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The scenario is still a massive improvement over the original Forgotten version, which was just another "run around the map and do random quests". The entire Sforza campaign has an unusual amount of storytelling in missions, which I found quite refreshing. Edit: update on the previous page
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Jul 17, 2023 11:44
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Sforza - Part 2: His Own Man Mission 2 Starting Text "After the wars with Venice, Visconti made sure he got his gold's worth out of us. He sent Sforza south to enforce the duke's claims in Romagna. I think the duke was having second thoughts about Sforza - after we left, Piccinino and his men followed us. Sforza could see through the plot. Although he was betrothed to the duke's daughter, he knew Visconti was fickle. He also knew that being a landless condottiero was a risky proposition. Sforza needed to be his own man and have his own land - a refuge if the machinations of his employers turned against him; or if they demanded justice for Sforza's own treachery. What better opportunity than to use Visconti's weapons and money to his own benefit by making himself ruler of a city?"  Piccinino: Sforza, you took Ancona for your own with the Duke's money and arms. He has sent me to bring you to justice.  Micheletto: Piccinino stalks us like a wolf, but the hungry dog fights harder! Bring the relic of San Ciriaco to the churches and the cities will join us. In bocca al lupo, cousin! Once again you start the scenario with a small number of troops, including a Monk with a Relic. The goal is to subvert each city by depositing the Relic in its' central Monastery. Pesaro can be a bit of a fight if you approach it by land, but is laughably easy to infiltrate by sea. You can pretty much just sail the Transport up there and defeat them in under a minute.  Micheletto: The relic of San Ciriaco has inspired this town to join us! We will now begin receiving bread, lumber, and gold from the townsfolk. Piccinino: Do not act like a holy man canvassing about with a saint's relic. I know who you truly are, Sforza. This scenario's economy replacement gimmick is that in addition to a one time tribute of resources, each city you capture increases a trickle of resources that you receive over time. You also get all of the buildings and units that you don't destroy, meaning that even for the more difficult fights you want to try and preserve as much of the city as possible. This is only really a problem for the next town though.  Micheletto: Cousin, there are many unemployed condottieri seeking patrons. We should find and recruit them. I have heard Sigismondo Malatesta is among them.... He would make a great ally. There are a number of small bands of mercenaries floating around the map that will join you if you approach them, and I figure that this is going to be the most important time to grab all of the miscellaneous ones. Malatesta's force is larger than the rest and nice to have... but grabbing it also means fighting your way through one of Piccinino's outlying camps or Piccinino's small but Imperial Age navy. I choose to grab Rimini first, but there's a decent argument to be made that going after him before taking the second town is the "correct" play.   Rimini is guarded by a Castle sitting right next to the Monastery and the coast, so there's no really good way to find a clever path through, especially if you want to keep it intact for your own use. Just have to gather up strength and batter down the main gates, then sacrifice some troops while rushing the Monk onwards to his destination.  In addition to the extra resources, you are rewarded for capturing Rimini with an upgrade to the Imperial Age. This lets you build Trebuchets, so you can smash the first of Piccinino's bases in complete safety. The Castle also completely trivializes any attempt by Piccinino to attack you with his navy, rendering it a nonentity from this point forward.   Micheletto: You bring such honor to our family name, Francesco. We are now strong enough to strike at Piccinino! At this point I figure that I'm on enough of a roll that I can just bash my way into Ravenna. It has a larger army than Rimini, including Imperial Age units, but has much weaker static defenses. Honestly, even with the Imperial edge, I think it's still easier to take than Rimini.  Malatesta: It is a pleasure to fight alongside a man like Francesco Sforza. May this alliance between two men of honor be long-lived. Micheletto: Your army is worthy of a king, Francesco! Nothing will stand in the way of the Attendolo cousins! It is an honor to fight with you! (I think this line here by Micheletto is triggered by getting all of the condottieri on the map, not specifically encountering Malatesta.) So at this point, with the last phase of the map upon us, I finally grab Malatesta (Cavalry hero unit) and his combined Italian/Portuguese army. The Portuguese units don't play too much of a role here, so I'll save their description for a scenario where they become more important.  With a sufficiently sized army amassed, taking out Piccinino's other outlying camp proves to be no problem.  Piccinino: What do I pay you dogs for? Fight harder! I will not be defeated by Sforza!  Piccinino: This is not over, Sforza. I swear that I will hunt you down to the furthest ends of Italy. Piccinino's main base in the western corner of the map is a different story. The main entrance is guarded by Bombard Towers and the rest of the town is a deathtrap filled with Towers and a Castle. While the static defenses are the primary threat, Piccinino does have a bunch of Cavaliers and Hand Cannoneers floating around, so you do need to be on the lookout to make sure he doesn't crash your Trebuchets. But with him on the defensive, it's just a matter of time until you level the place and win. Mission 2 Ending Text "Sforza and Piccinino were like two alley dogs fighting over a scrap of meat. They were natural rivals, precisely because they were so alike. Of the two, Sforza had a certain pedigree; if you could call being the bastard of a mercenary captain 'pedigree.' From his father, Sforza inherited his furbizia - cunning - and used it to get the best of his rivals, his patrons, and his women alike. Piccinino, the son of a butcher, came into the profession as a soldier. He rose through the ranks and became an advisor to a trusting yet incompetent condottiero. In this position, Piccinino lured his captain into an ambush and took command of the company. That Sforza and Piccinino would, years later, become blood enemies was as inevitable as two dogs fighting over a single piece of meat." This is what the last mission should have been. The enemies are still a little bit too passive for things to be truly challenging, but you have to work for your victory, and I do love the daring naval raid at the beginning of the scenario that allows you to neutralize Pesaro almost immediately. Extra Slides Mission 2 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 2 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 2 - End Slide 1 Mission 2 - End Slide 2 Mission 2 - End Slide 3 Mission 2 - End Slide 4 Jossar fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Jul 18, 2023 |
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Jul 18, 2023 01:54
