Yes, you heard me correctly, folks! You can learn to be a better designer and player; you don't have to be one or the other!

We'll start with how you can beat the infamous Gothic infantry flood, and your keys to success lie within jacksm4ck's topic titled Beat Goths Late-Imp!

According to Myll_Slaghter, resident expert, the best way is to use a combination of ranged units with a meatshield. Here's his example (using Persians):

When playing persians you have multiple combo choices, ewe backed up by trash (skirms, halbs and hussars), ewe backed up by hand cannoners, ewe backed up by heavy scorps. Personally I feel that option one and option three are the best. The third is a powerhouse without dubt, and as your resources goes down (gold) you can move over to using trash units (which you of course upgrade before you run out of gold.

If you want to counter a goth imp army with persians going with ewe and heavy scorps will make it basically impossible for the Goth to beat you. Cost wise its not really a problem as you should have a eco adventage.

With that in mind, when playing a Goth remember the importance of interupting his eco. Force him to have units in defence as it ties up his pop.

Now that you've managed to conquer the Gothic infantry flood, you want to know how to become a better designer, right? That's a silly question, of course you do! But how?!?, I hear you wondering. It's simple, really; just keep tabs on the discussion in the new-and-improved version of the AoKH Designer's Tavern (hosted by your very own Matt LiVecchi), and you'll be certain to find tips and tricks galore!

One of the more recent topics that has come up has been the issue of using guns (and other more "modern" units) in Age of Kings. Kor writes:

The argument sort of reminds me of a discussion earlier on, which dealt with quite the opposite. Someone claimed that making historical scenarios was a lesser form of designing, because it didn't require originality - you were just following facts, after all - and that they even should be marked down in the story department because the author didn't think it all up himself.

This present argument strikes me as much the same, even if it is sort of inverted. Even if something has an advantage in some department - a story being invented in its entirety, or graphics more easily gelling together with a certain setting - it is the job of the designer to make it fit.

Well, I hope that reading these two threads has helped you learn something new (I know I certainly did!). If not, keep watching and reading, and eventually you will!

Indeed it is my dear fellow! It's a brand new year now and it's once again time for us all to select the pick of the bunch, the best of the best of all scenarios and campaign submitted to the Blacksmith during the past year! In this event, hosted by yours truly, you will have the power to decide what scenarios were the best and which designers were the best. There are a total of nine categories, six for scenarios and campaigns, three for designers. There are five nominees for every scenario/campaign category, but for the designers' category, you can pick three nominees freely, as long as you stick to the rules! Quite simply, YOU and all other AoKH visitors, frequenters, downloaders, reviewers; you are the ones who decide the outcome!

The categories and the nominees are the following;

1. Best Gameplay
The Dogs of War (Night Conqueror)
2475 - Birth of the Uruk-Hai (morgoth bauglir)
My Fort - My Empire (Lord Basse)
The Fury of Rastulf (Courtjester1)
Adventure Series IX The War (Jas the Mace1)

2. Best Map Design
The Dogs of War (Night Conqueror)
Adventure Series IX The War (Jas the Mace1)
Bargravia (Julius999)
The Kingdom of Drakia (Cknchaos)
The Mountain Township (Scud)

3. Best Story
The Tower of the Moon (Lord Basse)
The Fury of Rastulf (Courtjester1)
Tender (Andanu Trisatya)
The Dogs of War (Night Conqueror)
Adventure Series IX The War (Jas the Mace1)

4. Best Score (Music & Sound effects)
Tender (Andanu Trisatya)
2475 - Birth of the Uruk-Hai (morgoth bauglir)
The Tower of the Moon (Lord Basse)
The Dogs of War (Night Conqueror)
The Fury of Rästulf (Courtjester1)

5. Best Multiplayer Scenario
Mason Massacre (Impeached)
Valar Morgulis 'All Men must Die- (Impeached)
Real World Europe (kyriakos_xasapis)
GTA San Andreas map (Lol Hahaa)
RPG : The Lords Of Normandy (kykexx)

