Welcome somme!

by StonewallJ | 7:13 PM

Age of Empires 3 Heaven added another cherub to the list. Forumer somme has got a fresh pair of wings to become our new Cherub somme.

He will help moderate our forums, news, and cover The Asian Dynasties content, in which our page will be released within the week.

You can also congratulate him here.

No Need to Zip Recorded Game Files

by StonewallJ | 12:36 AM

Good news! Many people dislike the zipping and unzipping of Recorded Game Files to places them into the proper folders. But, our Download system no longer requires you to compress your recorded games!

So if you're jumping for joy and want to upload a rec, go for it! Also, you may want to create a thread for your Recorded Game in our Recorded Games Discussion. Finally, if you wish to discuss this change, visit the thread.

The Asian Dynasties FAQ

by StonewallJ | 8:09 PM

ES_Thunder over at AgeCommunity has posted up a FAQ covering The Asian Dynasties thus far.

Legioona posted a summary:

* King of the Hill & Relic Victory as new win / game types. TM & Treaty aren't going nowhere.
* Demo issue seems hazy but there will most likely be one.
* No new info on natives nor maps.
- For instance, on Silk Road, instead of building Trading Posts to claim these sites, you have to kill guardians to take control of the Trading Posts that already exist. ~ regarding the new map Silk Road.

As well as more.

Thanks to Eicho for finding it.

Veteran Upgrades

by StonewallJ | 9:26 PM

Well, it seems another thought-provoking thread by ultimitsu has hit the news. This time around he is asking the question of whether or not the Veteran Upgrade cost should be reduced from 200 wood and coin to 100 wood and coin. Here is his case and how Spain gets off easier:

spanish FF
lancers - auto-veteran, no need for stable for first 9
dogs - auto-veteran, (actually i cant call a 110% hp upgrade from base value an veteran upgrade, it is more like RG imperial), no need for a barrack
skirmisher - auto-veteran, need a barrack

your standard spanish FF consist shipping 2 falcs, 9 lancers and 23 rods, make skirms and dogs, you only need 1 barrack and no upgrade cost.

It could be a logical solution to slow down Dutch, Spain, and Iroquois Fast Fortresses, or at least make other civs up to par when getting there. What are your thoughts?

The Consulate

by StonewallJ | 9:46 PM

kingdaniel4 recently stumbled upon information that there will be a new building with the name of "The Consulate".

This is its purpose:

Another key feature common to the Asian powers is the Consulate building at which you can choose a single European nation with which to establish trade relations. Of course, as the Japanese did historically, you can choose to remain isolated. Your choice of trading partner at the Consulate will allow you access to a few of that nation's abilities and unique units. For example, if you establish relations with the French you will be able to hire occasional groups of Cuirassiers.

So it is quite similar to a Saloon it seems.

We want to know your thoughts on this new find.

Also, keep a look out on the news for when we release of "The Asian Dynasties" section in which it will have all the up to date information thus far on the second expansion pack for AoE3.

FFA League - Season 1

by StonewallJ | 9:42 PM

LordPatrick18's FFA League came to a close recently with top honors going to Sporting_Lisbon.

The creative idea was a series of six player games open to anyone who signed up in which you would get points for completing various tasks during the FFA. Some examples are first person to 1000 points got one point, taking down an opponent's TC before 10 minutes got multiple points, as did Revolting. He divided up points for each accomplishment and watched the recs to tally them up.

Sporting_Lisbon racked up the most points and came out victorious. You can read about the league, and discuss about the fall season coming up in only a few months.

__Sephiroth__ vs Prowler VOD

by StonewallJ | 6:48 PM

Our very own cherub Sephiroth has mustered up yet another VOD showing how an Ottoman can defeat a Spanish opponent.

He almost loses his explorer a couple times while making Trading Posts, however he manages to get two up and attempt a jan rush. However, his opponent takes down his Barracks and he is forced to retreat.

How does the rest of the game pan out? The Spanish has an upperhand and in his base with pikes, rods and muskets. Watch the video for yourself to see!

The Asian Dynasties Compatability

by StonewallJ | 11:58 AM

In a recent interview with GameSpy, Brian Reynolds confirms that The Asian Dynasties is going to be compatible with both Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs:

GameSpy: Are the Europeans or native Americans getting any new toys to play with?

