The Asian Dynasties

In this guide i plan to address each map and give you tips and hints on how to use that map to your full advantage and maybe even turn the game in your favour.
*NOTE* A couple of the maps are incomplete and i will be finishing them very soon. Also i will be updating the guide with tips and more info all the time so make sure you check back.
Last Updated
25/06/07
24/06/07

Please post any comments you have here



This post has been edited by Apocalypes: Jun 25 2007, 18:26 PM

Overview: Araucania is a large map, in that the distance between the opposing towncenters is quite large. This makes it a lot safer to Fast fortress as the enemies rush will be slowed, alternatively when you rush you will want to remember to send those villagers a few seconds earlier to make sure they are in position on time. There is a large trade route that splits the map horizontally down the middle, it usually has 4+ Trade posts on it so make sure you train and gain control of them. Treasures on this map are quite good, there are usually at least 2 'big' treasures on this map. There is also naval capabilities as well with decent fishing and usually a few whales.

Natives:Mapuche Inca

Tips
• Make sure to remember to send those villagers a little bit earlier when rushing.
• Take into account that this map has a lot of berries dotted around when you make a deck, I have a separate deck with the Furrier card in it(or any card that boost's berry gather rate). This allows me to stay off of mills for the little bit longer and spend that wood on other things.

This post has been edited by Adapt: Jul 2 2007, 14:42 PM

Overview: Andes can come in 2 versions.

Now version A is alot more of an open battlefield to fight on, there is not many choke point at all to take advantage on, this means cavalry can be used quite effective so take that into account.
Version B is pretty much the opposite, each player gets there own section of land with a small opening to the center of the map, the center of the map is a long stripe that runs between the two sections, the trade route runs along this strip. This makes it a very strategy based map, you can either block off your own little opening to your section and FF safely or you could take the map control and use the choke points against your enemy and block them in, this give you and you alone acess to the trade route and the natives and is my prefered strategy on this version of the map.
On both version starting hunts are good as there are usally 2 big herds close to your town center. The trade route usally has 3-4 Trade posts on it.

Natives:Inca
Dont worry that there is only 1 native on this map, there is always 4 Trade posts to build on allowing for large armies of natives.

Tips

• When on version B of Andes make sure you choose your strategy wisely and take advantage of the choke points

This post has been edited by Adapt: Jul 2 2007, 14:38 PM

Overview: Quite and open map with patches of trees jotted around the map, you can use these to your advantage with Light infantry vs Cavalry. Map layout is pretty standard, a TC to the north and one to the south. A trade route zags from east to west cutting through both sides of the map. There is water to the west of the map with a lot of fish, however there are rarely any whales, and if there is it's usually only around 2-3. I would suggest scouting the water before you invest in schooners or any ships.

Natives: KlamathNootka

Tips:

• There is always a surgeon or another healing type unit as a treasure on this map. Try and get it early as it will help with your treasure gathering. Also remember you can garrison him so make sure you keep him safe.

This post has been edited by Adapt: Jul 2 2007, 14:40 PM

Overview: This map has 4 seperate sections to it which is divided by water, there is 1 section for each player/team. Each of these has its own trade route on which usally tends to have 3 Trade posts on it. Both sides also have 1 Native Trade post on it. There is a 3rd section to the right which has a Native trade post on and connects the two opposing sides section, which are also connected via water logged land (like the terrain on Boyou), and are seperated by water. There is a 4th section which is only accessable by naval transport. This section is rich in resources(I'll add a picture at the end if my descripton wasnt clear enough). Fish are quite plentiful but there is no whales to resort to after the fish are all depleted, so if you decide to fish boom be prepared to delete alot of your fishing boats. Due to the chokepoints there are many different tactics on this map, you can wall off the sections and FF for example, or build boats in the sections of water deviding each land section, meaning your enemies units will be attacked while trying to push forwward, and it will also give you extra LOS so you can prepare for the oncoming attack.



Natives: Klamath Nootka

Tips

• The 4-5 Starting deer will not run away when you shoot them so make sure not to send your villagers behind the animals to herd, only a small thing but it can shave seconds off your age up time
• Remember the resource plenty island off to the left of the map

Overview: This map is divided into 2 halves by a long river going horizontaly through the map. It is connected at the north of the map via a crossing, this is the only way to reach your enemy. So basically it means if you take control of that section you take control of the game. therefore try and get control as quick as you can of the crossing. Hunting is ok on this map but you will probably find yourself behind forced onto mills earlier than on most maps. There is no trade routes on this map.

