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Analysis
The Bronze Epoch adds siege weaponry but is still
missing some elements found later. This epoch sets the stage for the style
of warfare to stick around for quite a while
in history. Infantry with archers of range, and cavalry for faster units
and more
speed and strength but at a cost. Siege weapons
for breaking down defenses and destroying the enemy's livelihood. The
advent of gunpowder was what eventually changed
the age old war ethic of shock, spear, and ranged to just plain ranged
fighting but that is the future and this is STILL
the Bronze Epoch. For the Civilization Specific Powers, The Franks gain
the
Crusaders ability. One of the best combos in
the game is the War Elephant and Elephant Archer combo. And in the water,
the Battleship and Frigate combo.
Economy
Food and wood are the big necessities in this
epoch. Food is not limited however like in previous epochs. Wood is needed
for boats and buildings. Gold is needed as well
now. Iron is still not really a priority yet (unless shipbuilding) but
is a
priority if basing your army on infantry units.
And stone is still mainly for defense and some buildings.
Remember too, more options means you need more resources.
Unit resource breakdowns:
Battleship - Bronze = gold & wood
Bronze Cavalry = food & gold
Canine Scout = food
Catapult = gold & wood
Chariot Archer = gold & wood
Citizen = food
Elephant Archer = food & gold
Fishing Boat - Bronze = wood
Frigate - Bronze = iron & wood
Galley - Bronze = iron & wood
Horseman = food & gold
Javelin = gold & wood
Phalanx = food & iron
Priest = food & gold
Prophet = food & gold
Ram = gold & wood
Short Sword = food & iron
Siege Tower = gold & wood
Simple Bowman = gold & wood
Stone Thrower = gold & wood
Transport - Bronze = wood
War Elephant = food & gold
Building resource breakdowns
Archery Range = wood
Barracks = wood
Dock = wood
Farm = wood
Fortress = wood
Granary = wood
Hospital = stone & wood
House = stone & wood
Settlement = wood
Siege Factory = wood
Stable = wood
Temple = stone & wood
Tower = stone
University = stone & wood
Wall/Gate = stone
Wonders can also be built (see here for description)
Coliseum = gold & stone & wood
Ishtar Gates = iron & stone & wood
Library of Alexandria = gold & stone &
wood
Pharos Lighthouse = iron & stone & wood
Temple of Zeus = iron & stone & wood
Tower of Babylon = gold & stone & wood
To start out, you'll need a couple Citizens
which you should start out with. Next objective is to build a
Settlement
Town Center then
Capitol as needed. To
upgrade
from a Settlement to a Town Center requires 5
Citizens to populate the Settlement. After 10 Citizens populate a Town
Center
it becomes a Capitol. Adding more citizens adds
a bigger morale bonus. From a Town Center or a Capitol (but not a
Settlement) you can produce more Citizens or
even the Canine Scout
which can go through trees and makes a decent
unit to "see what the Joneses are up to". Got
to keep up with those Joneses you know.
Also, try to keep a Settlement, Town Center or
Capitol near resources so that the resources are gathered
faster. Don't make the citizens have to walk
too far.
Next is the house .
The house makes your units stronger and more durable within range of the
house.
Houses help improve your defenses. Town Centers
and Capitols also provide defensive bonuses as well.
There are two upgrades in this epoch. One is Metal
Casting which increases
gold production. The other is
Hardened Chisel
which increases iron production. Get Metal Casting as soon as you can afford
it.
Towers, Walls & Gates (defense)
***
After you get your economy going with food and
wood production/collection, you'll want to start thinking about your defensive
and military options. For defense, you need to
make a choice between weaker wooden palisades, which are easier to make
but not as durable, or the more durable stone
variety. Unless tapped for stone, I recommend the stone defenses. In a
pinch
though use the wooden palisades. Remember also
that wood burns and there is the Civilization Specific Power of Ancient
Greece called Flaming Arrows as well as the Prophet's
Fire Storm. The ability to create a gate from 5 inline walls exists.