Reynolds: Not as much. One of the tricky parts of doing a second expansion is that we want it to be compatible both with players who have only the original game and players who also own The WarChiefs. Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games both agreed that adding directly onto the Europeans and Native Americans would endanger that goal and likely fragment the multiplayer community too much.

So people out there with only AoE3 will not have to purchase both The WarChiefs and The Asian Dynasties. To discuss this matter, visit cquinn333's thread.

Bruce's Blog: The Asian Dynasties

by MosheLevi | 10:04 PM

Ensemble Studios designer Bruce Shelley has posted a new blog update, where the hot topic is obviously the new expansion pack, The Asian Dynasties! He talks about the status of this expansion pack, Ensemble Studios relationship with Big Huge Games, and he also gives more details about the next patch.

Read Bruce's blog here and discuss it in the general forum.

The Three Civilizations for The Asian Dynasties Are...

by StonewallJ | 1:25 PM

China, Japan and India.

That's right folks, forumer Kasemacher saw a GameSpy interview in which Brian Reynolds of Big Huge Games confirms the three new civilzations.

So speculation for which the civs there will be is over, but many more aspects of the game are yet to be unveiled.

Discuss the new information or go directly to the interview

New Screenshot Released for The Asian Dynasties

by StonewallJ | 11:21 PM

gunner1 pointed out that GameReplays.org received a new screenshot from the campaign it seems for Age of Empires 3: The Asian Dynasties.

You can view the screenshot here and discuss what you think about it and who the people in it are.

Ladder Update

by StonewallJ | 7:57 PM

Our HeavenGames Ladder has been opened for about a month now and we have already gone through one tournament in which Parfait came out on top against three of the other top four rated players in the ladder.

He's still at the top of the ladder with a 91% winning percentage. So rise the ranks to become the new ladder champion!

Second and third place go to O_Rolko and jaafit respectively.

We will be having another tournament shortly, in which the top two players will receive prizes. Details will be released shortly.

So if you want to play in the next tournament and have yet to sign up for the ladder, do so here, and see your rank.

TAD - New Card Suggestions

by xSephirothx | 5:56 PM

Our very own Eicho has started a thread asking fellow forumers what new ideas for cards they might have in regards to the new expansion pack The Asian Dynasties. He asks you to share your thoughts, as well as giving many of his own, including new cards for each current civilization!

Now that a new Xpack is being developed, we can suggest some cards, and maybe ES or BHG will put them in the game!

Before TWC, in agecommunity I saw someone suggest a Bank Wagon.. and now it's in!

Who knows; some of your very own suggestions could be taken into consideration. So share your thoughts in this thread, and get your creative juices flowing!

The Abus Gun

by StonewallJ | 5:45 PM

Since 1.03 has been released for The WarChiefs a lot of discussion has been brewing over the Abus Gun nerf. Was it too harsh? Was it a long time coming? Did it hurt the Ottomans too much?

For those who don't know their nerfs were:
-0.75 damage vs. artillery
-1.5 bonus damage vs. heavy infantry
-Ranged Resistance reduced to 20%

ultimitsu posted a discussion thread solely on Abus Guns and simple suggested:

Reduce damage to 30.

A flat 30 damage against everything, except x0.5 against melee cav, coyote and villagers, keep the same 50% RR.

How would you like that change? Whether or not you think it's effective, we want your opinions!

Guessing Game

by StonewallJ | 4:53 PM

With the expansion announcement comes a lot of speculation and wonder of what will be in store for AoE3: The Asian Dynasties.

A few interesting threads has popped up in our TAD forums.

Kastor posted a thread discussing what you think units and building would be based on screenshots released and screenshots to come. If you have any other ideas of what units may be, post your thoughts here.

LordPatrick18 made a thread on the most asked question, "what are the three new civs." If you want to present your case on what civilizations you think will be in, feel free to tell us.

Finally, The Elite Lord inquired about what Asian Explorers will be like. For a more detailed discussion read about it!

Poll Round up

by StonewallJ | 1:12 PM

Last time on our poll we wondered: "What is your favorite civilization?"

Here's how you replied:

Iroquois - 115 votes
Dutch - 426 votes
Ottomans - 329 votes
Spain - 180 votes
Aztecs - 272 votes
British - 575 votes
French - 401 votes
Sioux - 154 votes
Russia - 317 votes
Portuguese - 250 votes
Germans - 254 votes

Seems British came out in front with Iroquois bringing up the rear, but it was still very close between the 11 civilizations.

