Prepare to journey to the ancient world – Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Chronicles: Battle for Greece has officially launched! This DLC is an immersive narrative expansion that transports players to the world of classical antiquity and builds upon classic gameplay with a reimagined visual experience and a focus on epic, character-focused storytelling.

We have been thrilled to work with CaptureAge to present Battle for Greece, the first installment of Chronicles. This new epic narrative experience is a must-play for strategy lovers and history enthusiasts alike.

Want more info? Read all about the naval overhaul, the history, and the narrative rework behind the scenes!

• New graphical models: including 55 new land units, 19 new naval units, and 85 new buildings
  
• A 21-scenario campaign covering over a century of history
  
• A fresh approach to storytelling with animated cutscenes, new music, and voice acting
  
• Three ancient civilizations: Achaemenids, Athenians and Spartans (not available in ranked play)
  
• Overhaul of naval combat: with six military ship types, including ramming and catapult ships
  
• Unique civilization mechanics: including customizable Town Centers and government policies
  
• … and much more!

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https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

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The first chapter, Battle for Greece, introduces three new civilizations: Achaemenids, Athenians, and Spartans – in a 21-scenario campaign, brought to life through engaging voice acting, animated cutscenes, and much more!
Find out more about the civilizations here!

Please Note: The Achaemenids, Athenians, and Spartans will NOT be available for Ranked Play.

How to Access Chronicles: Battle for GreeceChronicles: Battle for Greece is an immersive narrative expansion for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition that transports players to the world of classical antiquity. When launching Age II: DE, select the Chronicles icon on the Main Menu to access this expansion.

What is the Grand Campaign?
Battle for Greece is the inaugural chapter in the Grand Campaign. This features a campaign spanning over a century of history, including the Ionian Revolt, the Greco-Persian Wars, and the Peloponnesian War. Encounter iconic historical figures like Artemisia, Themistocles, and Brasidas, brought to life through engaging voice acting and animated cutscenes.

How to enable Antiquity Mode?
This mode can be selected in the Lobby and will enable Oysters and Wood Trading.

Why am I seeing Dark Ages when playing in Chronicles?
Only the Achaemenids, Athenians, and Spartans will have access to the Antiquity ages. Here is a guide of the equivalent ages.

Having trouble accessing Chronicles?
Follow the steps in the Trouble downloading an Age II: DE DLC[support.ageofempires.com] article.

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Today marks 5 years since we launched Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, breathing new life into the globally beloved game. Since then, the game and our player base have grown. In these first five years we’ve added:

• 7 DLC and 3 animated icons packs
  
• 10 civilizations to take into skirmish and ranked play
  
• 17 civilizations in the Return of Rome DLC
  
• 3 civilizations in the Chronicles: Battle for Greece DLC
  
• 16 campaigns
  
• 19 scenarios in Victors & Vanquished
  
• 21 scenarios in Chronicles: Battle for Greece DLC
  
• Multiple game modes – Empire Wars, Battle Royale & D3

We’ve also released almost 100 game updates, fixing bugs, improving play and adding new features.

To celebrate, starting today new players can purchase Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and will automatically receive three DLCs: Lords of the West, Dawn of the Dukes, and Dynasties of India. By combining these DLCs with the base game, we’re offering a more complete experience to newcomers for only $34.99 (USD, please check stores for your local price).

For players who already own Age of Empires II: DE on Steam, we want to thank you for playing with us these past five years by automatically gifting you any of the three mentioned DLCs that aren’t already in your collection. You can find instructions on downloading additional content on our Support Site.

How to enable Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition DLCs [support.ageofempires.com]

Lastly, today we’ve released our 7th DLC, a new narrative experience set in ancient history from our partner CaptureAge: Chronicles: Battle for Greece. You can learn more about the civilizations[www.ageofempires.com], narrative[www.ageofempires.com], naval changes[www.ageofempires.com] and more[www.ageofempires.com] on our dedicated pages at https://www.ageofempires.com/. Thank you for an amazing five years. There’s more to come….
Wololo!

