Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals

The Mountain Royals is an expansion to the strategy game Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, introducing the Armenian and Georgian civilizations, as well as three new story campaigns. It was co-developed by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media, Wicked Witch and World's Edge.

Plot

The expansion tells the stories of three heroes.

The impulsive Tamara, the first queen of Georgia faces the burden of a ruler, needing to convince many skeptics she's worthy of the throne. The story of Toros the Great focuses on his escape from Byzantine captivity and his attempt to liberate the Kingdom of Cicilian Armenia. The last story is set in war-torn Persia, where Ismail, leader of the Safavid Order, is given the chance to create a mighty Islamic empire.

Mechanics

The Mountain Royals doesn't significantly change the gameplay, instead focusing on new nations: Armenia and Georgia. Unique units, technologies, and bonuses have been introduced as well.

Leading the Armenians, we'll need to form a civilization in the mountains near the Van, Sevan and Urmia lakes. We'll gain an advantage thanks to archers wielding composite bows (their arrows piercing enemy armor) and warrior-priests serving as excellent healers. We'll also make use of the Cilician fleet technology, which increases the range of ships equipped with explosives.

The Georgians, living among the Caucasus mountains, make use of the Monaspa cavalry, which grows stronger with numbers. The civ excels in defense, their units and buildings taking reduced damage when they're positioned higher than their enemies.

Technical aspects

The game is a non-standalone expansion, requiring the base version of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.