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The Trojan War (named Trojan War in the original) is the fourth scenario of the Glory of Greece campaign in Age of Empires. It depict the Trojan War.

Scenario instructions[]

Description[]

NuRoR hoplite attack
Ilium, 1194 BCE

The overseas expansion of the Mycenaeans has brought them into contact with other cultures that simultaneously pose opportunities and dangers. In a defiant but inspired act, Paris, prince of Troy (also called Ilium), has kidnapped the beautiful Helen of Sparta and taken her back to his home. The fury of your brother Menelaus, Helen’s husband and king of Sparta, knows no bounds, and he has appealed to you, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, for help. Jumping at the opportunity for war and renown, you have assembled a vast army bent on the destruction of Troy. The city-state lies far across the Aegean Sea, however, and the campaign will require a strong navy to launch a seaborne invasion of the Trojan heartland. Go forth dauntlessly – eternal fame and glory await!
—In-game section

Starting conditions[]

Objectives[]

  1. Kill Hector, Prince of Troy.
  2. Kill Paris, Prince of Troy.
  3. Capture the Treasure of Priam (Artifact).

Hints[]

  1. Agamemnon’s army is restricted to the Bronze Age and a population limit of 75.
  2. Establish supremacy at sea to control offshore resources and clear the way for your invasion.
  3. You will need a large force to overcome the Trojan defenses.

Description[]

Ilium, 1194 BCE

The overseas expansion of the Mycenaeans has brought them into contact With other cultures that simultaneously pose opportunities and dangers. In a defiant but inspired act, Paris, prince of Troy (also called Ilium), has kidnapped the beautiful Helen of Sparta and taken her back to his home. The fury of your brother Menelaus, Helen's husband and king of Sparta, knows no bounds, and he has appealed to you, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, for help. Jumping at the opportunity for war and renown, you have assembled a vast army bent on the destruction of Troy. The city-state lies far across the Aegean Sea, however, and the campaign will require a strong navy to launch a seaborne invasion of the Trojan heartland. Go forth dauntlessly—eternal fame and glory await!
—In-game section

Starting conditions[]

Objectives[]

  • Hector, prince of Troy, must be slain.
  • Paris, prince of Troy, must be slain.
  • Capture the Treasure of Priam.

Hints[]

  • Establish supremacy at sea to control offshore resources and clear the way for your invasion.
  • You will need a large force to overcome the Trojan defenses.
  • Agamemnon's army is restricted to the Bronze Age—you cannot advance to the Iron Age.

Description[]

1250 BC

Greek expansion overseas has brought them in contact with other cultures that pose both opportunities and dangers. The beautiful Helen has been stolen by Paris and taken back to his home city of Troy. Paris is the son of Priam, king of Troy. To restore the honor of the Myceneans, take revenge on the city of Troy by killing Hector, its hero, and capturing the treasure of Priam. Troy is far across the sea and taking the city will require an invasion of the Trojan homeland. The Trojan navy must be neutralized first.
—In-game section

Starting conditions[]

Objectives[]

Hints[]

  • Establish supremacy at sea to control offshore resources and clear the way for invasion.
  • Invade Troy with a large force, not a piecemeal attack.
  • Note: This is a Bronze Age scenario. You cannot advance to the Iron Age.

Players[]

Player[]

  • Player (Greek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks): The Player starts with a decent base with many Villagers, some Tool Age units and three heroes in the western corner of the map.

Enemies[]

  • Troy (Hittite AOE DE ROR icon Hittites): Troy starts with a huge fortified base in the eastern corner of the map. The initial army consists of several ships, Improved Bowmen, and Stone Throwers. They train ships, Improved Bowmen, Cavalry, and Hoplites.
  • Heroes of Troy (Hittite AOE DE ROR icon Hittites): This player control Hector and Paris.

Player[]

  • Player (Greek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks): The Player starts with a decent base with many Villagers, some Tool Age units and three heroes in the western corner of the map.

Enemies[]

  • Troy (Hittite AOE DE ROR icon Hittites): Troy starts with a huge fortified base in the eastern corner of the map. The initial army consists of several ships, Improved Bowmen, and Stone Throwers. They train ships, Improved Bowmen, Cavalry, and Hoplites.
  • Trojan Defenders (Hittite AOE DE ROR icon Hittites): The Trojan Defenders deploy some War Galleys in the sea and an army - including Hector and Paris - guarding the Artifact deep inside of Troy.

Player[]

  • Player (Greek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks): The Player starts with a decent base with many Villagers, some Tool Age units and Hero Alexander in the western corner of the map. There is no gold on the player's island.

Enemies[]

  • Troy (Greek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks): Troy starts with a huge fortified base in the eastern corner of the map. The initial army consists of several ships, Tool Age units, and Stone Throwers. They train ships, Short Swordsmen, Cavalry, and Hoplites.
  • Enemy (Greek AOE DE ROR icon Greeks): The enemy (whose name is picked randomly from the pool of Greek AI names) starts with nothing more than two Sentry Towers in the northern corner of the map, guarding a piece of forest.

