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Something I rather like is that when you take down one of your enemies here, you also open up a new avenue for attack. As you might be able to see from the screenshots, both of their bases are connected in the back, so you are free to sweep around to the rear of the other to either hit from an unexpected direction or simply from two at once.
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Apr 19, 2024 21:04
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Yeah this was a fun one, I like how you can relatively quickly get somewhat strong allies
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Apr 19, 2024 21:59
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Chaosbrain posted:Something I rather like is that when you take down one of your enemies here, you also open up a new avenue for attack. As you might be able to see from the screenshots, both of their bases are connected in the back, so you are free to sweep around to the rear of the other to either hit from an unexpected direction or simply from two at once. The Chad Jihad posted:Yeah this was a fun one, I like how you can relatively quickly get somewhat strong allies
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Apr 20, 2024 00:06
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The Grand Dukes - Part 5: The Hook and Cod Wars Mission 5 Starting Text "This is where we will stand tomorrow, my son, when Joan of Arc burns. Already they are dowsing the pyre with oil. This is to be no ordinary fire, you see; the flames must rise high for La Pucelle, as if they truly were the flames of Hell. For a long time she was a nuisance to Duke Philip. He never could understand her zealous wrath, her single-mindedness...and how she seemed to truly believe the words of fire that she spoke. Compared to him, the ruthless politician, she was another being entirely. But at this point, La Pucelle was not no Philip's mind. For even as Joan dealt defeats to the Burgundian forces in France, Philip had yet to deal with the escaped Jacqueline. In Holland, Jacqueline had found new supporters in the so-called 'Hooks', noblemen of low birth. For years, they had been fighting a civil war with the merchant class, known as the 'Cods'. Philip now had to walk into this mire of old grudges and blood feuds to finally defeat the elusive Jacqueline."  Philip the Good: Thankfully for us, the enemy alliance is separated by the channel! Controlling the coast is the key to victory. We must not allow the English to come ashore in Brouwershaven or on the surrounding beaches! Like last mission, this one involves us pairing up with an ally against Jacqueline and Humphrey. But this time, it's a bit less of a straightforward brawl.  Humphrey of Lancaster: Stand strong, my beloved wife! My fleet is on its way to save you! Philip the Good: That cocky Englishman ran to England to hide rather than duel me... soit. I have bigger fish to fry. The English being located across the English Channel, are mostly constrained to attacking you with naval units in an attempt to create a beachhead into the Low Countries. They do still produce land units, but depending on how you play this scenario, you may very well never see them.  The Cods: The simple-minded Dutch nobles do not understand that times have changed and that they are backing the wrong horse. Help us bring the Hooks to their knees once and for all, and we will support your plans, Philip. Your allies, the Cods, start out mostly helpless and only really start to enter the fight once you liberate one of the seven Dutch villages from a garrison of Hook soldiers, at which point all of the buildings in said village switch to their control. The more villages you liberate, the more infrastructure they gain and the more useful of an ally the Cods become, at least in theory.   Dutch Fisherman: Philip, do you have an ear for the worries of poor villagers? The Hooks block the bay, preventing us from fishing. Rid us of these fiends and we will reward you! (after destroying the Hook towers) You are a generous duke, Philip. Thanks to you, we can go fishing again. As a token of our gratitude, we will share our catch with you from now on to support your army. Meanwhile, if you do some scouting, you can find this village off to the west which offers you a quest to destroy some Sea Towers in exchange for a constant tribute of Food throughout the rest of the mission. As the Burgundians, you really should never be low on Food anyway, but all the quest takes is a single Cannon Galleon blowing up the towers from range, so there's no reason not to do it.  