Age of Empires II: Age of Kings

Oh goodness I loved this game! My friends and I played this ALL the time when we were younger. I usually went with the Britons. Ahh, good memories of this game. It's the only RTS game I've really played, mostly because I hate rushing and thus get destroyed by people who know what they're doing.

Keep playing and you'll get better, Alecom.

edited 6th Aug '10 2:41:52 PM by AlirozTheConfused

^^ And it's not as micro heavy.

Though the drawback is a lack of special abilities, but since it's a historical RTS (with no Magic whatsoever), it's justified.

@Aleclom: If you want to do better, start by learning the basics about units for starters.

Swordsman>Spearmen and Camels

Spearmen>Camels, Light Cavalry and Heavy Cavalry

Light Cavalry>Monks, Skirmishers and Archers

Heavy Cavalry>Archers and Skirmishers

Archers>Swordsmen and Spearmen

Skirmishes>Archers and Cavalry Archers

Cavalry Archers>Swordsmen and Spearmen

Camels>Light and Heavy Cavalry

And that about sums it up for everything besides unique units, naval units, and siege units.

Edit: Added Camels.

edited 6th Aug '10 7:38:24 PM by Scruffy

Skirmishers and Spearmen are your reliable backbone for a flush  ^*

Also, Unique Units do these:

• Eagle Warrior: Fast infantry good against archers.
• Jaguar Warrior: Powerful infantry good vs other infantry.
• Longbowman: Long range foot archer.
• Cataphract: Heavy cavalry with a trample attack.
• Woad Raider: Swordsman with high speed.
• Chu Ko Nu: Short-ranged archer with a volley of shots.
• Throwing Axeman: Ranged swordsman.
• Huskarl: Archer-proof swordsman.
• Tarkan: Cavalry good against buildings.
• Samurai: Swordsman good against other unique units.
• War Wagon: Heavy cavalry archer. Can take a beating.
• Turtle ship: Heavy artillery ship.
• Plumed Archer: Foot archer with the stats of a cavalry archer.
• Mangudai: Better cavalry archer with a slight bonus vs artillery.
• War Elephant: Heavy cavalry. Extra vulnerable to spearmen.
• Mameluke: Ranged camel.
• Conquistador: Mounted hand cannoneer available an age early.
• Teutonic Knight: Heavy infantry. Can beat a Paladin 1-on-1.
• Janissary: Hand cannoneer available an age early, without minumum range.
• Berserk: Slowly regenerating swordsman.
• Longboat: Boat that fires volleys of arrows.

edited 6th Aug '10 7:02:04 PM by Kinkajou

Eagle Warriors are pretty resistant to Monks, and I think they get a bonus against Cavalry. Overall, probably better than Light cavalry.

Unless they are Hussars.

Ahh, can't forget Bombard Cannons. Think of it as a mobile Bombard Tower.

edited 6th Aug '10 7:05:56 PM by Scruffy

Eagle Warriors are Light Cavalry on foot.

Yeah, they get all the speed without the penalties against Camels or Spearmen.

I loved the map editor in this game. The trigger system was really accessible, if a little limited.

I haven't played this game in like 8 years, so no I'm not really looking to improve my skillz. Thanks for the advice, though.

I never really tried the trigger system. At first, I didn't know what it was. When I found out, I didn't care about it that much.

Maybe I'd be more interested if you could exchange maps online.

I really liked the scenario editor. The Trigger think was Awesome.

A lesson learned the hard way:

Custom-Created Scenario that gives all 8 players 99,999 of everything + Aegis = Forever War

I tried that a few times back before I had a job and hobbies. In one game, I played for about 7 hours and killed over 5,000 enemy units before finally ragequitting because all the natural resources on the map had been exhausted, most of the buildings on all sides were on fire, both of the walled towns I built had been sacked, and no one had resigned yet.

Never again.

edited 8th Aug '10 11:24:46 AM by Wheezy

Ah, I love making forever wars in RTS's. I once made a game of Dark crusade with a mod that turned all resources to the max at all times, a did that map which is just a straight strip of land, 3 bases on each side, IG vs. Orcs. Good times, good times.

This game basically defined my later elementary school years, with its predecessor having been an equally big part of my life before that. I was just thinking about it recently, and in particular the cheat units. The all-around awesome Cobra car. Furious the Monkey Boy, no faster than most infantry and low on HP but very well armored and equipped with one of the strongest attacks in the game. And of course, the bizarre VDML. A naked man that could run faster than any cavalry unit...what was up with that? And what did "VDML" even mean, and why was his cheat code "I love the monkey head"? And why did he always seem to say "Now that's a good idea." ?

It's funny, my best friend in elementary school had been playing Starcraft and whatever Civ game was out at the time, and had never heard of AoE, while I had never heard of Starcraft or Civ. So we sort of introduced eachother to the great games we were missing.

edited 14th Nov '10 1:02:48 PM by frog753

Wow, I didn't realize there was a thread for AOK. Suffice to say, I loved this game (And hated III)

Btw, go here to download superior player made campaigns. And here to download the 3rd party multiplayer client.

My favorite civs are probably Briton (I like to use halberds backed by longbows), Byzantine (Cataphract/Camel combination is deadly), and Celts (Onager and Scorpion madness). I suck at the beginning of the game though, usually I try to focus on getting to castle asap and building hella def to get to Imp, then get all upgrades.

Right now I'm working on my own player made scenario, didn't realize how much work it took to make the terrain, let alone the complicated trigger system.

edited 18th Nov '10 1:45:37 AM by CommandoDude

Hello there, then.

I like using the instant-200 pop of the Huns to wreak early game havoc. And GameRanger is another good multiplayer client.

Once in History class I was asked how I knew so much about the Middle Ages. I proudly announced that I played too much Ao K and received applause.

As for my preference with races? Vikings all the way. Goths are really fun too when you make mazes of Palisade Wall, Watch Towers, and Castles. Talk about arrows blocking out the sun...

edited 19th Nov '10 12:45:31 AM by SakanAK

Unofficial Expansion coming on December

I approve!

Well I'm interested.

The additions of new civilizations are a plus (particularly the Indians and Magyars). Still a few civilizations though that I would've liked to see too, like the Mali and perhaps the Khmer.

Forgotten Empires launched.

Age of Empires II HD Edition hitting Steam on April 9.

How much new content is there going to be? I find it hard to justify dropping 20$ for a 10 year old game.