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

52:13 Obuch

59:24 Strategies & army compositions

01:22:35 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.