Start the game already!

We are back for another episode of the Age of Empires Magazine and we’ve put together a nice program. We’ll start off with a recap of T90 Titans League, then there’s the replacement qualifier for RB Wololo Londinium. In addition we’ve got some exciting announcements to talk about: Warlords 5, The League and The Garrison 2 have been announced, despite the new esport calendar not even being published, so the next year is already shaping up to be another excellent year for our scene. We’ll follow up the News with a little interview that Daniela and I did with Chuptaburger, who is a community member and creator in the AoE II scene at night but also a teacher during the day and we’ve invited him to have a little chat about his work, aoe2 and his nomination for being the teacher of the year in the USA. We’ll end the episode with the tournament outlook for April 2026. Please check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Daniela over at Twitch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Programme 02:50 News 01:17:28 Interview with Chuptaburger 01:50:00 Tournament Outlook April 2026 Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TTL 5⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Warlords 5 ⁠The League The Garrison 2 Chuptaworks

Das neue DLC hat uns etwas von der Rangliste ferngehalten. Stattdessen haben wir uns vier anderen Spielen zugewandt: Felix hat wie angekündigt das Remaster von Oblivion und Neon White gespielt, Christian hingegen hat in Darkest Dungeon II reingeschnuppert und Resident Evil Village endlich gespielt. Das heutige Tafelründchen erzählt von vier verschiedenen Spielen, die auf vier verschiedene Weise Spaß machen. Euch wünschen wir viel Spaß beim Spielen! Felix & Christian ⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠ Musik: Joey Jojo vom offiziellen AoE II: DE OST.

Welcome back to our final mission from the Muisca campaign, where we follow the story of Pacanchique, a honorable warrior who had served under Nemequene, the leader of the southern Muisca federation and led his army into battle against Quemuenchatocha, the leader of the northern Muisca confederation, who thinks of himself as a god and grows madder by the day. To make matters worse, the Spanish have arrived in 1537 and are hunting for El Dorado, the imaginary golden city which they believe to find where Quemuenchatocha resides. Even a second expedition has arrived, led by a German conquistador called Federman, who is also searching for the golden city. In all of this, there is a love story, because Pacanchique’s love, Azay, is serving under Quemuenchatocha and spying on him to give intel to Pacanchique, so he can stop the madman. Can we save Azay and force the expeditions to retreat? Chris ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: Muisca Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack

Once again, we are playing the Muisca campaign of the Last Chieftains DLC and this time around it’s the fourth mission called Son of the Sun. This beautiful title was given, because despite our best efforts to keep the zaque, or leader of the northern Muisca, Quemuenchatocha in check, he has forced the Iraca, the spiritual leader of all the Muisca, to proclaim him the Son of the Sun, which pretty much made him a living god. Our goal is to put a stop to his madness and recapture the Sun Temple. However, a new enemy arrives on the Horizon, from far away across the ocean. Chris ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: Muisca Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack

We have returned to south america and to be more precise: with the third scenario of the Muisca Campaign. Once again, we are playing as Pacanchique, a Muisca commander who has sided with Nemequene, Zipa of the southern Muisca Confederation and leading our army in the western borderlands with the mission to pacify the unruly Panche tribes of the region. The northern Muisca are lead by the Zaque called Quemuenchatocha, a powerhungry commander collecting gold in his fortress and he is our main enemy in this campaign so far. By controlling the Panche, we will have more influence over the region and get closer to unifying the Mapuche.Chris ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: Muisca Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack

After the first mission, Nemequene was made the new zipa, the leader of the southern Muisca. The bloodthirsty Quemuenchatocha was made the next zaque, leader of the northern Muisca. At the end of the first mission, we, playing as Pacanchique, had to make a choice: continue serving under Quemuenchatocha, who was with no honor, saw Pacanchique as a mere tool and wanted war at all costs but at least I was able to stay with Azay, the love of my life whom I want to marry or... change sides and fight for the south, be a commander for Nemequene, who I consider to be much wiser and more honorable, but that would mean that Pacanchique risked his relationship with Azay. I chose the latter, because I felt like the Protagonist, Pacanchique, would chose so himself. Now we fight the lord we once served!Chris ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: Muisca Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack

