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C. Bari Let's see what all that eastern roman fuss is about.
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Jun 9, 2023 03:12
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Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches and slam in the back of my B. Dracula
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Jun 9, 2023 04:22
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Let's do Dracula. I agree on the Pachacuti campaign reflection completely - it's fine to play through once but I don't think I'll ever be coming back to it. The biggest issue here may be the lack of variety in Mesoamerican civs - the Aztecs had Spanish to mix up the roster, but the endless Incan infighting is just boring.
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Jun 9, 2023 15:06
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Blood! 
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Jun 9, 2023 16:30
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B the man who would to be
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Jun 9, 2023 16:51
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That narration's writing felt a bit more amateurish for some reason. It's a bit more blatant about its expository nature and the twist feels reheated - though obviously, there's only so many ways to frame that kind of narrative. Anyway, let's see if they can do a Dracula campaign without any vampire reference. YaketySass fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Jun 9, 2023 |
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Jun 9, 2023 18:12
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Poil posted:Blood! Bleigh!
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Jun 9, 2023 18:29
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I wonder how much of the Inca campaign being underwhelming is influenced by it being a replacement campaign. It works, but nothing more. B. Vlad Dracula
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Jun 9, 2023 18:32
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B because I have complaints about that campaign 
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Jun 9, 2023 19:59
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Vote's closed! I bet you can't guess what the dominant symbolism is going to be for the Vlad Dracula campaign! It's dragons.
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Jun 10, 2023 03:16
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Vlad Dracula - Part 1: The Dragon Spreads His Wings Very well, then let us begin, the tale of the impaler lord.   Mission 1 Starting Text "We could not make camp in the damp forest glade, so I led my companions along an old path towards the base of the mountain. It was overgrown with all manner of foliage, and the footing was difficult. Armor and weapons littered the path, and stakes stood tall, covered with vines and moss. Glancing around, I spotted a magnificent blade. Light yet firm and unblemished by the elements, it shone in the rain and lightning, a lone light in the darkening trail. The hilt was fashioned from steel, inlaid with silver and gold to form the figure of a defiant, wingless dragon. As we reached the summit, I could not believe my eyes. A ruined yet imposing castle loomed above us. Quietly rejoicing, my comrades moved towards their new camp. Then we heard the howls. Two massive wolves bounded out of the door of the castle towards my soldiers. Fearing for their lives, they drew weapons, only to hear a voice from the shadows address the wolves--or the men--in a thick Wallachian accent. 'Stand down, fellows!' Throwing large slabs of meat to the ravenous wolves, he calmed them and satiated their hunger. Then he turned to us. 'Welcome to Poenari Castle, the ancient stronghold of the Draculesti.' The mysterious man raised his hands in a gesture of welcome. 'It is well that your path has led you here. Come inside, sit by the fire, and feast while I tell you the tale of Vlad Dracula.'"  Wallachian Soldier: My lord! The landscape around us is crawling with Danesti scum, but three local voivods resist Vladislav's reign. (after a few seconds) We should seek them out and see if they are willing to join our cause! This scenario starts with a small army under your control, and remains an exclusively military scenario throughout. The Vlad Dracula campaign doesn't have a consistent identity for which civilization you play as, reflecting the shifting loyalties of Dracula. For this first scenario, you play as the Turks - reflecting Dracula's initial support from the Ottoman Empire in his endeavors to take control of Wallachia. This was more explicit in the original pre-Definitive Edition of the scenario, but got lost in the remake, as a lot of elements were removed from the Forgotten campaigns in order to try and make them less plodding/interactive cutscenes (the Alaric mission where you sacked Rome, for instance, was a lot more RPG-like). The big difference from the other civilizations is that you're going to be running around with a lot of Hand Cannoneers in this scenario. Uh, I guess that makes this mission better at showing off the Turks than Manzikert? They do get a proper scenario later on in the Forgotten where they get to use gunpowder though.  Various Danesti patrols dot the land, formed of Long Swordsmen, Elite Skirmishers, Crossbowmen, and usually a Boyar or two. With decent micro, you can take them out with minimal damage to your own forces.  Small groups of soldiers hidden on the map will join you when you find them. It isn't necessary to find them all, but it's a nice boost to have.  Voivod Jakub: That rascal Vladislav has seized the nearby settlement and cut us off from our trade! If you can retake it, I will reward you handsomely! The middle Voivod has the hardest fight of the three, and is best left for last. Going right, Voivod Jakub wants you to free a small settlement from Vladislav's direct control. He gives you a few Long Swordsmen, Hand Cannoneers, and a Siege Ram as an advance payment in order to help you do so.    