Philip the Good: My spies are reliable as always. They tell me of lumberyards on the English coast that are vital to the English. What are you waiting for soldiers? Burn them down! Protected behind a series of Docks and ships are a set of three Trade Workshops. Destroy them and England switches to Ally, freeing you up to focus on the land portion of the map. I'm able to grab the first one here before being distracted by other problems.   Jacqueline of Hainaut: You really thought that you could hold me prisoner, Philip? I told you I would not give up this easily! Namely Jacqueline and her forces. Jacqueline will send a couple of boats to attack you if she thinks that she can find a target of opportunity, but she mostly sticks to harassing you by land and can do some real damage to your economy if all you've been doing up until this point is focusing on the naval battle. Your starting forces should be enough to contain her until you're done with the English, but may require some luring of units toward Brouwershaven's Castle to soften them up.   Philip the Good: Tres bien! The English lumberyards lie in ashes! Without regular wood supplies, Humphrey will struggle to build up enough ships to threaten us. And that's England knocked out of the fight. You can defeat them entirely and force the faction to resign instead, and doing so will get you an achievement, but it's really tedious and not worth pursuing unless you're specifically achievement hunting.     So begin the Hook and Cod Wars in earnest. Now that the English aren't harassing you by sea, feel free to build up and push out the Hook garrisons with a bit less pressure, but keep in mind that Jacqueline is still constantly trying to either bolster the Hook forces to make for a more difficult set of obstacles or go for an independent attack on your base when possible. The closer you get to Jacqueline's various bases, the more obvious the bolstering gets, with her buildings being directly incorporated into the furthest Dutch villages.   Eventually, with all of the minor villages liberated there's nothing left to do but attack the main cities. Rotterdam (the central city) felt like the toughest fight, at least in part because Jacqueline was counterattacking my base at the same time. But once you destroy the each of the cities' Castles, the rest of the individual city's buildings swap to your side. So after all was said and done, Jacqueline lost her most forward placed base while I gained one as a springboard for continuing on the offense.     Utrecht (to the right) and Leiden (to the left) were pretty much just cleanup at this point, although it should be noted that Leiden is Jacqueline's port city, so if you find that she's sending out a few too many boats and it's ruining your water economy, it might be the first priority target even over Rotterdam. Jacqueline of Utrecht: Oh, I am deserted by everyone that I trusted! As I have found out, my useless husband spends time with other ladies instead of coming to my aid. No wonder you were victorious, Philip. Philip the Good: You were right, Jacqueline. As long as you live, you will not give up... but I do not wish to kill a fellow Burgundian. Let us talk, I think that we can come to an arrangement that serves both of our interests. Mission 5 Ending Text "In the end, it was the Pope that dealt the final blow to Jacqueline's dreams of power. As he dissolved her marriage to the Lord Protector of England, she was left without allies, and soon she was once again captured by Philip's forces. Philip gave her a peace treaty more amicable than she could have hoped for. She was allowed to keep her titles, but Philip assumed regency over all of her lands. Once the wife of the Dauphin of France, Jacqueline was reduced to a position of hollow prestige. For the first time, the Low Countries were unified under Burgundian rule; a strange situation, for a land so long defined by quarreling cities...but in the end, a change for the better. You see, my son, a land unified is a stronger land. When its cities no longer fight each other, their people can focus on the arts, on industry, beautiful architecture, and innovation... All of the things that we call civilization; all of the things that must be cast aside when one is called upon to pick up the sword... As for Philip... with his northern realms secured, he could finally turn his attention to France, and to Joan of Arc; the Maid of Orléans." Probably the best explanation we're going to get as to why the Burgundians are doing all this scheming, the ends that justify these means. Was hoping for a little bit more of a narratively satisfying ending for Jacqueline there, but I suppose that's how the history goes: after this she gives up on greater political ambitions, retires to her estates, falls in love with a local nobleman, marries him, then dies of tuberculosis three years later. This is a good hybrid scenario, which is always hard to pull off and gets points for that alone, definitely placing it above the last scenario. But otherwise I feel like there isn't that much more to say here. Extra Slides Mission 5 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 5 Mission 5 - End Slide 1 Mission 5 - End Slide 2 Mission 5 - End Slide 3 Mission 5 - End Slide 4 Mission 5 - End Slide 5 Mission 5 - End Slide 6 Jossar fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Apr 20, 2024 |
