"I'm going to have to move to New Mexico and start a cult in your name now"
-WilliamWC3
|
| Age of Mythology: Mediterranean Madness | | | Author: | | | IP: | c-69-138XXXX | | Date: | 12/29/08 05:12 | | Game Type: | Other | | Labels: | Image Heavy(1), Famous Reporter(1), Starcraft(1), Warcraft 3(1), Civilization(1), Rare game(2), Old Classic(1), Gorgeous(1), Great Writing(1), Pro Player(1), Problem: Broken Images(1), Long(1), Funny(1), Problem: Spam(1), Text Only(1), Fan Fiction(1), Strategy Focused(1), Tutorial(1), Funny Comments(1), Series(1), Flashy(1) | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 9, Min: 9
Lifetime Rating for KingWombat: 8.2500 |  |
Introduction
Hi there, it's KingWombat again with yet another Age of Mythology battlereport. I hope everyone is having a pleasant holiday season, I know I am. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on my previous AoM reports. I realize it might be painful to pore through the misguided ramblings of an Age of Mythology initiate, so to speak, but to everyone who stood their ground in the face of bad reporting, I salute you. Having taken your advice to heart, my intention is for this report to be superior to my previous two AoM reports in several respects. First off, a little more visual appeal. The images in this report (for the most part) aren't as blocky, thanks to the magic of Adobe Photoshop. The overall color scheme of the report should also be a little easier on the eyes. I realize that white text on a solid black background isn't the best option, but you've gotta admit that it's a) better than black on white and b) you can see all the colored player names with equal ease. As for the layout of the report, I've decided to intersperse the report with several minimaps (as opposed to just one at the start of the report) to let the reader visualize the positions I'm describing in the text with greater ease. Minor improvements, yes, but in the end little things can make a big difference.Well then, that having been said, let's get right to the game. Again, if you don't understand the mechanics of Age of Mythology, please refer to my first report or CrackHeadJeb's report.
Pre-Game
I should warn you that once again, this report will not revolve around one of my own AoM misadventures (I promise I'll report on one of my games soon enough). This report features something that was introduced to the AoM franchise with the release of The Titans expansion pack in 2003, but was not touched on in either of my previous reports. Can you guess what it is? It's in the expansion's title. The titans!
The titans in Age of Mythology are undoubtedly the most powerful unit(s) in the game. Each player can build one, and only one, during the course of a game. The process for building a titan is thus: first, reach the Mythic age (the last of the four ages in AoM). Once you have done that, you must cash in a fair amount of resources and favor towards the research of Secrets of the Titans. Once this technology is researched, your civilization will enter a so-called 'Titan Age' (although it's technically not an 'age', because no new upgrades and units are available, except for the titan). You will then be able to plonk down a Titan Gate anywhere on the map, and task your builder units to construct it. Construction of a Titan Gate takes time, and if it is destroyed, it cannot be rebuilt. Thus, placement of the Titan Gate must be carried out with much prior deliberation, and the gate is usually constructed at the heart of a player's main base, where it is least likely to fall under attack. Once building of the gate is complete, your titan will finally be released to wreak havoc on your foes.
The titan unit has a massive amount of health, and a massive amount of attack. It is most effective against buildings. It can do area of effect damage instead of just targeting one unit, meaning any buildings or soldiers in its immediate area when it attacks lose a fair amount of health. But the titan also has its weaknesses: all players on the map share LOS to any titans at any given point, thus they can see exactly where the titan is headed and plan ahead. Titans are also unable to attack airborne targets, and since they are themselves myth units they are in turn more vulnerable to attacks by heroes.
Another aspect of AoM that makes its first appearance in this particular report is the construction of Wonders. This concept has been around since the days of Age of Kings, so it probably does not require much elaboration. Basically, a player can muster up a ton of resources and begin construction of a massive structure called a Wonder. If the Wonder stands for ten minutes after being finished, the player who owns it wins the game. Much like the Titan Gate, if a Wonder is destroyed, it cannot be rebuilt.