6. Best Minigame
Regicide in Calchar Woods (Julius999)
My Fort - My Empire (Lord Basse)
The Tower of the Moon (Lord Basse)
The Battle of Thermopylae - the 300 (sSs_Cobra007)
The Black Gate of Mordor (Dantares IV)

7. Best Newcomer
(Up to 3 nominees of your own choise; all three must have released their first project in 2008)

8. Most Improved Designer
(Up to 3 nominees of your own choise)

9. Designer of the Year
(Up to 3 nominees of your own choise; all three must have released at least one project during 2008)

So what are you waiting for? Head over to the thread and cast your vote NOW!

If you're suffering from some sort of post-New Years illness, tiredness, or whatever else (and a belated Happy New Years, by the way), what better way to get your mind off your misery than by playing some games with fellow AoKHers? What?!, you shout? Well, here's what, and the where and when to boot!

• What: Multiplayer Custom Scenario Night!
• Where: IGZones, in the Conquerors Tournament Lobby
• When: 4 PM EST/forum time, 9 PM GMT (time converter)

Well? What are you waiting for?! Get going! Or at least start getting ready!

While normally I'd open up my On the Battlefield report with an "EXPLOSION", "MEGA MONSTER TRUCK MAAAADNESS" or even a "WILD AND CRAZY CAR CHASE DOWN MAIN STREET", I'd imagine most of you reading this already find yourself used to this place, and very familiar with the world where your Dictator constantly challenges your patience. And that's good! What the hell was it like *before* Aro constantly went crazy on the front page?! It was probably a lot easier to ignore! But here we stand at the beginning of the new year, 2009, at the end of a great year which had many of you participating in a handful of contests and experiencing massive change at your favorite website. Age of Empires II is an old game, but some people can't seem to understand that why we love this game despite age, or why a staff at a fansite dedicates so much of their time to a game released nine years ago. Idol worship? Perhaps... Age of Kings is the King of Real Time Strategy, and it's a game that's fun to play no matter who you are or what your age is; it has unsurpassed gameplay and an incredible scenario editor. There's very little not to love in Age of Empires II.

A Productive 2008
Age of Kings Heaven is currently the best fansite on the net for Age of Empires II, hands down; we dedicate ourselves to providing the latest news, and come up with new events for the community to participate in, like writing, Pretty Town and even Age2oon contests. We've been very lucky, as many AoK sites have fell over the years because they lacked what we specialize in: a loyal, constantly growing community, one that doesn't get bored of AoK, and one that keeps our downloads section, the Blacksmith, very active with new campaigns and scenarios. In fact, it seems like nobody has gotten bored of AoK; AoKH continues growing at an average of 3-4 new forum registrants a day, recieves several hundreds hits a day, and the popular multiplayer service IGZ continues to have thousands of players duking it out. Even with the unfortunate closure of Ensemble Studios, AoKH has seen more success in 2008 than it has since I started working here in 2002.

A Dictator's Commentary
And of course, I'd like to take a swing over to a personal commentary on '08: during the summer of '07, I was a burned out, inactive staff member who no longer felt like a part of the Age of Kings community. Real life and frustrations with how HG works built up, and while it was very difficult resigning my post I made the right call; AoKH would have gone nowhere if I held it back. After I left, the site was in a virtual screensaver mode, and the community had taken the site into it's own hands due to an inactive staff roster. That's not to demean the beyond-the-line actions of staffers like Tanneur99 and Mashek; they continued to represent AoKH while everyone else was away, and helped keep the Blacksmith in top shape. Without their efforts, the site could've declined very quickly.