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Apr 20, 2024 23:44
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The Grand Dukes - Part 6: The Maid Falls Mission 6 Starting Text "Since the rise of the Maid of Orléans, the war had not been going well for England and Burgundy. In a matter of days, Joan had crushed the combined English and Burgundian forces at Orléans; and now, for a year, she had campaigned with the Armagnac army, bringing it victory after victory. Only recently had she suffered a setback, as her forces failed to take Paris from the English. She was not a warrior; at just nineteen years of age, she carried nothing but a banner into battle. Yet, her tactics and her fiery speeches that seemed to be the very word of God had made her the Armagnacs' greatest weapon. Philip resolved to put an end to her for good. His forces were laying siege to Compiègne when word reached him that Joan and her loyal followers had snuck into the city to aid the defenders. This would be the day that the Maid of Orléans fell."  Philip the Good: Onwards, men! The town of Choisy lies ahead! Let us conquer this place and turn it into a siege camp before marching on Compiègne!  Philip the Good: Choisy is well fortified, but the town's castle is no match for our artillery! Prepare the cannons! (after reducing the Castle to 1000 HP) The town is ours! Quickly, establish a base and repair the damages. The French army will not remain idle once they learn of our success! This scenario starts with a short siege: have your units protect a set of Cannon Bombards from Choisy's garrison while you have them shoot at the castle. Then you get all of the city's buildings (including the Castle) and it transitions to a standard build and destroy.  Soissons: We have suffered much in this war, and now Joan of Arc is demanding that we deploy even more soldiers to support her desperate campaigns... but we long for peace. Help us rebuild our city and we will stay out of the battle. (after building a Market in Soissons) Thank you for building a new market for us! You truly deserve to be known as 'the Good', Philip. To the east of your base is the city of Soissons, which contrary to what their dialogue implies is always neutral. Building a Market and allying with them is still useful because in addition to having an easily accessible trading partner, later on they'll sell you Spies for 1000 Gold, giving you near total visibility of the map.  Philip the Good: Our outpost in Margny has been attacked by French soldiers for days. We should not allow our enemies to wipe out this base!  To the west of your base is a forward camp of Compiègne, moderately well defended by units and static defenses. But not so much so that with careful planning you can't take it out with a small army continuing to protect your Bombard Cannons (or if need be by this point, some Trebuchets). Doing so frees the road up to the default ally that the game gives you, Margny, and relieves both you and them from being flanked.  Compiègne will still send soldiers to attack both of you, but now there's only one chokepoint in each location, and their attacks are relatively easy to defeat. Note that for some reason, Compiègne has access to a semi-unique Heavy Crossbowman in this scenario which looks like a Genoese Crossbowman but without the specific anti-unit damage bonus.  To the south of Compiègne lies the French Army, which is a bit more of a threat. Let them build up too much and they'll send a full Imperial Age Franks army of Paladins and Throwing Axemen after you. It is possible to force the French Army to have to go through a really winding path instead of using their central access point to the fight by blowing up their main bridge with Petards, if you need to slow them down.  I create a massive forward defensive position in the primary path of both of my enemies and start building up a massive army, mostly focusing on Coustilliers and Halberdiers this time, as I figure I'm not going to win in a straight Cavalry fight against French Paladins, so better to get the charge off on them instead and then use bonus damage to clear the remnants out.   