Anyways, let's come back down to earth and take a look at who the opposing factions will be in today's match-up:
In the red corner, playing as the Egyptian deity Isis, we have rep74_coyote, known from now on as simply Coyote. And in the blue corner, as the Norse deity Thor, we have Anastasoulis, who will retain his name without alterations. The name of the map is Mediterranean: a large central lake, swarming with fishing spots, surrounded on all sides by land covered in forests and berry bushes. Control of the sea is beneficial on this map, but not necessary. Attacks are also (obviously) less likely to come from the front, but rather from the sides, thus the flanks must be reinforced at all times. Anastasoulis lands on the 7 o'clock position, Coyote takes the 1 o'clock, and the game can commence.
(Quick note: when I mention things like '4:30' and '10:30' in my report, I am referring to positions on the map, not game times)
Early Game
 Right off the bat, Anastasoulis invokes the Dwarven Mine god power right next to his Town Center, making a patch of gold appear out of the earth. He immediately instructs his two initial Dwarves to mine from it. The benefit of this? He doesn't have to spend resources on an Ox Cart for gold gathering (the Norse civilizations' mobile resource drop-off point) until later on in the game. As a quick side note, whereas typically the Norse civilizations' Dwarf unit excels at mining gold and is weak at gathering food and wood, Thor's dwarves suffer no such penalty and are equally skilled at gathering all resources. Since Dwarves cost gold to build, Anastasoulis's economy will undoubtedly be leaning more heavily towards gold gathering than is typical of the other Norse deities... but back to the game.
Anastasoulis's initial Ulfsark is sent north to construct a Dock on the seashore. A large amount of Gatherers are created to chop wood for buildings and fishing boats, and are then supplemented by Dwarves who are either sent to mine gold or to slaughter chickens for food. After the Dock is complete, Anastasoulis's Ulfsark heads back to main where he busies himself with the construction of houses to support more population, as well as a Temple which is necessary to advance to the next age. Many fishing ships are also trained to bolster Anastasoulis's food income.
On the other side of the map, Coyote likewise constructs a Dock and tasks a bunch of villagers to chop wood, which in turn allows him to create a fleet of fishing ships. Both players have decided to make good use of the ample fishing spots available on the map, which is a good decision because fishing is somewhat faster than farming and fishing spots are also unlimited, unlike in the Age of Kings franchise. Aside from fishing boats, Coyote also channels a lot of the wood he obtains to the construction of a second dock at around the 4 o'clock position of the central lake, a relatively  aggressive move on his part considering how far away that position is from his main. It can only be implied that he is intent on controlling the seas during the later game. Having mustered up a large amount of wood to that end, Coyote then begins to gradually spread his villagers out until the number on food, gold and wood is about equal. He then constructs a bunch of houses, tightly packed around towers for defensive purposes, and finally uses his gold miners to erect a Temple in the middle of his main. The whole time, his Priest is walking around the western side of the map placing Obelisks to provide Coyote with LOS.
When Anastasoulis hits Classical under Freyja, he immediately sends his free Valkyrie myth unit to scout out the Western edge of his territory, and the warrior maiden happens upon some of Coyote's obelisks, taking them down. What she fails to notice, however, is the third dock that Coyote has been able to construct at the nine o'clock position on the lake, seemingly right under Anastasoulis's nose (Coyote's fishing boats now outnumber his opponents' almost three to one).
While the Valkyrie is carrying out her scouting mission, back at his main Anastasoulis trains a Hersir hero unit and uses him to construct a Dwarven Armory and some additional houses to support more population. Another of Thor's unique qualities is his ability to construct a Dwarven Armory during any age in the game, whereas typically Armories cannot be constructed until the Classical age. His economy is very wood and gold heavy at this point, with almost all of his food income coming from his measly (at least in the face of Coyote's) fleet of fishing ships.
Coyote, meanwhile, keeps heading down the road of a balanced, booming economy. He has also advanced to the classical age, under the Egyptian deity Bast. If one was to glance at the mini-map, one would see that almost the entire lake is now covered with red dots, representing either Coyote's numerous docks or his massive fishing fleet.
Feeling secure with his strong economic backbone, Coyote then decides to devote these resources  towards radical expansionism. The aforementioned 9 o'clock dock is only one example of this. Also, a seemingly random Granary is constructed next to some buffalo in the west, and is immediately set upon by Anastasoulis's scouting Valkyrie.