Strategy[]

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NOTE: this section applies to the original scenario.

Hero Alexander is a powerful cavalry unit and doesn't need to survive the level, so feel free to use him on the front lines. In fact it's recommended you do so early on since he's much more powerful than your starting units.

Right off the bat, your Dock will come under attack from enemy Scout Ships, which will soon be upgraded to War Galleys. Immediately build Scout Ships of your own, and gather up all your Bowmen and send them down to help repel the enemy naval assault. The Bowmen won't be dealing much additional damage, but importantly they'll draw fire away from your ships and allow them to survive longer. Meanwhile, have your villagers gather additional lumber to continue building more ships, as well as send one or two to repair damaged survivors (you should pull heavily damaged ships out of combat to make sure you have survivors in the first place!). If you lose the naval battle and your Dock is destroyed, you can build a new Dock to the northeast of your island without being molested, and from there you can assemble a fleet large enough to overwhelm the enemy. On harder difficulties, this may in fact be your only option. Another strategy is you can delete the dock and avoid getting close to the shore so the enemy won't harass you early on. Gather lots of wood and stone. When you are ready, build several docks and build scout ships on each to face the enemy war ships. Also builds lots of towers in case the enemy manages to land.

You will also need to defend against land attacks, as enemy transports will drop troops onto your island. On normal difficulty, these are fairly easy to deal with, but things could get hairy on higher difficulty settings. Your defense will consist of using your starting Axemen as cannon fodder while Alexander destroys the Stone Throwers and then helps mop up the remaining enemies. Use what starting gold you have to train a few Cavalry or Hoplites to bolster your defense. In any case you only need to hold out until your fleet can obtain naval supremacy, after which you can easily intercept incoming transports. Controlling the sea also gives you access to two islands with gold deposits, which you will need since there are none on your starting island. Although you may have ideas about using the enemy Dock as a source of gold through Merchant Ships, it's not really worth having to babysit it for enemy warships that occasionally pop out, so just destroy it.

You cannot reach the Iron Age, so your army should consist of Hoplites, Cavalry, and Stone Throwers. You may find it simpler to build on their island, so you won't have to ship units across. Send a few Hoplites and a Villager or two to the southernmost part of the map. If there's any enemy units here, kill them, then start building Stables, an Academy, and a Siege Workshop. Train a large army, and attack. Hector is usually found at the south-eastern part of the base. He's powerful, but throwing Hoplites at him will bring him down. Then you can send a Cavalry unit to the northeastern part of the island - the Artifact is found here. As soon as you capture it, you've won.

Alternatively, a cheaper tactic involves exploiting the enemy AI. There is an enemy Storage Pit near the coast a ways south of the enemy main base. Use a transport to drop off a unit, attack the Storage Pit, and when the enemy army comes charging in to retaliate, send him back into the transport. You will then have the bulk of the enemy army close to shore and within range of your War Galleys—simply pick off as many as you can, then unload your transport and attack the Storage Pit to provoke them again. Once you've depleted most of the enemy's strength, move in with your invasion force which should have little trouble mopping up.

There are also a couple of yellow Sentry Tower to the north (belonging to a Greek player with a randomly generated name), but there's no units, and they are too far away to pose a threat - you can destroy them with a few ships though it is not necessary to do so.

History[]

Historical notes[]

Despite its rich narrative and spectacular level of detail, the Homeric Iliad and its tale of the Trojan War was widely considered to be fictitious until the archaeological discoveries of Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century. Schliemann made a fantastic set of discoveries at a dig Site near Hisarlik in the northwest region of modern-day Turkey. The archaeological Site was situated upon the lucrative trade route leading from the Aegean through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, providing a plausible incentive for the historical conflict.

As time went on, numerous levels of the City were unearthed. One location, known now as Troy VII-a, corresponds remarkably well to the dates of the Trojan War given by several classical historians and chroniclers. Additionally, analysis of its destruction layer yielded remnants of weapons of war and evidence that the City was obliterated by fire, aligning With ancient and classical accounts of the conclusion of the conflict. Cross-examination of Hittite texts With the archaeological evidence linked Troy (Ilium) With a great City called Wilusa by the Hittites, which was destroyed by invaders from the west known to them as Ahhiyawa, or Homer's Achaeans.