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Sforza - Part 3: Prodigal Son Mission 3 Starting Text "If Sforza thought taking territory would make him safe, he was a fool. The King of Naples looked hungrily northward to the cities so easily taken by a rogue mercenary. Sforza needed allies. Sigismondo Malatesta came with a Venetian force, as did Sforza's ever-loyal cousin Micheletto. But the condottiero needed a more powerful ally. He took his biggest gamble by going to meet an old friend. You might have thought that when Sforza walked into the Milanese court that Visconti would have ordered him arrested - or that Piccinino would have personally killed him. But surprisingly, Visconti accepted Sforza like a father accepts his wayward son. Sforza and the duke's daughter were finally wed and the implication was obvious - Sforza would rule Milan when Visconti died. Whatever the duke's intentions, this favoring of the prodigal son incensed Piccinino. He furiously tore his contract and stormed out of Milan. If Visconti would not see Sforza for what he was, Piccinino would find another patron. Pledging himself to the King of Naples, Piccinino had one goal: to destroy Sforza."  Micheletto: Cousin, it is time for me to make a name for myself. I will join Malatesta in service to Venice. May our family always triumph and may your victory over Piccinino be swift! Piccinino: We meet again Francesco Attendolo. But you have no cousin here to help you. It is just you and I. Sforza finally abandons his mercenary ways this mission and you have to actually deal with proper base-building again for the final knockdown, drag out brawl against Piccinino.  Piccinino: Are you even going to fight me? Or are you hoping that I die of boredom? (after a few minutes) About time you discard your pitchforks and shovels, and build a real army! I prefer a fair fight anyway!  Piccinino: Hide in your castle, you coward! It will do you no good against my cannons! (after taking the water) Run inland, Sforza! Hide in the mountains! I control this lake! Sforza's rival is going to spend the next several minutes taunting you, before starting attacks by land and lake. Piccinino puts a sizeable effort into attacking you by water, and I eventually decide to just solely focus on holding the land rather than contesting him on the lake. Piccinino does, in fact, have a few Bombard Cannons floating around, but is mostly focused on making Genoese Crossbowmen, Condottieri, Hand Cannoneers, and Cavaliers. He's nowhere near as dangerous on land though, and only attacks you there with a few units at a time. But here's the thing about Age of Empires II, Piccinino...   You can hold the lake, but it won't do you any drat good. Piccinino's outlying camps on the east of the lake fall fairly easily once you reach Imperial Age and are capable of massing even a moderate size army.   Piccinino: You dog! I will make you pay for every inch you take from me! The southwestern base and main southern fortification are tougher nuts to crack, but by the time you manage to reach them, Piccinino has entirely lost any offensive momentum and it's just about hammering them until they fall to pieces.   Piccinino: It is never over, Sforza! I will haunt you until my last days, and my own sons will carry on my purpose: to bring the house of Sforza down to its knees, to the gutter where it belongs! Piccinino's Town Center and final set of fortifications are more of the same, although I suppose that if you took a naval approach to this scenario, they would be much higher priority targets earlier on. Once Piccinino starts ranting about his undying hatred for all your house, you'll know you've won. Mission 3 Ending Text "The battle between Sforza and Piccinino was the centerpiece of the war over Italy. Sforza served Milan against Piccinino's Neapolitans, and then Piccinino returned to Milan's service while Sforza went to the Venetians. No matter which banners they fought under, the rivalry between the two men became the one constant of the war. But Sforza's furbizia proved to be decisive. He defeated Piccinino in battles across northern and central Italy. The disgraced Piccinino was finally relieved by Visconti and spent his last breaths in Milan cursing Sforza's name to his two sons. With his rival and equal finally defeated, Sforza seemed destined to fulfill his grandest ambitions. Then, by a twist of fate, Filippo Visconti died, undoing all of Sforza's plans." I think based on the map design, this mission really wanted to be a split between land/sea or at least incentivize you to include both categories of units in your plans, but unfortunately unless it's a dedicated Islands map, going with ground forces is always going to be the better option. There's always going to be some part of the map that you just can't reach with naval units, and then you've spent all the resources on 20 Cannon Galleons for nothing. I can see how it would make attacking most of the main base easier though, if you can swing it. 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 02:14 on Jul 19, 2023 |
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Jul 19, 2023 02:10
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I always thought the various Condottieri would make for a great campaign. Some entertaining characters, though since so many of the accounts are largely slander it’s difficult to tell fact from fiction. The aforementioned Malatesta, for one, was reputed as a cannibal and a pagan who was later canonised into hell.
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Jul 19, 2023 12:35
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Corambis posted:I always thought the various Condottieri would make for a great campaign. Some entertaining characters, though since so many of the accounts are largely slander it’s difficult to tell fact from fiction. The aforementioned Malatesta, for one, was reputed as a cannibal and a pagan who was later canonised into hell. On the one hand, this is absolutely true and the wars of Renaissance-era Italy and the personalities that fought in them are a relatively lesser known part of history that would be interesting to cover in greater detail. On the other hand, AoEII kind of has a lot of content focused around Italy already, and I'm not sure I would want to see such a thing prioritized over the stories of other parts of the world. Definitely worth seeing somebody's fan campaign interpretation though - after all, that's what the Sforza campaign was to start with!
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Jul 19, 2023 13:27
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Corambis posted:The aforementioned Malatesta, for one, was reputed as a cannibal and a pagan who was later canonised into hell.
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Jul 19, 2023 15:52
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Different Malatesta from ours, but same family.
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Jul 19, 2023 23:47
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Sforza - Part 4: Blood and Betrayal Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Ready for Battle Mission 4 Starting Text "Visconti's death left Milan in turmoil. Outlying towns rebelled and Venice threatened the city. By way of marriage, Sforza held a better claim on Milan than anyone, but strangely, the ambitious captain did not take his dowry. He allowed the lawyers and professors of Milan to fashion a republic with all the trappings and corruption of the old Roman one. They called it the Golden Ambrosian Republic after Saint Ambrose, but there was nothing blessed or saintly about this republic. Surrounded by enemies, the Republicans of Milan - more skilled at reading books than leading men in war - needed a captain to command the war against Venice. Sforza, by now employed by the Venetians along with his compatriots Malatesta and Micheletto, did not miss an opportunity to once again betray those who paid him - as well as those closest to him. Rescinding his own claims on Milan, he agreed to serve the Republic against his own cousin Micheletto in exchange for control of the city of Brescia. The leaders of the Republic agreed, even though there were many rumblings that Sforza could not be trusted. After all, for a piece of land he was now marching against his own blood."  Condottiero: Signore, the Venetians command Lodi in the center. The towns of Caravaggio and Piacenza are in league with them and must also be subjugated by the Republic. Cremona in the east will surrender to us once we reach it. We can use these bridges to cross the Po, but know that the barricades block our enemies from crossing as well. Micheletto: Return to Milan, Francesco. I have no quarrel with you. Leave the republicans to fend for themselves and both of us will be rich men. (after you build a Town Center) You wound me, cousin. I would never want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice. I told you I must make a name for myself. I cannot live in your shadow any longer. The Condottiero spells out pretty much all of this mission's strategic objectives. There are no secrets here, apart from a couple of relics and scattered recruitable condottieri. This spot is a pretty good place to sit and boom, but it does face the problem that mineral resources are relatively limited, so sooner or later you'll be forced to expand outwards. For this mission, Sforza's cousin Micheletto will be taking the role of NPC who continuously interjects dialogue. It's a bit more painful though, as he's probably the nicest person in this story considering our nominal protagonist's tendency to stab people at the drop of a hat for money/power, and his dialogue is mostly just him having a really bad time with the whole situation.   