The Civilisations - Greek

Greek coat of arms used in AoEO

This is the first of a series of articles in which I go through each of the six civs.

Many begin their AoEO experience with the Greeks, and I’m no different in this regard.  The Greeks were my first civ, the ones I first took to level  40, the ones I first managed to gear right up to the rafters, the ones with which I first completed alliance and legendary quests, and they remain my one true love.

It’s probably natural that you might come to favour your first civ, primarily because you will become so familiar with it, get used to the bits and pieces you like most, get used to the various build orders, how to make your economy  hum each and every quest, build a massive army, etc, etc.

So what do I like the most about the Greeks?

Click Open the book below to find out!

My Greek city - Dhakar

I think it can be boiled down to two main things:

1. Siege; and
2. Gastraphetes.

 With  siege, I’m talking primarily about the ballistas and their watery cousin, the ballista trireme.

The Greek ballista

You only need five or six upgraded ballistas to demolish most things thrown at you in AoEO (as a general rule, there are exceptions of course).  They come into their own in reaching fixed targets over distance, in particular, the Cyprus quests which ask you to destroy enemy forts, or getting rid of the troublesome catapults which sometimes lurk at distance and wreak havoc on your army.

The ballista trireme are invaluable for the various water quests in Argos and Cyprus, especially where targets lie far inland.

But they both share a weakness – they do not like combat at close quarters.

With the ballista, you want your destructive babies sitting behind either a wall or what we commonly call a meat shield when roving the countryside, something to keep the enemy at arms length, to stop them reducing your prized weapons to kindling.

In the case of your ballista triremes, as a general rule, you will want to get your fireships out nice and early, mop up enemy ships, destroy their docks, repel all attempts to rebuild, and then unleash a long distance barrage from your big ships unimpeded.  Soften the enemy up for a landing.  In many cases, you can almost eliminate your enemy without the need to land at all.  Now that’s firepower!

The gastraphetes can almost be viewed as a smaller version of the ballista, especially when massed (30+).  The benefit they bring when mixed with your ballistas is that they can hit a moving target.  As the opposing army comes towards you, if you have a mix of gastras and ballistas, they can act as a virtual meat shield while mowing the enemy down before they get to you (but if they come in sufficient numbers, especially with cavalry, they will reach your front line troops, and casualties will be inevitable).

Greek gastraphete

The Greek civ comes with an Academy which provides  military  improvements, and one of the most potent is Greek fire (available in Age IV), which will improve the damage of both the gastras’ arrows as well as arrows from guard towers, forts and the town centre.

On top of the increased damage, seeing streams of lit arrows flying at the enemy, especially en masse, sends a surge of pride through you, it’s wonderful to behold.  The moans and groans of the enemy being struck down is a constant reminder of a job well done.

On top of the siege and gastras, the Greek military capability is quite balanced and well rounded, with  a good range of infantry and cavalry, as well as priests.

On the downside, some of the build times and unit creation times are a bit slower than the other civs, and the very best stuff is not available until Age IV, which can be an issue in PvP and various quests which can put you in two minds as to whether you should go for one final age up, or whether you should struggle on with whatever is available to you in Age III.

In fact, if skirmish rush is your thing, the Greek spearmen fit the bill quite well, and the Greek spearmen hold their own in Legendary Renegades.

With the old favourite:  Elite Rogues, with a second objective of cavalry only, the hippikons get the job done, or with the right advisor, you can use the Hetairoi, created in your fort.

My hippikons and hetaroi gather for the coming battle with the elite rogues.

The Greek fort also produces the pallintonon, a slow-moving siege engine which needs to be unpacked before it can attack.  Coupled with the right advisor, and you are talking some serious range here.

As for the range of quests, one thing that stands out (from memory) is that the Greeks include the Troy series of quests, which contains some fun and challenging quests.  One of the final tests in Troy is being able to reach a population of 200 in 15 minutes - a good milestone quest for all aspiring AoEO players.

Troy - a region in your Greek civ with a good series of quests

The toughest pre-level 40 challenge I can recall was Not Without a Bomb.   This is the last of a series of 3 or 4 time-limited quests in which you have to reach Age III and churn out around half a dozen rams to destroy two forts, two town centres and 10 houses in around 12 minutes.

  

I reckon that one took me at least 10 goes before I got it (only just), and I was almost ready to throw it in as a bad joke.  

This is a list of the Greek military units, and which other unit they best counter.

In the tougher quests which demand good siege – you are in good hands with the Greek civ – just don’t forget that meat shield!

Click here for part two of the Civilisations series - Egypt.
Click here for part three of the Civilisations series - Persians.

Brawny Polecat