The approach to the town is guarded by several scattered groups of Danesti forces, with Vladislav's larger and more organized force stationed in the center of the settlement. Destroy Vladislav's troops and the Tower to satisfy Jakub's request.  Voivod Jakub: Bless you, Dracula! These men will do your bidding, and this gold will finance your war! Jakub gives you his remaining men, an Archery Range, and some resources to train a few Hand Cannoneers with. You could save the gold to build some Camel Riders later on, but it's not quite as efficient a use of the resources.   Voivod Istvan: Vladislav pillages my lands with impunity, Dracula! Even now, more of his reavers prepare to cross the nearby bridge! Find a way to destroy it, and all of the men I can muster are yours! Istvan wants you to destroy a bridge. To achieve this, he gives you a couple of Crossbowmen, and more importantly - a Mangonel.  Wallachian Soldier: Lord Dracula, the Danesti fools store a cache of gunpowder inside that tower overlooking the river. (after a few seconds) If we were to fire it, the explosion would surely be enough to demolish that bridge! How incredibly convenient! There is a relatively large grouping of Danesti forces on this side of the river, but by this point they can be destroyed easily with decent micro. Afterwards, use the Mangonel to outrange the Tower and destroy it. You then have a few seconds to run. Make sure that nothing touches the bridge when it explodes, as any unit doing so will die immediately.  Voivod Istvan: Ah, the sweet smell of burning gunpowder. You are a man worthy of my loyalty, Dracula!  With his task complete, Istvan gives you the rest of his troops, but otherwise has nothing special to provide.  Voivod Mircea: Dracula! Your timing could not have been better — Vladislav's forces march here as we speak! Take my men and drive them off! Mircea gives you an eclectic mix of troops and Towers and asks you to defend his base against an attack by Vladislav's troops.  Vladislav II: Forward, men! Bring me Mircea's head!  It's a relatively large assault, but by this point I've gathered enough units that it isn't too bad. My unit pathing kind of bugged out though, I'm not sure if that has something to do with a lot of my units being from events, or just that this particular part of the map screws up movement for some reason.  Voivod Mircea: Well fought, Dracula. I will follow you to the abyss and back! Mircea gives you the rest of his troops, and a Stable and some food to make Hussars with.  Dracula: The wolf is cornered, but not yet dead. It is time to take the fight to his den! With the forces of all three Voivods recruited, this formerly broken bridge in the east of the map is repaired and you can cross over for the final part of the mission, destroying Vladislav's main base.   The last of the independent Danesti forces try to slow you down, but by this point they're just here to take out as many targets of opportunity as they can before you make it to the final fight.  Vladislav II: This is the rabble you bring before me? Prepare to feel the wrath of the Danesti!  Dracula: Slay all Danesti that you find, but bring Vladislav to me, I want him alive! Vladislav's base is well defended, but not at "Castle death trap" level. If you're playing on a difficulty other than Standard and thus don't get a Monk, you will likely have experienced a decent amount of attrition getting here. Even then, unless you really screw up, you'll still be able to leverage what you have to bring the place to rubble. At this point you've won the scenario, but... Wallachian Soldier: My lord! A large Hungarian army approaches from the north, with Vladislav at its head! Dracula: We cannot hope to face such a force. I will seek refuge with my cousin Bogdan in Moldavia! Mission 1 Ending Text "I stepped forth, holding out the mysterious sword and scabbard for our host to inspect. 'The Order of the Dragon,' he said at once. 'What you have just brought me is the lost blade of Vlad Dracula himself!' I was shocked and immediately demanded an explanation. Our host's eyes flashed and there was a strained look on his face. Finally, the rush of memories seemed to slow and become more controlled. 'That is a long story...but then again, we have a long time until dawn.' 'Dracula sought refuge at the Moldavian court. There, he learned that Vladislav II had begun to mediate peace talks between the Ottomans and Hungarians, securing his position as Voivod of Wallachia. Furious, Dracula swore vengeance on Ottomans, Wallachian boyars, and Danesti clansmen alike.'" It's a nice return to form, we haven't had a starter scenario that was just "run around and do things" for a little bit. But the Vlad Dracula campaign has always had a bit of a problem with trying to figure out how involved it wants to be. You can still see that at the edges, like the part where you have to destroy the bridge with gunpowder at range, or else you risk having all of your units on the bridge die. Pre-Definitive Edition, the scenario didn't end here: the Hungarian army showed up and Dracula had to run for some boats, and that sequence got cut out entirely. I think that Microsoft swung a little too far back in the opposite direction while trying to make things less complicated, but there's going to be scenarios where you definitely understand why they thought it was necessary. Or even wish they'd done more. 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 - End Slide 1 Mission 1 - End Slide 2 Mission 1 - End Slide 3 Jossar fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Jun 11, 2023 |
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Jun 10, 2023 14:36
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You can also find a demolition ship by weaving through the mountains in the middle of the map, which will one-shot the tower unless you're playing on hard.
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Jun 10, 2023 18:24
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The Dracula campaign definitely felt more gimmicky and RPG-like than it does in the rework. There's one plot detail late in the campaign that was lost in Definitive Edition that I'm sad about, but otherwise, it's not so bad.