One of the key goals with this DLC was to provide an engaging narrative experience, with memorable characters, beautiful presentation, and high-quality writing and voice acting. Below are just a few interesting ways CaptureAge approached the narrative – hope you like the results and are ready to jump into Chronicles: Battle for Greece on November 14!

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is available for pre-order now on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Xbox!
Pre-order now for 15% off, and play on November 14th!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

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The most obvious narrative change in this DLC is the switch to animated cutscenes. In the Achaemenid section of the campaign, these cutscenes are styled like Persian rock reliefs, while in the Athenian and Spartan sections of the campaign, they’re styled like Greek vase paintings.

As well as being aesthetically pleasing, there were several other objectives for cutscenes. The first was to clearly convey enough historical information to put the upcoming scenario in context. Altogether, the cutscenes provide a concise but accurate summary of the real history which inspired this DLC.

The second objective was to make cutscenes a reasonable length – players should not miss out on narrative content because they don’t want to sit through an overlong movie!

Finally, as well as being fond of Homeric similes and historical details, our narrator (whose identity will remain a secret for now) interprets events from an ancient cultural and religious perspective. This provides even more of the historical and cultural flavor of the time period.

For more history, check out our previous post about the history behind Chronicles: Battle for Greece!

[www.ageofempires.com]

Character-focused storytelling is at the heart of Chronicles. The 21-scenario campaign tells the story of the fifth century BCE through a few select characters, with many of the scenarios chosen to maximize those characters’ screen time.

In contrast to other Age of Empires II campaigns, cutscenes provide exposition and context, but the scenarios themselves to do the bulk of the character development. This means you’ll hear a lot more dialogue from the characters. Characters will also converse and respond to one another, developing complex friendships and rivalries.

In each section of the campaign, the player will take on the role of one key character and get to know them in depth. They are also paired with contrasting side characters: the inexperienced, bookish, somewhat prickly administrator Artaphernes is advised by Datis, an unflappable, tough, but warm-hearted veteran; the devious, clever Themistocles is paired with the upright Aristides; the noble Brasidas must try to restrain the ruthless Lysander. These relationships evolve and grow across the campaign – and there’s a healthy dose of other antagonists and allies in the mix too.

A special mention must be made for the spectacular cast of voice actors, who have brought incredible energy and variety to Chronicles and allowed for a different approach to voice acting. They truly delivered and gave a distinctive and fitting sound to each of our characters.
Each scenario has gameplay fitting the narrative and characters featured in them. When playing as the politician Pericles, for instance, players will have to maintain popularity with the people of Athens, while numerous scenarios featuring the vicious general Lysander have mechanics which reward violence and destruction.

A huge amount of effort has been put into the presentation of the scenarios too. Magnificent cities, filthy siege camps, and war-torn landscapes are brought beautifully to life with a host of new scenario editor objects. The Battle for Greece campaign is filled with carefully-crafted cinematic moments, from epic charges to city festivals to grand military parades.

This being our final dev blog before release, the CaptureAge team would like to take the opportunity to thank the community for their positivity and support. We wanted to create something new and different with Chronicles, and it’s incredibly gratifying to see fellow Age of Empires lovers appreciating the enormous efforts we’ve put into our work! Battle for Greece is just the first part of the Chronicles story – and believe us when we say that there’s plenty of innovation still to come.

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is available for pre-order now on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Xbox!
Pre-order now for 15% off, and play on November 14th!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

Three brand new civs are coming with Chronicles: Battle for Greece! Learn more about the fearsome Spartans and their unique playstyle.

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is launching November 14th on Steam!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

Here is displayed the History of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, made so that the deeds of humankind should not be forgotten in time, and that great and wondrous deeds – some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians – should not lose their glory, including among other things the cause of their waging war on each other.

– Herodotus, Histories 1

With the upcoming release of Chronicles: Battle for Greece, Dr. Ben Angell, Narrative Lead at CaptureAge has taken some time to talk about the inspiration and history you can look forward to experiencing on November 14th:

The Age of Empires series holds a special place in my life: I’ve been playing this series since I was six years old, and it inspired a love of history that ultimately led to attaining a Doctorate in Ancient History from the University of Oxford. Now, I have the tremendous privilege of bringing my passion and expertise back to the series where my journey as a historian and writer started.