I returned in January not as a staff member or a moderator, but a forumer; I didn't feel obligated to do anything for the site, and I wasn't ready to do anything... I was tired of working. So I simply I just chilled out in the Town's Crier, the same community forum I helped found back in '03. As time went on and as I got more involved, I started to feel like I was a part of the community again, and I took a serious look at the status of AoKH. With the encouragement and help of now-staffer Luke Gevaerts, I was motivated to carry on with the project that was 4 years in the making: the Age of Kings Heaven revamp. If it wasn't for my resignation, none of this could've happened. While I was a forumer, I had a renewed perspective: as webmaster, I should operate with as much transparency as possible, because as a member of the community, *I* would want to know what's happening with my site, and I would want to hear about the latest updates, however irrelevant these updates may be to others. This was a very good year for me, because I made a lasting, positive change to the website; it's not very often a Seraph becomes both Forumer of the Year *and* forum President either.

The Future of HeavenGames: YOU
Take a careful look at the amazing things we've done as a community since August, and then take a look at HeavenGames as a whole. What will sustain HeavenGames? You, our community, and how hard we work to keep you interested. No technology, innovation, ad deals or business tactics could possibly take away the role our communities have in how HG operates. If we're not doing anything for you, we don't deserve the priviledge of working for you. That said, if the consesus is that we're not doing anything, make yourself heard! It doesn't matter where you do it; complain, make a discussion topic in your forums, ask a webmaster what they plan to do to improve the site, whatever it takes to get the staff to pay attention to their community. A lazy site doesn't want to be called out on their ineffectiveness, but if you care about your community, you should fight for your community. Always remember: any HeavenGames site would much rather have several forumers complaining than several forumers leaving. Ultimately, the forumers decide how well each site is doing -- remember that your opinion matters and something can *always* be done to improve a website. Any stagnation at HeavenGames is our fault, not yours; make sure we're doing something for you, because you are the only one who can make a difference.

This Coming Year
Now, the part where I wave my hands over a crystal ball... what can you expect in '09? Well, don't get your hopes up *too* high; the huge, impressive feats are done, as the site transition and the basic content is complete, but that isn't to say the fun's over; we have many more plans that we'd like to see carried out in 2009. Some examples: we plan on incorperating an interactive poll onto the main page, one with questions that you suggest that we can use to get your invaluable opinions; we're working on a large and detailed units section, where you can take a look at unit tables or find out different unit stats/histories; there will be dozens of new content additions, to better complete the revamp with, my dear; we definitely plan on holding another Pretty Town Contest this summer; all of this, in addition to updating our ModPack Stable, Gallery, and dozens of other sections that we plan on stuffing information into. Keep in mind that if you have any cool ideas, we need *you* to suggest content or features to us staff. Perhaps you have questions about the site's future, or upcoming content? Feel free to ask in the same thread!

For AoKH, 2008 was an excellent year, and I had a blast; Age of Kings Heaven plans on sticking around for many more years to come. Many of you will either be reading this drunk as sin, uncomfortably sober, with a hangover or even wishing you had a hangover; but no matter what your mental status, we here at AoKH hope you have an excellent new year! Always keep looking forward, and see you on the battlefield! IN 2009!!!

The Jatayu-hosted Defend the Spot design competition is almost over, with all submissions required to be submitted into the Blacksmith by January 1st, 2009. Today being December 31st, I can only assume that means you should submit your entry either today or tomorrow to our Blacksmith for judging! Did you have an entry in the works that you wanted to submit to this contest? It's better to submit your entry now than to never submit it at all, as my grandfather used to say! Already the contest has recieved five entries; check out the official thread for more information and details.

Looking at the forum watch, we can see that there's about twelve hours left of 2008. For those living in the eastern time zones, the new year has perhaps already arrived, and for us near Greenwich, the new year is coming in only a few hours. We staff folks at Age of Kings Heaven wish you all a happy new year and, as always, a few lil' activities on the site that you can take part in.

In the Town's Crier, our newly crowned King of Spam morgoth bauglir has set up a thread for all to take part in, counting down until the new year arrives. This goal will of course be reached at different times all around the world, but it will serve its purpose until all you Alaskans and Hawaiians have got to celebrate the new year. You ought to pop in.

