Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

If you are like me and not a total god at micro use these tips.

Once you are in game press F11 to see elapsed time, then press the - on your numpad, to slow down the game speed to slow (1.0 "real time"). Use the pause break button (pauses the game, but you can still move units) to organise your units without losing time.

The video guide gives you a good route to follow.

Credit to 88kai*

I'll try my best to explain the strat. First and foremost, I first had a look at this page. have done so for other missions as well. It is a bit outdated in the way that it is from the original AoE2, and thus some missions have changed a bit. Still, the map overview and the general mission is for most missions the same.
https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sack_of_Rome#WikiaA...

This achievement is a tough one, and it took me a while to study the map, try out some tactics and eventually pop the achievement.

The main tip I can give I guess is trying to avoid fighting enemies as much as possible and mainly focusing on the castles themselves. You have limited resources and units, and very limited time. Half an hour sounds like a lot, but blink your eyes once and you can be 15 minutes. Also, try to avoid destroying walls and evade the towers as much as possible. Only destroy walls if there are no/barely enemies/towers around, as it'll be a waste of troops otherwise. Unless you have petards ready, which I used later on for some of the castles in the top left. 2 of them are surrounded by walls and towers, so you want to be in there quickly. Also, the gate opens when units from the inside want to get out, which can be a useful strat to bypass the necessity of needing to break a gate.

Also, use mainly the new /barracks/stables/siege factories/etc. that will become yours over time (once moving in the city and killing nearby units). These were really helpful as you could spawn new units close by and don't need to spend the initial cash on making them

I mainly used knights as main mush to take the hits from the castles and take out infantry, then also elite huskarls for dealing with both of these. Had some crossbowmen and monks for healing and cover. Also used petards later on, purely for destroying castles. My initial assault with the units you get and some monks was along the right-hand side with the yellow ally. He should take down the gate. In that area, you can take down 3 castles (also the one which is right in front of you from the start, but now you don't need to take the walls/gate down.

Also in the meantime, right from the start actually, start gathering food, gold and some wood. You have a 210 population limit, so spam 2 town centers and create a ton of villagers right of the bet, so that you can create a ton of extra units later on.

At some point, once you notice that light blue also has built up some units, send some units across the river, south of the hostile docks (only one hostile tower here that can damage you), which will initiate him to also starts attacking. This should hopefully draw a couple of the units from the city, making it easier for you to get rid of the castles. Later on for me, there were barely any units on the far left against the edge of the map. Could easily take out the castle in the bottom left, top left and with a little challenge of reaching the walled castle in between the 2 beforementioned also that one.

So after while sending a unit to signal light blue to attack, start attacking from the castle nearest to your spawn and move to the left. There is a lightly defended gate with only 1 tower. Also at all times, keep replacing lost/adding new units from the 'captured' building. Once through that gate, move north to take out the first castle that you reach, then move a bit to the left so that you can attack the 2 castles further to the top (both to the left of the coliseum and another wonder), while trying to avoid to get the units from the 2 wonders and the garrison in the walled courtyard to attack you. Once these 2 are destroyed, retreat south to around the area where you destroyed your 4th castle, heal up and get new units. Now there should be 2 'easier' castles close to your left. These will be your next target. At around this time or a little before, I send a couple of villagers to this area to build 2 castles in places where I could lure some enemies to. Also, this enables you to create pretards close to the last castles. last ones are the 2 lightly defended in the bottom left and top left of the city, and the 2 walled ones. These walled ones can be a pain, but as mentioned, pretards and maybe a bit of luck that some units inside open the gate for you.

To conclude/some additional tips
-Try out a couple of ways/units. This worked for me, but there is definitely some luck involved. Being 1 petard short for example while trying to destroy one of the 2 walled castles, can mean the difference between entering the place quickly, or your troops getting killed just because they are still destroying the gate.
-SAVE SAVE SAVE!!!
- Try everything to minimize the units you need to replace, by only attacking what's necessary, by keeping to heal your units with monks to minimize replacements and by trying to find the right path, luring enemies away from defended positions and taking them out 'one by one'
- Know the locations of castles, enemy spawns and specific buildings that you need to create new units with.
Hope this help. As mentioned, took me a while to get it. Good luck.

I finally did this mission after 4 failed attempts last night.

If like me you're not God like with hotkeys or micro-management, I thought I'd just add this video as I consider myself an average player on this game, I play on slow speed throughout and used a video from speedrun.com as a guide, I ended up completing it with 5 minutes in-game time to spare.

This is my playthrough on stream to show my friend it wasn't as bad as it seemed.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/773201982

Here is the video I based my run off in case you wanted to see what a pro at this mission looks like.