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Jun 10, 2023 19:37
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I'd never played this one before but I remember a rather high-quality fanmade single scenario for The Conquerors about the guy that was also very RPG-like, with a lot of detailed setpieces, side quests to improve your stats, a bonus vampire ending, etc: https://aok.heavengames.com/blacksm...mFjdWxhIjt9fQ== Some of what fans managed to do and posted on that website was pretty impressive. Also I can't help but have this playing in my head reading these updates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRNpPYIBMXI
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Jun 10, 2023 20:54
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Dracula was one of my least liked campaigns in the original version. just too kany rpg gimmicks dragged down the experience for me. i have been holding off playing the DE version for that reason. glad to hear it has been toned down. makes me want to give it a try now
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Jun 10, 2023 21:23
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Vlad Dracula - Part 2: The Return of the Dragon Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Magyars Theme Mission 2 Starting Text "'Dracula knew that he needed to enlist the aid of the Hungarians against Vladislav II, whose policies favored the Ottomans. He also remembered his education under the crusading Order of the Dragon, and wanted to honor his vows.' 'The Order was a powerful ally, and their crusader knights would serve Dracula well against his enemies. As he paced the streets of the Moldavian capital, Dracula mused over his plans to reclaim his kingdom...' As the mysterious old man paused, I rose up to take another slab of venison. The old man stared into the fire, watching the flames dance as if they were soldiers involved in a raging battle. His eyes flashed again as a thought entered his mind, and he grasped the majestic old sword. Meanwhile, Sultan Mehmed II had ascended to the Ottoman throne. Dracula loathed Mehmed from their time in Edirne, and he knew that the Turks would be a thorn in his side for years to come. In 1453, they had conquered Constantinople, but they were presently occupied with campaigns in Greece and Serbia. Bogdan II, Dracula's cousin and the new Voivod of Moldavia, had heard of his kinsman's plight and offered his help. If Dracula could cross the Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania and ally with Hungary, then they could launch a three-pronged assault on Vladislav II and the Turks."  Bogdan II: Welcome, Vlad. What do you desire from humble Moldavia? Dracula: I need advice on how to reclaim Wallachia, my birthright. Bogdan II: To the northwest in the Transylvanian forest lies the Bran Castle, a stronghold of the Order of the Dragon. You will find supporters there. Dracula: We will ride there with all haste! Bogdan II: Go, but beware of Danesti troops on the road! Okay, so you know how I said the Vlad Dracula campaign used to be a lot more involved before things were reworked in the Definitive Edition? This is the scenario that they touched the least, and therefore still bears most of the original design sensibilities. After this in-engine cutscene with awkward pauses that makes what would otherwise be a 45 second conversation take a minute and a half, Moldavia's gates unlock and you're free to make your way to Bran Castle.  While wandering alongside the northern road, it will split into two paths. The first leads through this Moldavian town and is the path you want to take in order to continue onwards. The second leads to a Danesti base with super towers that have a very good chance of murdering your Cavalier escorts even if you try to ride past as quickly as possible.  Dracula: This mine may prove useful later... Also, if you go through the Moldavian town, you can get access to a mine which you can later use for your own villagers. In either case, the paths meet back up on these rocky cliffs, where a small Danesti patrol lies in wait. There's no real way to avoid dealing with them in the end, so kill them before moving on.  Wallachian Man: Halt, friends! A large Danesti force blocks the mountain pass!  Wallachian Man: If you were to slay the Danesti general in command of their forward camp, it may draw the attention of the army and lure them away!  Dracula: Die, scum! Now quickly, to the pass!  The road ahead is guarded by a very large Danesti force, and taking it head on is basically suicide. Instead, you have to wait for their general to go out on patrol with his troops, then rush in to kill him and get out before you get stabbed to death by Spearmen and Pikemen. Doing so causes the blockade forces to leave and you can proceed to your destination without any further hassle.  Dracula: Arise, brothers of the Dragon! Let us send the usurper to his grave!  Once you reach Bran Castle, Dracula stops being a unit on the map and the scenario switches to being a base builder. There's a caveat though - you can't build military buildings. There are a static number of military production buildings on the map located in small villages, and any additional ones beyond what you have in your starting base need to be captured and controlled via a King of the Hill style mechanic where you leave a unit at a torch. This applies to every faction on the map, so you can see the other groups occasionally running around and trying to capture villages as well. Somewhat related to this, there are buildings that spawn troops. Bran Castle is considered to be always on your side, and will produce groups of three Paladins every few minutes. There is also a Trade Workshop near the center of the map that produces Hand Cannoneers for whoever controls it.   Vladislav II: The Order of the Dragon is decadent and feeble. My cavalry will trample you into the dirt!  My first order of priority is cleaning up a clear path to that mine from before. With the opening segment complete, Vladislav redeploys his troops to start sacking towns in Moldavia. With my assistance, the Moldavians are able to repel his attack and even manage to do some damage to his forward camp before being murdered by the super towers.  Hungary: Dracula, I see no point in us fighting when we share a common enemy in the Turks. If you would supply our army, we would gladly aid your cause. (after tribute) Excellent! We fight with you! Vladislav II: You may have the support of the Hungarians, but I have the Ottomans behind me. You will make a fine target for our gunners! Make it to the Imperial Age and Hungary offers to ally with you in exchange for 1000 food. However, doing so causes the Ottomans to ally with Vladislav. Otherwise the two of them will just fight each other and if you happen to get caught in the crossfire, so be it. The default assumption is that you're working with the Hungarians, which is why in this scenario you're playing as the Magyars, but there are some approaches to this mission that find it better to keep things as a local grudge match against Vladislav.   The Moldavians and Hungarians move to destroy Vladislav's forward camp while I take out a bunch of towers that the Ottomans have outside my base, so I can have minimal distractions while I start the real offensive.  This is probably the most important town on the map to capture, as it is centrally located, and contains all the military production buildings, including a Castle. The Castle will do good work defending the place, but you do want to make sure to keep a few units nearby just to make sure that one of the other factions doesn't slip a few units inside the neutral gates and cause the place to change hands.  