Tuesday, October 17th 2023
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - "The Mountain Royals" DLC Introduced
We are excited to introduce the The Mountain Royals DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! Unlock the rich history and untold stories of two remarkable civilizations, available now to pre-order with a 15% discount! Our teams have been working on The Mountain Royals for some time, expanding the storytelling of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. As we announce this DLC publicly and make it available for pre-order, we're aware of the events currently affecting modern day Armenians. The Mountain Royals has not been designed as a comment or reference to modern day events.
The Georgians
Carve out a sturdy kingdom in the shadow of the Caucasus Mountains and use the rugged terrain to your advantage as you repulse countless foreign invasions. The Georgian unique unit is the Monaspa, a brawny cavalry unit whose strength increases in numbers. During the early medieval period, the regions south of the Caucasus Mountains were divided among numerous petty kingdoms that eluded foreign dominance largely through geographical isolation. Although the Byzantine Empire occasionally attempted to extend its influence into these polities, no significant lasting gains were made. However, the constant threat of foreign invasion catalyzed a gradual shift towards unity. In the early 11th century, Bagrat III finally succeeded in gathering these formerly squabbling states into the Kingdom of Georgia.
The Armenians
Rebuild your ancestral kingdom in the mountainous terrain near Lakes Van, Sevan, and Urmia. The Armenian unique units are the Composite Bowman, a skilled archer capable of piercing even the sturdiest armor, and the Warrior Priest, an infantry unit that can fight and heal allied units.
By the beginning of the medieval period, Armenia, a state whose history stretched back nearly a millennium prior, was caught in the midst of a conflict between two giants. Hostilities had flared up between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Persian Empire, both of which often sought to set Armenia up as a buffer state to deter invasions along their northern frontier. As Roman power waned, the Persians gained the upper hand, but their oppressive overlordship—especially the persecution of Armenian Christians in an attempt to spread Zoroastrianism—sparked constant tensions. These culminated in the Battle of Avarayr (451), where the magnate Vardan Mamikonian—who lives on in Armenian national lore - died defending his homeland.
The Persians - Updated!
Traverse the highlands with the fearsome cavalry of the Persians, who will be receiving a massive free update to their gameplay alongside The Mountain Royals. The update features the Savar, a unique paladin replacement that is adept at taking down enemy ranged units.
Three New Thrilling Campaigns
Tamar's Ascension
Brought up on stories of David the Builder, the young and impassioned Tamar ascends her great-grandfather's throne with elaborate plans for her bustling kingdom. However, she quickly finds out that wielding such power is more than a simple matter of birthright. Can Georgia's first queen overcome her skeptics and leave an imprint to endure well beyond her lifetime?
In this campaign, you will play as the Georgians.
Thoros The Great
The tiny kingdom of Cilician Armenia lies between hostile empires, its ruling family in Byzantine captivity. When Prince Thoros escapes, he embarks on a dangerous campaign to liberate his homeland, but the vengeful Byzantines are not his only foes. The Seljuk Turks covet the region as well, and a ruthless Frankish crusader is pursuing his own schemes to the south.
In this campaign, you will play as the Armenians.
Ismail
The orphaned prodigy Ismail leads the mysterious Safavid Order through war-torn Persia! Will this charismatic visionary lay the groundwork for one of the most illustrious empires of the Islamic world, or will his delusions of grandeur be his ultimate undoing?
In this campaign, you will play as the Persians.
Pre-Order The Mountain Royals DLC Now!
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2555420/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__The_Mountain_Royals/
Microsoft & Xbox Store: www.microsoft.com/store/productid/9njj29g85vxw
Sources:
AoE Official, AoE2 Steam Page
The Georgians
Carve out a sturdy kingdom in the shadow of the Caucasus Mountains and use the rugged terrain to your advantage as you repulse countless foreign invasions. The Georgian unique unit is the Monaspa, a brawny cavalry unit whose strength increases in numbers. During the early medieval period, the regions south of the Caucasus Mountains were divided among numerous petty kingdoms that eluded foreign dominance largely through geographical isolation. Although the Byzantine Empire occasionally attempted to extend its influence into these polities, no significant lasting gains were made. However, the constant threat of foreign invasion catalyzed a gradual shift towards unity. In the early 11th century, Bagrat III finally succeeded in gathering these formerly squabbling states into the Kingdom of Georgia.