Truthfully, at this point I could have just set up for a alpha strike that broke into the back of Compiègne and unhorsed Joan, but decided to go and defeat the French Army first. Why, you may ask? To which I answer:  ____________________________________________________   French Soldier: The Burgundians have reached Joan! Defend the Maid with your lives! (after Joan is unhorsed) Joan... oh non! La Pucelle has fallen into the hands of the insidious Burgundians! This is a dark day for France. It plays out pretty much the same way after grabbing the achievement anyway. Campaign complete. Mission 6 Ending Text "It was late at night when the soldiers brought Joan to Philip. Calmly, he instructed all of us advisors to leave his tent. As soon as they were alone, La Pucelle began berating the duke to his face. The Dauphin, she said, was chosen by God to be the savior of France. And he, Duke Philip, was a traitor to his country. She was a zealot, as I have told you, my son; for her, the world was black and white. The goals of the Burgundian duke were as incomprehensible to her as her righteous fire was to Philip. I could see them through a slit in the tent door: the Duke could barely hide his disgust for this peasant girl who talked down to him as if he were a mere commoner. Yet, he retained his composure. When she was finished, he let a long silence fall on the room. At last, he spoke in a low voice: 'If the Dauphin is indeed your beloved savior, Joan, where was he at Paris? Where is he now?' He did not allow her time to answer. 'The moment that I heard of your capture, I dispatched two emissaries: one to the English and one to your Dauphin, each with the same proposal: 10,000 ducats in return for La Pucelle.' 'I am a man of my word, girl. If the 'Dauphin has not abandoned you and wishes to set you free, I will allow you to return to your holy... mission.' 'But if not...' At that moment, two English soldiers entered the tent. With a look of almost pity for the young maiden, Philip nodded. The Englishmen grabbed her by the arms. As they dragged her out, the duke sighed and said: 'Alas, Joan, it is nothing personal. It is only politics.' There she is now; can you see? The English are tying her to the pole. For a short while, this girl was the symbol of French resistance. Now, her death will symbolize the final defeat of the Armagnacs. Watch my son: not the girl in the flames, but the men around her: the clerics, the inquisitors, the nobles of England and Burgundy. The men who decide the fate of nations. For them, for us, this is not the burning of a heretic, nor the downfall of a hero. It is, like all things, a means to an end." I really like this scene here, which is good, because man is it wordy for an AoEII campaign ending. Burgundy would later flip sides again, abandoning the English and sealing their fate in the Hundred Years' War in exchange for a deal in which some counties and cities were swapped, John the Fearless' murderers were prosecuted and the Duchy of Burgundy recognized Charles VII as King of France but Philip himself didn't have to pay homage to Charles VII. Philip reportedly hated having to do this, but swallowed his pride because he thought the French would pose less of a threat to Burgundian designs in the long term. In the end, none of this scheming mattered: Philip only had a single legitimate son, who died in battle in 1477, at which point the entirety of the French part of Burgundy was confiscated by the French crown directly. The part in the Low Countries got folded into the Habsburg family line (and thus the Holy Roman Empire) as part of a big marriage mixup on the part of said son's only daughter. The rest is history... though beyond the scope of AoEII. The only thing that really stands out about this scenario is how you can thread the needle to "assassinate" Joan, otherwise it's a standard build and destroy. This fits with my overall opinion on the Grand Dukes Campaign, where it's got a few points that set make it a very slightly above average experience to play through. Enjoyable enough, but I wouldn't come back to replay it. Extra Slides Mission 6 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 6 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 6 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 6 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 6 - Intro Slide 5 Mission 6 - End Slide 1 Mission 6 - End Slide 2 Mission 6 - End Slide 3 Mission 6 - End Slide 4 Mission 6 - End Slide 5 Mission 6 - End Slide 6 Mission 6 - End Slide 7 Mission 6 - End Slide 8 Mission 6 - End Slide 9 Mission 6 - End Slide 10 Mission 6 - End Slide 11 Mission 6 - End Slide 12 Mission 6 - End Slide 13 Mission 6 - End Slide 14 Jossar fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Apr 21, 2024 |
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Apr 21, 2024 18:20
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And that was the other evil campaign. A lot of blood, sweat and tears to get rolled over later.