The CaptureAge team has striven to immerse players in the ancient world with Chronicles: Battle for Greece through reworked visuals, historically-flavored dialogue, and vivid recreation of famous historical battles in new scenarios.

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is available for pre-order now on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Xbox!
Pre-order now for 15% off, and play on November 14th!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

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We needed to completely overhaul the look of the game to make it appropriate for classical antiquity. Units shared between the civilizations had to be remodeled and renamed – Knights, for instance, became Lancers – while naval combat has been fully overhauled. These units needed to be reasonably applicable to all of the civilizations, across the entire geographical and temporal span that Chronicles covers – hence the Achaemenids, for example, have access to large warships whose visual design is inspired more by the Hellenistic and Roman eras.

We were able to get more specific with our unique and regional units, such as the Achaemenid Immortal, or the Hoplite fielded by all the Greek civilizations. We also included 13 campaign-only units, including Cretan Archers, Scythian Axe Cavalry, and Rhodian Slingers.

We also gave new names and icons to many technologies in the game. The Temple (the Monastery) provides many good examples. For instance, Redemption – which allows players to convert enemy buildings – has been replaced in Chronicles by Evocatio, referring to a Roman ritual whereby the protective deities of a besieged city would be invited to abandon the enemy and come over to the Roman side.

In Chronicles, we’ve tried to fill the dialogue with as much historical flavor as possible. Characters invoke the gods and promise them sacrifices; they discuss how they should behave by referencing examples from epic poems and mythological stories; they hurl authentic insults like “dog-faced” and use exclamations from Greek tragedy like “oimoi” and “euai”.

History buffs might even notice some direct references to ancient sources. For instance, one character swears an oath “by Ares, Enyo, and blood-loving Phobos” – the oath sworn in Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes. A particularly spine-tingling example is Leonidas, fighting until the end at Thermopylae, echoing the Spartan war poet Tyrtaeus’s exhortation to “make life your enemy and hold the black spirits of death dear as the rays of the sun”.

The Battle for Greece campaign closely follows the events of the fifth century BCE, including vivid recreations of many of its most famous battles, such as Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis. We’ve creatively represented numerous features of the period: you’ll have to undermine the walls of Miletus with sapper tunnels, demand and collect tribute from the increasingly dissatisfied members of the Athenian empire, and flush rebellious agitators from helot villages as the Spartans.

431 BCE was a bad time to be an Athenian farmer.

As an example, the 15th scenario, “Within the Long Walls”, recreates the early years of the Peloponnesian War: the Athenians are trapped inside their city walls while hostile Spartans burn the fields beyond. Playing as the Athenian leader Pericles, you must maintain your political popularity while the vicious demagogue Cleon urges the people against you. Later, in the 19th scenario set during the Sicilian Expedition, the Athenians attempt to enclose the city of Syracuse within a stone wall – so the Syracusans and their Spartan allies build a counter-wall to stop them!

This is just a small preview of the historical feast to come in Chronicles: Battle for Greece. The new campaign is full of references and details to delight the history buffs among you!

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is available for pre-order now on Steam, Microsoft Store, and Xbox!
Pre-order now for 15% off, and play on November 14th!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

Chronicles: Battle for Greece will introduce 3 brand new civs! Find out a little more about the unique playstyle of the Athenians and how to harness their strengths to achieve victory!

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is launching November 14th on Steam!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

Seamanship is an art, no different from any other art; it cannot be taken up occasionally as a leisurely pursuit – rather it is so exacting that it leaves leisure for nothing else!
– Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 1.142.9

Hoist the sails, harangue the oarsmen, and pour libations for favorable winds, as CaptureAge prepares to lead you through the many new naval features in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Chronicles: Battle for Greece.

Right from the start of the Chronicles project, naval gameplay has been central to the vision. We wanted to expand the strategic depth of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition’s naval gameplay, do justice to the importance of naval warfare in classical antiquity, and – most importantly – give players some exciting new toys to play with.

