Dark Age Damnation

Concept

Stay in the dark age and plunder your enemy with 100 militia!

Settings

  • Game Type: Random Map
  • Map: Arabia or another open map
  • Number of players: 2-8
  • Map Size: According to the players or smaller
  • Teams: Teams Together and locked
  • Speed: Normal
  • Victory: Conquest

Rules

  • Stay in the Dark Age!

Civilisations

There is a minor difference between civs in the dark age, but some civs still hold the edge through economic and technologic advantages. E.g. Aztecs have extra gold and faster unit creation and on top of that their villagers carry more. Chinese have better farms, Celts have faster woodcutters and huns can save on houses. Mongols hunt faster for a headstart etc. It’s generally about your dark age bonus.

1st tier

2nd tier

3rd tier

4th tier

Hints & Tips

  • Scouting: Keep scouting the map for enemy villagers. No extra TC or towers can be built, so your militia will have a free pass for raiding.
  • Walling: Walling off big chunks of your economy can prevent raids from militia.
  • Attacking: Try to spread some attacks if possible. Villagers do well against militia, but they need to be micromanaged.
  • Economy Balance: Because there are no economic upgrades available, you’ll have to pay more attention to your economy. More villagers are needed for the same amount of resources and farms are exhausted much faster than in feudal.

Recorded Games

In this game Daut and Ruso decided to stay in the Dark Age all game long. Just enjoy the record!

  • _DauT_ vs L_Clan_Ruso: Here you can download a top rated dark age game. Both players are Aztec.

Written by Cysion

  • Hugh

    I disagree with Aztec having the 1st tier only. I think Celts and Persian should gain the same position.
    Celts have +15% infantry speed and also faster lumberjack. Persians have extra 100 resources which allows them to have a really quick first milita.

    For 2nd, Britons and Mongols shrine with their fast food gathering. Mayans and China with their extra villagers. Japan and Huns have their way to save wood. These qualities are good, but not distinguish enough to make them better than the first tier (number, walking speed, quick arrival)

    3rd, Goth have advantage with their better hunting skill. Teutons are good but the farming saving would not be quick enough to affect the milita.

    4th Turks have mining bonus but imo is not too important. Same as Spanish’s building bonus. Byzantines have extra building hp.

    5th I don’t think I need to explain.
    1st Aztec + Celts + Persian
    2nd Britons, Huns, Mongols, Mayans, Japan, China
    3rd Goth, Teutons
    4th Turks, Spanish, Byzantines
    5th Saracens, Franks, Korea, Vikings

  • Civiae

    please make this but then upto castle age (= no imp) :D

  • Anonymous

    might be a bad thing being huns here? i use houses as walls a alot when i play dark age fights..haha

    • Cysion

      Well, huns still save a lot of wood and villager time on houses. Doesn’t weigh up against some palisades :p

  • BANE THE DUKE

    yes…i thought about this before.. the idea is great!

  • Polo

    Were are the links for download the maps?

    • Cysion

      Uhm, there is no download for this. You play this game on the maps that are included in Age of Empires II. You just need to tell the players to stick to these rules and have fun.