There are many variables and ways to play Age of Mythology which allows you to really play it how you want. Depending on the God you choose at the beginning and what minor-gods you choose to bring on each time you move on to a different age, there is an outstanding 72 combinations to try out! Each minor-god gives you different tech options, god powers and mythical units. Despite this there are some principle strategies that hold true for just about every combination: -
* The three main races lean themselves to differing styles of play. The Norse Gods are certainly better for the early age rush players with the ability to churn out half decent units early on. The Egyptian Gods tend to have a stronger defence with the ability to upgrade their towers in the first age for free. The Greeks seem to be a balance between the two, with good infantry and cavalry units later on in the game.
* Read the manual! - despite its small size there are a few gems and some helpful hints. This and the tech tree and minor god tables should be studied in depth. If your intention is to play a certain God you need to have in mind what minor-gods you will choose at each age - depending on the terrain of the map. Some minor-gods you will note from the table lean more towards water dominant environments than land.
* Upgrade to the next age as quickly as possible to gain early advantage over your opposition. In multi-player games upgrading quickly should be one of your principle strategies.
* Capture and hold gold mine sites, they are a finite resource and in drawn out games they become a rare commodity
* Technical upgrades should be considered carefully. Right click on the proposed upgrade to pull up information on what the upgrade will do for you. Don't waste resources on upgrades for infantry when your strategies are around cavalry and missile troops.
* As early as you can, form a raiding group and disrupt the oppositions resource gathering. Small pinprick attacks can (especially human players) divert players from larger strategic issues. Slowing down the oppositions economy is a strategy that holds true in most RTS games.
* Don't neglect defence. This is somewhat easier in AOM as in random play each starting settlement comes complete with watchtowers (although upgrades are necessary to make them useful). The Egyptians have a god power that can give you 4 arrow firing statues around your town centre - worth considering if your opposition is Norse.
* When to use God powers? - you need to remember that these are one off weapons (although some benefits are permanent, most are fleeting - especially offensive ones). The trick is to use them for the greatest effect at the right time. The meteor storm is beautiful to behold but wasted on mere troops. You can use it in the core of the oppositions town centre - where it can effectively finish the game for you. The draw back of course is you need to get close to use them. Sometimes when choosing a minor-god, it's tempting to chose the one with the big offensive power but often their tech benefits and myth units are not so good. Again your playing style will dictate your choice.
* An effective end game strategy when you have the plague spell is to wait till you have killed off the initial defenders and drop the spell so it covers the unit generating buildings. This will seriously hamper their ability to put up any sort of second line of defence.
* Think about using the powers in combinations. An earthquake spell on a city quickly followed by the opening of an underground gate that you feed troops through close to the oppositions town centre can be devastating.
* Scout early and far. You need to quickly identify the layout of terrain to see if there are any choke points you can utilise in defence and where the gold concentrations are. One strategy is to set up mine sites further out than those immediately next to your Town Centre as when they run out the close in sites are easier to defend later on in the game. The Norse mobile resource caravan makes this a particularly good option.
* Relics can give you some real advantages, with each one bestowing benefits either to units, resource gathering or in defence. As soon as you have a temple up (in the first age) you should be gathering them up to maximise the benefits that will accrue to you.
* If you are going for a big army you will want to capture and build town centres on the villages you find (unlike earlier games town centres can only be built on top of an existing village on the map) as these will significantly increase your total population capacity. You are limited to 10 houses, so after that the only option is to build more town centres to get more population. The fortress upgrade to existing town centres also gives additional population but this is only significant if you have multiple town centres - to put resources into this earlier would be a waste.
* Don't just build anywhere. Build for defence. Use buildings as a way to channel and coral attacking forces. Kind of like dual purpose walls.
* When on attack, think about creating a forward base near the enemy. A particular nasty strategy employed by Norse players is where they can quickly hammer out a forward stronghold very close to your own town centre very early on in the game. As this can double as a strong tower this can really play havoc with your village economy. By setting up a barracks close to your point of attack it does away with the travelling time for your troops (live closer to work!).
* One question popping up a lot is how you build gates in walls. Once you have built a reasonable length of wall highlight a chunk of it and your builder should now have the option to build a gate.
* You can't repair siege engines or ships in AoM, with the only way to fix them being to heal them. Anything that can heal normal units will also heals ships and siege weapons.
That lot should give you an edge both in single player and multi player - read them, print them, hang them next to your computer and win!
