possible. There are also many Composite Bowmen and a few Ballistae in short range of the northernmost Temple, and using horse-mounted units to take out the Ballistae first might be best. At this point, the Izumo should have little more than a few Priests, two more Guard Towers, and maybe a few more Composite Bowmen, all of whom can safely be dispatched with an army of trash units if now economically necessary. Once they have destroyed the Izumo Temple, they should immediately assign some Villagers to construct their own Temple in its place, finishing the level.

History

“	Around 300 CE, large earthen burial mounds, called Kofun tombs, began appearing in Japan. These mounds varied in size and shape, but most distinctive were those resembling a giant keyhole pattern. Rulers and the elite were buried in the tombs with weapons and other personal items. As with the construction of monuments in other parts of the ancient world, the building of these tombs coincided with political centralization and a period of warfare during which various local chiefs competed for dominance. The Shinto religion also emerged from previous belief systems during the Kofun period, although the oldest Shinto shrines, such as Izumo-taisha and Ise Grand Shrine, date to as early as the Yayoi period. The word Shinto, meaning "way of the gods," was adopted from the Chinese Shendao, meaning "spirit path or study." In Shinto religion, practitioners rely on diligent ritual to establish a connection to the Kami, or gods. The Kami embody the powers of nature such as the sun, wind, storms, and the sea.	”
—In-game section

Victory

“	The gods have blessed your reign, Emperor Homutawake. Your defeat of the Izumo and their Kibi allies has strengthened your clan, making the Yamato the predominant power on Honshu island, You have constructed shrines throughout your lands, and begun construction of a great burial mound to house your remains after your work on this earth is done.	”
—In-game section

Loss

“	Your sons counsel you on your failure. They recommend that you make peace with the gods by becoming a hermit. They say Mount Fuji is quite lovely in the winter.	”
—In-game section

Changes

Despite the maps changes, the player and the yellow Kibi were moved to a western island, and brown was given a larger terrain to expand. The mountains features a lot more of cliffs and decorative buildings.

Trivia

There's an Easter egg in the eastern forest containing the initials of Forgotten Empires, visible in the minimap only via cheat codes to fully reveal the map.