Micheletto: Go back to reading Greek books with your republican masters, Francesco. Let men with honor fight for Italy. Eventually there's going to be a point where the Venetians and Piacenza start sending ships to attack you and that's about when you want to stop booming and finally pick up on the offense. You have to manually smash the barricades on the bridges to start moving, by the way, no easy gunpowder explosions this time around!  Micheletto: Your father would weep to see you now, cousin. You fight your own blood for the sake of a sliver of Milanese gold. The first step on my assault is to cut off Piacenza from producing any more ships to attack my base.  Condottiero: Signore, the garrison of Piacenza has thrown down their arms! Then it's off to the city proper. Piacenza is the weakest of your opponents and as long as you have a moderate size army can be defeated with minimal problems. For all three of these cities, all you really need to accomplish is to destroy the Castle in order to get them to resign, so try to take that out ASAP. Take note at the Skirmishers here though - Piacenza isn't specifically keyed to produce them. Instead, while each of the cities has certain units that they favor, they are otherwise playing on unhindered AI settings and will actively try to counter whatever you bring to the fight. So while Piacenza is a relatively minor threat, this foretells much more difficult battles in the near future.  For instance, Caravaggio brings a much larger group of Skirmishers to try and shoot down my Arbalesters while I try and cross the eastern bridge. Fortunately, my Condottieri can handle them, but it's a bit touch and go for a minute there.   Micheletto: We once rode together, cousin. Cities and women alike were no match for us. Now you come to my doorstep as an enemy. Capturing Cremona gives you a base closer to the rest of the remaining targets of the mission to produce troops from. The Venetians send a small expeditionary force of Hand Cannoneers and Condottieri to contest my initial crossing of the river, but this is followed up several minutes later by a much larger force also including Skirmishers and Organ Guns (one of the two Portuguese Unique Units - anti-Infantry Gunpowder siege unit, attacks in a cone-based spread pattern). The Organ Guns in particular do a real number on my archers and make it very important the Condottieri be present for the rest of scenario as a counter-unit.  Right as I finish dealing with the Venetians, Caravaggio sends a similar army composition (minus the Organ Guns) to attack my army from the rear. After fending them off, I take the opportunity to seize the momentum and march towards Caravaggio itself.    Condottiero: Caravaggio has surrendered, signore! The road to Brescia is ours! It's a tough fight, compounded by the Venetians sending another Organ Gun-heavy army in to reinforce Caravaggio in the middle of the siege. But by this point my economy is in full swing, so by flooding in troops from Cremona and keeping myself mostly limited to the eastern corner of the city, I am able to keep my siege salient defensible enough until I can smash Caravaggio's castle. This both knocks them out of the war and allows me to retreat to a more defensible position from which to begin my final assault on Lodi.   Lodi has a whole bunch of Cavaliers stockpiled for the defense of the city proper, and the Venetians will keep on producing troops (especially Organ Guns), making this last fight a real meat grinder. But with all the other objectives already completed, all you need to do is take out the Castle and victory is yours. Micheletto: Curse you, cousin! I will not forget your treachery. No one will forget it! What goes around, comes around, Francesco. Remember that! Condottiero: I bring terrible news, Signore. Milan has made peace with Brescia. Your promised payment has been taken out of your hands by betrayers! Mission 4 Ending Text "Though Milan grew stronger with Sforza's victories, the Republicans came to fear and hate him. They saw Sforza as a Caesar intending to topple their new republic. These bookish professors and lawyers listened intently to two agitators who had returned to Milan - two brothers with harsh words and a fierce vendetta against Sforza. The sons of none other than Piccinino swore vengeance upon Sforza. They incited the Republicans to betray him by signing a secret truce with Brescia before Sforza could take that city. This, of course, angered the condottiero. He had agreed to serve the Republic only in exchange for the city. Stifling the ambitions of a man like Sforza was a fatal mistake..." Whoops, guess Sforza backstabbed everyone in Italy for absolutely no purpose since Milan turned on him at the last second as well! Next time we go and stab them from the front. This mission was never really in jeopardy because by the time the enemy factions started getting serious about taking me out I was too well entrenched in my two bases, but from the difficulties that I was having in finishing off Lodi, I can definitely see how this could go sideways really fast if you overextend yourself and get your main army entirely shot to pieces by Organ Guns and then the Venetians and Caravaggio have seven or eight minutes to run roughshod over Cremona. Extra Slides Mission 4 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 4 - Intro Slide 4 Mission 4 - End Slide 1 Mission 4 - End Slide 2 Mission 4 - End Slide 3 Jossar fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jul 20, 2023 |
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Jul 20, 2023 03:22
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Sforza - Part 5: Viva Sforza! Mission 5 Starting Text "Milan was prepared for the siege. Bronze cannons lined the walls and a vast militia was trained. Even the hoarding merchants sold their possessions to arm the mercenaries of the Piccinino brothers. Milan sent emissaries to convince the Duke of Savoy that Sforza would threaten all of Italy. Thousands of Savoyard troops marched against Sforza. But battles are not only won on the field with men and horses - they can also be won in a dark tent over a barrel of wine. In one such tent, Sforza met with Malatesta, now commander of the Venetian troops. Malatesta listened as Sforza ranted furiously of Milan's treachery. He knew that Sforza was not angry that the Republic had betrayed him, as much as that it had done so before Sforza could betray the Republic. But Sforza offered an opportunity for Malatesta and his Venetian employers. While Sforza hurled his men and his riches against Milan's walls, the Venetians would be free to conquer the rest of northern Italy. Malatesta agreed to help Sforza, but, as always, alliance and treachery between condottieri were only opposite sides of the same coin."  Jacopo Piccinino: Look, brother! It is Sforza, the little dog that thinks he will be duke! Francesco Piccinino: Haha! Let us see how the dog runs when he hears our cannons boom!  Malatesta: They prattle like women, Francesco, but their swords are sharper than their tongues. Here is a token of our friendship. Now build some towers and walls! (after a few seconds) Francesco, I cannot leave my fort unguarded. Would you build at least five towers near my camp, per favore? This scenario starts you out with a large number of resources, including 2000 stone tributed by Malatesta at the start. The enemies in this scenario are no great offensive threat, so feel free to build up defenses and boom. Also, the narration makes it incredibly obvious that Malatesta is going to betray you here, so y'know, don't bother helping him out. You're just giving him more static defenses for later on. Finally, for this scenario we have Piccinino's sons to taunt us across the field of battle.  Jacopo Piccinino: Ha! We will soon avenge our father, brother! Francesco Piccinino: Indeed, young Jacopo! He would be so proud of us!   