The Two Obelisks
This level’s geography has a very obvious arc to it, one that guides any army-focused civilization in an obvious pattern.
You should know fairly well by now not to fall for obvious patterns. Go magic instead, and concentrate your efforts on controlling the Shrines in the northwest. These are fairly difficult to attack, so whoever gets there first is going to have pretty much exclusive use of magic for the duration of the level. The key to controlling the Shrines is the central tower – anything else just leaves too much time for reinforcements.
At some point, of course, you’re probably going to have to do what the game tells you, and for this it will behoove you control the Towers. These are the key for control of the arc of houses, so prioritize them. Don’t bother taking Houses if an enemy Tower is available instead.
The Rainbow Dice Fissure Thing
Okay, yeah, I haven’t got a clue what that is.
This level suggests a pattern of colonization – attacking each other through the Towers is an obvious nightmare waiting to happen, and most of the resources are in the neutral area across the river. Concentrate on securing your Towers first, if you can – if the enemy controls them, you’re doomed.
Once you’ve got the upper left corner secured, you’re faced with a choice – play the game as intended and head east to establish your colonies, or screw the rules and charge south trying to break the enemy Towers by force. Which you choose will depend largely on whether you’re magic focused or army focused. Most of the eastern resources come in the form of crystals, so if you’re magic-oriented go for it.
Otherwise, smash them!
The Thing Before The Giant Scorpion Scorpion
Have the developers run out of ideas for plausible landmarks at this point?
This is also the first level where keeping your skills straight becomes vitally important. If you don’t have at least a
few ranks in Agility, this level will be a nightmare. You will be almost guaranteed to lose your starting House and will spend the rest of the game in exile in the southeast.
Trust me on this, I speak from experience.
Of the other two civilizations on this map, the Romans have a slight advantage, so you’ll want to take aggressive action against them first. Send some men to pick up the southeast, but hammer the southern southwestern Medium Tower, as well. If you can contest the southwest, you will still be in the game.
You are almost certain to lose your starting House at some point if you play aggressively, so be sure to pick up large houses when you can. You may also have luck playing cautiously and waiting for an enemy to leave one of
their starting Houses under-strength, at which point you are in the perfect position to swoop down on them.
The Giant Scorpion
Your second boss fight. The only real difference between the Scorpion and the Turtle is that the Scorpion has more arms, and they’re more spread out.
In other words, the immediate threat on this level is the enemy civilization.
Hit hard. Your best bet is a blitzkrieg – go for the Houses nearest the enemy
first. The enemy AI on this level prioritizes the Shrines, so you should stand a chance. Take as many northern Houses as you can as quickly as you can, and bottle the enemy up in the North before launching your final assault.
Once that’s taken care of, turn your attention to the boss. Hammering him with magic is still a winning strategy, but you’ll probably also want to supplement that with mass human wave attacks against his two central pincers, and then his head. All in all, the only real danger on this level is if you fail to defeat the enemy civilization quickly enough.
The Forum
This level has some nice goodies scattered around, but the key is unquestionably the center. The two Large Towers there are simply too powerful an advantage, both offensively and defensively. The Level Five House is just the ridiculous icing on the cake of absurdity.
The Large Shrines in the southwest and northeast are also important if you’re magic focused. Otherwise, you can safely ignore the southwestern Large Shrine. The northeastern one should still be a focus simply to deny it to the enemy.
Once you control the center, the game is more or less yours. Go in and go in hard.
The XI
I really have no idea what these things are supposed to be. Giant Roman calendar?
This level is basically just “The Aqueduct Up To XI”, and the same basic strategy as for that level applies. If you’re magic focused, hammer the center. Otherwise, focus on securing the flanks first.
The Totem Pole
This level is fairly straightforward. Most of the fighting will occur along the central line of Large Towers, control of which is paramount to your success. Try to concentrate your efforts in the south – the level geography will force the enemy there, so fight him where he’s likely to gain strength while picking up the northwest relatively uncontested. The most important building on this map is the southernmost Large Tower – control that and you have a straight shot to the core of the enemy’s territory.
You can also surprise him with a sneak attack from the northwest on his starting House. For fun, if nothing else.
The Giant Venus Flytrap
Despite the name, not a boss nor even particularly dangerous.
The Towers here are offensive tools, not defensive ones – you need them to put heavy infantry into the middle. There’s no single strategy here that will guarantee victory. Just fight for those Towers and Shrines and use them to your advantage.