Tug of War is the thirteenth scenario of the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. The main objective is to bring the Piece of Osiris to the player's city, while preventing enemies from capturing it and returning it to their city.
Summary[]
The four heroes (Ajax, Amanra, Arkantos, and Chiron) are in a canyon with a small force of Axemen, and talk about the Osiris Piece Cart, a camel cart with an ornate box that contains a body part of Osiris. He has been killed by Set, but if his body is reunited (by bringing together four Pieces of Osiris to Osiris' Pyramid), he will be resurrected.
Soon, they are ambushed by Kemsyt's followers, who defeat the heroes' forces and send the Piece of Osiris toward their base. An Axeman returns to the player's city to warn his Pharaoh about the ambush. The player must amass forces, save the heroes, retrieve the Piece of Osiris, and bring it back to the player's city, while staving off enemy expeditions.
Objective[]
- Recover the Osiris Piece Cart and move it into your city before the enemy gets it into their city. (Train units as fast as you can and send them down to the pass. Upgrade your units and use your God Powers to maintain control of the Osiris Piece Cart. Chariot Archers are a good unit for this situation.)
Players[]
- Arkantos (Set) - Ironically, the player plays this time as Set, the hostile major god of the Egyptian part of the campaign. The player starts in the Heroic Age, with a complete base at the northwest, including two Migdol Strongholds. Their starting army includes Animals of Set, the Pharaoh, and twelve Champion Axemen. The player cannot construct any structures, other than Docks, Lighthouses, and Farms in this scenario.
- Kemsyt's Army (Set) - Starting in the Archaic Age, they have a base at the southeastern part of the map, consisting of two Citadels, four Barracks structures, Houses and Ballista Towers. Rather than train forces, they will spawn bands of Axemen, Spearmen, Camelry, and Anubites to retrieve the Piece of Osiris.
Strategy[]
This guide is applied to hard difficulty. It is, of course, also applicable for the other grades of difficulty.
This is an escort mission, so time is of the essence. While the Piece of Osiris moves extremely slowly (it has a speed of 1.80), the player mustn't waste their time, so send immediately the group of Axemen to fight the ambushers and save the heroes, and then, retrieve the Piece. The player has complete visibility of the canyon, but not of a passage through the cliffs (marked with flags), so be careful (cast Vision to the south of the map, west of the enemy's base, and you will spot three Rocs, guarded by a Phoenix).
Immediately as the Piece of Osiris is recaptured, the enemy will continuously spawn groups of units (limited only by population) to kill the player's forces and secure the box. To beat this scenario, one must make good use of their available units and technologies. Send Animals of Set to the middle of the canyon; they will slow down enemy forces, enough to buy some time. Invoking Ancestors outside the enemy's base is also a fine way to delay enemies.
Advance immediately to the Mythic Age with either god; both offer substantial bonuses to the preferred units for this scenario, and destructive god powers. In case Horus is chosen, emphasize Axemen (who, unlike other Barracks units, are already on Champion level), create one or two Avengers to smite enemy bands, and cast Tornado just when enemy bands start to exit their city. In the case Thoth is preferred, use Meteor similarly, emphasize either Chariot Archers or War Elephants (but beware of Camelry), and research Valley of the Kings, as it allows for rapid training of Migdol units.
Either way, research most of Nephthys upgrades that boost the Pharaoh. He will be much needed to beat Anubites and later, Rocs.
Once the Piece of Osiris reaches close to the marked-with-flag passage, Arkantos will comment on something being wrong. This will be justified, as a large group of Anubites will be shifted with Shifting Sands on top of a hill, and ambush nearby forces. Also, the enemy will start detouring from the passage, rather than going from the canyon, to save time. Defeat the Anubites, and proceed.
Just before the Piece of Osiris is close to the city, a trio of Rocs will arrive to drop a mixed army of infantry and Anubites. Have the Pharaoh just outside the city walls to beat 1-2 of them, kill the remaining nearby forces, enter the Piece inside the city walls, and win.
Additional tips[]
- To make the scenario easier, immediately cast Ancestors near the Piece of Osiris. The heroes will be strong enough to defeat the nearby enemies and recapture the Piece of Osiris. As it will take some time for further enemy forces to arrive, there is enough time to mass produce units to fend off any further attacks.
Trivia[]
- The main god of Arkantos' Forces is Set, foreshadowing what occurs in Isis, Hear My Plea.
- Enemy units come in different batches in an attempt to reclaim the Osiris Piece. The batch of the units will not re-appear on the enemy base unless the previous batch has been eliminated (ex. In a batch of enemy Axemen, this batch will not spawn from the enemy base if a single Axeman is still present from the previous batch).
Gallery[]