Jacopo Piccinino: Brother, Sforza has destroyed our farms and mines. We have neither bread nor money to pay the soldiers! Destroy two of Milan's outlying Town Centers and they lost most of their resources. Destroy all three and their military units also start taking HP damage.   Jacopo Piccinino: Cristo! Sforza has broken into the city! Francesco Piccinino: Don't just stand there, you fool! Sbrigati! Push him back! Okay yeah, so Milan is not the big threat in this scenario, especially once you've managed to destroy their outlying resource bases. I still want them out of the way just so I can focus on the remaining opponents, so I tear most of the city to the ground. Building a Castle on top of the ruins of the old one turns whatever is left of the city to your control, so it can be advantageous to snipe the Castle and try to claim the rest of the city ASAP, especially if you're going for a faster-moving strategy. Another fun thing that you can claim for free in this scenario that I don't really have a good place to show off is a Monastery off to the west of your main base, which also gives you a few Missionaries as well.  Malatesta: Did you think that I would wait to let you betray me? I cannot let the fox make off with all of the hens! It is not personal, my friend. Strictly business (after destroying his Castle) Well-fought, Sforza. This was business, not personal. We will meet again one day. Addio, my friend! Once you destroy either the Savoyards (which is the actual preferred play here as they can be a serious threat if left alone for too long) or Milan's Castle, Malatesta promptly betrays you on the basis that you were inevitably going to betray him, so he might as well get the first shot in. Except in this case we already sort of betrayed him by not making his base as defensible as he wanted. Of course, he probably knew that we were going to do that, but still gave us the resources so that we wouldn't know exactly when he was going to betray us. In the end, it doesn't matter all that much because with two Castles next to his base, we can just shoot anything Malatesta trains until we can get another Trebuchet up to level his Castle, at which point the Venetians resign. Since all's fair in war between condottieri, Malatesta accepts his defeat gracefully and leaves us to the final challenge of this scenario.   The Savoyards are being played by Franks and as such follow the standard Frankish playbook: spamming Paladins and Castles, supported by Trebuchets and Monks. Counter the units with Genoese Crossbowmen and the static defenses with Trebuchets or Bombard Cannons. The Savoyards are incredibly tenacious, making this another meatgrinder of a finale, compounded by them not surrendering until you pound them into the dust pretty thoroughly. But once they finally give up, that brings the scenario and the campaign to a close. Supposedly there is a final message that should play when the scenario ends saying: "Sforza has made us rich! We will be patrizio and never have to fight for a few coins again! Long live, Sforza, Duke of Milan! Viva Sforza!" But in practice, the scenario just ends without fanfare. Mission 5 Ending Text "Hunger and disease spread in the besieged city. The soldiers left the walls and turned their weapons inward - to the cloistered professors and lawyers who had promised them liberty, but at a great cost. Is it better to be feared or loved? In that moment, Sforza was both. Milan opened her gates and Sforza lavished the people with all of the grain - their own grain - that he had taken during the siege. The grateful, if foolish, people crowned Sforza - that treacherous, conniving, selfish bastard - Duke of Milan. It was not his final triumph, but it was his grandest. That is the story of Sforza from one who fought with him - and against him. Do I wish ill upon him? No more than I would wish ill on the fox who raids the henhouse in the black of night. It does only what a fox does and cannot be blamed for it. I do not blame Sforza any more than I would blame myself. After all, Sforza's blood is in me, for I am his cousin, Micheletto. Sforza is like me - we are condottieri. We are the contract men of Italy." It's an alright scenario as the end to an alright campaign. Could have been more challenging, but the mercenary mechanics for the first few scenarios were engaging, and if most of the emphasis seemed to be on the dialogue, at least they did a good job of portraying these guys' foibles and swaggering bravado. This also marks the end of the Forgotten campaigns. Very eclectic bunch, still has a decent amount of fan-campaign vibe for some of the wackier ones, but I think the devs mostly did a good job of bringing things up to snuff. Extra Slides Mission 5 - Intro Slide 1 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 2 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 3 Mission 5 - Intro Slide 4 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 Jossar fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 03:20
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Campaign Vote #16 A. Tariq ibn Ziyad - Berbers B. Sundjata - Malians C. Francisco de Almeida - Portuguese D. Yodit - Ethiopians 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.
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Jul 21, 2023 03:20
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A. Tariq ibn Ziyad
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Jul 21, 2023 03:40
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tbh I can’t really see anyone being particularly enthusiastic about the Sforza ending. I want to see the Berbers next. A. I just started playing through Jadawiga, so hopefully we avoid that for a little while.
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Jul 21, 2023 04:15
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Corambis posted:tbh I can’t really see anyone being particularly enthusiastic about the Sforza ending. I want to see the Berbers next. A. I'm introducing new blocks of campaigns to the voting pool in release order every time I get down to three total options, so you're pretty safe on that front. With the original AoEII, Age of Kings, and Forgotten Empires finished, we still have... African Kingdoms Rise of the Rajas The Last Khans Lords of the West Dawn of the Dukes - Jadwiga is here. Dynasties of India Return of Rome ...left to go. And that's assuming that no new expansion packs come out in the meantime, which they probably will. Given that it takes approximately a week to get through any individual campaign and vote on the next one, it's going to be several months minimum before we get that far. Although the later we get into expansion packs, the fewer new campaigns per pack we get (starting with the Definitive Edition/The Last Khans, it's three instead of four). Jossar fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 04:36
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A. Tariq ibn Ziyad
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Jul 21, 2023 05:34
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A. Tariq ibn Ziyad sounds fun.
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Jul 21, 2023 06:51
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Technowolf posted:A. Tariq ibn Ziyad
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Jul 21, 2023 09:44
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Just for reference, building the towers like Malatesta asks will make the Venetians 'activate', i.e. actually do stuff instead of just sitting around. However, even with the towers, they are likely to be defeated by the Savoyards if you just wait long enough. The betrayal will still trigger, but they immediately resign if their castle is already destroyed. A
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Jul 21, 2023 17:00
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The Savoyards on this mission actually start with very few units. It's possible to rush them and take them out very early on, before they get a castle or start spamming paladins. This will trigger the betrayal though, so be prepared for that. Also A. Tariq
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Jul 21, 2023 22:43
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Vote's closed! A unanimous vote for a charge into Spain alongside Tariq ibn Ziyad!