Natives: Tupi Zapotec CaribMaya

Tips

• Remember to try and get control of the crossing as quickly as you can
• At the crossing where the crossing and the ridge meet you can actualy build a dock there, this is a great thing for civs like Brits who can get the card that gives ships extra ranage, and infact its great for any civ as it gives you extra control at the crossing

Overview: Its a pretty open map to fight on, there is usally alot of cows as well so make sure you hunt for them and send them back to your towncenter. There is no trade routes on this map. As its an open map there isnt many choke holds to take advantage off, so i would suggest you use flanking strategiues to better your opponent. The hunting situation is pretty good as there are many groups of bison and deer around the map, make sure you protect your villagers thought as some of them can be very far away. No trade route again on this map but there are some pretty sweet natives.

Natives:Apache Navajo

Tips

• Makes sure you get as many cows as you can and send them back to your towncenter
• Use unit tactics to get the better of your enemy due to the lack of chokepoints

Overview: 2 Seperate islands for each team with a large river deviding them, the only way you can get to your opponents is by creating a navy, this means you will need to get control of the sea as soon as you can, if you manage to get control before your enemy then it usally means the game is yours as they cannot create a dock and fight back. Hunting is pretty decent and if you manage to get the central river you will have the privillage to hunt safely all around the map. There are 2 seperate trade routes one for each side of the river, which is great as it basically means that you have a trade route to yourself.

Natives: TupiZapotec

Tips

• Get control of the river as soon as you can.
• Include Naval upgrades in your deck.
• Build Outposts along the shore.

Overview: A land map with a difference, there are swampy areas which you can walk on but not build on, this means you will have to get control of the solid areas and plan your building placement well to maximize the space you have. No trade route. Treasures are quite nice, there is always at least one 160 wood treasure which is guarded by 2 pirated and 3 crocs, which is pretty easy to get with micro and is agreat boost.

Natives: CherokeeSeminole

Tips

• Make the most of the space you have.
• Keep and eye out for those 160 wood treasures.

Overview: Each player starts with thier own island, accessable only by boats. There is one other island which contains a traderoute with 3 Tradeposts on it. Getting control of this island will be a great boost. Now because its such a water heavy map you have to do one of two things. Either turtle up your coasts with outposts and walls to stop the enemy advancing onto your island, or get boats out nice and early and try and limit your enemies sea expansion. Fishing oportunites are quite decent with a few whales to fall back on after the fish are all gone, however they are jotted around the ocean so arent very protectable.

Natives: Carib

Tips

• Take control of sea early.
• Include alot of ship boosting cards in your deck as you will always have sea fights on this map.

Overview: Carolina is a very diverse map, Each player starts off with more than the standard amount of crates, this allows for most civs to get a Tradepost up in Discovery, the traderoute goes Horizontally throught the middle of the map, it usally has about 4 Trade posts on it so its always good to take control of it. The naval capabilities on this map are good to, there is a large amount of fish and also whales to fall back on once all the fish is depleted. Resources are quite abundant except hunts which there are pretty few of, however there is alotof berries around the map to fall back on. There is a player at the north and south of the map with the sea to the right, to the left side of the trade route is the natives and alot of the reasources are located.

Natives: CherokeeSeminole

Tips

• If you have the wood try and get an early trade post
• If sea battles are taking place build outposts along the coast

Overview: Great Lakes comes in 2 versions, the summer version and the winter version. The main difference between the two is that in the summer version there is a lake in the center of the map, whereas in the winter version the lake is frozen up. The main feature of this map is the huge trade route which frames the map, the XP and possibly resource income of this traderoute is huge as it is in one continuous loops. I would highly suggest trying to take control of it. The summer version can allow for some interesting tactics, for example building ships and bombarding your enemies town from the sea, or sending your troops round one way while the enemy sends theres the other (always ends in a fun rec). With the Winter version you can walk stright across the river however cannot build on it. Resources are quite plentiful on this map.