Welcome back to another Campaign series! There is a good reason for why I’m doing this now though, multiple reasons in fact: First, While you are listening to this, I am somewhere in Japan, probably in Fukuoka and enjoying Sushi or maybe, with a bit of luck, the cherry blossom trees. But I didn’t want you, dear listener, to go for an entire month without a podcast, which is why I preproduced these upcoming five campaign episodes. The second reason is, that I was playing the Last Chieftain campaigns anyway to be able to talk about the DLC in various podcasts, so I wanted to put the spotlight on of those. And I chose the newly released Muisca Campaign called El Dorado, which is also controversial when it comes to its historical background. The Devs chose to merge mythology with historical battles and I thought, that sounded like a lot of fun. Starting today, I will publish one episode per day until the campaign is finished, so you have daily podcasts to look forward to and I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I do playing the campaign right now. Chris ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: Muisca Intro Music of the official AoE II Soundtrack

Liebe Community, voller Freude präsentiere ich euch mein Gespräch mit Michi von dem Spielepodcast Insert Moin. Was eigentlich als Reviewfolge gedacht war ist ein bisschen zu einer Folge geworden, in der wir über allerlei AoE Themen sprechen. Michi ist ein Fan des Franchises und kehrte für das DLC nach längerer Zeit zurück zu AoE II. Damit hat er eine ganz frische Perspektive auf unser Spiel, die wir mit einer kleinen Portion Erinnerungen kontrastieren. Falls ihr die Damen und Herren von Insert Moin noch nicht kennt, dann hört unbedingt mal bei ihnen rein! Sie veröffentlichen mehrere Folgen pro Woche und gehören zu den besten deutschen Spielejournalist:innen der Branche. Unterstützer:innen auf Steady oder Patreon können alle Folgen sogar werbefrei hören. Ansonsten freuen sie sich auch, wenn ihr auf ihrem Discord vorbeischaut und ihnen ein Feedback zu dieser Folge dalasst! Viel Spaß beim Hören! Chris

Welcome back to the Age of Empires Magazine! We’ve had a lot happening this month and these are the topics we’ll cover in this episode: First of all, we’ll talk about T90 Titans League and the latest happenings. Then there’s the New DLC with three new south american civilizations and the Patch that was released alongside it with some Balance Changes and the major naval rework. In other News: Viper and Daut have found a new Team and joined Onimaru. Let’s get started! Please check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠Daniela over at Twitch⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Programme 02:27 News 02:31:40 Podcast News & Emails 02:44:00 Tournament Outlook March 2026 Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TTL 5⁠⁠ ⁠Naval rework⁠ Castlerush The Bastion AoE2Germany 1v1 League

With the release of the Last Chieftains DLC I felt the urge to talk about the south american civilizations. However, we probably need a lot more time to figure out the new civs, so I decided that this is the perfect time to shed some light on the Inca. They have been around since 2013 and recieved multiple major changes, that entirely changed the way the Inca can be played. Now they have recieved another face lift taking away their wrongful meso identity and making them the south american civ they deserve to be. There's a lot of old and new things about the Inca to tell: they're still the counter civilization full of aggression that they became in 2023, but they lost their eagles and milita-lines, instead they gained Champis. Only time will tell if this is for better or worse. Chris Edit: Since the rework, the Kamayuk has received +1 Pierce Armour for the Elite Upgrade, while Fabric Shield is now only +1 instead of +2. Post-Imp Kamayuks are therefore just as strong as they were before the rework. Thanks to Jarrymo for pointing this out! Talk to the community on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 11:23 Settlements 20:30 Champi 33:42 Slinger 45:00 Food discount on military units 50:50 Free Llama 53:48 Blacksmith upgrades and cheap stone buildings 56:32 Kamayuk 01:03:10 Andean Sling & Fabric Shields 01:10:50 Strategies & army compositions 01:32:10 Campaign Music: Inca Intro Music and "Operation Monkey" of the official AoE II Soundtrack Some sources: Siege of Cuzco Range of Slings Maya Slingers History of Potato by Riley Knight Inca Road System

Christian hat im vergangenen Monat endlich mal an einem Turnier teilgenommen: Noobs of the Desert 3! Dort hat er es bis unter die letzten vier Spieler geschafft und erzählt deshalb ein paar Anekdoten, unter anderem, wie unterschiedlich das Spiel wahrgenommen werden kann. Natürlich macht sich bei Felix und Christian auch ein bisschen die Angst vorm DLC breit: wird es gut, wird es meh... oder gar einfach zu viel? Wir haben es dieses Mal geschafft, eine ganze Stunde nur über AoE Themen zu sprechen und wünschen euch viel Spaß beim Zuhören! Felix & Christian ⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠ Musik: Joey Jojo vom offiziellen AoE II: DE OST.