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Jul 22, 2023 03:24
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Tariq ibn Ziyad - Part 1: The Battle of Guadalete Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Berbers Theme Very well, then let us begin, the tale of the conquest of Al-Andalus.   Mission 1 Starting Text "711 AD, year 89 of the Hegira... I begin my tale as the winds throw the sands up into a spiral, forcing the men and horses to shield their eyes and seek refuge. I cannot help but notice how the camels stand tall, undaunted. We are a people of the horse, but we have the resilience of camels as well. Invaders have swept through this land for centuries, and yet we Berbers have remained powerful and strong-willed. Despite our strength, we have only rarely ventured outside of our homeland on the path of conquest. That is about to change. A man named Tariq ibn Ziyad has sowed the seeds of ambition among warriors and simple herdsmen alike, and we prepare for war. Tariq is not as other men. Once a slave, he rose to become a brilliant general. Strong, charismatic, and tactful, he is also a Berber like us. Thousands of men flock to his banner, and men who formerly shunned the thought of venturing across the sea now eagerly board the ships destined for Iberia. With Allah as my witness, I shall truthfully record the events to come, for good or ill."  Tariq: Gaze upon this fruitful land, my brothers. Our conquest of Iberia begins today! While we saw it occasionally pop up in some of the Forgotten campaigns, this marks the point where our protagonists themselves really start having more of an active voice in telling their stories. Tariq and his army land at the peninsula which will forever after bear his name (Jabal al-Ṭāriq, or Gibraltar), it's an eclectic mix of Heavy Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Camels, Cavalry Archers, Camel Archers, Genitours (the Berbers' Unique units, the first is an anti-Mounted Archer Mounted Archer, the second is an Archery Range trained mounted Skirmisher), and of course Tariq himself ( a mounted archer hero, sort of functions like a Hero Genitour). Try to keep the better upgraded units and Tariq alive for as long as possible, though the game only cares if you're completely defeated.  Visigoth: We have deserted the usurper Roderic to fight for an honorable man like yourself! His army is camped just across the ford to the northwest. Along the way, we find the locals, who are sympathetic to Tariq/the Umayyad Caliphate's cause and supplement our army with some Goth and Frankish Infantry and a few knights.  Roderic: Charge!  Roderic: Alas, I am slain! Tariq: We have won a great victory here today, my brothers! Let us construct a camp and seize Cordoba, the jewel of Southern Iberia! The actual Battle of Guadalete is a pretty short part of the scenario that involves a rapid descent into a brawl with Roderic's army, which he sends at you in two waves. I guess this could reflect several claims that either Roderic or his personal rivals were trying to use the battle to eliminate one another only to get everyone killed by Tariq's forces, or just that the troops near Roderic only recognize your existence once you get close enough to them. Killing Roderic early theoretically makes the rest of the fight easier, as it will provide an HP debuff to his troops, but in practice with how deep in the camp he's located and being a beefed-up Huskarl hero, he's probably among the last soldiers of his army that you kill.  Tariq: A ship of villagers has arrived from Ceuta to help us establish a camp. To work, quickly - there is no time to lose!  Visigoth: Your cause is just. Our stable will train your horsemen and our dock will build your ships!  Visigoth: We are tired of Visigoth rule, and will follow you instead! The mission now switches to a base-building portion. If Tariq personally visits several Visigoth encampments throughout the countryside, he can recruit them, giving you additional buildings and villagers to speed up your growth.  Tariq: It seems that the Visigoths have scouted our position. Bolster the defenses and be prepared for enemy attacks! At about ten minutes in, the Visigoths player will start actively attacking your base. I thought that this was going to involve a huge ground offense, but then they only attacked with a few ships at a time. Maybe I misremembered how tough this scenario was?    Berber Horseman: Reinforcements have arrived from Ceuta! Other things of note: scattered throughout the Mediterranean Sea are several islands with a lot of gold and relics on them. Additionally, you have a trading partner down in Ceuta that you can send Trade Cogs to. You will pretty much never run out of gold in this scenario, which is good, as the Berbers can be a pretty gold-heavy civilization. The Transports in Ceuta's harbor correspond to waves of reinforcements that you get every 20 minutes to boost your own forces.  At around 40 minutes or so, the Visigoths send a wave of Huskarls in to try and assault my base, but at this point having had time to boom and cresting just off of a second wave of reinforcements, they're no real threat and I'm ready to take the fight to them.   Berber Horseman: The Visigoths had much gold hoarded in this castle. So here's the story: You're locked to 120 units and the Castle Age. The game does give you the Capped Ram upgrade, which you otherwise would not have access to in Castle Age, but it does mean that you're stuck using Rams to batter your way through everything. This is a mission where I really relearned the value of having one unit distract an enemy Castle while having the rest of the army pile on for additional damage, even if they're not especially great at dealing anti-building damage. Destroying the Visigoths here is entirely optional. But it stops them from attempting any future attacks on your base/lets you take full control of the water, stops them from interrupting your siege on Cordoba, and you get 2000 gold for each Castle taken down. You know, in case you were somehow running out of gold.     Tariq: Cordoba is ours! You have fought well today, comrades, and by the will of Allah we have succeeded! Cordoba has a lot of traps and tarpits designed to waste your time, the real secret is to only engage these where necessary and otherwise just try to find a point where you can break through the walls, avoid the rest of the nonsense, and work your way up to the Castle. Take it down and the mission is complete. Mission 1 Ending Text "Wracked by fear and treachery, the slow Visigoth forces fell easily to our agile horsemen. Thousands lie dead, and yet one cannot help but admire how the Visigoths fought valiantly and honorably to the bitter end. It is a melancholy thing to see their corpses left to the crows and wolves. As we entered the city of Cordoba, our men stared in awe at the architecture and riches on display. Now is no time for resting, Tariq tells us. There is much left to be done." I dunno, I seem to remember this mission being a lot more of a slog/difficult even on Standard. But now it's about par for the course for a scenario of this type. Maybe that got changed up for the Definitive Edition or something? 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 - End Slide 1 Mission 1 - End Slide 2 Jossar fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Jul 22, 2023 |
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Jul 22, 2023 15:32
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Tariq ibn Ziyad - Part 2: Consolidation and Subjugation Mission 2 Starting Text "712 AD, year 90 of the Hegira... Banners billow in the wind and the tips of spears glisten in the sun as hundreds of soldiers ride by. A horn sounds as the front of the column approaches a promontory overlooking a large, glorious city. We have reached Toledo, the center of the Visigoth Kingdom. I can hardly believe my eyes at her beauty... a city worthy of a king. Tariq is determined that we capture Toledo quickly, before the neighboring cities have the chance to react. The Visigoth heartland will be difficult to subdue. Opposing us, in addition to Toledo, are the cities of Seville, Merida, Talavera, and Guadalajara. Many of these cities date back to a time when the Romans still ruled these lands. We are not alone, however. Tariq's former master, Musa ibn Nusayr, has landed in the south with a large army. If we can capture Toledo and hold it until Musa's soldiers arrive, we will crush the Visigoths with a two-pronged attack!"  Tariq: Across this river lies Toledo, the Visigothic capital. We should seize it quickly before word of our arrival reaches the nearby towns. Berber Horseman: Honorable Tariq, our sappers have undermined all gates leading into the city, and only a token force remains to guard it.  You start the scenario with another large army, including two Siege Rams this time. The gates to Toledo have been smashed open, so all that remains is the Visigoth Garrison and a couple of towers. Try to strike a balance between speed and preserving as much of your force as you can while taking them out.  