Ancient Review & Guide

Ancient map

This one of the most succesful custom maps made until this point, made by Avatar with the collaboration from Killingforfun, if I'm not wrong. It has got 32703 plays up to this moment and it keeps increasing. It even created a player base which became very known at its peak of popularity. At the time, you could see at least one Ancient game for many hours on a road. Players such as me, Zone, Ferlucci, Salva, ZXStyle, Dizabo, Twisted, Mr. Army, alexb, Eisenherz75, Devil, Gatolious, Phooka, etc. could be seen in those epic Ancient games and we grew by playing them. It has developed its own competitive scene, including CWs (3vs3) and duels.

For this review, I'll focus on KT's west ancient since the whole map is somewhat big.

1. Units.

Since we're talking of an ancient map, units will belong to its period of time. This map incorporates units from the time of the Roman Empire, the Greek autonomous cities, the Persian Empire, Egypt, Carthage, etc. A specific date I would approximate this map to be is around 200 B.C.

- Land units.



Ground main units are militia, infantry, heavy peltasts (stealth) and cavalry, accompanied by other special units, each one specific for certain areas on Europe or the rest of the ancient map. The latter ones are especially strong, as one can see. This makes certain places much better militarily speaking than others. Macedonian phalanxes and Spartan hoplites can be considered the strongest units in the game, followed by hoplites, Roman legionaries, Carthaginian elephants and armoured war elephants (Syrian elephants). Added to these units, we can find a common special unit called archer which gains +8 defence against infantries and special units, which makes it a really versatile and interesting unit to buy in certain circumstances.

- Naval


In this map we do not have air units, since this is meant to be an ancient map, but we do have naval units, a transport unit and a battle ship.

2. Layout of the map and countries.

Ancient map covers all Europe, Middle East, India, China and part of the north Himalayas or the south lands of Russia. But for this review I will be focusing on the European zone only, since it's the most played part of this custom map and most of the ancient gameplay has been developed in this area.

- General shot:


In turn, we can divide it into different sections:

- Carthage and Spain:


Carthage is one of the most valuable areas of the ancient map, both due to the high income of the zone and the strength of its special unit, the elephants.

On the other hand, Spain is relatively weak because of its limited reinforcements and income, although it has its own special unit, the bull warriors.

- Italy and Greece:


A really powerful area when combined, a fearful fight when opposed. Italy has a nice income, concentrated mostly on the city of Rome, a relatively nice amount of reinforcements and their own Roman legionaries. On the other side of the Adriatic Sea, Greece is considered by many people as one of the strongest areas in the Europe. It doesn't have as much income as other zones but its potential is quite hair-rising. It presents both of the strongest units in the European zone, Macedonian phalanxes and Spartan hoplites, it has a nice amount of reinforcements besides of really powerful ports which communicate with the rest of Europe.

-Britain, France and Germany and the Vikings:


They present nearly the same characteristics as Spain since they lack of the economic power other zones enjoy. Britain has Druids, France has Gaul chosen swordsmen and Germany has Berserkers, which all share the same stats with bull warriors. On the other hand, the Viking tribes present a special unit called Vikings which is slightly better than the mentioned ones.

- Russia:


It's a rather irrelevant zone since it has no economic power, even if it presents some high reinforcement countries and a special unit called horse archers, whose best stat is their range.

- Egypt, Arabia and the Middle east:


It's an interesting part of the map. It comprises the high reinforcement and rich Lower Egypt, the powerful and rich land of Syria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia and Arabia. This land is famous for its strong armoured war elephants and the strong offensive cataphracts and Egyptian chariot archers. This land is quite rich in general, has nice reinforcement numbers and a nice chance to fight whatever opponent they encounter.

3. Strategies and tips.

This map is very varied; there are many powerful countries to choose between. For the most part, the most powerful countries to pick are around the Mediterranean:

- Macedonia.
- Sparta.
- Syria.
- Lower Egypt.
- Thapsus.
- Campania.

Secondary picks can be also of consideration in certain circumstances:

- Rhodes.
- Pontus.
- Phoenician.
- Mesopotamia.
- Ma'in (Arabia).

Other possible picks, if all others are picked and you need a place to start (these highly depend on the circumstances and don't usually have a specially powerful special unit):

- Babylonia (too expensive so you will need to be careful).
- Arabia (too far away, no ports, a bit expensive).
- Numidia (no special unit).
- Viking tribes (too far, no income).
- Tribus slaves (too far, no income).
- Germania Superior (no port, no income).
- Central Gaul (no port, no income).
- Hispania (no port, no income).
- Attica (gets outperformed by Sparta and Macedonia).
- Britannia Superior (has a port but far away and no income).

As for the strategy to pick, sadly, there's not that much variety in this map. Most of the people will say IF is the best strategy for this map. On the other hand, PD is a very viable strategy against IF, especially because of its longer range and still good infantry defence. As alternatives to those two main strategies, one can play GW or RA even though it depends a lot on the country you start with and the amount of opponents you may have around you. NC has also been tested in this map and it has proved to be quite a strong early game rushing strategy due to the power of destroyers if you're playing around the sea.

