/ Others

VICTORY CONDITION: 'Free' your Roman allies and together defeat the Amazons.

DEFEAT CONDITION: Your colony or the Roman colony have been completely destroyed.

SITUATION: The Romans think they have gotten off easily and Horus is semi-retired. But if they think we are going to clean up the mess alone, they have another think coming. The Romans will soon be enjoying a thawing experience.

REPORT BY HELIOS: Horus was understandably furious at Jupiter. He declared that he was finished, having done more than his share, and told the others to be so kind as to bring the whole ordeal to an end.

Ch'ih-Yu, for whom the celebration of victory - with its roast ox - was quite an incentive, set to work immediately. Jupiter, however, sullen at never having wreaked havoc with a glorious deluge, declared that he too had done enough, and in any case certainly more than Horus. Sending an enormous blizzard forth, he cut off his Roman subjects from the outside world, then feigned powerlessness when Ch'ih-Yu called for help.

Now, it is hard to underestimate Ch'ih-Yu, but when Jupiter told him he'd have to wait for a thaw, he managed to do just that.

It is relatively easy to recognize that the important places on this map are all not near your colony, but in some cases quite far away. Pioneers are key figures on this map!

You have to expand your territory to include the small mountains surrounding your colony so that you are able to produce the tools you will need for getting these wide expanses of territory under control quickly. The tools you have at the beginning won't be enough.

Building a couple of forester's huts at the beginning would be a wise idea. You will notice that there are relatively few trees nearby and without the foresters you will run out of wood quickly.

The main danger in this mission is the speed at which your opponent develops. If you leave your opponent in peace too long, he will become too strong and later it will be nearly impossible to defeat him. Some possibilities for weakening your opponent are:

• Cleaning out some of the towers that secure the northwestern approach (3) to the Amazons with your cannons is a good idea. If the main attack takes place here later, you could easily lose half your army otherwise because your opponent will defend this location very heavily later.
• Using your transport ships is also helpful. You can try an early attack using your transport ships. Especially the Amazon tribe (Am2) in the south is a good target for an attack because it is not as strong as the Amazon tribe in the north and it is easier to reach. You could land on the southwest coast of the Amazon colony (6). You probably won't be able to destroy your opponent with this attack but it is enough to deprive them of some important buildings, especially farms, residences, smelting works, smith's works and mines.This attack is only an example of many possibilities that can be carried out using your transport ships. Before beginning any attacks like this, use your thieves for scouting purposes.

There are many possibilities for attacking your opponent, but this will all depend on your general approach in this mission. An land-based attack is only possible over the narrow crossings in the north (3). Before you decide on this variation, you should destroy the towers securing the passage with your cannons or you will be taking too many losses. Once you have broken through, you will be faced with a large number of Amazon warriors that will come from all over the Amazon colony as reinforcements. Here you have to be prepared for a long and hard battle that could be very difficult to win if you have not taken measures earlier to weaken your opponent.

To make matters even worse, often a second Amazon tribe will enter into the fray and you will quickly become a decided underdog. You do have allies, though. The Romans are trapped inside a mountain ring surrounded by snow. The Romans cannot help themselves but your priests have a spell (Melting Snow) to melt the snow. This is no easy task, however, because this mountain ring is completely within Amazon territory and also surrounded by towers. It will be very difficult getting your priest near enough to work his spell. The northeastern arc (7) of this mountain ring is relatively weakly protected and offers the best chances of suceeding. To avoid sending any of your priests on a kamikaze mission, you should scout the area carefully with your thieves to determine exactly how strong the defense is there. Ideally you could have a couple spearsmen flanking your priests and drawing the fire of the enemy bowmen so that your priests can get on with melting a way through to the Romans.

As soon as your allies have been freed, your enemies will begin to attack the Romans which, in turn, gives you a little more breathing space. Now is the time to attack. Try to coordinate your efforts with those of the Romans. You can provoke your enemy into battles and lure them to your allies - take advantage of every opportunity of fighting together with the Romans.

Another possibility is a massive sea-based invasion with several transport ships landing in a weakly defended spot, the northeastern arc (7) for example. >From there you can free the Romans and then together battle against the oncoming Amazons.

Once you have gained the upper hand, the destruction of your two opponents becomes only a question of time. Don't underestimate the isolated castles of your enemy. Haphazard attacks will only result in unacceptably high casualties among your soldiers.

Problem: There are not enough fish in the big lake!

Your priests can again be helpful here. The spell "Flood of Fish" cast near the lake should give you all the fish you need.

© Blue Byte Software Inc.
Authors: Christian Haecker & Joerg Niesenhaus