Tariq: The city is ours! Let us strike out from here and conquer the surrounding towns! Berber Horseman: Tariq-agha, your ally Musa is gathering his forces in Cordoba. They should arrive to reinforce us in 30 minutes. Once you defeat the garrison, the city is yours. You could sit and wait for Musa and his army to arrive, but...  Tariq: Messengers have informed the surrounding towns of our presence. We should prepare to meet their armies in battle! Starting at 15 minutes, the rest of the enemy factions activate and start sending troops to attack your base. The most active of these is Talavera, who will pretty much immediately start sending ships to poke at you from further down the river.  You can't build any ships to contest them in this mission, but you can leave a couple of units to guard the river and convert their ships with Monks.  Since the various factions are on the move and I have a pretty large army left over, I go on the offense. My particular choice of target in this case is a mistake: I meant to attack Seville, but it's further to the east. So instead, I have blundered my troops into Merida, the strongest of the four enemy factions. I'm able to take out most of their forward military production buildings, but I have to retreat since I'm unable to defeat them. Why?  Yeah, I'm not plunging into that. That's a terrible meatgrinder with only Castle Age units.  Take two: by contrast, Seville is the weakest of the four enemy factions. All it takes is battering down their gates and it's an easy end run on their Castle.  Musa: My army is ready to march, Tariq. Onwards to glory! (after a few seconds) My engineers in Cordoba are building us trebuchets. They should have one ready for us every 10 minutes.  Berber Horseman: Seville has fallen to our glorious armies! At around the same time as I finish defeating Seville, Musa shows up with his army. He's a Hero Camel Archer unit, but more importantly, look at all that siege he's bringing us! This is the only way to get Trebuchets in this scenario, and as stated, an additional Trebuchet will pop out of Musa's Castle in Cordoba every 10 minutes. At 40 minutes, the game warns you that the enemy towns are starting to build Wonders... except the towns do so in clockwise order, starting from Seville, to Merida, to Talavera, to Guadalajara. Since we already defeated Seville, they never start building their Wonder.  While he's crossing the map, I have Musa's forces take a brief moment to smack this Guadalajaran fort to the east of my base. This place contains a preposterous amount of Gold and Stone piles if you ever find yourself running out over the course of the scenario. I'm mostly just concerned about stopping it from occasionally sniping/raiding my economy.  Berber Horseman: The people of Merida will bend the knee. Since most of Merida's offensive capacity was destroyed in my initial assault, now that I have Trebuchets, they're a prime target for being finished off. This also would stop them from constructing a Wonder at the 65 minute mark... if this scenario ran that long.   Berber Horseman: The fortress of Talavera lies in ruins, Tariq. Tariq: The heartland of Visigothic Iberia is under our control. Now we can truly establish our rule here. From there it's just about taking the massive army that has been assembled and rolling over whichever town remains. Talavera was the closer one, so down it goes. Mission 2 Ending Text "The Visigoth cities did not fall easily. These people truly fight like lions! To breach the walls of Toledo, Tariq ordered the construction of two large armored rams with iron heads. These engines are indeed fearsome to behold... the gates of city after city crumbled before their might. A cloud of dust could be seen from miles away as Musa's army approached, laden down with the spoils of war after having breached the cities of Seville and Merida. Both armies celebrated their success with much revelry." Another one where I remember being supposed to get wrecked with early raids even on Standard, but in the end, nothing materialized. Based on this campaign's reputation, I'm starting to think that this is going to be like Prithviraj: where the first couple of scenarios were enjoyable but nothing to write home about, and then I get my face kicked in on the last two. 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 21:15 on Jul 23, 2023 |
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Jul 23, 2023 21:08
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Tariq ibn Ziyad - Part 3: Divide and Conquer Mission 3 Starting Text "713 AD, year 91 of the Hegira... The meeting between Tariq and Musa was strange to witness. The respect between the two is considerable, but there is an air of competition, of rivalry... The Caliph has ordered that Tariq and Musa return to Damascus, but they refuse to be robbed of their glory. Dividing the army, Tariq strikes north, while Musa targets the city of Zaragoza. Recognizing our might, a local Visigoth lord, Theodemir of Murcia, has pledged us his support. Home to a strong army and a thriving economy, Murcia will be a potent ally. However, we have a new and dangerous enemy. Pelayo of Asturias, a Visigoth nobleman, has rallied what was a fractured resistance into a formidable adversary. In his dominion in Asturias, a large army gathers, preparing to attack. If we can weather the storm that is sure to come, with the blessing of Allah we may even be able to conquer as far as Septimania!"   Berber Horseman: Our armies are poised to launch an offensive across the Ebro valley and into Septimania. (after a few seconds) The cities of Zaragoza and Narbonne stand in our way. Let them feel the wrath of our armies!  Berber Horseman: My lord, Theodemir of Murcia has pledged us his allegiance, and promises to periodically provide us with tribute and soldiers. This scenario starts off with two separate bases, presumably representing the separate camps of Tariq and Musa. The western camp has a bunch of mineral piles, and the eastern camp has better access to wood and food. In theory, the two can't connect until they destroy at least some of the Asturian fortresses that stand in between them. Additionally, you have an ally to the south that periodically tributes you gold and Gothic infantry.   There are some additional minor trading partners scattered across the map in case you need the gold, but once again, the scenario's pretty charitable with the stuff and you could always just trade with Theodemir for a perfectly defensible source of gold even if it's not that efficient and not have to worry about enemy attacks on your trade routes. The northern market in particular is placed in a very strange spot, since you would need to have basically already achieved victory in order to reach it.  Pelayo: We will drive you Moorish scum from our beloved homeland. Prepare for battle! Picture's from a bit later on, but you get the gist. At eleven minutes, Asturias turns active. Again, in theory they're supposed to be a really big hassle that makes your life a mess, especially in the western camp, such that they're not mandatory to take out but it's helpful to do so. Especially as all of their bases have relics in them which can further boost your gold income. I keep saying "in theory" here because... Asturias never got off its rear end to do anything until the end of the scenario? And with a little bit of sustaining Tower fire, I was able to drag my western army through a ford in a shallow river to group up with my eastern army, so they weren't even good at that part of their job.   Once I realized that was the case, aged up to Imperial, and got Trebuchets the rest of the scenario was a complete joke. It only takes a light smacking of Zaragoza's forces to clear a path to tear down the Castle and force them to resign.    Narbonne, at least, made an attempt to slow down the neverending tide of Camel Archers and Trebuchets, sending troops forward to fight me in the ruins of Zaragoza while they bought time to build up a solid defense in their city streets and waterways. The Castle still goes down without much effort.  Berber Horseman: Narbonne has fallen to our glorious armies. Thanks be to Allah! And then, right at the very end of the scenario when it's too late to do anything, the ramshackle armies of Asturias finally show up. Mission 3 Ending Text "Septimania and the Ebro Valley have fallen beneath the heel of our glorious armies, but we have not achieved a complete victory. Tariq and Musa were forced to return to Damascus, and without their leadership it will be difficult to defeat the Asturians. The future of the conquest looks bleak. I shall continue to chronicle the events ahead, though I fear that our land may fall victim to invasions and internal strife, like so many other kingdoms before us." What else am I supposed to say about a mission that, if I had been trying for maximum efficiency, I could have beaten in under a half hour? At least make there be a mandatory big fight at the end against the Asturians or something, sheesh. 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 - Intro Slide 6 Mission 3 - End Slide 1 Mission 3 - End Slide 2 Jossar fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Jul 25, 2023 |