Walls should be used to slow down the enemy and
are fairly quick and inexpensive to build. Walls can't fight back like
Towers can but do serve well to slow down an
enemy from getting to a place you don't want them to be. Also take note,
trees and other obstacles make great boundaries
for your village, town, and eventual (hopefully) prosperous city. Also
note
that Carthage's Pathfinding* ability negates
this boundary strategy in The Art of Conquest Expansion. If epoching up
from
the Copper Epoch (III) then the Bronze Walls,
Gates & Towers will be an upgrade available at the Town Center or
Capitol .
Priests/Prophets
In all epochs, the Priests
and Prophets are made
at the Temple. The safeguard against Priests is the University.
Units within range of a University can not be
converted by Priests. Prophets can not do their 'voodoo' around a temple
so
there is protection against Prophets if you plan
out making Temples for protection. Priests work well as defense now since
the Universities your opponent probably has up
cancel out any attack abilities. They are nice as defense though because
the
enemy comes into your camp and you get new units
(even over your Pop Cap). The Prophet is still as useful as ever.
Launch some of those 'voodoo' whoodoos when the
opportunity arises then go back and recharge afterwards.
There are two upgrades available in the Bronze
Epoch. Oracle increases
Prophet speed and Monotheism
increases your temple's range against Prophets.
Military
Heroes
Hannibal
is the Warrior Hero. Alexander the Great
is the Strategist Hero.
See chapter XI in the Empire Earth manual for
more information on heroes.
Archery Range
Many Archery Units available now. The first one
is the Simple Bowmen
who is the basic archer unit. Next is the
Javelin
who is really a ranged infantry unit. Next comes the Chariot Archer
which is a ranged cavalry unit.
There are two ranged cavalry units, the other
being the Elephant Archer
(one of my personal all time favorite
units). The Chariot Archer is faster than the
Elephant Archer but the Elephant Archer has more hit points. With
archery/ranged units, you usually want to improve
the range of the unit. Attack is also another good improvement as well.
A common tactic is to use a group of Phalanxes
and/or Bronze Cavalry with increased hit points and attack values as a
protective shield for your ranged units. this
way, if units get in close, your Phalanxes can take care of them while
your
archers attack from a safer distance. Archer
units need to beware Short Swords and Cataphracts which is why you have
the Phalanxes and/or Bronze Cavalry, right?
Barracks
There is now one less soldier to be produced
at the Barracks. That means only 2 units get produced at the Barracks this
epoch. The first is the Short Sword
and the other is the Phalanx .
Also, if you noticed a large poster that shipped
with the game, there is a unit relationship chart
included. Learn the unit relationships for better gameplay. In this epoch,
Short Swords and/or Horsemen have bonuses against
Archery Units, Archery Units have bonuses against Phalanxes and/or
Bronze Cavalry, and Phalanxes and/or Bronze Cavalry
have bonuses against Short Swords and/or Horsemen. It is a good
idea to build several of each type to be prepared
for any attack. You need to make the decision though of which road to
take. Also, don't forget the improvements to
hit points, speed, range and such. Improved units usually slaughter
unimproved units. Improvements and upgrades give
the advantage. If coming from the Copper Epoch (III), you will
need to upgrade
the Mace Man to the Short Sword and the Spearman to the Phalanx.
Dock
You can now REALLY play in the water. Note that
in The Art of Conquest Expansion, you need to be using a water map
and not a space map to use the water. Running
low on food? Try building a few Fishing Boats
to pick up some
extra food. Do you want to storm the beaches
of another island? Try building some Transports
to carry your
land troops across the water. Next you have a
full range of ships available to build but like other units, there are
unit
relationships where one unit has an advantage
against another while having a weakness against another.
The Battleship
really shines out of all the ships to be built but does have a weakness
against the
Galley .
Frigates have an advantage
against Galleys but are weak against Battleships.
Battleships will usually be the main unit of
your navy though because they are pretty durable but are also a bit expensive.
If coming from the Copper Epoch (III) then all
units need to be upgraded .
Fishing Raft to Fishing Boat - Bronze,
Transport Raft to Transport - Bronze, Frigate
-
Copper to Frigate - Bronze, Battleship - Copper to Battleship - Bronze,
Galley - Copper to Galley - Bronze
Siege Factory
Four units available from the start (this is
the first epoch to have the Siege Factory). The first unit is the
Stone Thrower .
The second is the Siege Tower .
The third is the Catapult.
And lastly is the Ram .