Natives: HuronCheyenneCree

Tips

• The traderoute can be the key to victory in this case, fight for it.
• On the Summer version prepare to fight off some ships, or use it yourself of course

Overview: Quite an open battlefield with small patches of trees here and there which you can use to your advantage during battle. Hunting is good as there is large batches of bison dotted around the map. There are small patches of trees around the map but a majority of the trees are around the edge of the map. The traderoute has 3 Tradeposts on it always, 1 of which is right next to your towncenter and the other one is halfway up the map.

Natives: Cheyenne Comanche

Tips

• Use your surrounding when i battle, use trees to cause path finding issues.
• Your starting Bison will not last you past discovery, make sure you send a villager to herd early

Overview: Quite a unique map. Each player starts off with alot of resource crates, i mean alot, most ottoman players can age almost instantly. Hunting is scarce but there is alot of berries around the map. Map layout create some nice chokepoints. the island is moon shaped and is surrounded by water, inside the dip of the moon shape is alot of whales( i mean alot, usally at least 5-6) which makes fishing a very viable option. The is a huge unuseable terrain in the center of the island, this can create ome nice chokeholds between the water and the rock. Here is a picture, ive circled the dip area and the rocks in black and examples of chokepoints you can create.


Natives: Carib

Tips

• Utilize the choke points between the sea and rock
• If you Vsing Ottomans remember they can age up early so prepare for that, if you are Ottoman remember you can age up so early so dont miss the 800 food mark.
• The sea is great on this map so make sure you use it aswell. Likewise dont just allow your enemy to have it.

This post has been edited by Apocalypes: Jun 24 2007, 16:02 PM

Overview: Cool map which gives the opportunies for many tactics to be used. Map layout is as follows; Each player at one end of the map, to the right of them is water with fish and whales, not that many but they are there, now in the center is a traderoute, it is only small but it gives a constant flow of resources because its so small, there are 4 Trade posts on this route. There are small patches of water ont he map which allow for you to build ships at chokepoints, which is where the tactice come into it. You can use these pools of water to block the enemy in, block yourself in, take map wtih boats in the pools the list goes on. Ill give a picture of the map showing some examples.


Natives:HuronCherokee

Tips

• Chokepoints! use them use them use them
• As you can see on the map i showed was that the mines are dotted around the edge of the map, in most cases they are layed out in this way so rather than waste time sending them forward or something send them staright to these locations.
• If you shipping in 2 caravels for example remember you can always set your naval shipment point into one of these pools and use them to control the map.

Overview: This map is thinner than usual. You will see what i mean in the screenshot below. But basically the Northwest and Southeast side of the map seems to have been trimmed down. This makes the map more longer and thinner than others. Towncenter placement is usally either North and south or Southwest and North east. The traderoute setup will depend on how your started, North/South Towncenters and the traderoute will cut throught the center of the map, SW/NE and it will run along your towncenter and then cut across to meet in the middle. Either way this traderoute is pretty large and hold 2 tradeposts on it most of the time so its always a good idea to get a Tradepost up if you have the resources. Also when you know how the Towncenters are setup you will also no what the map layout will be like. North and south maps will have a layout like this:

Note the crossings around the Native settlements, if you focus the battle around these you can use these cxrossing to flank the enemy, and if using walls can cause the enemy unit to bottleneck which will get much more damage out of your cannons.

If towncenters are SW/NE the map layout will be like this:



As you can see most of the fighting will be happening at that central crossing. Try and take control of this area with a forward base, maybe even some towers. Its quite easy to secure 2 Tradepost on that traderoute so make sure you do.

Unfortunately there is a bug on this map. Basically you start off in a bad location and have no decent starting hunts. If this is the case then your enemy will have a big advantage over you unless you prepare. Send a villager out to herd straight away, use your explorer to search the areas around your towncenter before sending him out to gather treasures. Keep shooting your herds towards your towncenter. I believe they react to a shot every 4-5 secs so make sure you optimize this. Hopefully you will be able to herd enough to make this disadvantage small.