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Jul 25, 2023 01:29
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Yeah that's an easy one, Red is more aggressive on moderate but you still have two big bases. A forward castle on greens doorstep will blunt them and a tower or two will cover your base from sea attack, then just start whittling down targets
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Jul 25, 2023 03:19
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Tariq ibn Ziyad - Part 4: Crossing the Pyrenees Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Drizzle Mission 4 Starting Text "732 AD, year 110 of the Hegira... After many years, our people have finally found another glorious leader to follow. Seeking vengeance for the defeat of our armies at the hands of the Franks over ten years before, Abd ar-Rahman al-Ghafiqi has rallied our armies for another campaign. Bred on the battlefield, al-Ghafiqi is no stranger to the ways of war. In additions to successful forays against the Visigoths, Asturians, and Franks, his most recent exploit was the quelling of a rebellion by the Berber governor in Catalonia. To reach the land of the Franks, we must make a dangerous crossing of the Pyrenees. To arrive at the other side in time for spring, we will be forced to start this journey in the dead of winter. The rugged terrain is difficult for armies to cross, and our enemies will surely seek to hinder our passage. Many men will not survive the journey. I grow old, but I will make this journey through the frigid mountains so that I might see another year of conquest."  Visigoth: The passes through the Pyrenees are treacherous and crawling with enemy troops. You have a long and trying journey ahead of you. al-Ghafiqi: Brace yourselves for frigid winds and be wary of enemy ambushes. We must reach the allied camp on the other side of the mountains before the cold of winter claims us all! You start this scenario with a massive Berber army, including al-Ghafiqi, returning from the Tours scenario but on your side this time, and three supply carts. The goal? Get al-Ghafiqi, fifteen units, and at least one of the supply carts to the end of the map. You have no villagers or any way to recruit more troops, what you see is what you get, and the name of the game of this scenario is surviving the attrition that occurs as various factors slowly chip away at your army.  Asturian Knight: Charge! The very first thing that happens right out of the gates is a combined attack by Asturian and Visigoths forces, which is defeated easily enough at the cost of some troops. For most of the map, the Asturians serve as an impenetrable roadblock to prevent you from just crossing the center and achieving victory immediately, forcing you to take the windy pathways either to the east or to the west.  The western side of the map is the easier approach. The path in general is less treacherous and you're facing Basques playing as Celts: it's much easier to take out Woad Raiders than Huscarls with a mostly archer-focused army. In both cases, you'll see a lot of patrols with the occasional Watch Tower lining the route that you'll need to fight your way past.  al-Ghafiqi: We are nearing the open face of the mountain. Let us traverse this pass quickly lest the cold winds sap us of our strength! (after getting through the pass) We have braved that horrid mountain pass. Onwards! You'll eventually run into a stretch of land where al-Ghafiqi narrates your passing. This is your sign to book it as quickly as possible, as while your units are in the pass they'll take damage over time from the cold. Of course, this is where the Basques keep most of their patrols. Eliminate them and move on, I spend more time in this first pass than I probably should have.  Visigoth: Welcome to our humble village, my lord. Allow our blacksmith to upgrade your weapons. There's a set of blacksmith upgrades that you can get from each of the two sides, and if you want to, it's possible to grab both. But I'd rather just focus on getting through the western side as quickly and intact as possible. The western path's town also contains some buildings in which you can garrison your troops to heal them up from the HP draining effect of the pass.  While healing up, I use al-Ghafiqi to kite a couple of the patrols into firing range of my army to save time later.  al-Ghafiqi: Another infernal cliffside pass. Pray to Allah that it is the last! After a certain point you've seen most of what this mission has to offer, it's just a test of endurance to see how much you can survive being worn down. For instance: placed in between a series of patrols is a second iteration of the HP-draining pass from before.  al-Ghafiqi: An Asturian camp! Let us fall upon it as wolves closing in for the kill. This is probably the toughest fight in the whole scenario: there's a decent size Asturian army, but more important than the size and quality of their army is that your army's been dragged through the mountains and is likely pretty beat up at this point. I lose about twenty units here as a bunch of troops who were on their last legs collapse altogether when facing the Asturians.  al-Ghafiqi: A final Basque ambush stands between us and our goal. Press forward and fight bravely! The actual final fight is a glorified, slightly larger version of the raids we've been dealing with on the western path all mission... but it's a nasty sucker punch if you made it out of the fight against the Asturians with just the minimal amount of troops needed to win the scenario.  al-Ghafiqi: We have braved the cruel wintry weather of the Pyrenees. Let us make camp, eat, rest, and then continue our conquests. Good work, men! And there, at the northern edge of the map, is the base camp of the Umayyad Army, home to the scenario's victory condition. Mission 4 Ending Text "Truly, I have not endured such a trying journey in the entirety of my life. The cold and cruel winds were like nothing I have ever experienced, and the fear of enemy ambushes lurking behind every bend is enough to drive a man mad. Between the elements and enemy blades, many of our men perished on the crossing. Nevertheless, we arrived in considerable force on the other side. It is more than many hoped for. We have little time to rest and recover our strength. The Franks will not lie waiting forever." Another short mission, but definitely a memorable one this time around. I made it through with a large number of troops to spare, but it can get brutal on higher difficulties. 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 - Intro Slide 6 Mission 4 - End Slide 1 Mission 4 - End Slide 2 Mission 4 - End Slide 3 Jossar fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Jul 28, 2023 |
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Jul 27, 2023 03:11
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Tariq ibn Ziyad - Part 5: Razzia Mission 5 Starting Text "732 AD, year 110 of the Hegira. A month since we crossed the Pyrenees... Our army advances into the heart of Aquitania, scouting the region as we move forward. Thick forests and open fields abound, and we made camp near a river crossing. The Frankish army is powerful, but their cavalry cannot match ours as long as we fight on an open field. Using our mobility to our advantage will prove vital in the battles ahead. Al-Ghafiqi will risk no error. He has a score to settle with the Frankish count Odo of Aquitaine, the warlord who smashed an Umayyad army at Toulouse ten years ago. After such a long time, these two giants will finally meet again. The Frankish lands are divided and are no match for the organization of the Umayyad Caliphate. Capturing the city of Bordeaux will surely throw the region into chaos. Then, we will pounce on the scattered Frankish army like a cat upon a mouse. This will be the great razzia, or raid, of our time. I can only pray that we are up to the challenge."  al-Ghafiqi: Three nearby villages supply the Frankish army with resources. We should pillage them before we set up our camp. Berber Horseman: We have the resources to outfit a handful of extra troops, but are otherwise on our own until reinforcements arrive. You start out with a moderate size army and instructions to raze the Monasteries in three adjacent villages.  Frankish Sentry: The Umayyad army approaches our village. We are doomed!  