Old-school Age of Empires fans probably don’t need much convincing to check out the well-reviewed Age of Empires 4, the first mainline game in the series in over 15 years. That won’t stop us from enjoying the game’s delightful launch promotion, however, which features the world’s strongest man and Game of Thrones actor Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson competing against a trebuchet to throw things really far.
The launch event saw fans vote on what items should be launched from the 18-foot-tall trebuchet the Xbox team had set up at the UK’s historic Berkeley Castle. The team then asked Björnsson, known for playing The Mountain in HBO’s Game of Thrones series, to compete with the trebuchet’s throws. The items thrown included a basketball, an old CRT monitor, a stuffed sheep, an exercise ball, and full-sized human dummy in a suit of armor.
The trebuchet appears in the Age of Empires series as one of the most powerful siege weapons, able to demolish stone walls and buildings with ease–when set up in the right position and adequately protected. The humble trebuchet has also experienced a resurgence in popularity in the last few years, thanks to the proliferation of trebuchet memes across the internet.
Players can build their own trebuchets–or use a priest to convert one to their side–once Age of Empires 4 launches for the PC on October 28.
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