A little historical note: much like the other non-unique units which are shared across all civilizations, the designs of our ships are creative composites of styles from across the ancient world, and from across the time period that Chronicles will eventually cover. Thus the Achaemenids, for instance, have access to large siege ships that are heavily inspired by the Hellenistic and Roman eras.

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is available for pre-order now on Steam! Pre-order now for 15% off, and play on November 14th!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

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Rather than recruiting all of your naval units from the Dock, in Chronicles you’ll have access to two different naval buildings: the Port and the Shipyard.

The Port is more focused on economic production: here, players can create Fishing Ships, Merchant Ships, Transport Ships, and our cheap scout ships, the Lemboi. Shipyards, on the other hand, are used to create military ships.


Lemboi are small and cheap, requiring no gold to create. They are ideal for scouting, and players will receive a free Lembos when they construct their first Port. Lemboi are also effective against Galleys, hurling pots of boiling oil at their foes. The Lembos is the only military ship to be recruited from the Port.

A common feature of ancient naval warfare was ramming: ships would smash into the sides of other vessels with metal rams attached to their prows. In Chronicles, these ships are highly effective against Lemboi, and will be essential for closing in on Catapult Ships.

The main ranged ship at your disposal is the Galley. These are effective against ramming ships – as long as you can keep them at a distance – and are essential for taking out those pesky incoming Incendiary Ships.

All Age of Empires players love detonating a well-placed Demolition Ship. We couldn’t leave out such an iconic unit, so we made our own, inspired by ancient uses of burning rafts, such as at the Siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. If directed against large groups of enemy ships, an Incendiary Ship can be deadly – and oh so satisfying!

Speaking of the dangers faced by large groups of ships, a well-timed volley from a Catapult Ship can devastate an unsuspecting enemy navy. Only available from the third Age (referred to in Chronicles as the Classical Age), these large, expensive ships can turn the tide of tight fights.

Finally, the siege ship, the Leviathan. Appropriately named after the mythical sea monster, the Leviathan is an enormous Imperial Age unit which can destroy buildings from long range. Make sure your Leviathans are protected – as well as their long-range attack, they also increase the attack rate of nearby ships.


Oysters are a new naval resource, providing gold at sea. They can be collected by Fishing Ships or by Villagers, if the Oysters are sufficiently close to the shore.

Beware: Oyster grounds will be frequent sites of conflict with your resource-hungry foes!

In Chronicles, your Merchant Ships (replacing Trade Cogs) bring back both wood and gold when trading with allied docks. You can adjust the ratio of wood to gold in the Port, allowing you to prioritize bringing in the wood you need for naval production, or gold for expensive units and upgrades.



Mastering the seas will be essential to your success in Chronicles. As our story unfolds, you will need to conduct combined land and naval operations to seize coastal fortresses, rely on maritime trade to feed besieged cities, and force your enemies into submission through relentless naval artillery bombardments.

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https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

Chronicles: Battle for Greece introduces 3 new civilizations! First up? The Achaemenids! Take a deep dive to find out more about playstyle, unique units, and even a little bit of history!

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Chronicles: Battle for Greece is launching November 14th on Steam!

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/2805520/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Battle_for_Greece/

Hello everyone!

Looking to see what's ahead for the next update? Try out the Public Update Preview Program for our next October Patch.

Jump in this weekend to get a sneak peek and see which bugs have been addressed. You can help make our release even better by playing the test build to find any last minute issues and lending your voice to our forums.

More information on October's Public Update Preview Program can be found here.

Please join us in strengthening the quality of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition by sharing your voice on the official 🛠 Public Update Preview forums. (Note that you must own the game and login to Steam to access the PUP forum.)


Steam owners can download the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition PUP by following the instructions below:

1. Navigate to your Steam library and right click on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.2. Select "Properties…" at the bottom of the menu.3. Select the "Betas" tab on the left.4. In the "Beta Participation" dropdown menu, select pup_oct.5. The build will begin downloading—once complete, you are ready to play!

We’re definitely listening, and looking for every opportunity to make this the game you love to play! :)

- The World's Edge Team