Age of Empires II: Forgotten Empires is the 2012 mod and unofficial expansion for Age of Empires II: The Conquerors that later became the official HD expansion The Forgotten. This guide is scoped to that content: five added civilizations, new campaign material, larger match settings, new units, and the habits that help returning players adjust.
Content warning: Age of Empires II is rated Teen for blood and violence. This guide keeps medieval warfare and conquest advice non-graphic.
The most important rule is version awareness. Forgotten Empires, Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten, and Definitive Edition do not line up perfectly. Use these broad play habits, then check the in-game tech tree and scenario objectives for the version you are launching.
Essential Tips
1. Check Which Forgotten You Are Playing
The name is easy to blur. Forgotten Empires is the original mod for The Conquerors. The Forgotten is the official HD Edition expansion built from that project. Definitive Edition later reworked campaigns, civilizations, and balance.
Before following any build, open the civilization tree and campaign screen. If a unit, bonus, map size, or mission route is not visible there, trust the game in front of you.
2. Treat the Five New Civilizations as Role Lessons
The added roster pushes you toward clear identities: Italians lean toward water, archers, trade, and anti-cavalry tools; Indians toward economy, camels, and gunpowder; Magyars toward mounted pressure; Slavs toward infantry, siege, and farming power; Incas toward Kamayuks and Slingers.
Do not try to play all five like generic Franks or Britons. Pick the unit line that matches the civilization’s strengths, then build the economy that keeps that line producing.
3. Use Italians to Learn Timing and Water Control
Italians reward cleaner age timing because their age advancement is cheaper, but that does not mean they automatically win land maps. Their best identity is often water, team support, trade, Genoese Crossbowmen against cavalry and ships, and Condottieri when gunpowder becomes a problem.
On mixed or naval maps, get docks working and contest water early. On land maps, use the age-up discount to hit a timing instead of drifting into a weak middle game.
4. Boom Properly With Indians
Indians are strongest when the economy keeps growing into powerful camels and gunpowder. Cheaper villagers only matter if you keep creating villagers and spend the saved food on a real plan.
Use camels when cavalry is the problem, Hand Cannoneers when infantry is the problem, and Elephant Archers as durable support rather than your whole army. If you stop villager production early or overbuy expensive elephants, the civilization’s strongest phase arrives too late.
5. Play Magyars Like an Offensive Civilization
Magyars want pressure. Their cheaper Scout Cavalry line and strong mounted options help them control the map, punish exposed villagers, and transition into cavalry or cavalry archers. They are less comfortable sitting back against a stronger economy.
Open the map, scout constantly, and make your opponent respond. If you let the game become a quiet boom without damage, you may reach the late game with good units but a weaker economy behind them.
6. Keep Slavs and Incas Broad Until You Read the Tree
Slavs and Incas are especially easy to misplay if you copy later-version advice blindly. Slavs are safest to approach as a food economy, infantry, and siege civilization. Incas are safest to approach as an infantry-focused Mesoamerican civilization with Kamayuk and Slinger tools.
Check the exact bonuses and technologies in your version before committing to a long build. Use the first match to learn what the tree actually gives you, then tighten the plan.
7. Respect Larger Maps and Higher Population Games
Forgotten Empires and The Forgotten are associated with bigger battles and larger match settings than older default Age of Empires II habits. Bigger games reward economy depth, production buildings, trade planning, and rally points more than one perfect early army.
If the population limit is high, add production before you need it. Ten idle Barracks are bad, but two Barracks trying to replace a 300-pop army are worse.
8. Read Campaign Objectives Before Building
Forgotten campaign content can be more experimental than standard random maps. Some scenarios reward mass infantry, some ask for naval control, some punish direct frontal attacks, and some change the value of monks, siege, or castles.
Pause at the start, read the objective list, inspect your civilization, and identify the likely win condition before spending your first resources. In campaigns, the fastest generic boom is not always the right opening.
9. Use Monks and Siege as Problem Solvers
The added campaigns and civilizations often create matchups where raw army mass is not enough. Monks can flip expensive units, heal key troops, and punish isolated siege. Trebuchets and Bombard Cannons solve castles, towers, and fortified towns that infantry should not attack forever.
If a mission stalls, ask what the enemy is making that your army cannot answer. Then add the counter tool instead of throwing more of the same units into the same fight.
