The Hittite Catapult Drive

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The Hittite Catapult Drive

In A Nutshell

The extra range of the Hittite Navy makes it hard to hide from their ships. Lacking the best of the Navy ships and bonuses, however, the way to keep the range advantage of their Navy is by dominating the seas, denying the enemy the chance to build those better ships. On land, the extra strength of the siege weapons means the Hittites have tanks of their own, but balance between the ships and catapults depending on the map being played. They also have centurions, heavy catapults, heavy horse archers, and elephants. All they really lack are the Priest Upgrades. Double Catapult hit points means 300, quite a bit for such a long-range threat as a Heavy Catapult. Combined with groups of Elephants, Archers, and ground forces, this Race can field an very impressive army. For an experienced player who can co-ordinate multiple groups of different unit types, having the full range of Units available, with all the upgrades, makes the Hittites a real treat. Rookie players will find a well rounded race in the Hittites, they lack only on the seas, which can often be surrendered completely to further the building of more Catapults.

The Hittite Catapult Drive In Detail

The goal is the Bronze Age, when the real military units take to the field. With the full range of units available, you can choose which military units to put special focus on, influencing which technologies you need to get for them. Only the Catapults are the required components. So long as there are some strong ground forces, some archery groups, and some fast hard-hitting units at your command, the choice is yours. Using these four group types only, assign two group numbers for each type. That means 2 groups of 3-6 catapults, archers, ground units, and 2 groups on the strike force. The ninth group will be only Priests.

Having already located some likely enemy targets, send the fast strike force off in that direction, with a semi-circle into the center that comes up to the nearest edge of the map. In other words, choose a way point scouting run that starts towards the center of the map, then circles in towards the enemy being attacked. Have them complete the scouting sweep by coming back in towards your town, meeting the rest of your slower army in the center ground. This makes sure there are no enemy emplacements on your flank, if you discover anything in your sweep, it must be destroyed first. Once the flank is clear, keep the army following the side of the map until you encounter the enemy positions.

The technique involved in this Strategy is simple. Those extra strong catapults take out everything in site from a distance, the ground forces stay in front of the cats to defend against the enemy front. Give them the hold ground command, if they never receive an enemy charge and are forced to fight, you will likely win the game. The archers stay to the flank of the catapults that is away from the map edge, and either hold their position or fire on selected targets. Do not let them wander off chasing after the enemy and leave their post. The faster strike units are held in reserve, placing the archers protectively between them and the catapults. They could be at some distance from the main force, to serve as advanced scouting to warn of a flank attack, but they should be ready to defend your archers at any moment.

Placing offensive military bases to supply re-enforcement's more quickly and to hold conquered ground, keep the group advancing steadily. The catapults do all the work, but keep a close watch on them to avoid friendly fire. Target enemy buildings, towers, or clusters of enemy units that are far enough away from your army. Order them to hold ground if a rush is made at your army. Use the ground forces maintain a shield in front of them, and the archers hold the flank and give cover fire to the front lines. Your strike force gets ordered to jump into the melee, rushing in from another direction to support the archers. Done properly, with a group of priests to heal the wounded cats and soldiers, and a constant supply of re-enforcement's from a steady home front, this one army group could walk back and forth across the map, clearing everything in their path. Keeping the charred earth to your exposed flank reduces the chance for surprise attacks, and keeps the catapults firing at fresh targets.

The only true key to this Strategy is properly using the groups at your disposal. Should this prove too difficult a formation to keep advancing steadily, practice more Deathmatch games in the Iron Age and brush up on the Keyboard Shortcuts. With those basics of game play and the Hittite range of units available, it can be hard to lose a game when playing with this race. In team games, this formation can serve as the heart of the attack, or hold the linch-pin of the exposed flank for the Persian Elephant Attack.

Merlin