Credit: ChazB

https://www.speedrun.com/aoe2de/run/meov0l8z

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC) - Achievement - Rome Was Destroyed in One Day

Destroy all Roman Castles before 30 minutes have elapsed in the fourth Alaric mission "The Giant Falls"

This is arguably the hardest campaign achievement in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. There are 12 Roman Castles to destroy in 30 minutes. Unless you are really good and highly experienced at this game, it will likely take multiple attempts. As such, before even attempting it, I would recommend starting the level and resigning immediately to reveal the map, so that you can get a gist of where everything is and the plan of attack we'll be using. On the positive side, you will have two allies in this mission who actually contribute towards taking out the castles, but not to the extent where they will do everything for you - far from it.
The game plan - There are a few castles which can be sniped by Trebuchets from outside the Roman Walls which I would highly recommend doing. I do this to two of the Castles in this video, however it was my intention to do this to three, but one had already been destroyed by an ally (the one closest to your start position). The other Castles that you should snipe from outside the walls are the one on the far left of the map and the one on the far right of the map. Your allies will potentially destroy the one closest to you, but this is not guaranteed. I found the best entry point to use is where you ally, Ataulf is. Follow him in and build a Castle as soon as he attacks and start pumping Trebuchets, but make sure to also upgrade your Huskarls as soon as you can as well as getting the two increased Barracks production speed upgrades. I try to destroy every Castle from a distance and engage in as little prolonged combat as possible. After breaching the wall, there is a Castle to the South you can kill with a Trebuchet(s) with little or no resistance. Then across the bridge to the East, there is another castle which can be destroyed with Trebuchets - again, with little or no resistance. Then, make your way South-east and destroy the Castle surrounded by water from a distance and follow up by destroying the next Castle just to the North-east of it. Now, you'll want to double back on yourself and head directly North of the gate that your ally, Ataulf originally destroyed and cross some shallow water to get round the back, destroying another castle on the way (just East of the shallow water). This Castle has a large army around it, but as you'll be destroying it from behind a wall rather than where the gate is, they shouldn't chase you. Continue North-east up the road to the Castle at the very North of the map, again keeping your distance as best you can to avoid taking any more casualties than needed and protect your Trebuchets. After this, continue following the road South-east and you'll come across another castle behind a wall with a gate. Destroy this one too and the final Castle on your journey with your main army is just to the South-east again and can be sniped from behind the Aqueduct. This route covers eight of the twelve Roman Castles. As previously mentioned, three of the other Castles (far West, far South and far East) castles can be destroyed by Trebuchets from outside the wall and the twelfth Castle will always be destroyed by your ally, the Visigoths and is located just West of their entrance.
Now you know the plan, let's discuss the start. Build at least four Town Centres and get a lot of Villagers on resources - You'll really need to boost your income as much as you can early on so that you can ignore it for the most part later on. Send your Light Cavalry to the South of the map and then to your ally in the West, Ataulf, and he will begin his assault. Don't send it directly to the West or it will go through an enemy encampment and likely die. Send the rest of your starting army North-east to the Visigoths straight away, destroying the towers and army along the way and they will begin their assault too. Make sure you have enough stone for the mid-game, so that you can build Castles on the far East and West of the map outside the walls and snipe the enemy Castles there with Trebuchets as well as sending one back to your start location or building a Castle there as well and sniping the Castle closest to your starting location. There is also one upgrade at your Blacksmith that can be had that will increase your infantry damage, which is worth getting as the army we'll be using will consist of just Elite Huskarls and Trebuchets.
The final word of advice I can give is be persistent. My first attempt took 45+ minutes, but I began trying a few different things and tweaking my movements here and there. In total, this took me around 15 attempts, but with each attempt, I could see my average time coming further down. On the score screen after this video, it said the play time was 30:05, so I had no time to spare (although I did almost forget about the Castle in the West)

So I just got this with a 26:40 time. Here's what I did. Resign first so you can see the map as it appears. There is a river between your base and teal with a tower on one landing area, and none in the other. We're going to use the one without a tower.

First, know that your allies are only useful in the beginning. The teal ally has a horrible habit of not crossing through the gate they just destroyed, which is especially needed to have this achievement happen. It was about 50/50 they would just wander around near the bottom of their base, so if that happens restart (do not load save, they did it multiple times on the same save). Give them a minute to push through, if nothing happens then just restart.

You start off with 12 villagers, use them to immediately build a castle. Take 4 of them and build a blacksmith (research blast furnace once finished), a market, and a town center (next to the trees). Auto cueing helps here. Take your army (not the scout), and move them towards the river area (to the left of the little city garrison fort). Make sure you set the City Garrison (purple) to Neutral (needed later). Take one of the villagers building the castle and have them build a dock (they will cross with the army) and set the villagers who built the castle to collect gold (should be 7, use the large pile to your left). Immediately cue 5 trebuchets and set their gather point at the dock. With the dock built, build a transport ship and you will ferry the army (along with the villager and 3 trebuchets) across. Once 3 are built, set the other two to gather near your scout (they will head to the yellow ally). With the units ferried, have the 3 trebs take down the nearest castle on the upper left (they will only send a single skirm out, so send your villager and most of your army to teal (who will start trebbing down the gate). With that castle down, move your trebs to teal.

