Overview
A quick and simple way to get most of the achievements in Age of Empires II HD.
Load up AOEII and select “Map Editor”.
Select “Create Scenario”, and load up a new scenario.
Replicate this scenario with whichever civilizations you want to get achievements with.
1) Generate a “tiny” map (2 players) of whatever type of land you want (snow, grass, etc.).
2) You need to set the game to two players, and choose which civilizations you’d like to use. Player 1 will be you and Player 2 will be the A.I. If you’re going for a “Hero of the ____” achievement (100 wins with said civilization), then you’d want to place whichever civilization you want to win as, as Player 1.
3) You can set resources for each civilization to whatever you want, it will not matter.
4) Move your cursor to the very edge of the map you have generated.
Select the “Terrain” option and find “Water Deep” and for the size, select “Small”. Next, make a water trench around the corner of the edge of the map, while still allowing for enough space for a Town Center.
5) Make sure you have “Player 1” selected and click “Units” at the top and a Units box will pop up. Select “Buildings” and find “Bombard Towers”. Place as many Bombard Towers as you can around the opposite edge of the water trench you’ve made.
Once finished, under “Buildings” you can find “Town Center”. Place YOUR Town Center (emphasis on YOUR-make sure Player 1 is still selected in the scenario options) behind your Bombard Towers.
6) Switch over to “Player 2” and place a Town Center on the small island you have made with your water trench.
7) Now you are ready to farm achievements! All you need to do is click the “Menu” button (upper right hand corner) and click “Test”.
Within seconds, your Bombard Towers will have destroyed the enemy AI’s Town Center, making you victorious!
Once the game is over, click the Menu again and click “Restart”. Do this however many times as you’d like until you get your 100 wins achievement, or whichever other achievment you’d like.
Bonus Achievements
1) You can easily get the “Century Castle Celebration” (build 100 castles) using this method. Just set up the scenario with the Bombard Towers, but add 10 or 20 castles, or however many you feel like adding, under “Player 1”. “Test” your scenario and restart the match once you’ve won, and it counts as building those castles.
2) Getting the “Foe of the _____” (defeating whichever civilization 100 times) is also extremely easy to do while you’re getting the “Hero of the _____” civilization (100 wins). Just set up whichever civilization you want to defeat 100 times as “Player 2”.
3) You can also get the “Superior 6” achievement (defeating 6 opponents on moderate difficulty) by setting up a scenario much like the Bombard Tower one except have multiple “islands” for each AI opponent, seperated by a water trench surrounded by Bombard Towers. Just make sure you set the difficulty to “Moderate” or harder, or this achievement will not unlock.
Ultimately, Map Editor/Scenario Creator is the way to go if you want those grindy achievements that you would NEVER be able to get unless you played AOEII all day every day. Just be creative and you can pretty much get ANY achievement not listed in this guide.