In addition, Coyote is able to sneak a villager into Anastasoulis's main and uses him to erect a Dock right next to Anastasoulis's own. What he meant by this I don't know, perhaps he was not even aware that he was building right at the mouth of the beast, but whatever the case, this was a signal to Anastasoulis that the time had come to act. Having not wasted his resources on excessive building, Anastasoulis is able to come up with the resources to advance to the Heroic age. As he is doing so, he tasks the Hersir at his base to construct three Longhouses (Norse barracks structures), and builds a second Dock at the 7 o'clock position on the lake as well as some Longboats (arrow ships). One of the longboats begins pelting Coyote's 6'o clock dock with arrows. Although arrows are extremely ineffective against buildings, Anastasoulis is essentially giving a sign to Coyote that he doesn't have to take this nonsense.
Mid-Game
 As he reaches Heroic under Bragi, Anastasoulis gets a free Battle Boar at this Temple. The golden construct immediately gets a taste of combat as Anastasoulis's base comes under attack by a priest and a sphinx. Anastasoulis's Battle Boar and Hersir defend their base bravely, and soon the Egyptian intruders are no more. The scouting Valkyrie, having eliminated Coyote's granary in the north, now comes upon the western edge of Coyote's main. Coyote's towers had automatically been upgraded upon his advance to Classical, so the Valkyrie must keep moving to avoid becoming easy target practice. Anastasoulis sends her all the way through Coyote's base, and over to a gold mining expansion that the latter had set up in the east. Over yonder, there are no towers to spoil the fun, and some of Coyote's villagers fall prey to the fury of the Valkyrie.
Meanwhile, the battle for control of the sea has escalated. Anastasoulis had been busy producing Hersir at his main, and now they are able to gang up on Coyote's 6 o'clock dock. After firing some arrows of defiance at the Norse attackers (Coyote's docks are able to fire arrows), the dock falls. However, the fight does not end there by any means. Anastasoulis had used his docks to produce warships, supplementing his previous longboats with siege ships and hammer ships. The fleet heads west and begins massacring Coyote's helpless fishing ships in the western waters. However, Coyote soon retaliates by sending a small force of his own siege ships to attack Anastasoulis's main dock just north of his (Anastasoulis's) base. At about this point, Coyote also reaches the Heroic age under Nephtys, and is able to send his free Leviathan unit (a large floating fish that is also able to transport units) to help out his helpless fishing fleet in the west. Coyote is obligated to recall some of his western warships in order to defend his main dock, and for a while the forces appear evenly matched.
However, let us get back onto land and take a look at what is happening there. Despite Anastasoulis's aggression, Coyote has not let up on his expansionist tendencies. He has claimed the 10:30 Town Center, and has also built a Migdol stronghold and a mining camp near his 4 o'clock dock. The Migdol had been pumping out War Elephants (slow cavalry, best against buildings) and already has two near the empty settlement at 4:30 with more on the way.
Anastasoulis inadvertently dispatches a couple Hersir to the empty settlement, probably with the intent to build on it, but instead ends up provoking a fight with Coyote's elephants. Realizing that his 'secret' expansion has been found out, Coyote goes on the offensive and sends three elephants to penetrate deep into Anastasoulis's main. However, Anastasoulis has forces of his own, consisting mainly of Hersir and Raiding Cavalry, and he pursues the hulking beasts. This creates a diversion for Coyote to produce five more elephants, which he also targets into the middle of Anastasoulis's main.  He couples this with a Scorpion Man (Nephtys's land myth unit) and the invocation of the Ancestors god power coupled with Eclipse, which enhances the attack of myth units. What's more, the Ancestors are invoked smack dab in the middle of Anastasoulis's gold mining operation, which results in most of his miner Dwarves being sent to Valhalla. One would think that this brutal assault on Anastasoulis's main would have done him in, but the latter is able to hold his own. What's more, he finds the time to expand eastward, building a Town Center on the empty 4:30 settlement, as well as a Longhouse and a house nearby. Next comes a lull in the land fighting. Both sides fortify their positions: Coyote builds a Migdol at around the 10 o'clock position and produces some more elephants, as well as expanding to the settlement at the 12:00: Anastasoulis plops down a Hill Fort at 9 o'clock and positions the brunt of his army nearby, and expands to the settlement at 6:00.