With the town center built, cue 7 villagers and have them forage the berries (make sure you build a mill as they will farm after). Let the 4 who initially built the town center continue gathering wood. Research conscription and Elite Huskarl, and then Profusion when the wood is available. With the 2 trebuchets at your base, have the scout lead them to the yellow player. There is a small garrison of ROmans (blue) along the way, but they are set to guard, so as soon as you're in range have the scout lead the ones nearest the trees away from the towers as you slip the 2 trebuchets pass. Don't worry if they follow, they will immediately turn back after a small distance. With those 2, get them in between the yellow cavalry and have them attack the two nearest purple towers (this will free them up to attack the nearby blue units). If teal has not yet moved into the area the gate was, restart as they're just going to loop around their base endlessly. With the two towers covering yellow down, move the trebs toward the upper castle (pay attention to any blue units near them, blue won't send units if their castles are attacked but will attack units in sight. If teal pushed through (just taking out the cavalry and blue legion guys), move your army and three trebs toward the castle on the upper left. Don't worry about the pikemen, they aren't much of a threat. There will be 3 blue units near the barracks on the upper left, so take them out but do not move units toward the castle. Have two trebs take the castle down and move the third to take down the castle on the right. You also came across 2 goats on a little hill, have the villager you brought start building a castle on this hill (researching bracer helps, this will be used for one more treb build). Send 12 Huskarls or so along the upper path (stay out of range of blue), and they will come across a barracks with 5 legionarries. Have them take those out. In the mean time, the two on the yellow side should now attack the castle on the left (pay attention to purple mangonels. If yellow hasn't attacked that castle yet (which fails but clears out a ton of units) I recommend a restart as the mangonels will eat your trebs. With that castle down dont worry about those trebs anymore.

Your focus will now be the middle and upper part. Send the two trebs toward the huskarls which took out the guys covering the barracks and set them to attack the upper most castle. Create at least 10 more huskarls to join the 12 you already sent who will attack the blue units covering that castle once its destroyed. Keep an eye for any purple mangonel or cavaliers, though it seems most of the time they just had skirms who would come out. With that castle down, clear out the blue units and send your trebs to where the castle was. Once there, have them attack the castle on their bottom right (make sure you build huskarls from the new barracks to cover them from two-handed swordsmen). With the castle you built, get another treb out and have it join the lone one which took down the right castle from earlier, and build 18-20 huskarls from the barracks and castle. THis will be your middle push. While the treb is building, the castle on the upper right should have been taken down by your 2 trebs, so have them and the huskarl bunch up for a push to the right. You will have gained two barracks in the gated area which will immediately be attacked by blue, so cue up a huskarl but dont send it out yet. One the right side of that area you will see a purple stable, send your huskarls and two trebs there (just to the right of it). As soon as they near the gate with the siege workshop, release the huskarl to the upper left of the gated area to draw blue away. The most that will come after the trebs was two legionaires, but dont worry about them until you get to the stable area. A few cavaliers might be there, so take them out with the huskarls. Keep an eye out for a mangonel on the purple siege workshop to the bottom of the stable, but move your trebs toward the aqudect and have them take down the castle on the other side. Don't worry about the purple rams as they get stuck in the trees. At most you will have skirms on the castle side trying to take down your trebs, but that should be fine. Once they're attacking the castle and the huskarls are there, focus on the middle now. Oh build a treb from the first castle (at your base), and have it take down the castle just to your north. No units will come out to it. In the middle have your huskarls clear out the 4 crossbowmen, but don't push in to the castle. Once that's down, and then send your huskarls in to clear the knights and skirms (you will get two barracks which will immediately be attacked, so once those guys are cleared bring your huskarls to clear the barracks area). Start building 16-20 more huskarls from the barracks and bring your trebs to take out the bottom castle. Purple will send pikemen and two-handed swords men so protect your trebs. With that castle (which has the tower on the upper left) is down, send in your huskarls to clear out that spot. You will bring your trebs here. You will get 4 barracks, but use only the two which were next to the castle (as blue will be attacking the other two). With that area clear, have 12-14 huskarls ready with your trebs, and bring the trebs to the bridge to attack the last castle. Purple will send a few cavaliers and two-handeds, but they should be cleared by the huskarls (they also go for your infantry and not your trebs first). And voila.

Like I said the biggest enabler (and source of failure) is what teal does in the beginning. If they didn't take their units into the gate area by the time you trebbed the first castle by yellow, restart). Make sure you buy lots of food as you will have lots of gold. Don't forget to set your farms on auto reseed (don't worry about crop rotation), and make sure that villager which was building the castle on the hill didn't attract a pikeman. The key focus here is to cross the river with boat (it holds 10 so it will take a minute) and don't worry about attacking through the castle nearest you.