Meanwhile, Vladislav sends a small force to try and reconstruct his forward camp. He likes to keep doing this, so even after I send some troops to help Moldavia defeat him, I keep a few Cavalry Archers around to shoot any enemy units that try to approach the place.  And then, uh... The entirety of the central village explodes? For no reason? I'm not going to lie, I got pissed off when this happened. Not only did this ruin any chance of me having any reasonable access to siege units, but you aren't supposed to be able to destroy these buildings even if you want to. This is definitely a bug.  Frustrated, I took control of this more southern village to gain access to another Stable, and started cranking out Paladins and Elite Cavalry Archers. Worst case scenario, I figured that I was just going to have to brute force my way to victory. Vladislav sends a couple of ships to attack the village's docks, but otherwise can't arrange for a naval landing of troops to hinder my control of the major production buildings. At some point off-screen, the Hungarians managed to get close enough to Vladislav's base such that he spat out some additional words of defiance: Vladislav II: My boyars know how to treat Draculesti fools. You will fall like your father and brother before you!   Once I have enough troops, the assault on Targoviste begins in earnest, with the Hungarians joining in for good measure. The game is being really generous with a 200 unit pop cap here. At some point you're limited more by your ability to shove troops around buildings rather than the troops themselves, although I will still have to pause my assault to resupply during the final push.   Tearing down multiple adjacent Castles is really annoying without Siege Weapons, but eventually they fall. Vladislav II is a King unit hiding in the westernmost Castle, once he pops out, kill him and you win. Wallachian Soldier: The usurper Vladislav II is dead! Long live Vlad Dracula! Mission 2 Ending Text "The elderly man gave a thin smile. 'Tenacity of mind can compensate for other disadvantages. As Dracula slaughtered untold numbers of enemy troops, the large circle of impaled men outside Targoviste grew to awe--and disgust--travelers for weeks to come.' 'Dracula owned Wallachia once more, but it was not the land his forebears ruled. Barren from endless wars, it was rife with corruption, crime, and poverty.' Aghast, I asked my host how Dracula managed to reform a ruined shell of a country so quickly. Grinning, the light flashed across the old man's eye again. 'Dracula despised dishonesty and crime, and sought to eliminate it. He knew that Wallachia had to become strong enough to face its enemies-and soon. And so his reforms began.'" A lot of people love this mission, there's a lot of ways to approach it, and you can do some really fun things if you get creative. But even reworked, the RPG section is way more annoying than it has to be, the scenario generally strains the engine, the coding and triggers are a mess, and the whole thing often breaks in infuriating ways. I'm still mad about that village exploding. 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 - End Slide 1 Mission 2 - End Slide 2 Mission 2 - End Slide 3 Jossar fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Jun 11, 2023 |
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Jun 11, 2023 15:53
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So you encountered the same bug I wanted to complain about; for me, it blew up ALL the neutral buildings I had captured, which meant roughly half the map was now empty. It's not the most broken mission in the game right now, but probably takes second place.
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Jun 11, 2023 17:08
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lmao i dont remember this happening to me but i guess add it to the complaints with the Draciula campaign haha sorry Jossar i would be annoyed too but it is always fun to see the LPer struggle
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Jun 11, 2023 17:29
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Lol, yeah I really enjoyed this mission, having multiple sides and alliances made it a lot of fun, although the territory capture thing was often wonky and I think I vaguely remember something weird with one of the towers remaining in the super strong mode even after the transition to the RTS phase edit: on re-reading maybe they are supposed to stay super? Weird The Chad Jihad fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Jun 11, 2023 |
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Jun 11, 2023 20:09
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Vlad Dracula - Part 3: The Breath of the Dragon Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Slavs Theme Mission 3 Starting Text 'The punishment for all offenses was death, for Dracula needed to make an example of criminals. Under his strong rule, trade was reopened and the economy blossomed. Proud of his achievement, Dracula placed a golden cup in the central square of Targoviste. The cup was never once touched throughout his reign.' I was shocked. The fear of the stake was surely enough to prevent crime, but to rule Wallachia while simultaneously evading the plots of the boyars was no small feat. 'Dracula invited all of the boyars to a feast, and asked them how many rulers they had seen perish due to treachery. None had seen fewer than seven reigns, while some had even seen thirty! Furious, Dracula arrested them all and marched them here, to the former ruin of Poenari Castle!' 'For months they labored to rebuild the castle, toiling even after their clothes fell off! Those who survived were slain. Finally, Dracula had eradicated the fickle, conniving Boyars. He replaced them with loyal followers, be they knights or common peasants.' 'Strong again, the Dragon was ready to breathe a flame that would engulf his enemies, the Turks.'"  Scout: My lord! I have scouted the fortress of Giurgiu but it is well-defended. We will need siege weapons to take it. You start the mission with a moderate size army (in the midst of a number of impaled Ottoman soldiers), and are told to take the town of Giurgiu. This is the last mission I remember the original version of, and let's just say, it's a lot simpler for the better. Just this opening segment alone started with you fighting a large Ottoman army and having to use micro to defeat it with anything resembling a sizable force intact.   Wallachian Soldier: These Turkish bombards will come in handy! Here in the Definitive Edition, you just need to defeat a few Janissaries and capture some Bombard Cannons from a nearby Siege Workshop.  Wallachian Villager: Vlad Dracula is here to liberate us from the Turks!  Wallachian Soldier: Giurgiu is ours! From here we can extend our control throughout the entire region. With these Bombard Cannons, the static defenses of Giurgiu easily crumble and you're free to sweep into town and kill the garrison at your leisure. Doing so places the entirety of the town under your control.  Scout: Bringing down those towns and fortresses one by one will be difficult. We could scout their lands for ways to exploit their weaknesses.  