Here's a short preview with the most important info on the new The Last Chieftains DLC! I tried to present all information in a dense form and hope this'll help you find your way into the DLC, that's releasing on February 17th. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: Smells like Crickets, Tastes like Chicken from the official AoE II OST.

Welcome back to another episode of the Age of Empires Magazine featuring Daniela and Chris! January was all about the qualifiers of RB Wololo Londinium, so we’re gonna talk about that in todays show. Other topics include Team Vitality joining the scene, news of mismanagement in GL and what’s new in T90 Titans gold and silver leagues. We’ve also got official news previewing the new DLC and the Naval rework that we can discuss. There’s no franchise news apart from the DLC for AoE 2 releasing on the 17th of February, so after the News, we’ll head straight to some Emails and then the tournament outlook. Please check out ⁠⁠⁠Daniela over at Twitch⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Programme 01:13 News 01:46:00 Podcast News & Emails 02:11:40 Tournament Outlook February 2026 Links: Team Vitality Viper Drama ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TTL 5⁠ ⁠RB Wololo Ladder Qualifier Naval rework Six Nations Cup

Daniela and I are discussing the RB Wololo Qualifiers, covering topics like the runs of the first 5 placements, the Hearttt vs Vinch Finale and other important topics. Enjoy! Please check out ⁠⁠⁠Daniela over at Twitch⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠

Today, we‘re visiting eastern europe and talk about the Poles. The Poles have been introduced to the game in the second DLC for the Definitive Edition in August 2021 together with the Bohemians introducing unique game mechanics and farm economy which I was very sceptical of when it got released but now believe to be one of the best designs decisions in the game. You'll be hearing me praising the civ design a lot in this podcast, when I go through all civilization bonuses, their unique techs, units and even buildings. They probably have the best campaign of the game, which if you haven't already, should defenitely give a go. The Poles are hard to master and had little impact on the eSports scene, yet I wouldn't want to change a thing about them. Well actually, one thing, but you'll find out when listening to the Podcast! Chris Talk to the community on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 05:08 Folwarks 16:00 HP Regeneration 21:45 Stone-to-gold conversion 28:00 Cheaper Scout Upgrades & Teambonus 34:10 Winged Hussar & Unique Techs 51:50 Obuch 59:00 Strategies & army compositions 01:22:15 Campaign Music: Poles Intro Music and "Operation Monkey" of the official AoE II Soundtrack

Welcome back to another episode of the Age of Empires Magazine! Once again, I am joined by Daniela! We’ve got exciting topics to discuss, starting of course with the sixth edition of King of the Desert and a recent update with balance changes from the 2nd of december. We’ve also got a couple of Franchise News, because the South AmericaDLC has been announced for AoE II and is coming to the game in February 2026. As is the theme with our Franchise, if one game get’s something new, another game probably has something similar in store and that’s true for Age of Mythology and Age of Empires IV. We’ll finish up the episode with some emails and the tournament outlook for January 2026, where we’ll talk about the RB Wololo Ladder Qualifier and TTL Season 5. I’d also like to mention that we recorded this podcast just before the News about GL and their members have dropped, so there is no mentioning of that in this episode. Please check out ⁠⁠Daniela over at Twitch⁠⁠: ⁠⁠https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Programme 02:30 News 02:12:54 Franchise News 02:26:45 Podcast News & Emails 02:39:25 Tournament Outlook January 2026 Links: ⁠King of the Desert VI⁠ Danielas Statement of MM Balance Changes ⁠AoE 2025 Review ⁠⁠TTL 5 RB Wololo Ladder Qualifier