The Stone Thrower is really an artillery piece (for attacking infantry).
The
Siege Tower is like a transport but for walls.
The Catapult is a wall crusher. And the Ram is another
wall crusher but without the range of the Catapult.
It is open to your style of play as to how you wish to
attack your opponent's defenses. Siege weapons
are to take out or bypass enemy defenses.
Stable
Several units available at the Stable now. The
first is the familiar Horseman .
The Second is the Bronze Cavalry .
The last is another favorite of mine, the War
Elephant . This now
creates the cavalry relationships of
sword -> archer -> spear -> sword. Or Horseman
and/or War Elephant against Chariot Archer and/or Elephant Archer.
Chariot Archer and/or Elephant Archer against
Bronze Cavalry against Horseman and/or War Elephant. As you will notice,
Stable units are cavalry units. They also cost
a bit more, take up two of your population, are faster, and have more hit
points.
I usually use cavalry as 'firemen'. Since cavalry
is faster, it can get to places quicker than infantry can and put out that
enemy 'fire' quickly.
Support Buildings
Fortress
Ever think about getting a bunch of units ahead
so that you don't have to wait around to build units after an enemy starts
invading the crap out of you non stop? With Fortresses,
you can stockpile pre-built armies so that you can in essence build
over your Pop Cap. All units stored inside a
Fortress do not count against your Pop Cap so you can then build more units.
If
you are at or over your Pop Cap, you can use
Fortresses to store up soldiers for that rainy day. As your outside units
start
getting slaughtered, just pull units out of the
Fortress(es). Instant pre-built reserves. You need to protect these structures
though, because if they are destroyed while you
are at your Pop Cap, the units inside a Fortress die (but if any gap in
the
Pop Cap, units are automatically jettisoned from
the building on a last in - first out basis).
Granary
Granaries are needed to make farms. If placed
well, one Granary can plant the seeds for 8 farms all around it. There
is also
an option on the Granary to replant farms should
any be destroyed. Farms have PILES of food and can also be populated
like Settlements/Town Centers/Capitols. When
8 Citizens populate a Granary, the size of the Granary increases. Each
Citizen populating a Granary (up to 8) helps
to increase food production.
Hospital
Hospitals help heal your units when they get
hurt in battle. Within a certain range of a Hospital, units start healing
(shown
with a green dot graphic). You should probably
place a Hospital just behind the lines so that it doesn't get destroyed
but also
so that it is easier to get to for your hurt
units
There is an upgrade for the Hospital as well.
Hippocratic Oath
which increases the Hospital's healing rate
and range of effect.
University
The University is for advanced research projects.
There are two upgrades at the University. The
first is Philosophy
which increases the range of the University for
protecting against conversion. The second is
the Pulley which increases
buildings' hit points.
Civilizations and their bonuses (bonuses vary between different versions/updates)
Note: How to determine which bonuses are right
for you? Look at how you plan to play the battle. If you plan on walling
yourself in then the Civ - Economy (stone) bonus
plus the Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers bonuses will help out. If
you plan
on using lots of Priests then Religion - Priest
bonuses and Civ - Economy (gold) bonuses are the way to go. Each
civilization
has its advantages and disadvantages throughout
each epoch and each map type. Island maps will require ships and ships
require wood, gold, and iron so not only the
Ship bonuses but also Civ - Economy (wood, gold, iron) help as well. There
is
no perfect civilization and even picking a civilization
that may seem 'handicapped' usually does not decide a game's fate same
as picking a seemingly advantaged civilization
does not decide either, but it can help if facing a similar opponent and
any edge
you can get over some one else is a good thing
I feel. The nice part of Empire Earth is that the game structure
allows for
miscalculations without any severe penalties.
The other player's Ships may have better range but yours are faster so
the range
advantage is not very useful now because with
the speed, the shots now miss most of the time. There is always a counter
for
everything available. Improvements give an advantage
to a certain area. Also, the beginning civilization bonuses give an early
advantage and a later advantage as well. Even
though you may start out with a civilization bonus of Infantry - Ranged
(range)
you can still improve that range more with the
unit improvement feature. So you start out with +2 but then improve twice
more at +2 each time so now the range is +6 whereas
your opponent can only upgrade range twice and didn't have the
starting Infantry - Ranged (range) bonus so can
only get to a +4 range. However, his civilization started out with a Citizens
&
Fishing Boats (speed) bonus so he can therefore
get more resources faster. More resources = faster and larger army
production. See how that works?