Heil Avatar

My favourite is GW in this map due to how compact it is.

Didn't know anyone other than GC played it in SA

Escrito por RaulPB, 18.01.2016 at 05:46

Ancient map

This one of the most succesful custom maps made untill this point, made by Avatar with the collaboration from Killingforfun, if I'm not wrong. It has got 32703 plays up to this moment and it keeps increasing. It even created a player base which became very known at its peak of popularity. At the time, you could see at least one Ancient game for many hours on a road. Players such as me, Zone, Ferlucci, Salva, ZXStyle, Dizabo, Twisted, Mr. Army, alexb, etc. could be seen in those epic Ancient games and we grew by playing them. It has developed its own competitive scene, including CWs (3vs3) and duels.

For this review, I'll focus on KT's west ancient since the whole map is somewhat big.

1. Units.

Since we're talking of an ancient map, units will belong to its period of time. This map incorporates units from the time of the Roman Empire, the Greek autonomous cities, the Persian Empire, Egypt, Carthage, etc. A specific date I would approximate this map to be is around 200 B.C.

- Land units.



Ground main units are militia, infantry, heavy peltasts (stealth) and cavalry, accompanied by other special units, each one specific for certain areas on Europe or the rest of the ancient map. The latter ones are especially strong, as one can see. This makes certain places much better militarily speaking than others. Macedonian phalanxes and Spartan hoplites can be considered the strongest units in the game, followed by hoplites, Roman legionaries, Carthaginian elephants and armoured war elephants (Syrian elephants). Added to these units, we can find a common special unit called archer which gains +8 defence against infantries and special units, which makes it a really versatile and interesting unit to buy in certain circumstances.

- Naval


In this map we do not have air units, since this is meant to be an ancient map, but we do have naval units, a transport unit and a battle ship.

2. Layout of the map and countries.

Ancient map covers all Europe, Middle East, India, China and part of the north Himalayas or the south lands of Russia. But for this review I will be focusing on the European zone only, since it's the most played part of this custom map and most of the ancient gameplay has been developed in this area.

- General shot:


In turn, we can divide it into different sections:

- Carthage and Spain:


Carthage is one of the most valuable areas of the ancient map, both due to the high income of the zone and the strength of its special unit, the elephants.

On the other hand, Spain is relatively weak because of its limited reinforcements and income, although it has its own special unit, the bull warriors.

- Italy and Greece:


A really powerful area when combined, a fearful fight when opposed. Italy has a nice income, concentrated mostly on the city of Rome, a relatively nice amount of reinforcements and their own Roman legionaries. On the other side of the Adriatic Sea, Greece is considered by many people as one of the strongest areas in the Europe. It doesn't have as much income as other zones but its potential is quite hair-rising. It presents both of the strongest units in the European zone, Macedonian phalanxes and Spartan hoplites, it has a nice amount of reinforcements besides of really powerful ports which communicate with the rest of Europe.

-Britain, France and Germany and the Vikings:


They present nearly the same characteristics as Spain since they lack of the economic power other zones enjoy. Britain has Druids, France has Gaul chosen swordsmen and Germany has Berserkers, which all share the same stats with bull warriors. On the other hand, the Viking tribes present a special unit called Vikings which is slightly better than the mentioned ones.

- Russia:


It's a rather irrelevant zone since it has no economic power, even if it presents some high reinforcement countries and a special unit called horse archers, whose best stat is their range.

- Egypt, Arabia and the Middle east:


It's an interesting part of the map. It comprises the high reinforcement and rich Lower Egypt, the powerful and rich land of Syria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia and Arabia. This land is famous for its strong armoured war elephants and the strong offensive cataphracts and Egyptian chariot archers. This land is quite rich in general, has nice reinforcement numbers and a nice chance to fight whatever opponent they encounter.

3. Strategies and tips.

This map is very varied; there are many powerful countries to choose between. For the most part, the most powerful countries to pick are around the Mediterranean:

- Macedonia.
- Sparta.
- Syria.
- Lower Egypt.
- Thapsus.
- Campania.

Secondary picks can be also of consideration in certain circumstances:

- Rhodes.
- Numidia.
- Pontus.
- Phoenician.
- Mesopotamia.

Other possible picks, if all others are picked and need a place to start:

- Babylonia (too high price so you will need to be careful).
- Arabia (too far away).
- Viking tribes.
- Tribus slaves.
- Germania Superior.
- Central Gaul.
- Hispania.
- Attica.
- Britannia Superior.

As for the strategy to pick, sadly, there's not that much variety which is viable in this map. Most of the people will say IF is the best strategy for this map. On the other hand, PD is a very viable strategy against IF, especially because of its longer range and still good infantry defence. As less popular strategies, one can play GW or RA in this map as well, though it depends a lot on the country you start with and the amount of opponents you may have. NC has also been tested in this map but for now, it hasn't been proved optimal compared to the other strategies mentioned.

My intention is not to spoil the magic of the map, but vikings raised to power at the end of 8th and during the 9th century, it's inaccurate historically speaking, but this name adds an element of prestige in the north, maybe the intention of the creator, thus, being to attract players to pick in Scandi as well.