Rebuild your ancestral kingdom in the mountainous terrain near Lakes Van, Sevan, and Urmia. The Armenian unique units are the Composite Bowman, a skilled archer capable of piercing even the sturdiest armor, and the Warrior Priest, an infantry unit that can fight and heal allied units.
By the beginning of the medieval period, Armenia, a state whose history stretched back nearly a millennium prior, was caught in the midst of a conflict between two giants. Hostilities had flared up between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Persian Empire, both of which often sought to set Armenia up as a buffer state to deter invasions along their northern frontier. As Roman power waned, the Persians gained the upper hand, but their oppressive overlordship—especially the persecution of Armenian Christians in an attempt to spread Zoroastrianism—sparked constant tensions. These culminated in the Battle of Avarayr (451), where the magnate Vardan Mamikonian—who lives on in Armenian national lore - died defending his homeland.
The Persians - Updated!
Traverse the highlands with the fearsome cavalry of the Persians, who will be receiving a massive free update to their gameplay alongside The Mountain Royals. The update features the Savar, a unique paladin replacement that is adept at taking down enemy ranged units.
Brought up on stories of David the Builder, the young and impassioned Tamar ascends her great-grandfather's throne with elaborate plans for her bustling kingdom. However, she quickly finds out that wielding such power is more than a simple matter of birthright. Can Georgia's first queen overcome her skeptics and leave an imprint to endure well beyond her lifetime?
Thoros The Great
The tiny kingdom of Cilician Armenia lies between hostile empires, its ruling family in Byzantine captivity. When Prince Thoros escapes, he embarks on a dangerous campaign to liberate his homeland, but the vengeful Byzantines are not his only foes. The Seljuk Turks covet the region as well, and a ruthless Frankish crusader is pursuing his own schemes to the south.
Ismail
The orphaned prodigy Ismail leads the mysterious Safavid Order through war-torn Persia! Will this charismatic visionary lay the groundwork for one of the most illustrious empires of the Islamic world, or will his delusions of grandeur be his ultimate undoing?
Pre-Order The Mountain Royals DLC Now!
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2555420/Age_of_Empires_II_Definitive_Edition__The_Mountain_Royals/
Microsoft & Xbox Store: www.microsoft.com/store/productid/9njj29g85vxw
6 Comments on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - "The Mountain Royals" DLC Introduced
AoE2 is "like Starcraft but slower" in every way. AoE2 has greater depth to decision making: juggling wood, food, gold and stone is far more difficult (and strategic) than juggling just minerals vs gas. And despite the similarities between civilizations, this leads to greater depth to tournaments in practice.
Screenshot is the drafting-process of the Red Bull Wololo V tournament (
In AoE2 tournaments, you draft the maps and civilizations to use, and also ban the most problematic civilization from your opponent. This means a huge amount of strategic depth, as you need to consider how the civilizations work on the drafted map-pool, you also need to master your maps, and finally you need to consider how to choose the right civilization for the right map (which may lead to rock-paper-scissors situations vs the opponent's civilizations).
Ex: Vikings do well on water-maps. Turks do better on gold-heavy maps. Teutons do better on closed maps with heavy forests, while Aztecs and Huns are the king of open maps.
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I really do consider AoE2 to be the best competitive 90s RTS. Yes, even better than Starcraft: Brood War.
For Starcraft players, AoE2 will feel sluggish and slow with movement and collection. Villagers bump into each other (less efficient the more you make), meaning you need to consider 2nd, 3rd, or 4th bases more often and spread out on the map. Unlike Starcraft where you have a consolidated Command Center/Nexus/Hatchery, you'll need to spread your villagers to your gold-line, wood-line, farmlands early on (~3 seperate locations that provide ~3 vulnerable spots to be attacked from), often 2x woodlines with the current meta. And of course, expansion into the midgame is necessary to keep up production.
200 population feels the same as Starcraft's 200 pop, except all units take up 1x population slot (no "Carriers" that use 6 pop, even the most powerful Elephant or Paladin is still 1-pop). So in practice, there's far more units to manage in AoE2 than Starcraft.
Everything else in the game, as far as I remember, is 1-unit for 1-pop.
War Elephants always cost one population, including in AoE2: Age of Kings (original release in 1999).