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Page 2 of 7
First things first

One of the most important elements in being successful at Age of Empires is simply that you need a plan. Sell your car, your dog, your mother-in-law - do whatever it takes to buy a clue. There are simply too many things to build and research in this game, and you need to know beforehand what path to success you want to take. To be successful, you need to make sure and swift decisions.

So how do you create this master plan? A lot depends on the map you are going to play on and the civilization you choose. Each civilization has unique strengths and weaknesses and should be the deciding factor behind your building path. With the Minoans, for example, you have to plan on building a strong navy and using their composite bowmen to good advantage. The Babylonians are not a good Iron Age civilization in the field of battle but are not a bad choice if you want to try to win by building a Wonder.

Another important factor to consider is the civilizations you are playing against. Some civilizations match up better against other civilizations. The Greeks do not get chariots, and chariot archers, for example, are more susceptible than most to priest attacks. Play the Choson with their cost-effective priests and bedevil Greek opponents.

There's a lot to keep straight. If you are playing other players, you may even want to consider taking some index cards and filling one out for each civilization, emphasizing their strengths and weaknesses, so you have fast access to this information as you begin a game. Yeah, it's super-dorky, but the ultimate dork is the loser who gets turned into dog food by a smarter opponent.

When to attack?

This again is largely influenced by your civilization. The Greeks are strongest in the Bronze and Iron Ages and probably should aim for those ages before attacking. But the Assyrians, with their fast-firing archery range units, can mount a credible Tool Age attack. Study your civs and figure out just what you need to build and collect to reach that critical mass when you have an army poised to march on your enemy. And hope that your opponent doesn't have a better plan.

Also, harass your enemy if you can. Killing a few of his villagers can ripple through and slow down his growth for quite some time.

Building Permits

One of the keys to success is building on an as-needed basis. Don't build six houses at the outset - just stay one or two ahead of your burgeoning population. Don't build a temple just because you can - wait until you are ready to produce priests.

Likewise, make sure you are collecting the resources you need. There's nothing worse than being poised to go into the Iron Age only to realize that your gold mine was just exhausted, and you are 75 gold short of what you need to make that advance.

General Tips continued: Racing through the ages