Obluciza: Enough! Please, enough! I am sure that for a certain price you can find it in your heart to spare us! The rails on this mission fell off pretty much immediately. What is supposed to happen is that you scout out each of the subordinate towns to find a mini-objective where you destroy all of a certain type of resource gathering camp from each town, cut off food and Janissary production, and limit construction on Towers and naval units. Defeating each individual town also weakens their ability to tribute resources to the central fortress in Darstor and gives you a one-time tribute of the resource in question (Orsova - Naval/Wood, Obluciza - Towers/Stone, Rahova - Janissaries/Gold, Novoselo - Food/Food). Except what happened is that I pushed too far on a scouting raid with my initial units into Obluciza and crushed them entirely. I somehow managed to fail triggering their camp bonus, but it removed an enemy relatively early and gave me a couple of extra Villagers and a bunch of early gold piles without needing to worry about pressure from the other towns.   At about 40 minutes in the remaining enemy factions started attacking me, but this is where the Civilization for this mission matters.  The game has decided that when Dracula isn't at the head of somebody else's army, he defaults to playing as Slavs. One of the unique techs that Slavs get is that they convert part of the cost of their Castles into Wood. So I just move everything important far enough inland that it can't be attacked by boats and then turn Giurgiu and the lands around it into an endless Castle death trap that stops all of the enemy factions in their tracks.    Orsova: Spare us, great Dracula! We will give you everything that we have! Then I research the other Slavic unique tech which lets your infantry deal trample damage and send a million Champions and Boyars forward in a rolling death ball to smash Orsova.  Defeating Orsova also gives you a free Dock you can build and two Transports in case you want to try and take an easy-ish naval route to the other side of the map rather than trying to fight your way through its strongest opponent.    Wallachian Soldier: Darstor has fallen! This will weaken the Ottoman hold on the region. But I had terrible naval presence compared to my opponents, and Castles shooting down everything that tried to enter Giurgiu from the bridge in the center of the map that connects it and Darstor, so I just kept the death ball rolling until I overwhelmed Darstor by sheer numbers. (Darstor does not have its own unique defeat quote, suggesting that the game really doesn't think you're supposed to win here until you take out the surrounding towns first.)  Novoselo: We had no other choice than to help the Turks! They threatened to kill our families!  Rahova: We are but a small village. If you spare us, we will give you all that you have. The two towns surrounding Darstor on its side of the map are extremely weak. If you can take out the central fortress, they'll fall like dominoes. Doing so ends the mission without fanfare. Mission 3 Ending Text "This wise man, whomever he was, was certainly no commoner. I wondered aloud if perhaps he had fought in the wars of which he spoke. My question was answered with a grin and a nod. I was awed - to encounter a soldier who had survived those years of turmoil and bloody warfare was rare. 'We sacked Giurgiu, Darstor, Novoselo, Dridopoyrom, and many more towns,' he muttered, revealing the scars on his arms. 'Our strikes were swifter than bolts of lightning. Yes, we have peace now, but I have never found it. Not a single day goes by when I do not think about it.'" I feel like I did this mission the wrong way, but I'm not really sure what the "correct" way to go about it would have been: Leave Obluciza alone to develop and they apparently build one of the stronger armies, but taking them out first has the least impact on everyone else. Try to mount a naval invasion to destroy Rahova and Novoselo before doubling back to the better fortified Orsova and Obluciza, and then assaulting Darstor? You're gambling in the hopes that one extremely difficult early fight lets you do a knockout blow to weaken the economies of the much stronger players, and if you can't slip past Darstor or the enemy fleets then you've wasted a ton of resources for nothing. Maybe take out Orsova first, crossing over and then destroying everyone else in a loop before smashing Darstor from all sides? But then you're giving the second strongest player on the map the most time to grow. The list goes on and on. That could just be me not liking the mission's lack of structure though, which some people might find appealing. Extra Slides Mission 3 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 3 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 3 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 3 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 3 - Intro Slide 5 Mission 3 - End Slide 1 Mission 3 - End Slide 2 Mission 3 - End Slide 3 Jossar fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jun 13, 2023 |
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Jun 13, 2023 02:38
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Competitive Multiplayer Overview: The Magyars Unique Unit: Magyar Huszar - light cavalry with an attack bonus against siege weapons Unique Techs: Corvinian Army: Removes gold cost from Magyar Huszars. Recurve Bow: Gives Cavalry Archers +1 attack and range. Civ Bonuses: Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace are free. Scout Cavalry line is 15% cheaper. Villagers kill wild animals in one strike. Foot archers (except Skirmishers) have +2 Line of Sight. Competitive Rating: Low The Magyars' place in the competitive scene is currently in flux, so take this with a bigger than normal dose of salt. Fundamentally, the Magyars - fittingly enough - try to strike something of a middle ground between the heavy cavalry focus of civs like the Franks and Teutons, and the light cavalry and cavalry archers emblematic of civs like the Mongols and Huns. They have access to the complete line of upgrades and support techs for all three types of cavalry, and a good spread of supporting units save for the weakness off effectively lacking gunpowder units (the one gunpowder unit they do get isn't one you'll ever see used in competitive games bar freak circumstances). The question facing the Magyars, though, is whether this particular versatility when it comes to cavalry actually carries much weight. At present, the answer is generally a firm no. The problem is that both heavy cavalry and cavalry archers are gold-intensive, and under normal circumstances you'll see a player only have resources to seriously invest in one. Light cavalry are a good complement to either, but most of the time a Magyar player will have to decide which gold unit they want to use very early in the game. While the potential is obviously there for a game-winning tech switch, these are particularly expensive units to switch into and very time-consuming to upgrade, even with the Magyars' free techs. You'll also virtually never see their unique units in numbers, yeah Corvinian Army turns them from gold into trash (remember, this is a good thing in AoE 2 terminology!), but they're still produced from castles and you'll rarely want to tie up castle time with making trash units, especially when the Magyars' light cavalry is already cheaper. The potential is certainly there with the Magyars, and they do pop up occasionally in high-tier games, but the general consensus is that Magyars just don't live up to their potential and if you want a cavalry civ, you're better off picking someone else with fewer but more heavily focused options.