Being the Blacksmith Feature writer I am, I wouldn't be doing a good job if I didn't give you something from our Blacksmith to play during New Year's Eve would I? Now, you may think that there are no games celebrating New Year's Eve because, frankly, what the world would that scenario be about? A few minutes of watching exploding hawks that are supposed to look like the colourful rockets many shoot during the night? Oh no, it's nothing like that. There is only one New Year's scenario that I know of, and it's one that's very unique. You follow a couple travelling through the Alpes and down onto the French Riviera. During their trip, you get to see a whole load of crazy things. Can you guess what scenario I'm talking about? Yes indeed, sissi's I Hate Snow. And I will be ashamed of you if you don't go and download it straight away. Very well, off you go.

Have a great New Year's Eve folks, and best wishes with your internet lives, your "real lives" and the whole yada yada. Happy holidays, from the AoKH staff!

The famous Legion Clan is hosting a Conquerors tournament open to the entire community, aptly titled "Brain Champion Cup 2", sponsored by the freakishly-rich L_Clan_Canary. The Legion Clan is best known in the AoK community for their huge tournaments, with cash prizes ranging in the thousands. Quoting destroyo64 from our forums...

Although tournament rules are still not published, we decided to already open the sign-ups, which will be opened until January 5th, 2009.

To sign-up, post a reply in this topic with your IGZ nickname, IGZ rating, E-mail and MSN addresses.

For example:

QUOTE
L_Clan_Finch
Rating: 1600
E-mail: finch@thelegionclan.com
MSN: finch@thelegionclan.com

By signing-up, you automatically agree with all the tournament rules and conditions. Good luck to everyone!

As Finch said, we are not ready with rules and settings, but by now we can inform that its going to be 1v1, 3 stages based tourney. Tournament will last around 2 months (first matches will start around January 8-9th). Thats all, stay tuned for final settings!

Think you're a bad enough dude to hit an AoC expert with a hammer made of raw, unrelenting skill? Check out the L_Clan's website for more information!

Yes, you're absolutely correct in your assumption about this post, folks! I couldn't possibly quotation-exclaimation it any more clearly; the esteemed Forumer of the Year award results are now in, counted and posted by our own personal Scuddles.

1: Most Helpful Forumer
1st Impeached: 23
1st Julius999: 23
3rd Aro: 20

2: Best Staff Member
1st Aro: 62
2nd Luke: 15
3rd Basse 14
3rd Scud: 14

3: Most Active Forumer
1st Morgoth: 44
2nd Aro: 21
3rd Scud: 20

4: Most Improved Forumer
1st Sly_guy: 14
2nd General_Zavier: 12
3rd Aro: 9
3rd Turty: 9

5: Nicest Forumer
1st Andanu: 18
1st Basse: 18
3rd Jatayu: 14

6: Funniest Forumer
1st Aro: 35
2nd Ornlu: 21
3rd Scud: 17

7: Most Intelligent Forumer
1st Kor: 17
2nd Aro: 14
3rd Julius999: 10

8: Signature of the Year
1st Gwame: 11
2nd Solivago: 8
3rd Andanu ( Indonesian Knight): 7

10: Most Missed Forumer
1st zyxomma: 27
2nd Stephen Richards: 10
3rd CrystalCrown: 9
3rd Danteres IV: 9

11: The Scud-Luke-Matty-Mashek-Kor-Basse-Sly Medal
1st Julius999: 36
2nd Impeached: 17
3rd Andanu: 4
3rd Jatayu: 4

12: Best Newbie
1st Mapp (Jimmy2): 35
2nd Cilibinarii: 8
2nd Hunnic Paladin: 8

13: The Forumer of the Year
1st Aro: 33
2nd Basse: 11
2nd Impeached: 11

Congratulations to all of the winners! Check out the complete results and see how you rank now!!!

"Merry Christmas and all that, you bastards. Know that I will perma-ban anyone who doesn't psot durnk during or the day after Christmas; remember that it's only alcoholism when you drink alone. If you drink with others, you're just that idiot who can put away more alcohol than an Irish Catholic. Unless you're an Irish Catholic, in which case you'll still lose to me.