Example of bug:



Natives: IncaTupi

Tips:

• Like on the Orinoco map you are able to build a dock at the crossing of the river. You can use this to your advantage late game with some monitors for example. Or use the ships to keep control of the central crossing

This post has been edited by Apocalypes: Jun 25 2007, 18:10 PM

Overview: Quite a resouce scarce map. When it comes to starting hunts you are out of luck, usally starting with just 4 deer and a few smaller hunts around. This map alternates with a few changed between the 2 versions. Ill go into more detail about that later. Map layout is pretty standard, both teams have there Towncenters at opposite locations on the map, in this case north and south of the map, behind each teams towncenter is is there own traderoute with 2-3 Trade posts on it. As they are behind the towncenter it basically means you have a traderoute for yourself. There is water to the east of the map with decent fish and whales jotted around. Now the second version has a second sort of lake to the east of the map, now you can use this to your advantage, creating ships and directing battles towards the shore to allow your ships to attack them. There is a number of small clusters of trees jotted around the map, use these to your advantage as chokepoints or to cause path finding issues against cavalry.

Natives: No natives available on this map.

Tips:

• Starting hunts are poor, herd early.
• Use the sea well, if you have control of it try and draw battles towards the coastline.
• Choose a deck with a couple of ship cards in (2 caravels, a frigate etc)

Overview: Quite a large map with 2 seperate elevated areas were each teams towncenters stand, in the middle lower part is large forests and a few mines and hunts, getting control of thismiddle point is vital as it allows you to control the game to your advantage. Starting hunts are poor so make sure your send villagers early to herd. There are 2 seperate Trade routes going north to south on the east and west of the map, there are 4 connection points which allow you to get onto your enemies raised land section, 2 which the traderoute runs through and 2 on the very east and west side of the raised terrain. When battling in the central area use the large forests to your advanatge, they cause terrible path finding issues with cavalry and allows your Light infantry to easily pick them off, likewise never send cavalry into a large forest like this because you will usally come out worse off.

Natives: CheyenneComanche

Tips

• Use your surroundings to your advantage, the trees in the central areas are a prime example of this.
• Remember the starting hunts are rubbish so make sure you send a villager to herd early.

Overview: Quite a resource heavy map, there is plenty of huntables, forests and mines scattered around the map. Each team is at either end of the map, east or west, there is a lake to the north with great fishing capabilities, there is usally 4+ whales to fall back on as well so its a great idea to go for the sea. There trade route alternates between one running north to south across the middle of the map, this gives some good locational tactics, if you build your base infront of the trade route you get access to it all. The other alternative is that the trade route runs east to west. Another bonus of this map is that you start with a free economical building, be is a market, a livestock pen, a mill or if your really lucky a free plantation.

Natives:CreeHuron

Tips

• Remember if you get a livestock pen as your starting economical building to make sure to set your sheep to the pen rather than just send them home. Also if you using natives remember that your mills count as a livestock pen as well so make sure you send them to your mill.
• Cree natives allow you to create CdB which is great for booming so if you can spare the wood, make sure you get the cree tradepost.#]

Overview: Comes in 3 Verions. Version A), Version B) and Version C)
Firstly i will Give and overview of things that are on all three maps. Firstly Towncenter position, towncenters are alwasy opposite sides of the map, one north and one south. There is a trade route whict starts next to each towncenter and diverts to the left to meet in the middle of the map. It usally has five tradeposts on it.
Now I will go through each version and gives you tips and tactics to use the map to your advantage.
Version A) This map has a large 'Ditch' in the middle of it this 'ditch' has two entry sloped one to the north and one to the south. Within this ditch there is lots of hunts and mines, usally at least four mines and 3 or more herds of bison, this makes it very important for the playter to take control of it, battles will usally revolve around fighting for control of this central resource heavy ditch.
Version B) This maps ditch as been inverted if you like, turning it into more of a mountain, you cannot go ontop of this 'mountain' but it does give you some chokeholds which you can use to your advantage, scattered around this mountain is a number of goldmines, so erecting a towncenter in these locations will be a good idea, i have highlighted these areas on the maps.
Version C) This is exactly the same as the other 2 map versions however the middle of the map is just plain terrain, therefore no chokepoints within this area, this is a great place for forward bases/fort placement etc as there is such and open space.

Natives: ApacheMayaNavajo

Tips:

• When on version A make sure you fight for control of the central dip.
• The Traderoute is large on this map so its always handy to place a few Tradeposts up.
• Use the Small cliffs and cannons around the maps as chokepoints.