Battering Ram

Lore & Background

In Age of Mythology, siege units operate outside the standard rock-paper-scissors combat model used by most other troops. These units are generally exempt from counter-attacks by infantry or cavalry but possess a unique strength: they can destroy buildings easily. However, this power comes with a specific weakness; siege units remain vulnerable to attacks from cavalry. The game features four major resources—food, wood, gold, and favor—instead of the stone resource found in previous Ensemble Studios titles. While civilians gather food through hunting or farming, and wood is gathered by chopping trees, gold is collected from mines or trade. Unlike other games in the franchise, Age of Mythology does not include stone as a resource.

In Their Own Story

The campaign follows Arkantos, an Atlantean admiral forced to travel across the lands of the game's three cultures. His journey begins when he pursues the minotaur Kamos, who has raided his homeland to steal a trident from a statue of Poseidon. After recovering the trident, Arkantos assists Greek king Agamemnon in the Trojan War, aided by heroes Ajax and Odysseus. Following their victory using a Trojan Horse, they travel to Ioklos seeking ship repairs only to find the city occupied by Gargarensis, a cyclops warlord, and Kemsyt, an Egyptian priest. The group rescues the centaur Chiron and ventures into the underworld of Erebus to stop Gargarensis from breaking open a large metal door. When the ram used to break the door is destroyed by Arkantos's forces, the cyclops entraps them within the underworld.

Reader's Guide

Players advance their tribe through four distinct Ages: Archaic, Classical, Heroic, and Mythic. Upgrading requires paying resources and constructing a specific prerequisite building. In Age of Mythology, siege units are trained at military buildings, which differ by culture but serve similar purposes. These structures allow players to research armor upgrades and attack improvements. While walls and towers are defensive structures that cannot train units, they can research some upgrades. The game includes a scenario editor more advanced than its predecessor, allowing for overlapping units and steep terrain. Multiplayer modes include Supremacy, Conquest, Deathmatch, Lightning, Nomad, King of the Hill, and Sudden Death. In Sudden Death, a player loses if their Town Center is destroyed and they fail to rebuild it within a set time.

Did You Know?

• Age of Mythology was released on May 8, 2014 as the Extended Edition for Windows via Steam.
• The game features three playable cultures: Greeks, Egyptians, and Norse, each with unique minor gods like Bast and Aphrodite.
• Siege units in Age of Mythology are exempt from the standard rock-paper-scissors combat model but can destroy buildings easily.
• Favor is acquired differently by each culture: Greeks pray at temples, Egyptians build monuments, and Norse fight or hunt animals.
• The remaster, Age of Mythology: Retold, was released on September 4, 2024.