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Apr 21, 2024 20:26
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The Hautevilles - Part 1: Guiscard Arrives Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Sicilians Theme Very well, then let us begin, the tale of an adventurous family.   Mission 1 Starting Text "'Sit down, my king,' I said to the young Frederick Roger as he entered the garden. 'It is time for your studies. Your German tutors have no doubt told you of the deeds of your Teutonic grandfather.' 'I know that story by heart,' the boy king replied proudly. 'Indeed,' I said with a wink, 'but I will tell you of the other side of your family - for you are firstly a son of Sicily.' 'Ah, dear Sicily, a kingdom like no other: where three people were fused under the southern sun and formed the jewel that lies between East and West.' 'It was the Norman side of your family that made it all possible. Normandy was a cold, northern land of steel and chivalry. But it was also overflowing with the younger sons of minor barons - men aspiring to a greatness that exceeded the constraints of birth and station.' 'This story - your story - begins with your great grandfather's brother, Robert de Hauteville: a man of immense stature, with fair hair, broad shoulders, and eyes that all but shot out sparks of flame.' 'Robert was driven and possessed that incorrigible confidence that melts away doubts and allows ambition to keep pace with imagination. More cunning than any foe he faced, he was ever-vigilant to seize any advantage, win through any means, and remain unbound by the rules of lesser men.' 'You speak of him as a great man...but what did he do?' the boy king asked, his eyes now wide with childish enthusiasm. I answered: 'Robert was the first to unite all Italian Normans under a single ruler, but his origins were very humble.' 'He came from Normandy to Italy with scarcely thirty followers and sought fortune in this land that so often rewards those with the daring and brilliance to seize it...'"  Drogo: You are not in Normandy, Robert. I make the rules here. Leave Italy before I have you and your band of robbers hung from my tower. Robert Guiscard: I did not come all the way from Normandy for this. If you will not give me the lands I deserve, I will take them myself!  Robert Guiscard: My brother is a fool! We are not going back to Normandy empty-handed. After a short meeting with brother dearest (who tells us to get bent), our protagonist Robert Guiscard (cavalry hero unit) meets up with a bunch of Knights and Light Cavalry, which starts the scenario in earnest. As can be noted from the objective panel, there are a couple common themes to this campaign: first, hero units get bonus stats if they're constantly fighting, giving more incentive to throw them into the fray. Second, the overall missions are going to be fairly open ended. Here the options are between heading off to the Byzantines or Lombards to pledge our allegiance or betraying a Norman Baron in order to take over their holdings.  Norman Knight: Welcome, Robert. Stay, have a drink and tell me of our homeland. I hear Duke William has gotten himself into some trouble? Poor little bastard... (after betraying him) How dare you strike at my men, Robert? You will pay for this! Robert Guiscard: Normans, you came here because there is nothing for us in Normandy. Duke William is a bastard barely clinging to power there. Join me and you will be lords of Italy. Betray me and you will not live long. Given that we are in Italy, there is only one proper course of action, and that is to backstab the living daylights out of everybody on the boot. Taking control of any village, fort, or city, increases your maximum population limit, which is necessary as you otherwise can't expand it through any other means (although you can still lose a few individual buildings and stay at pop cap). Betraying the first baron also gives you a bunch of resources with which to build a couple more units, although only military at this point.  Guaimar: Norman, I could use more of your type to further my cause. Come to my castle and let us make a deal. (If you head to the Lombard Castle) It is settled then. You will defend my lands, fight my enemies, and pay tribute when I ask. That is the price of these lands I give you. (after a few seconds) Pay no mind to my soldiers in your fiefdom. They ensure that you will think twice before betraying me. The Lombards offer a deal to give me a town, including a few military buildings, some civilian structures, and some Villagers, which I take. In retrospect this was a bad idea not only because it stopped me from getting the mission's achievement (acquired if you ally with neither the Byzantines or the Lombards), but because as you can see Guaimar's obviously going to betray me and I let him set the pace at which the turnabout was going to happen. It did let me get civilian infrastructure without that much of a hassle earlier than I was expecting though.  