This time we want to know whether or not you will be purchasing AoE3: TAD, have you voted yet?

Gamespot Interview with Brian Reynolds

by StonewallJ | 10:17 PM

With the release of AoE3: TAD, Gamespot had an interview with BHG CEO, Brian Reynolds.

Some extra information is discussed which is, of course, always good.

Wonders represent the great cultural advancement of the major Asian civilizations in this period. Some were substantially ahead of the European powers in many areas when the Age of Exploration began. Note that unlike previous versions of Age of Empires in which wonders were used as a victory condition, building a wonder is the way an Asian civ "ages up," and it confers a lasting power depending on the wonder chosen.

Another interesting area for the new Asian civilizations will be their consulate building, where they can choose a European country to open relations with and gain some bonuses and units from that country.

Sounds awesome! Read more of it as well as discussing it in BrtnBorder495's thread.

The Asian Dynasties Gallery

by StonewallJ | 9:06 PM

Our gallery is now going to be constantly updated with Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties screenshots and pictures. Make sure you watch our forum and news for constant information to see how TAD is developing.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties

by StonewallJ | 12:12 PM

Well folks, can you by chance say, "Age of Empires III has two Expansion Packs"? I know I can, because it is one hundred percent true! Ensemble Studios is making another Expansion Pack!

Players will experience firsthand the rich and historical influences of Asia while commanding their units and expanding their empire in the Eastern world. The latest expansion pack will be the first "Age of Empires" title developed by Big Huge Games, the development studio responsible for the incredibly popular real-time strategy franchise "Rise of Nations®."

You may have noticed it is not made by hyst ES, but BHG as well, two studios working on this game will hopefully bring more innovative and exciting ideas!

Go to AgeCommunity to learn more, or post in our new forum.

Villager Second Table

by Angel Walker | 4:49 PM

Once again and one more time somme has developed a Villager Second Calculator tool! Oh wait, it's even better: a Villager Second Table. Always improving his work, now it displays a table with all units of Age of Empires III respective VS costs. Don't you know what VS means?

As most of you know, a units cost can be calculated in villager seconds, that is the number of seconds it would take one villager to gather the necessary resources to produce that unit.

I originally created a villager second calculator which could calculate the cost for any given unit based on the upgrades chosen.

Now, I have gone one step further and created a table with all the units of age of empires in it.

So, reply something in the thread at our General Discussions Forum or go straight to the VS table!

HeavenGames 10 Year Anniversary

by StonewallJ | 7:09 PM

As you may have noticed, the logo at the top of the page is new, along with the above picture because HG is celebrating our tenth anniversary tomorrow (May 15th). In honor of this, Seraph Phill Phree is hosting an anniversary thread at HeavenGames' oldest heaven, Age of Empires Heaven.

The rules of this thread are pretty simple:

One post per person, where you can wish everyone well and maybe say a little about what HG has meant to you over the years, so make sure you say all you want to in that. Do not abuse this rule under any circumstances whatsoever, we don't want to have to hand out short bans or anything, so respect the spirit of this thread. You may, however, edit your post if you think of anything to add.

So go say Happy Anniversary! You can find the thread at AoEH.

GameReplays $200 Tournament

by StonewallJ | 8:43 PM

GameReplays.org is opening up a 1v1 tournament with two hundred dollars in cash prizes.

The winner gets 125 dollar, the second get 50 dollar and 25 dollar goes to the most innovative strategy (you have to win with it). GameReplays is dedicated to hosting a quality tournament where the best players will reign supreme. There are currently 256 slots available and the winners will advance with the standard bracket to the finals where the last two players will fight it to the death in a best of 5 games to win.

Discuss the tournament here or go straight to the sign ups.

Sioux Teepee Improvement Cards

by StonewallJ | 7:42 PM

Forumer George_uk had a thought that Teepees might be quite worth it with the proper cards. So he ran a test against fighting Royal Halberdiers after sending Friendly Territories, Nomadic Expansion, and New Ways. With attack dance going, a few Teepees up, and Counter Infantry Rifling researched, Wakinas One Shot Killed Royal Halberdiers.

That's right, with 50 Halbs running towards the Wakinas, you would only need a handful and some micro to kill them all without losing one Wakina.