10. Do One Version-Specific Test Match
Before committing to a long campaign run or multiplayer night, play one skirmish with the civilization you want. Check unique units, technologies, population settings, AI behavior, and map options. A ten-minute test prevents hours of wrong assumptions.
This matters most for Forgotten Empires because it sits between an old mod, an HD expansion, and later Definitive Edition revisions.
Civilization Game Plans
Start with one sentence per civilization. Italians: use timing, water, trade, and anti-cavalry archers. Indians: boom into camels and gunpowder. Magyars: attack with mounted units before stronger economies settle. Slavs: lean on food, melee units, and siege. Incas: use infantry tools and counters rather than pretending they are a cavalry civilization.
After that, pick a first army that helps you survive the map. On open maps, scouts, skirmishers, and archers protect your economy while you reach the civilization’s real strength. On closed maps, boom greedier but place production early. On water maps, docks are not optional for Italians, and ignoring water can cost you food income, map control, and transport options.
Avoid all-in unit fantasies. Genoese Crossbowmen are excellent into cavalry, but they need castles and support. Imperial Camels still need economy and answers to infantry or monks. Magyar raids do not replace villager production. Slavic siege needs protection. Inca specialty units need the right matchup.
Campaign and Scenario Habits
Forgotten campaign advice should start with scouting, not memorization. Look for free units, exposed resources, enemy production, market access, docks, relics, and chokepoints. Then decide whether the scenario wants defense, a fast strike, or a controlled push.
Alaric-style Goth missions can reward relentless infantry production because Goth tools thrive when Barracks are active and reinforcements keep coming. Bari-style Byzantine scenarios can be more delicate: monks, ships, knights, and converted siege may matter more than charging into stronger Imperial armies too early.
When a mission feels unfair, stop attacking and reshape the plan. Add production near the front, secure gold, protect siege, and convert or snipe the unit breaking your army. Campaigns often punish impatience more than imperfect economy.
Economy, Maps, and Army Scale
The larger the game, the more deliberate your economy has to be. Keep villagers working, add farms in batches, reseed woodlines before they collapse, and balance gold use against trash units.
Use extra production buildings once your economy can support them. In high-population games, the winner is often the player who can replace armies quickly. Put Barracks, Stables, Archery Ranges, Castles, and Siege Workshops close enough to the front that reinforcements arrive before the fight is already over.
On massive maps, scouting becomes a full-time habit. Find neutral gold, side passages, water access, and enemy expansion before the late game. A great army in the wrong corner still loses to raids.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not assume Forgotten Empires, HD, and Definitive Edition are identical - Check your in-game tech tree before copying a plan.
- Do not pick a new civilization and ignore its role - Italians, Indians, Magyars, Slavs, and Incas each want different armies.
- Do not boom with Indians and stop making villagers - Their economy bonus needs constant villager production to matter.
- Do not play Magyars passively against stronger economies - Their mounted pressure is strongest when it creates damage or map control.
- Do not make Genoese Crossbowmen without support - They answer cavalry well, but they still need protection and production planning.
- Do not mass expensive elephants without a reason - Durable support units can drain gold and food if they are your whole plan.
- Do not ignore water on maps where docks matter - Losing fish and naval control can erase a good land build.
- Do not attack fortified campaign positions with only basic infantry - Add siege, monks, ships, or the correct counter unit.
- Do not wait until a high-population fight starts to add production - Replacement speed wins long games.
- Do not follow later balance advice blindly - Later patches can change bonuses, campaigns, and even civilization identities.
Summary
| Category | Top Tip |
|---|---|
| Version Scope | Confirm whether you are playing the original mod, HD expansion, or Definitive Edition |
| Italians | Use age timing, water control, trade, Genoese Crossbowmen, and Condottieri deliberately |
| Indians | Keep villager production going into camels, gunpowder, and selective Elephant Archers |
| Magyars | Use mounted pressure before stronger economy civilizations settle |
| Slavs | Lean into food economy, infantry, and siege after checking the exact tech tree |
| Incas | Treat Kamayuks and Slingers as counter tools, not generic cavalry replacements |
| Campaigns | Read objectives and scout before committing to a build |
| Large Games | Add economy and production before the population limit exposes your bottlenecks |
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8 checked for this guideEvery factual claim in this guide was checked against at least two independent sources before publication. These are the references used for Age of Empires II: Forgotten Empires.
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