Norman Knight: Robert Guiscard comes! Protect your homes from this devil! But in the interim, it's back to grabbing all of the various Norman baronies to satisfy the mission objective and increase my pop cap. The more you start to snowball, the easier this becomes, although all of these are military based. The only way to build civilian infrastructure besides allying with one of the two major map factions is attacking one of them, grabbing that individual town's civilians, and becoming that faction's enemy instead.  Guaimar: I did not give you land so that you could twiddle your thumbs and sit on your arse! My lands are being attacked! Defend them! The other two factions that exist on the map are a group of Saracen Pirates and the forces of a rival band of Normans, the Drengots. They attack everyone at random, although the nature of the map means that they will most likely be attacking the Byzantines/Lombards. The Saracens raided the Lombards at this point, requiring me to rush in and help defend Guaimar's outlying villages, but for some reason the Drengots never spawned. I'm not sure if that's just because I was only fighting on the Lombard side of the map, or a script broke somewhere, as is to be expected of a campaign that's trying to make itself as complicated as possible.  Norman Knight: Lord Robert, we have heard of your exploits and wish to serve you!  There are about... 3 Transports (maybe more if you take longer?) that show up over the course of the scenario with reinforcements from Normandy, fellow adventurers that have heard that Robert is succeeding in his conquest and want a piece of the action for themselves. There's only a few units in each boat, but it's a welcome boost to your manpower given the population cap. In my case, they're helping to fuel my conquest of the last few independent baronies.  Drogo: You dare defy me, Robert? I will run you through and hang your treacherous body from my ramparts! The final Norman Barony is almost a sort of miniboss compared to the two big factions on the map. It has two Cavalry heroes in the form of Robert Guiscard's brothers Drogo and Humphrey, is guarded by a Castle, and has a whole bunch of dudes present. This includes a ton of Monks, which I notice seem to be in the base of every major enemy in this mission, compared to the last campaign where I only saw them at the very end of the attack on Compiègne, who love to convert your units at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, like the other baronies, you don't need to take down the Castle to take control of the base. But it does make it imperative that you finish the fight with the garrison units as quickly as possible.  Roger: Robert, my dear brother! In the court of Duke William, they tell tales of you fighting giants and dragons! They call you 'Guiscard' - the cunning fox! I had to come and see for myself! Robert Guiscard: Do not believe every tall tale whispered in a bastard duke's court, brother. Roger: Things are changing in Normandy, Robert. Duke William has plans to conquer England, but I would rather fight alongside my brother here in Italy!  Drogo: You strike your own brother and dishonor our father's name! Robert Guiscard: Bury my brothers Drogo and Humphrey with honors. No one speaks of what we have done here. Is that understood? The second wave of reinforcements comes in, and it includes Robert's youngest brother Roger (also a cavalry hero unit). The comedic timing on this one was perfect: Roger lands on the shores of Italy and gets up to the Castle just after I've taken it and Robert's buried all the bodies. I'm sorry you had to hear about Drogo and Humphrey's deaths from me, younger brother, it's truly tragic, nobody could have seen it coming.  Guaimar: I am no fool, Norman. I smell your treachery coming!  Capturing all of the Norman baronies is the trigger for the Lombards to betray you. The Byzantines are supposed to ally with you here, but I think I broke a trigger through my own messing around, so they just remain in the background for the rest of the scenario. I move the majority of my economy back to Drogo's Castle and rush forward to kill the Lombards and save the base itself.   Since Guaimar's now my enemy, there's no reason not to kill all of the garrisons in his outlying towns and grab them and their civilian populations in order to increase my pop cap and further slingshot my economy economy ahead.   Salerno is difficult to assault without siege weapons, but get a few Rams up and it falls easily enough. If you're really stymied, this is about when the next reinforcement boat arrives, and it contains a pair of Trebuchets which can easily trivialize the final mission objective. I had the Trebuchets help in tearing down the Castle, but even without them it was already in the bag. Robert Guiscard: Salerno's power is broken, but the Lombards remain rebellious. I will take their princess Sikelgaita as my wife so that the people bend to my will. (after a few seconds) Normans, remember why we came to Italy. We will be ruthless, we will conquer, we will take and kill, and make a name for ourselves in this land like our fathers' fathers did in Normandy! Join me and I will lead us to greatness! Mission 1 Ending Text "'The Italians called Robert, "Guiscard": the cunning fox. In a few decades, he had brought all of Southern Italy to heel, but his imagination and his cunning would carry him across the horizon to new conquests.' 