Obviously, this is very handy for defense, and with Wakinas being able to build their on Teepees it can be a boost on the move.

So what are your thoughts on Teepees? We want to hear your opinionshere.

AoE3H TWC First Ladder Champion Tourney

by StonewallJ | 10:12 PM

With the reopening of our AoE3H Ladder, came AoE3H's TWC First Ladder Champion Tourney.

As stated in the sign up thread:

Once the Ladder has been online and running for 2 weeks the top four players will then be invited compete to become the 1st AoE3H Ladder Champion.

Those four contestants are playing a round robin tournament and they are: Parfait, jaafit, KingSteve3721, and Sporting_Lisbon. They winner will be the first AoE3H Ladder Champion of TWC, and will win from their choice a selection of games, HG shirt, HG hat, ES hat, or ES watch.

There are many may prizes to give out throughout the ladder tournament, so keep yours eyes open to see what opportunity will come next.

If you have not yet, sign up for the ladder and get some quick, fun games when login into ESO.

TWC Rec Renamer

by StonewallJ | 1:56 PM

Many people out there have been wanting a rec renamer for TWC for quite some time. And it makes sense too, you don't want all your recs to be Recorded Game 1-9, if you go back to look at a game you may have to look through a few before finding the one you want.

Well finally, we have one. Aleste, creator of the AoM Rec Renamer has constructed a similar one for AoE3/TWC.

So, if you like to watch records, this could be for you, check it out.

Aztec Turtle FF

by xSephirothx | 11:06 PM

Our very own Voltiguer (aka, Doppelsoldner) has come up with an Aztec Turtle strategy that abuses the power of Town Dance and Eagle Runner Knights to the fullest! He describes the strategy as so:

Iros have been turtling for a long time already and cards like town dance or GH made their turtle very strong.
But when looking at the Aztec cards, you can notice some nice turtle card aswell!
Look at this nice sellection: Town dance, improved buildings and on top of that Agrarian ways!
Now look at some other cards... 1000 wood.... the chinampa cards... 8 villagers...
Hey, shouldnt it be possible to base a strategy on that?
I havent even mentioned some other nice stuff yet, like the OPness of late fortress and lategame ERKs, of ruthlessness etc etc.
Have I mentioned 125 wood warhuts that have 3500 HP
(w/ IB) and looots more with town dance?

Want to see more? Check out the full thread here, and get ready for some Aztec pwnage.

FFA Tournament Update

by xSephirothx | 11:01 PM

The Free For All Tournament hosted by Lordpatrick is coming along nicely with the results from Round 3 coming in and Round 4 under way. Here's an update on the leaders so far:

Sporting_Lisbon = 66 Points
Elite_Milne = 39 Points
__Sephiroth__ = 36 Points
Walker_5 = 32 Points
Silent_Angel = 31 Points

With a few more rounds to go, the winning spot is still up for grabs. You can check out the rest of the details here!

500 Thousand ESO Accounts

by StonewallJ | 7:39 PM

Age Community has announced that last weekend ESO reached over five hundred thousand ESO accounts.

Here are a few statistics:

Number of ESO Accounts: 501,952

Total Number of Age III Games Played: 15,874,748

Total Number of WarChiefs Games Played: 1,603,226

Yay! Now let's start the countdown to one million!

Unit Comparison Spreadsheet

by MosheLevi | 8:31 PM

Cyclohexane has created a spreadsheet that can compare any unit class to any other unit class.

The spreadsheet compares units mathematically by taking into account the cost, population, damage, hit points, speed, range, setup animation, and even ROF.
This formula calculates a qualitative number called “Effectiveness.”

You can discuss and download the spreadsheet here.

So what are you waiting for? Read the instructions, and start comparing!

More VODs

by StonewallJ | 6:35 PM

xSephirothx has posted a couple more VODs the past few days.

The first is a Dutch vs. Otto in which he decides to stay and fight in Colonial with Skirms and Pikemen. The Otto (_rAiN) does semi-FF with making Jans in Colonial then grabbing Spahi. He especially enjoys 40 skirms killing a falc!

View that one here.

The second is a French vs. Dutch matchup with him deciding to make both xbows and Hussars in Colonial against a Dutch FF. His two TPs help in out quite a lot in this one, so make sure to check it out.

Also, he uploaded a Recorded Game for those who can not download/view the VOD or prefers recs.