Also, a breakdown on how the bonus system can be applied to units.
Archers - Foot = Simple Bowman
Cavalry - Ranged = Chariot Archer & Elephant
Archer
Cavalry - Spear = Bronze Cavalry
Cavalry - Sword = Horseman
Civ - Building, Walls & Towers = defensive
bonuses
Field Cannon & Anti-Tank Guns = Stone Thrower
Infantry - Ranged = Javelin
Infantry - Spear = Phalanx
Infantry - Sword = Short Sword
Religion - Priests = Priest
Religion - Prophets = Prophet
Ships - Battleships & Carriers = Battleship
- Bronze
Ships - Frigates & Cruisers = Frigate - Bronze
Ships - Galleys, Transports & Subs = Galley
- Bronze & Transport - Bronze
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA = Siege Tower &
Catapult & Ram
Economy bonuses are always good as are Citizen
bonuses too.
Ancient Greece = Cavalry - Spear
(attack, build time, hit points), Citizens & Fishing Boats (speed),
Civ - Economy
(gold, hunting & foraging), Civ - General
(conversion resistance), Infantry - Spear (attack, hit points, speed),
Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (attack, range),
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (attack, cost, rate of fire)
Assyrian Empire = Archers - Foot
(attack, speed), Cavalry - Ranged (hit points, range, speed), Cavalry -
Sword (attack,
hit points), Citizens & Fishing Boats (range),
Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (build time, hit points), Civ - Economy
(farming, hunting & foraging), Civ - General
(pop cap)
Babylon = Archers - Foot (hit points,
range speed), Cavalry - Spear (armor, hit points, speed), Citizens &
Fishing Boats
(hit points), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers
(range), Civ - Economy (stone, wood), Infantry - Spear (build time, hit
points,
speed), Religion - Prophets (range, speed)
Byzantine Rome = Citizens &
Fishing Boats (build time), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (cost,
hit points),
Civ - Economy (farming), Civ - General (pop cap),
Infantry - Ranged (range, speed), Infantry - Sword (attack, hit points,
speed), Ships - Battleships & Carriers (attack,
build time)
Carthage = Cavalry - Spear (attack,
build time, speed), Cavalry - Sword (armor, hit points), Citizens &
Fishing Boats
(cost), Civ - Economy (fishing, stone), Civ -
General (mountain combat), Infantry - Ranged (armor, cost), Ships - Galleys,
Transports & Subs (cost, range)
Kingdom of Israel = Archers - Foot
(armor, hit points, range), Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time),
Civ - Economy (fishing, iron), Infantry - Sword
(hit points, speed), Religion Priests (build time, cost, hit points),
Religion - Prophets (hit points, range), Ships
- Battleships & Carriers (attack), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers
(attack),
Ships - Galleys, Transports & Subs (attack)
Austria = Cavalry - Sword (armor,
attack ,speed), Citizens & Fishing Boats (attack, cost), Civ - Economy
(hunting & foraging), Civ - General (conversion
resistance), Field Cannon & Anti-Tank Guns (armor, build time,
hit points) Infantry - Spear (attack, hit points,
speed)
England = Archers - Foot (range,
cost, build time), Cavalry - Ranged (cost), Cavalry - Spear (armor),
Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time), Civ
- Buildings, Walls & Towers (cost, range), Civ - Economy (fishing,
gold),
Infantry - Ranged (hit points, range), Ships
- Battleships & Carriers (attack, build time), Siege Weapons &
Mobile AA
(hit points, rate of fire)
Franks = Cavalry - Spear (hit points),
Cavalry - Sword (armor, cost, hit points, speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls
& Towers
(attack, cost), Civ - Economy (gold, wood), Civ
- General (conversion resistance), Religion - Prophets (cost, range),
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (attack, hit points)
Kingdom of Italy = Cavalry - Ranged
(attack, build time), Cavalry - Sword (build time), Citizens & Fishing
Boats (cost),
Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (build time,
hit points), Civ - Economy (stone), Civ - General (mountain combat),