'Where did he go next?' The boy king nearly jumped up as he asked. 'That is a story for tomorrow...not even a king can learn all of history in a single day.' I remained in the garden as young Frederick Roger hurried off, a smile resting on my face. Already I could see in him the shadow of his forefathers. Perhaps, one day, this boy would eclipse them all." An exhausting scenario to recount, but in a good way. So much to do and I didn't even touch anything on the Byzantine side of the map! Kotyan's the only one getting the full "both sides of the coin" treatment unless I'm really inspired by any scenarios later on, though. Extra Slides Mission 1 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 5 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 6 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 7 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 8 Mission 1 - Intro Slide 9 Mission 1 - End Slide 1 Mission 1 - End Slide 2 Mission 1 - End Slide 3 Mission 1 - End Slide 4 Jossar fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Apr 21, 2024 |
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Apr 21, 2024 21:57
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The Hautevilles - Part 2: Roger in Sicily Mission 2 Starting Text "'Stories of Robert's successes in Italy inspired a Normandy broken by civil war. The Norman Duke William had not yet earned the title "The Conqueror" and was still a controversial young bastard barely clinging to power. Many Norman knights, bloodied by civil war and lured by southern riches, set out for Italy.' 'Robert's youngest brother - your great grandfather - Roger de Hauteville, was among them, but he was different. Where Robert was ruthless and cunning, Roger was patient and chivalrous. He was motivated by love.' 'Judith d'Evreux, cousin of Duke William, had stolen Roger's heart and the two wished to be married. Judith's father, however, would never entertain the thought of his daughter marrying a mere landless knight.' 'Roger had no choice but to go to Italy to prove himself worthy of the woman that he loved.' 'But Robert Guiscard, like his brother before him, expected Roger to make his own way in Italy, as he had done years before. He offered Roger no lands and no knights.' 'Fortunately for Roger, there was still a prize awaiting a man of his talents. An island - ruled by Muslims for two centuries, but now divided between rival emirs - Sicily beckoned.'"  Ibn al-Hawwas: A faithless criminal is hiding in your lands, Norman. Return him to me and I will pay you well for your trouble. Ibn at-Timnah: Do not listen to him, Sayyid Roger! My head is far more valuable to you atop my shoulders! Ibn al-Hawwas: I will not forget this, Norman! You harbor criminals and I pronounce vendetta against you! Ibn at-Timnah: Shukraan, Sayyid Roger, shukraan! My followers are yours to command. Gather my supporters and march on one of the cities. The people are weak and if they see you kill an emir, they will submit to us - I mean you. (after a few seconds) You are indeed fortunate to have a friend like me, Sayyid Roger! I am a local to Sicily and know the positions of the enemy cities! You will still need to search for the emirs themselves, though...  Ibn at-Timnah: Come, my loyal followers! I have returned with Norman friends. Do not be suspicious of their swords or their ways. They are good friends of Sicily! This mission starts with a choice as to whether to hand over a deposed local emir to his enemies or keep him around with the intent to eventually return him to power. While you are provided with a decent amount of resources for handing Ibn at-Timnah over, it's worthwhile to put up with him for access to Genitours, intel on the enemy bases, and his initial forces scattered around the eastern part of Sicily proper, which include some Berber units.   With that, I move on to the main gimmick of the mission: the goal is to kill all five hostile emirs and take control of Sicily. Similar to last mission, you start with a limited pop cap and killing the leaders gives you access to their cities, remaining units, and a higher pop cap. But the AI is extra dumb this mission and will do things like sending off the entirety of its garrison to die, leaving the Emir alone, or worse: sending him off to the front lines away from the protection of the city's Castle. That makes most of the core gameplay of this mission about figuring out how to get yourself into a position to perform an Emir snipe.  Robert Guiscard: Brother, my knights find no profit in putting down Lombard rebellions in Italy. There is little left to plunder. They want to conquer something, so make good use of them! (after a few seconds) I must go. Humphrey's son is causing trouble in Apulia. I should have killed him after his father died. Continue to conquer Sicily and I will make you count of the island. Ibn at-Timnah: Count? Sayyid Roger, inshallah, you will be king of this island, without your ungrateful brother! Roger: My brother is a fox. My day will come, but only if I am patient. Let us focus on taking this island before I worry over who will rule it. After about 20 minutes, Robert sends some reinforcements over from Italy. These are useful, but this and a future reinforcement conversation are mostly important from a story perspective, setting up the relationships between the surviving Hautevilles and foreshadowing most of the events of the rest of the campaign.  