Out at sea, however, the battle rages on. Anastasoulis has decided to go heavy on hammer ships, and while Coyote was busy executing his assault on Anastasoulis's main, the latter was sending his hammer ships on missions all around the lake. Some of these missions consisted of hammering  Coyote's docks to powder, others consisted of sinking what few siege ships he had, others were simply to pound as many helpless fishing ships to pulp as possible. Whatever the case, at the end of it all Coyote no longer had domination of the sea. In fact, Anastasoulis had succeeded in completely eliminating Coyote's presence from the Mediterranean lake. Glancing at the minimap, one would see that the sea was now back to its natural color: blue. The red rash of Coyote's once-massive fishing operation was no more. This forces Coyote to resort to a different method of obtaining food, and he begins spamming farms all around his main Town Center.
The fight at sea having been culminated, the battle switches back to land. In the west, Anastasoulis finds himself facing a steady stream of elephants and his main army is gradually ground down to nothing (or very little). In the east, Coyote's Migdol had been busy producing a variety of units, mostly chariot archers, but also some camels, elephants and even a catapult from a Siege Works that Coyote had constructed nearby. Once Coyote feels the time is right, he strikes at Anastasoulis's forward Longhouse, but Anastasoulis retaliates with some Raiding Cavalry and the invocation of the Forest Fire god power, which he targets on the woods next to the Migdol. The Migdol catches fire, the gold mining operation nearby is disrupted, many villagers are killed. Anastasoulis presses the advantage and rebuilds the forward  Longhouse that was just eliminated. Having gotten rid of the threat at sea, he is able to devote all resources to land combat, and supplements his forces both in the east and west. He also advances to the Mythic Age via the Norse deity Baldr, giving him the Fire Giant myth unit and the Ragnarok god power.
It is only a matter of time before Coyote's eastern Migdol falls: however, he has a trick up his sleeve. Having also advanced to the Mythic Age, under Thoth, he now invokes the Meteor power right on Anastasoulis's main. Some of the weaker buildings are demolished, others catch fire. The farms that Anastasoulis had been building suffer the most. Faced with the task of rebuilding/repairing his main, Anastasoulis eases back on the military funding, and Coyote takes advantage. He constructs obscene amounts of Migdols at the western frontier of his territory, and begins breeding War Elephants like there's no tomorrow. Anastasoulis does not have nearly enough defenders or defenses in the west, and the elephants (by this point they've been upgraded) raze his forward Hill Fort/Longhouse and head for his recovering main.
Somehow, Anastasoulis is able to muster enough forces to subdue the elephantine invaders, but he knows that Coyote will be back. He decides that a counterattack is the best option, and decides to go eastward, where he has gained the upper hand. Coyote's defenses there are thin, and there is much easy prey, including some camel caravans and ten or so gold-mining villagers. Coyote trains some Mercenaries from his main Town Center and sends them eastward to help in the defense, but despite having a very short training time, Mercenaries make up for it with a limited life span and most of the ones sent to 'defend' end up dying before ever seeing combat. Anastasoulis quickly erects a Hill Fort in the east to reinforce his position, and waits for Coyote to make his move.
The game seems to be headed nowhere at this point, with every attack being supressed and then answered by a counterattack, so Coyote decides he needs something that will change the game.  Having researched Secrets of the Titans, unbeknownst to all, he now plonks down a Titan Gate near his northernmost Town Center, and tasks around twenty-five or so villagers to build it, making construction go at a very fast rate indeed. As if in anticipation, Anastasoulis uses some Hersir to add to his forward expansion in the east, by constructing a second Hill Fort and a Temple. Sure enough, almost as soon as Coyote's titan descends from the heavens, he marches off towards Anastasoulis's eastern forward expansion. Having a constant stream of elephants attacking in the west, Coyote probably decided he needed some variety in his offensive. The titan takes down one of the Hill Forts, then decides that the forward expansion isn't all that important after all, and heads south for Anastasoulis's 4:30 Town Center, pursued by a small force of Hersir.