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Jun 13, 2023 02:58
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Mission 2 reminds me of the 'risk' style use map setting games you'd see in WC3 and starcraft, so I appreciate the ambition, though it doesn't really work out Mission 3 really punishes the 'build n boom' playstyle because of its 5v1 nature- if you sit back you'll have a really tough time, but being even a little aggressive to cripple or eliminate one or two enemies makes it much more manageable. (I know this the hard way)
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Jun 13, 2023 17:14
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Vlad Dracula - Part 4: The Moon Rises Mission 4 Starting Text "'Dracula never breathed a word of it, but many began to think that his time at the Ottoman court had stoked his hatred for his southern neighbor. For years, he had brooded over his brother Radu, who had treacherously pledged himself to the Turks.' 'Dracula also had his vows to the Order of the Dragon to consider. The Pope and the Hungarian regent both desired war with the Turks.' 'In the year 1462, Sultan Mehmed II renewed his efforts and sent a force of 18,000 into Wallachia. Thinking that Dracula would be unable to mobilize his army quickly enought, the Sultan sought to take Wallachia by storm with this small force. He was, of course, sadly mistaken.' I had heard whispers of the Danube butchering, but never a firsthand account. Dracula's enduring ability to overcome the most fearsome force of his time mesmerized me. 'Dracula had a thirst for blood unlike any other, but he was fair. His sense of justice wrought a change in all of us. Dracula taught us to use our strengths to our advantage! Terror, speed, and surprise became weapons more potent than our blades...'"   Dracula: Finish these Ottoman dogs, but seize what prisoners you can! We will impale them all back at Targoviste! The mission starts with you using a small grouping of troops to defeat an even smaller Turkish force.    Dracula: The border castles are the key to this region. We must defend them all from the Turkish onslaught! Ottoman Empire: One upset does not win a war, Vlad Tepes. Ten times the number of men that you just faced advance as we speak. Prepare to meet your god! Then you're introduced to the mission's central conceit - you have to defend these three Castles from all the enemy forces for an hour by whatever means necessary.  In addition to these three military forts, you also directly control this little Market/Monastery complex in the center of the map.  Wallachian Soldier: My lord, the boyars and their peasants in the countryside will provide us with resources to field our armies, but they are a fickle lot. (after a few seconds) Perhaps it would be wise to seize what they have before they turn it over to the Turks. There are three allied villages in the countryside that will occasionally tribute you resources. As far as I can tell, they will send Trade Carts to everyone's Markets, otherwise they're just there to help you. But you also are stuck in being entirely reliant on them without the ability to build an economy of your own/more static defenses unless you backstab them and convert their villagers.  Ottoman Empire: Even the vast walls of Constantinople crumbled before the might of our bombards. Do you truly think that your measly fortifications will withstand the barrage?  Ottoman Empire: The arms of the sultan's vanguard shine like gold in the sun! Soon they will add your silver to our coffers.  Ottoman Empire: Do you remember Radu Bey, your brother? The legions of Janissaries under his command alone outnumber the peasant rabble that you call an army. Each castle is under attack by a different primary enemy. You can't build the siege weapons that are primarily devoted to tearing down buildings, so unless you want to try and make a ton of massed onagers or waste a ton of resources, you're better off sticking on defense. Except on Standard, the amount of troops that the enemy sends at you is laughable. Apparently even on Hard, all it takes to cheese the defense is fully garrisoning the Castles and keeping a small army at each site. So you're basically stuck sitting here doing nothing until the timer runs out.  The only thing of note that the enemies do for the rest of the mission isn't even connected to the main sieges, every so often a dedicated raider faction will spawn some troops and try to destroy the villages. But even these guys can be taken out with a few Boyars or Halberdiers stationed at each village.  Wallachian Soldier: Hungarian cavalry have arrived to aid in our defense against the Turks! About halfway through the mission, you get a bunch of free units from Hungary. This is the last meaningful event until the timer runs out, at which point the mission ends without fanfare. Mission 4 Ending Text "'Unfortunately, this was where my lord and I were separated. The Turks entered the castle courtyard at Poenari with murder on their minds and ransacked the fortress that we had fought so hard to defend. Taking refuge in a secret tunnel, I watched Dracula's boat float downstream.' 'The stone bastions of Poenari never caught flame, so I was spared. As if God was with us, an avalanche struck the departing Turkish army and blocked the route to the castle.' Although this "evidence" of divine retribution stirred our host, I figured that it was caused by the enemy cannon. I was not eased by the change in the mood of our host. The calls of wolves and bats filled the air as we feasted. It seemed that the old man was lost in ruminations of times long gone by." What a complete nonentity of a scenario. Even the early Aztec ones at least made me go out and complete a mission objective, here after 2 minutes of prep time, I could have afk-ed the game for an hour. Zzzz. Extra Slides Mission 4 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 5 Mission 4 - End Slide 1 Mission 4 - End Slide 2 Mission 4 - End Slide 3
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Jun 14, 2023 00:58