On a slightly more serious note - have a good one, and return to us in good health. We wouldn't have been around for so long if it hadn't been for your unwavering loyalty and support, which I deem as good a reflection of the Christmas spirit as any. I'll drain a glass on your honor; just one, because I'm really not the beer-guzzling brute everyone takes me for... And because tumbling one pint per forumer would likely kill even me" --- Luke

"My civil rights attorney just approved the following Holiday Greeting:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday(tm), practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all . . . and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual orientation of the wishee.

Merry Christmas!

*

Happy New Year!

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

The aforementioned wisher: AoK Heaven" --- Tanneur99

"If you're reading this message I must urge you to get off the PC and enjoy Christmas; unless, of course, you got a PC for Christmas in which case you're a lucky bastard who is excused to be on the PC during Christmas Day as you're test out your new present. My excuse for being on the computer is that I love you all so much that I want to wish you a Happy Christmas, and more importantly to post the FoTY results which you have all been waiting for. It's an extra socking-filler to the winners, but a reason to drink your sorrows on Christmas for the runner-ups. Not only do I have to post the FoTY results, I have some computer games to install and play, I mean, it'd be rude to neglect the presents people have spend time and money buying for me?

Remember when serving your turkey that there is no pink meat - we wouldn't want you getting food poisoning would we? So eat, drink and be merry and most of all enjoy your Christmas celebrations as I am now off to do the same.

Merry Christmas from Scuddles. "

"'Tis the year to celebrate, a year with family and friends, a year with your community here at Age of Kings Heaven. There should be nothing but the best wishes for our fellows, and we should all be in high spirits! For 'tis the season for giving, 'tis the season for living, 'tis 'tis the 'tis, indeed it is! However... I'd like to bring attention to a darker subject: Santa Clause.

I was originally asked to keep this greeting "positive" and "cheery", but it disturbs me! Since his very conception by Napoleon as an agent of terror, this menace has been violating chimneys throughout the world, bringing *alleged* peace and joy in the form of specialized marketing techniques and breaking into innocent households, including my own, in fact! Can this be tolerated? No... we must stand together; all of us anti-Santites will finally put an end to his continual, confrontational violation of our privacy, put an end to the terroristic threat that Santa will leave us naught but COAL in our stockings *just* because we pushed that old lady at the store to get to our Nintendo Wii, or we derailed a train that one time to get back at Henderson from Marketing for not taking the night shift! OH YES, put an end to the FEAR he instills into our very being, our very core, our very SOUL! Merry Christmas to all, and be weary... for the time of Santa is coming to it's end! BE WEARY!!!" --- Aro

"While we are accustomed to consider the new year as starting on 1 January, this is not nearly as self-explanatory as it may seem to us today. Apart from entirely different calendars, like the Jewish and Muslim variants, even within Christian practise the beginning of the year was not always considered to commence at this time. For example, a popular alternative was Easter, which was (and still is) for many the most important festivity of the Christian faith. However, it was slowly replaced with the older Roman tradition of starting in January. The accounting year, meanwhile, was separate from the 'normal' year, typically starting at approximately the same time as our modern academic year. In the south of the Netherlands, for example, this would be the day of Saint Rémy (Remigius), 1 October. At or around that day, new city councillors would be chosen or appointed, a more joyous and important occasion than the official changing of the year.

So, whether or not Christ was born at Christmas, whether or not the New Year will start for you on 1 January or at a different time altogether, and whether or not any of this actually matters to you, I would like to wish everyone the best of everything!" --- Kor

"Once again, here we are: December 25, 2008. Christmas. The year may have flown by (I know it has for me), or it may have seemed to take quite a bit longer. At any rate, we're here. And that's what's important, isn't it? The fact that we're able to gather with friends and family, and have a meal, perhaps giving out gifts - or whatever else your customs and traditions may be - we come to realize that it's not about the getting. It's about giving, whether it's a gift to a family member or friend, or simply a smile to someone you pass on the street.

I guess I should stop before I get any more philosophical, so I'll simply wish everyone the very best this holiday season. Stay safe, have fun, and all that. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" --- sly guy