Ibn at-Timnah: I have a small favor to ask of you, Sayyid Roger. Restore me to my throne at Syracuse and I will be your most devoted ally.  Ibn at-Timnah: Shukraan, Sayyid Roger. I prove my devotion by conscripting these peasants into your army. Get out there, peasants! You will fight for the Normans or I will whip you! At some point if you go far south enough, Ibn at-Timnah asks you to focus on eliminating Ibn al-Ward so he can take control of Syracuse. Fortunately for me, Ibn al-Ward walked right up to my doorstep with a raiding force, allowing me to easily isolate and kill the enemy faction leader. Despite the incredibly bad vibes that Ibn at-Timnah gives off, he is good as his word, and in addition to the Eastern Swordsman units he gives now, will be a loyal and competent ally to you for the rest of the scenario.   In this case, as soon as Ibn at-Timnah managed to organize his forces, he ran straight off to the next enemy and did just enough damage to Prince Ali Zirid's army to lure the Emir out of his base, at which point my Camel Archers and Knights finished off the enemy Emir. 3 down, 2 to go.  Of the remaining two enemies, Prince Ayyub Zirid is the biggest threat, even managing to get off the occasional raid on my base via land and sea.  Robert Guiscard: I see you are quite ambitious, brother. Do not let your ambitions make you foolish. I am watching you, as a good elder brother should. (after a few seconds) I will return to Italy, brother. Soon I will call on you to watch over my lands while I march on Constantinople with Bohemond. Finish Sicily quickly! At 40 minutes, you get another batch of reinforcements and exposition from Robert. Unfortunately, these guys didn't make it to shore because they got caught by some of the aforementioned Prince Ayyub sea raiders.  Roger: Three faiths: Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim inhabit this island, but those in the west have been subjugated by the Berbers. If I show my tolerance of these faiths, the people will rebel against the two Berber princes (after dropping off a Relic in a Sicilian Monastery) Rise, Sicilians of Palermo! Repulse the Berbers! I have come to restore Sicily!  There's a side-quest where if you drop off a Relic in a neutral Monastery outside Prince Ayyub or Prince Ali's bases, the populace will rise up in revolt against them. Doing so for at least one of the enemy factions gets you an achievement, but the actual revolts tend to be kind of lackluster. In any event, I take the opportunity to start a siege on Prince Ayyub's base. Once the walls are broken through, it turns out that Prince Ayyub Zirid himself is just standing outside the walls of his Castle and is easily rushed down.  With all of the other enemy factions defeated, Emir Ibn Mankut doesn't put up that much of a fight, and I don't even have to finish breaking down the Gates of his city before he rushes to throw himself to his inevitable death. Roger: The people of this island - Christian and Muslim - suffered for too long under feuding emirs. God willing, I will build a new order here where Norman, Greek, and Arab live together in peace. Mission 2 Ending Text "'Sicily was a land fitting for a man like Roger: daring and ambitious, but also patient, chivalric, tolerant, and, above all, motivated by love. He married his beloved Judith and settled in a Sicilian court.' 'Roger Bosso - the Great Count, as your great grandfather would come to be known - was more than a conqueror. Adopting the ways of the island, he fashioned a new eclecticism that gave Sicily its unique character and strength.' 'I do not know these words,' the boy king said sadly. 'Forgive me, my king. What it means...is that the warm Mediterranean breezes, the cool marble colonnades, the bubbly fountains splashing among the lemon trees...these are marked on your soul.' 'You are shaped by this land where Catholic church bells and the Orthodox liturgy mingle seamlessly with the Islamic call to prayer. It is a heritage unlike any other, all thanks to your great grandfather.' The boy nodded. I did not think he could yet fathom just how unique his kingdom was..." I like the concept of this mission, and it's definitely full of character on the story side. But mechanically, it just can't escape the fact that even by AoEII standards the AI is completely brainless. Even setting the Emirs to have movespeed 0 and leaving them in their Castle courtyards would have been a better design decision. Extra Slides Mission 2 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 5 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 6 Mission 2 - End Slide 1 Mission 2 - End Slide 2 Mission 2 - End Slide 3 Mission 2 - End Slide 4 Mission 2 - End Slide 5 Mission 2 - End Slide 6 Jossar fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Apr 27, 2024 |
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Apr 27, 2024 15:21
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