According to the Homeric narrative (and several classical myths and tales that grew from it), the conflict was caused by the abduction of Helen of Sparta by Paris, a prince of Troy, With the help of the goddess Aphrodite. After much difficulty, the Mycenaeans (referred to in the epic as Achaeans, Danaans, and Argives) crossed the Aegean into Asia Minor and laid siege to the City for ten long years. As the fighting wore on, claiming heroic warriors from both sides, the morale of the Mycenaeans dwindled. Finally, the cunning Odysseus devised a perilous plan to break the stalemate. Constructing a giant wooden horse containing a band of brave warriors, the Mycenaeans then sailed away, hiding their fleet behind the nearby island of Tenedos. The Trojans, desiring not to offend the gods, brought the horse inside the City, allowing the hidden warriors to open the gates in the dark of night. The Mycenaean army stormed in and laid waste to the City, killing most of its population and carrying off its fabled wealth.

The Homeric epics, likely the most famous works in the history of Western literature, assured that the memory of the conflict would live on, etched eternally into the pages of history
—In-game section

Victory[]

Just when all seemed lost, the scheme of wily Odysseus, king of Ithaca, has succeeded! Grey-eyed Athena surely smiles upon you, as the Trojans, drunk on the euphoria of their supposed victory, carelessly threw caution to the wind. They dragged Odysseus' work—a large wooden horse containing a band of your finest men—inside the city. In the dark of the night, your men emerged and opened the gates to the city. The air is filled With the fearful yells of the surprised Trojans as your intrepid warriors flood through the streets, torching the city and carrying its wealth and enslaved population back to your ships
—In-game section

Loss[]

With the death of the great Achilles, the will of your troops was broken. In a stunning and bold maneuver, the Trojan army fearlessly sallied forth from the gates of Ilium, the memory of the slain Hector still fresh in their minds. Your rudimentary fortifications were no match for the Trojan onslaught, and the arrows of Apollo rained down from the Sky, striking droves of your troops dead. With your army decimated, and most of your fleet burned, you have no choice but to return to Mycenae in ignominy.
—In-game section

Historical notes[]

One of the most famous episodes in ancient Greek history was the sack of Troy by the Mycenean king Agamemnon and his allies. The poet Homer recorded the account of this war in his epic poem The Iliad, the most famous example of ancient Greek literature. The poem was written perhaps four hundred years or more after the events described took place. Homer worked from an oral tradition passed down by bards from memory over the centuries.

The story began with the beautiful Helen, wife of Menaleus, but promised previously to Paris of Troy by the goddess Aphrodite. Helen was made to fall in love with Paris by Aphrodite and the pair escaped to Troy. Agamemnon gathered the Greeks to restore the honor of his brother Menaleus. The face that launched a thousand ships was that of Helen. The ships were full of Mycenean Greeks sailing to bring her back.

According to Homer, the siege of Troy lasted for ten years and featured the struggle between heroes on both sides and the intervention of the gods who had chosen sides as well. The Greek champion was Achilles, felled eventually by a famous arrow shot into the only part of his body not protected by armor and the magic of the gods, his heel. The Trojan champion was Hector. The city finally fell through the deception of a massive wooden horse left by the Greeks as an apparent gift when they withdrew. (The horse was the idea of Odysseus, and the gods on the Trojan side got their revenge on him over the many years he spent wandering trying to return home.) When the horse was brought inside the city, Greek soldiers hidden inside escaped at night and opened the city gates. The Greek ships and army returned in the darkness and entered through the open gates to sack the city.
—In-game section

Historical outcome[]

The Iliad and its tale of the Trojan War was considered fiction by most until Heinrich Schliemann was able to confirm parts of it through excavations at Mycenea and the site in modern Turkey now thought to be Troy. This site was astride the important trade route through the Bosphorus leading to and from the Black Sea. Fabulous treasures of gold were found at Troy by Schliemann, asserting its wealth at one time. Of the many cities found at Troy on top of each other, one with impressive walls appeared to have been destroyed around 1200 BC. Whether it was destroyed by earthquake, the Myceneans, or by the barbarians that brought the ancient Dark Age has not been determined to general satisfaction. Arrowheads, scorching, and other evidence does suggest human agency in the destruction.

The site of Troy remained inhabited for many centuries after its destruction and was rebuilt several times following disaster or destruction. Troy was visited by Alexander the Great during his Persian campaign. He would have been familiar with The Iliad from his school days. The site was eventually abandoned late in the first millennium AD and was just a mound of rubble and earth on the coast when Schliemann arrived about 100 years ago.
—In-game section

Trivia[]

  • This campaign scenario has historical inaccuracies:
    • It was the Achaeans and Myceneans, not Athenians, who laid siege to Troy and rescued Helen. This is corrected in the Definitive Edition, as the player faction is identified as the Myceneans.
    • In the Definitive Edition , Troy is changed from the Greek to the Hittite civilization.
    • Troy was visited by Alexander the Great during his Persian campaign (as indicated in the historical notes), not during the siege (as depicted by the campaign scenario).
  • This scenario is the first appearance of Troy in the Age of Empires series; it would later reappear in the majority of the initial Greeks' section of Fall of the Trident in Age of Mythology.
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