Infantry - Ranged (cost, hit points), Religion
- Priests (hit points, range, speed), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (attack)
Ottoman Empire = Cavalry - Ranged
(attack, hit points, range), Citizens & Fishing Boats (build time,
speed),
Civ - Economy (farming, stone), Civ - General
(pop cap), Field Cannon & Anti-Tank Guns (build time, cost),
Religion - Priests (cost, hit points)
Spain = Cavalry - Ranged (speed,
range), Citizens & Fishing Boats (speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls &
Towers (range),
Civ - Economy (farming, iron), Civ - General
(mountain combat), Infantry - Ranged (attack, build time, hit points),
Infantry - Spear (armor, attack, hit points),
Religion - Priests (hit points, range), Ships - Galleys, Transports &
Subs
(attack, cost, hit points)
France = Citizens & Fishing
Boats (hit points, range), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack,
hit points, range),
Civ - Economy (gold, wood), Field Cannon &
Anti-Tank Guns (build time, range), Infantry - Ranged
(attack, range)
Germany = Citizens & Fishing
Boats (cost, hit points), Civ - Economy (stone), Ships - Galleys, Transports
& Subs (attack, hit points, range)
Great Britain = Citizens &
Fishing Boats (speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack, build
time,
range), Civ - Economy (gold, hunting & foraging),
Field Cannon & Anti-Tank Guns (attack, hit points, speed),
Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (build time,
hit points, speed)
Italy = Civ - Buildings, Walls
& Towers (attack, build time, range), Civ - Economy (farming, stone),
Civ - General
(conversion resistance), Field Cannon & Anti-Tank
Guns (range), Infantry - Ranged (build time, cost), Siege Weapons
& Mobile AA (attack, hit points, rate of
fire)
Russia = Citizens & Fishing
Boats (build time), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (attack), Civ -
Economy
(fishing, iron), Civ - General (pop cap), Infantry
- Ranged (build time, hit points), Ships - Frigates & Cruisers (cost),
Siege Weapons & Mobile AA (area damage, range)
United States = Citizens &
Fishing Boats (attack, speed), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (build
time,
cost), Civ - Economy (gold, iron), Civ - General
(pop cap), Ships - Battleships & Carriers (hit points, range)
China = Citizens & Fishing
Boats (cost), Civ - Economy (farming), Civ - General (pop cap), Field Cannon
&
Anti-Tank Guns (armor, cost, hit points), Ships
- Galleys, Transports & Subs (attack)
Novaya Russia = Citizens &
Fishing Boats (cost, hit points), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (hit
points,
range), Civ - Economy (wood), Siege Weapons &
Mobile AA (hit points, range, rate of fire)
Rebel Forces = Citizens & Fishing
Boats (build time, range), Civ - Buildings, Walls & Towers (hit points),
Civ - Economy (iron), Civ - General (mountain
combat), Infantry - Ranged (attack, range)
Japan = Citizens & Fishing
Boats (speed), Civ - Economy (iron), Civ - General (pop cap), Infantry
- Ranged
(armor, speed)
Korea = Civ - Economy (gold), Civ
- General (mountain combat), Field Cannon & Anti-Tank Guns (build time),
Infantry - Ranged (armor, hit points), Siege
Weapons & Mobile AA (range, rate of fire)
Civilization Specific Powers*
For the Bronze epoch, these civilizations have these powers:
Ancient Greece = Flaming Arrows (III-VII)
Assyrian Empire = Slavery (I-XV)
Babylon = Priest Towers (I-XV)
Byzantine Rome = Insurance (I-XV)
Carthage = Pathfinding (I-XV)
Kingdom of Israel = Emissaries (I-XV)
Austria = Adaptation (III-XV)
England = Exploration (I-XV)
Franks = Crusaders (IV-VII)
Kingdom of Italy = Metallurgy (I-XV)
Ottoman Empire = Expansionism (I-XV)
France = Camouflage (I-XV)
Russia = Advanced Mining (I-XV)
China = Just In Time Manufacturing (I-XV)
Rebel Forces = Cloaking (I-XV)
Korea = Fanaticism (I-XV)
* denotes unit/building only available in the Empire Earth - The Art of Conquest add-on pack.
note: The bronze color is for bronze and the purplish blue is just because.