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Competitive Multiplayer Overview: The Slavs Unique Unit: Boyar - heavily armored cavalry, resistant to melee attack Unique Techs: Detinets: Replaces 40% of Castles' and Towers' stone cost with wood Druzhina: Infantry units damage adjacent units in +0.5 tiles radius with 5 damage Civ Bonuses: Farmers work 10% faster. Supplies and Gambesons are free. Siege Workshop units are 15% cheaper. Barracks, Archery Ranges, Stables, and Siege Workshops provide +5 population. Competitive Rating: Very Low The Slavs are an infantry-focused civ that lack arbalests, paladins, and the meaningful gunpowder units. I could go on, but for anyone who's been reading my analyses, that should tell you right there why Slavs are bottom feeders in the competitive circuit. They have no real punch, their economic bonuses are meh, their unique techs are weird and not particularly useful, and their unique unit's not good enough to warrant the castles to try to mass them. Slavs and Teutons are usually the two finalists when competitive players talk about the worst civ in the game.
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Jun 14, 2023 03:11
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Aren't the Teutons currently doing quite well in the overall competitive rankings? According to AoE stats, the Teutons are 11th overall, and 14th at the very highest ranked games. The Slavs aren't great, but a civ well inside the top half of 42 civs, let alone one anywhere near the top 10, doesn't seem like one of the worst in the game to me.
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Jun 14, 2023 23:48
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biscuits and crazy posted:Aren't the Teutons currently doing quite well in the overall competitive rankings? According to AoE stats, the Teutons are 11th overall, and 14th at the very highest ranked games. The Slavs aren't great, but a civ well inside the top half of 42 civs, let alone one anywhere near the top 10, doesn't seem like one of the worst in the game to me. My guess is that this is a function of AoE2 being relatively big: there can be a bunch of guys who are all really high ELO, but aren't playing at the world-competitive level. So Cythereal could be correct that the very best players, the ones who show up to all the tournaments, collectively agree that the Teutons are terrible. But it could also be correct that in your average high ELO Random Map game you'll find, with regular frequency, a guy who likes playing Teutons and is good enough at the game to win regardless. But that's just an off-the-cuff thought and would welcome other interpretations. Anyways, update and next vote incoming soon-ish. Jossar fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jun 15, 2023 |
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Jun 15, 2023 00:55
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Interestingly, looking at the top 1% players on aoestats.io, seems like Slavs only have a 45% win rate but Teutons are a bit above average
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Jun 15, 2023 01:20
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Vlad Dracula - Part 5: The Night Falls Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Neep Ninny Bod Mission 5 Starting Text "Finally the ancient warrior resumed his tale. 'It was a long twelve years. I was alone, waiting here for signs of Dracula's return, but all I ever saw were Turkish marauders ravaging the countryside of this once beautiful land and tormenting the people.' 'One thing kept me from despair: the last words I had heard from my lord--that he would return in the end. I repeated these words to myself every day, and promised myself that he would succeed. It was a fool's hope, but it was the best that I had.' 'So I endured. Dracula had preserved enough food and water in the castle to last an entire army several years.' 'I had begun to think that he would never return, but rumor among the locals told me differently. When I overheard the same as I spied on Turkish patrols, I became more confident. I shuddered at the sight of the land that he would return to.' 'One day, I awoke to the thundering of hooves and the frenzied war cries of soldiers pouring down from the Carpathians. It was Dracula, at the head of a Hungarian army, come at last to liberate us from the yoke of the Turks and their Wallachian puppet, Basarab Laiota...'"  Once again, the mission starts in medias res, with you fighting an Ottoman army. After defeating them, the Hungarians inform you of your next mission - to capture a series of Ottoman camps to the south as well as the fortress of Sabac.   Each of the minor camps just requires you to tear down the tower before converting to your side, which is pretty easy to accomplish. Sabac, on the other hand, has a pretty nasty army garrison. The first time I try to attack the place, I end up breaking my army against the Ottoman forces. Fortunately, I am able to use the resources I was given to build up another army and the second assault succeeds. Dracula: The Hungarian border is safe from the Turks. To Wallachia!  Dracula: Arise, brothers, and help me overthrow the usurper Basarab Laiota! You have to manually bring at least one unit over to the northern part of the map, at which point the rest of the mission becomes a standard base-building and destroy the enemies scenario.  The Hungarians take over your original base and Sabac proper, but you get to keep all the Turkish bases you captured, though they're kind of uselessly positioned for the rest of the mission.  Craftsman: Vlad Dracula's men! We are only humble craftsmen, but if you protect us and feed us, we will construct cannons for you! (after tributing 1000 food) You are beyond generous, Lord Dracula. We will begin our work immediately!  Condottiero: Hail, friend! Some of the finest warriors in all of Europe are for hire here! Tuscan Condottieri or Balestrieri from Genoa! In addition to your own base-building capacity, these friendly fellows will give you troop options that you otherwise wouldn't have access to as Magyars. Tribute 1000 food to Wallachia and the Craftsmen located just outside your base will produce a Bombard Cannon every five minutes. In the Italian Mercenary camp, click on the Barracks to buy Condottieri and the Archery Range to buy Genoese Crossbowmen for some gold. Having 10 of each of these supplemental units on the field at the same time gives you an achievement.  