With camelry/elephants continuously pressing from the west, and the titan closing in, Anastasoulis decides to make a radical move. He invokes Ragnarok, transforming all his villagers and Dwarves into Heroes of Ragnarok. Some of the Heroes stay back at the base, but he majority are sent to take care of Coyote's titan. Although the titan is able to eliminate the Town Center, he then finds himself beset on all sides by Hersir and Heroes of Ragnarok. Thus we are presented with another one of the titans' weaknesses: being so large, they find it difficult to maneuver in cramped conditions. Being encircled by heroes, the titan has no choice but to fight all of them. As an added bonus, Anastasoulis then invokes the Flaming Weapons power, boosting the attack of all his human units/heroes significantly. The titan fights bravely, but  soon succumbs to the onslaught: having taken down their adversary, Anastasoulis's Heroes of Ragnarok in the east quickly rebuild the Town Center that the titan had taken down. In effect, Coyote was unable to do very much with his Titan: the net loss was only a Hill Fort and some heroes.
In the west, Flaming Weapons likewise helps Anastasoulis's forces overcome the mixed elephant/camel onslaught. The western armies finish off their mission by taking down a forward Migdol that Coyote had planted at the 8 o'clock position, but instead of proceeding to go on the offensive, they pull back to Anastasoulis's main. Seeking to capitalize on the lull in the fighting, Anastasoulis places a Titan Gate in the corner of the map near his southernmost Town Center and tasks almost all of his Heroes of Ragnarok to building it. A small detachment of Heroes of Ragnarok, however, is dispatched to the 9 o'clock corner to take down some of Coyote's undefended forward structures, and another small-ish mixed army of Battle Boars, Ulfsarks and Huskarls hang back at the western edge of Anastasoulis's main to prevent any intrusions while the Titan Gate is being built. It is not long before they see action: a Coyote army, consisting mostly of chariot archers but spearheaded by elephants, breaks through the lines and heads straight for the Titan Gate. The CA's go down fast, but the elephants are durable and maintain their route without complications.
Thinking fast, Anastasoulis sends a couple infantrymen to meet the elephants, but instead of engaging them in combat, he instructs the soldiers to build Longhouses right in the path of the oncoming elephantidae. Trapped in a maze of partially constructed structures, the elephants are easy prey for Anastasoulis's defensive armies and meet their death before they ever reach the Titan Gate.
However, Anastasoulis soon realizes that life isn't all fun and games, as his western detachment of Heroes of Ragnarok is rallied by a fresh force of elephants, camelry and chariot archers. The same force then pours into Anastasoulis's main, but at this point the construction of the Titan Gate is finished.  The titan climbs out of the ground and marches off to the east, while the Heroes of Ragnarok tasked to building its gate now hurry to stop Coyote from penetrating into Anastasoulis's main.
Of course, Coyote is able to see where the titan is headed, and sends some priests to intercept the lumbering creature. At first Anastasoulis doesn't realize the danger he is in, so he merrily targets his titan on a distant eastern Temple. However, as soon as soon as the titan comes under fire from the priests, he realizes that Coyote is on his case and decides to cause as much havoc as he can before his titan goes down. He sends it into the heart of Coyote's main, reduces his primary Town Center to rubble, then swings west and does the same to the 10:30 Town Center. He then heads back east. At this point he is being pursued by about thirty or so priests, all eager to have his oversized troll head impaled on their priestly scepters. After smashing a monument, the titan yet again leads the priests in a goose-chase, back to the western corner of the map, this time going south of the lake instead of under it. He is able to take down a market before succumbing to the hail of glowing balls being pelted his way by the priest horde.
