The Pax Romana Campaign

Scenario Five: Coming of the Huns

Objective: Destroy the Huns.

Strategy: In this scenario, the Huns (red) begin as allies. However, at various points, they will demand tribute from you (300 gold each time). Pay initially to keep the Huns off your back. If you balk, you won't suffer a huge Hunnish swarm, but you'll notice the attacks by the Hunnish allies increasing.

Your initial worry should be the Goths (orange) in the east corner. You start in the north corner; the huge Hun fortress is in the south, and the Hunnish allies (yellow) are in the west corner. Start by advancing through the ages and building up your resources. The Huns won't harass you, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't plan your defenses. The Huns are not only extorting money from you, but they're also sending their allies to harass you. Fifteen minutes into the scenario, you'll get attacked by yellow with Tool Age units. Erect a few towers to thwart these early attacks and concentrate on expanding your resource base. There is a lot of gold on this map, so a priest strategy is viable.

	This is the only entrance to the Hun town.
	The Hun town is heavily fortified. Siege weapons and priests are the key.

When the Goths attack, they'll come with swordsmen, slingers, and priests. Make sure you have towers and your own priests around to convert the enemy. You'll want to set up storage pits near two gold mines north of you (essentially the back of your town), as well as near either gold mine/quarry area to the west or east of you. Be sure to guard the latter with towers, because they lie between you and the Hunnish allies or Goths.

When you are ready to tackle the Huns, expect some mean resistance. The Huns have centurions, armored elephants, heavy horse archers, priests, and heavy catapults guarding their town, as well as a great wall that protects the entire town, except for one small pathway at the very east edge of the map (see screenshot). You can either go through the entrance or bust your way through the western wall. Be advised that ballista towers do line the entire wall. A good strategy to take down the towers within the city walls is to send a decoy unit with lots of hit points against a tower, have a priest follow, and then convert the tower. The instant you see and hear the priest converting, martyr him and you'll acquire the ballista tower. Watch out especially for the Huns' heavy catapults.

Go in with heavy siege weapons to take down towers, and priests to convert any enemy siege weapons, armored elephants, and centurions. Make sure you research martyrdom so you are guaranteed conversion success. If you research the engineering technology, you should be able to attack the Hun towers and still be out of the enemy priests' range. If you can neutralize the towers, then the siege weapons, then the priests, you should be able to mop up with your cavalry and converted units.

Don't wait too long to attack, because both the Goths and Huns will start building wonders after a while. If they hold them, you lose.

Reminders: Pay that tribute so you have breathing room to build. Make sure you build some early towers and walls so a surprise attack from a Hunnish ally or Goths doesn't catch you with your pants down. Establish extra storage pits once you have enough stone to provide adequate defense for your resource outposts. Your best bet when taking on the Huns is a combination of martyred priests and upgraded siege weapons.

Next, The Enemies of Rome Campaign