Escrito por Guest, 23.01.2017 at 18:55

My intention is not to spoil the magic of the map, but vikings raised to power at the end of 8th and during the 9th century, it's inaccurate historically speaking, but this name adds an element of prestige in the north, maybe the intention of the creator, thus, being to attract players to pick in Scandi as well.

The map's intention is not to be 100% historically accurate, just to bring to the table multiple historical choices which sometimes can differ from each other by a couple centuries.

You say that Spain its pretty weak, but I had witnessed like 2 days ago a game created by don, trollface was spain, don got gangbanged in the east and left, but trollface had a big chunk of the west, sparta, and nidzo who was Egypt and had the east. The game had 0 alliances. The problem was that sparta and egypt had a secret alliance, I guess and trollfaces fate was doomed by that. So it was proven to me by dr that spain can be a force if it advances steadily in north Africa, snatches all Gaul, takes Britain and goes north and eastwards steadily.

Escrito por Guest, 09.02.2017 at 00:56

You say that Spain its pretty weak, but I had witnessed like 2 days ago a game created by don, trollface was spain, don got gangbanged in the east and left, but trollface had a big chunk of the west, sparta, and nidzo who was Egypt and had the east. The game had 0 alliances. The problem was that sparta and egypt had a secret alliance, I guess and trollfaces fate was doomed by that. So it was proven to me by dr that spain can be a force if it advances steadily in north Africa, snatches all Gaul, takes Britain and goes north and eastwards steadily.

You're talking about multiple people FFA games with their own circumstances, which can vary and determine up to a certain degree the viability of less common picks. Specifically, in a 3v3 or 1v1 scenario, Spain is no good compared to other picks mentioned above and I can easily prove it to you by making you try it in a 1v1 against me

(Ofc, a bad pick in good hands is better than with a noob, but still is not as good.)

Escrito por RaulPB, 09.02.2017 at 17:22

...

I would love to 1v1 with u in Ancient, just to see how its done in the oldschool way.

Escrito por Guest, 10.02.2017 at 16:40

I would love to 1v1 with u in Ancient, just to see how its done in the oldschool way.

I must admit there's an older school than me or any player of my time (devil and some others) but I'll gladly log in this weekend to see if I can find you

Hey Avatar I really like ancient world. i invite my family and friends to play ancient world whenever im about to have a game .this post is from jan 2016 it's got to be everyone favorite map. i played against dizabo today i don't need to say who won but true ancient world the best avatar is great map maker Avatar i played ancient world 4 times today

Escrito por Tokugawa, 13.03.2017 at 23:45

Hey Avatar I really like ancient world. i invite my family and friends to play ancient world whenever im about to have a game .this post is from jan 2016 it's got to be everyone favorite map. i played against dizabo today i don't need to say who won but true ancient world the best avatar is great map maker Avatar i played ancient world 4 times today

Haha sorry man, Avatar is quite inactive at the moment, it would be a true miracle if he ever saw this post. But sure, keep on playing ancient!

U forgot phooka RIP

Escrito por Tokugawa, 13.03.2017 at 23:45

Hey Avatar I really like ancient world. i invite my family and friends to play ancient world whenever im about to have a game .this post is from jan 2016 it's got to be everyone favorite map. i played against dizabo today i don't need to say who won but true ancient world the best avatar is great map maker Avatar i played ancient world 4 times today

Have fun

Escrito por RaulPB, 14.03.2017 at 12:48

Escrito por Tokugawa, 13.03.2017 at 23:45

Hey Avatar I really like ancient world. i invite my family and friends to play ancient world whenever im about to have a game .this post is from jan 2016 it's got to be everyone favorite map. i played against dizabo today i don't need to say who won but true ancient world the best avatar is great map maker Avatar i played ancient world 4 times today

Haha sorry man, Avatar is quite inactive at the moment, it would be a true miracle if he ever saw this post. But sure, keep on playing ancient!

AVATAR is back

Escrito por avatar, 19.05.2017 at 20:32

Escrito por RaulPB, 14.03.2017 at 12:48

Haha sorry man, Avatar is quite inactive at the moment, it would be a true miracle if he ever saw this post. But sure, keep on playing ancient!

AVATAR is back

Omg, a true christmas miracle!! Welcome back man! This was quite unexpected haha

hope you liked your own map review

Escrito por avatar, 19.05.2017 at 20:22

Escrito por Tokugawa, 13.03.2017 at 23:45

Hey Avatar I really like ancient world. i invite my family and friends to play ancient world whenever im about to have a game .this post is from jan 2016 it's got to be everyone favorite map. i played against dizabo today i don't need to say who won but true ancient world the best avatar is great map maker Avatar i played ancient world 4 times today

Have fun

your map is nice,but consider balancing it by removing the big milita range..that way IF and GW wont be overused

Escrito por 4nic, 20.05.2017 at 12:33

your map is nice,but consider balancing it by removing the big milita range..that way IF and GW wont be overused

GW will continue to be relatively strong, although IF totally relies on militia range so it would end up sucking ass XD could be interesting to see such shift