End Game
At this point, however, the death of the titans is relatively unimportant, because a shocking new  development has come to light: Anastasoulis has started a Wonder! It is a drastic move: with small detachments of Coyote's armies constantly pounding his base like waves against a breaker, Anastasoulis has made the decision of tasking almost all of his infantry to building the Wonder, defending his base/Wonder with only a couple Valkyries and a Fire Giant. However, instead of devoting his resources to attacking and taking down the Wonder, Coyote opts to build his own. Almost every villager he has helps in the process.With the benefit of his Pharaoh empowering the Wonder-in-construction, Coyote is able to complete his Wonder fifteen or so seconds before Anastasoulis finishes his. However, Anastasoulis seems undaunted. A Wonder must stand for ten whole minutes before victory is claimed, and that is definitely ample time to turn the game around. After repelling another division of Coyote's elephants, who had gone straight for the Wonder in an attempt to take it down, Anastasoulis splits his force into two groups: the Ulfsarks hang back at the main, and the mixed force of Heroes of Ragnarok, Valkyries and Huskarls head around the eastern edge of the lake, taking down some more of Coyote's elephants along the way. Their destination is Coyote's Town Center at the 10:30 position: taking the eastern route allows them to avoid Coyote's Migdols in the west, and swing around beneath Coyote's main unnoticed. They strike  swiftly and suddenly: the Town Center falls, despite minor Mercenary resistance, and Anastasoulis hurriedly starts erecting his own in its place. Meanwhile, he also sends a force of Ulfsarks around the western corner. These guys have to bear the full brunt of Coyote's Migdol gauntlet, but as if by some miracle they are able to pull through, taking down Migdol after Migdol (as well as some other buildings, a Market for example) and plopping down quick but efficient Norse structures in their stead: mostly Hill Forts, but a lone Temple and Tower find their way into the mix as well. As soon as the Hill Forts are in place, Anastasoulis begins pumping out portable rams, targeting them at the Wonder.
Seeing his western defenses crumble, Coyote coughs up the last of the resources at hand and dispatches a rag-tag group of elephants to the east, in an attempt to counterattack. The elephants split up: a smaller group goes for Anastasoulis's 4:30 Town Center, while the others head for his Wonder. Anastasoulis had left some defenders back at his base, however, and now these defenders find themselves called to action. The elephants attacking his Town Center fall fairly quickly, but the group at his Wonder, being the larger one, takes a little more time and effort.
Meanwhile, in the face of all odds, Anastasoulis's portable rams plow their way towards Coyote's Wonder. Coyote throws everything he has at them: he knows that victory hinges on whether his Wonder stands or falls. As the rams get closer and closer to their goal, they must navigate around Coyote's idle camel caravans, having been left jobless by the destruction of their Market. Finally, the  rams reach the Wonder and their golden dragon heads slam into its sunbaked brick. Towers shoot arrows at them from all directions, but the rams have 99% pierce armor and are thus almost invulnerable to tower fire. Coyote realizes this, and hastily trains Mercenaries from the nearby Town Center to help in the war effort. A couple of Coyote's nearby villagers even creep up behind the rams and start pummeling them with their fists.
There is an air of tension and desperation in the air, and this is heightened when on the other side of the map, the last remnants of Coyote's once-glorious elephant army are eliminated after their last-ditch attempt to sneak in and take down Anastasoulis's Wonder. Each player now knows that Coyote's Wonder will be what decides the game.
Finally, Anastasoulis's rams are taken down, and some of Coyote's villagers start to hastily repair the damaged Wonder. However, they are rudely interrupted when Anastasoulis's main force of about thirty or so Ulfsarks charges in and starts hacking at the Wonder from all sides. In their wake follow some Valkyries and a couple additional portable rams, but the latter do not target the Wonder and instead go for Coyote's Town Center. It is not long before the Town Center falls, permanently denying Coyote Mercenary backup. The efforts of the last few Mercenary Horsemen that are left, as well as those of all the villagers frantically trying to repair the doomed Wonder, are not enough and at the "45 seconds remaining" mark Coyote's Wonder comes crashing to the ground.
Having one Town Center, no army and almost no economy left, and with Anastasoulis's Wonder having only a minute left to stand before victory, Coyote has no choice but to resign.
Post-Game Well, what can I say? First, I'd like to say that in terms of writing, this is probably the most difficult battlereport I've done so far. The game itself was actually a lot longer than the report conveys: there was much, much more back-and-forth fighting with not much end result, so I had to cut it down a bit to the most important bits. But overall I thought this game was a really good demonstration of the different god powers in Age of Mythology, an example of how NOT to use your titan, and had a very exciting climax.
I also thought both sides played really well, but I'd say that the award goes to Anastasoulis for perserverance. It seemed like Coyote beat him to the punch at almost everything - at taking control of the seas, of building a titan, of building a Wonder - but Anastasoulis didn't let that keep him down, made the best of the situation, kept on playing... and in the end it paid off. I don't want to sound judgemental, but as I was watching this game I couldn't help but root for him.
Happy New Year (in two days' time)!
- KingWombat
|
|
|
|
|
Home
Forum
Starcraft Tournaments