Ottoman Empire: You have stirred the wrath of the great Ottoman Empire for the last time. Now you will pay with your life! (when you first get in contact with Basarab Laiota's forces) My puppet Laiota has orders to take you alive, Kaziglu Bey. An oak stake awaits you in Istanbul! I was trying to see if I could get the achievement, but Hungary had enough of waiting and decided to start attacking Basarab Laiota on their own, so I figured it was time to start the assault.   Wallachian Soldier: The traitor Basarab Laiota is dead!   Wallachian Soldier: The Turkish invaders have been pushed back once and for all! There isn't really much to talk about here, these aren't even particularly interesting or annoying bases. I mean, at least I actually had to put in some effort unlike last scenario? Defeat both enemy factions and you win the scenario and the campaign.  Oh, I guess there is one thing of note: hidden at the top of the map behind a bunch of resources and difficult to navigate terrain is Poenari Castle. If you manage to get a unit up here, Dracula will comment on how overgrown the place has become in his absence and a single half-dead Champion will pop out, likely in reference to the narrator. Mission 5 Ending Text "'Dracula achieved victory at last and the invaders fled before him. Rallying his men, he charged the enemy ranks with an unspeakable vengeance that emboldened his army. A decisive victory was near, but it was at that hour that Dracula's luck ran out.' 'A volley of arrows whistled through the air and struck Dracula in the chest, knocking him from his horse. The Turks easily routed our leaderless forces and our chance to drive them out vanished. The occupation resumed and the survivors despaired.' The memory of a great man endures forever. As a token of gratitude, I invited our host to join us in a pilgrimage to the monastery at Snagov to pay our respects to Dracula's grave. Tears running down his face, the elderly man could do naught but nod in reply." The twist is that no one is special, Dracula is just a man who eats an arrow to the chest and dies, and the host is just a soldier of no consequence. To the extent that they are larger than life, it is because of what they accomplished, even for a brief moment in time, or in their role as symbols. This is probably unintentional as in the original campaign ending the host's name is revealed to be Istvan, implying that he is Istvan Bathory, the next significant Voivode of Transylvania, who with Hungarian and Serbian support would go on to properly kick the Ottomans out of the region for at least a couple of years. The Vlad Dracula campaign tries too hard to push the envelope of what AoE2 could be, and in the process breaks into pieces and fails to provide a satisfying experience. There are some who appreciate it for trying... but I'm gonna have to side with Tex on this one. Tex Talks Battletech: The Warhammer posted:"We celebrate military engineering by looking at the tool in question and realizing, after deep consideration, that it is good enough for now." 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 Jossar fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jun 15, 2023 |
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Jun 15, 2023 02:24
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Campaign Vote #12 A. Sforza - Italians B. Bari - Byzantines C. Prithviraj - Gurjaras D. Battles of the Forgotten - Persians/Mayans/Vikings/Magyars/Chinese/Japanese/Britons/Turks Voting lasts for 24 Hours from the time of this post. In the event of a tie, I will act as the tiebreaking vote between the two tied options. Please bold your vote in order for it to be counted, as well as noting if you are changing your vote from something else. After this one, I'm probably going to throw in the African Kingdoms campaigns as options, just so the pool doesn't get too small.
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Jun 15, 2023 02:27
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I have no opinion on the next campaign, but it's worth noting that in the original campaign, those original three Voivods you assisted in the first mission have more of a presence throughout the campaign - and one of them is indeed Istvan, the guy who goes on to be the Host in the original version. I like to think that it's still him here, despite them giving no such hints in this version. EDIT: vvv Same, lol BlazetheInferno fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Jun 15, 2023 |
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Jun 15, 2023 02:57
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Ah whoops, meant the host was named Istvan, not the narrator. Relatively minor change, but there you go. Edited.
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Jun 15, 2023 03:00
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Bari, because who doesn't like mass Cataphracts.
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Jun 15, 2023 03:36
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Sforza - Italians are a fun, though weird, civ as I recall.
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Jun 15, 2023 03:50
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Prithviraj
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Jun 15, 2023 05:03
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This mission was immensely weird, because when I played it I focused on the strip of land with the military camps and by the time I was done there my AI allies had basically won their side of the map, it was quite shocking after the narration ended and I realized that was the end of the campaign
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Jun 15, 2023 05:17
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Bari!
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Jun 15, 2023 08:16
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Bari
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Jun 15, 2023 09:05
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Sforza.
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Jun 15, 2023 09:33
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Prithviraj is a lot of fun and maybe we need a palette cleanser from Dracula...
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Jun 15, 2023 14:24
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Vote's closed! It was a pretty close one this time, but we're off to Bari, capital of the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy!
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Jun 16, 2023 02:34
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