Macht euch bereit für einen Podcast, bei dem wir uns so richtig alt fühlen. Alles ist neu und unübersichtlich: AoE II verändert sich mit Phosphoru Rushes, Stand Ground Patrols und der Siegetower Meta. World of Warcraft ist überhaupt nicht mehr das, was es einmal war und ist kaum wieder zu erkennen. Und wenn Felix einfach mal ne Runde Hitman spielen will, scheitert er daran, weil er den Überblick über die verschiedenen Spieleversionen nicht bekommt. Christian hat wurde außerdem von Europa Universalis gemobbt. Klingt alles scheiße, aber lass euch nicht beirren, denn in Wahrheit haben wir gerade ziemlich viel Spaß mit unseren Spielen! Viel Spaß beim Hören! Felix & Christian ⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠ Musik: Joey Jojo vom offiziellen AoE II: DE OST.

Well, this episode is all about the Celts. But who were the Celts, really? If you're asking the Devs, it seems the answer is: whatever was shown in the movie Braveheart! For a game drawing inspiration from history, the Celts do seem like the odds one out. Sloppy research, a lousy tutorial campaign and underwhelming tech tree make it hard for the Celts to really shine amongst the many civilizations in the game, despite looking back to more than 25 years of AoE II history. Of course, being an infantery civilization doesn't make things any easier. If it weren't for Hoang, maybe the Celts would've been completely forgotten. Well, don't shed your tears just yet, I'm here to save the day and tell you everything I could uncover about the Celts, including some fun facts from what the Celts were first invisioned by the Devs, before they became the Civ we know today. I hope you enjoy this episode! Chris Talk to the community on: ⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 05:43 Wood bonus 14:47 Faster moving infantery 18:54 Stealing herdables 22:40 Faster firing siege & Team bonus 30:15 Furor Celtica 35:58 Strongholds 40:28 Woad Raider 50:35 Strategies & army compositions 01:11:25 Campaign Music: Celts Intro Music and "Operation Monkey" of the official AoE II Soundtrack Links: Computer Gaming World Museum Celtic Life International Braveheart Critique bei Sharon Krossa Original Handbook of Age of Kings Cattle Raids

Once again I am joined by Daniela in this Podcast! This month was much more quiet than the last month, but there’s still some interesting topics to discuss. We’ll start off with Thalassocracy Cup 2, which has just concluded last night at the time of this recording. The Bronze League of TTL 5 has also finished up determining who will get into the gold and silver league. We’ll also give a quick outlook on what we’re expecting from King of the Desert VI, which has started as of now. There’s no real Franchise News for a change, so we’ll be skipping that segment today. But I’ve got important news for all patreons and supporters of the podcast in the podcast news and we’ll be answering a couple of your messages, that have been sent in. At last, we’ll finish up the episode with the tournament outlook for december 2025. Please check out ⁠Daniela over at Twitch⁠: ⁠https://www.twitch.tv/daniela_aoe⁠ ⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠ Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 06:46 News 01:42:30 Podcast News & Emails 01:59:01 Tournament Outlook December 2025 Links: King of the Desert VI Thalassocracy Cup 2⁠⁠ Master of HyperRandom 3⁠⁠ TTL5 Bronze League⁠ ⁠Naval Rework⁠

Willkommen zur 28. Tafelrunde! Felix Fälle vor Gericht werden immer abwechslungsreicher. Neuerdings häufen sich die Fälle, in denen sich Menschen um ihre Katzen streiten. Wie kann man da eine Entscheidung darüber fällen, wer die Katze bekommt? Christian ist indes aus Schottland zurückgekehrt und hat dadurch die William Wallace Kampagne erneut gespielt... wenn man da überhaupt von einer Kampagne sprechen kann. Außerdem verbringt er seine Abendstunden mit Ball x Pit, was mal wieder Anlass dafür ist, die Nostalgiebrille auszugraben und von vorinstallierten Windows 95 Breakout-Spielen zu erzählen. Felix ist da viel mehr am Puls der Zeit und spielt das gerade erschienene Europa Universalis V. Viel Spaß beim Hören! Felix & Christian ⁠Discord⁠ Musik: Joey Jojo vom offiziellen AoE II: DE OST.