Berber Horseman: Let us leave, quickly! I spot Frankish Paladins approaching from the north! Each village is guarded by a surprisingly large defense force, but they can be easily subverted by taking on individual sub-units one group at a time and whittling each of those down via focus fire. After you sack a Monastery, you get 500 gold and told to get out of dodge before a bunch of Paladins runs in to try and flatten your raiding force. Repeat the process two more times to trigger the next part of the scenario.  al-Ghafiqi: The Aquitanian villages have been subdued! Reinforcements are now on their way to help us establish a camp.  A Transport pops in with a couple Villagers and the base-building section of the mission begins. You're given a couple options on where to set up camp, but the starting location seems fine to me. The remaining enemies will send ships down the river to harass you but are otherwise quite passive during the booming phase of the mission.   Eventually, I start expanding outwards to attack the main Frankish Army. The first step is going back into the Aquitanian villages on the path to the Army and clearing out the Paladins that have since taken roost in them.   Then begins the siege. The Frankish Army has two fortresses located directly on the river protected by a moderate amount of troops and ships, but most notable of all are their static defenses. They each also have a relic sitting around for you to grab and bring back to your base for additional gold, which is useful for this scenario because you have no reliable trade partner and are otherwise forced to expand towards the enemy factions in order to keep up your supply.    On my way to the second fort, I am attacked by the main army of the Frankish Army, consisting of a whole bunch of Paladins and Throwing Axemen. It's not really an ideal situation for Berbers, who are all about archer armies, to be facing whole bunches of Paladins, but by this point I have so many troops that I can just focus fire them down no problem. Bordeaux also tries to reinforce the main army, but they're nothing to write home about on land.   al-Ghafiqi: The descendants of Merovech are no match for our proud Berber cavalry. Long live the Umayyad Caliphate! With the border forts out of the way, all that's left is the Frankish Army's main city - a massive, well defended garrison crawling with troops. Have the Genitours and Cavalry Archers stand back and defend your Trebuchets while they tear the place apart. Honestly, I probably should have used more Cavaliers in this scenario, they're perfectly serviceable and would've helped tear things down faster, I just have a natural aversion to going all-in on heavy cavalry for civilizations that don't have the Paladin upgrade.    With the Frankish Army dead, I am free to attack Bordeaux via its' soft northern underbelly - all the city's Castles are placed to defend an attack from the south, you see. As stated before, Bordeaux's land forces are fairly mediocre, but this may be one of the largest naval garrisons I've ever seen for a city defense. They have 7-8 Docks or something and will not stop spitting out Galleons the whole time. As before, use your ranged troops to keep the Galleons and Bordeaux's land troops off your back while using the Trebuchets to destroy most of the Docks. Eventually you can find enough purchase to break in and level the rest of the city, winning the scenario and the campaign. al-Ghafiqi: Rejoice, for Bordeaux, the heart of Aquitaine, is ours! Mission 5 Ending Text "With the blessing of Allah, the horn announcing our success sings a loud, shrill tone that echoes over the countryside. Upon hearing of our approach, Odo's army descended upon Bordeaux, only to be trampled beneath our hooves. Another Frankish army hastened south but was no match for our brave, seasoned warriors. A bloody battle ensued, and afterwards the Franks lamented their defeat, saying that God alone knows the number of the slain. With the Frankish army defeated, there is little standing between our magnificent forces and eternal glory as the conquerors of Europe. For centuries, history will remember us as the courageous warriors who defeated countless kings. My journey is at an end, but our triumphant army marches north to defeat one final adversary. A man who calls himself "The Hammer"--Martel in the Frankish tongue--foolishly believes that he can resist us. Soon enough, his feeble army will crumble and flee just like the rest." And then they all died at Tours. The End. Reads like an environmental storytelling journal you find in a horror game highlighting the hubris of the previous expedition and the folly of man. Mission's pretty good. Feels like a very competent "highlight what makes the civilization excel and teach the player how to deal with their counters" scenario that the campaigns often have to encourage you to play the civilization in question in multiplayer. The last two scenarios can't make up for the first three in the campaign being so incredibly underwhelming though. I feel a little bit bad here, because this seems like the sort of thing where if I jacked the difficulty up to Moderate it would solve most of my problems. But on the other hand, the game's already shown that it can have meaningful and engaging content even on Standard, so not being able to balance around that just seems like a different sort of failure on the part of the developers, because they can't make up their minds on a coherent design philosophy. Either you can't trust us to have any real gameplay competency at all and Standard is basically story mode, or it's a legitimate challenge for players who don't have the skillset to win on Moderate or Hard. Which one is it going to be, game?! 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 - Intro Slide 6 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 Jossar fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Jul 28, 2023 |
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Jul 28, 2023 13:08
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Campaign Vote #17 A. Sundjata - Malians B. Francisco de Almeida - Portuguese C. Yodit - Ethiopians D. Gajah Mada - Malay E. Suryavarman I - Khmer F. Bayinnaung - Burmese G. Le Loi - Vietnamese 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. Already time to include Rajas in the pool, huh? Starting to get to what I remember being the less fun campaigns, but well... gotta get through 'em all.
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Jul 28, 2023 13:20
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C. Yodit - Ethiopians
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Jul 28, 2023 13:22
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C. Yodit be interested to see the takes on itJossar posted:
Big same. Coincidentally this just today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEmgXEZdzt8 The Chad Jihad fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Jul 28, 2023 |
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Jul 28, 2023 14:16
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B. Francisco de Almeida I'm in the mood for some organ music.
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Jul 28, 2023 14:41
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Kind of a wasted opportunity to not end it at Tours, honestly. I understand they don't really want you to play the losing side but campaign just feels unfinished. Anyway, A.
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Jul 28, 2023 15:43
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A. Sundiata Keita, the Lion of Mali
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Jul 28, 2023 18:22
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anilEhilated posted:Kind of a wasted opportunity to not end it at Tours, honestly. I understand they don't really want you to play the losing side but campaign just feels unfinished. Keep in mind, by the time this came out, the scenario Tours as the Franks had been in the game for a while. I feel like that ending was written with an unspoken expectation that the player had probably already played that scenario and knows how this is about to go.
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Jul 28, 2023 20:58
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Curious where they go with C.
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Jul 29, 2023 00:27
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I'm not sure if it was a difficulty level thing, or if they've dialed the mission difficulty down in patches, but the first two missions and the last were incredible slogs for me (on hard). Enemies have infinite resources, firetowers (scenario only super powerful but short range towers), constant attacks, etc etc. but other than difficulty (which only really comes from infinite resource unit spam) there's really not much going on. Some light mechanics in the last, the (punishing, annoying) attrition mechanic in the no-build mission... very basic. And the story is just... we showed up, conquered some stuff, some people liked us more than the people we were fighting for some reason, no one has personality. I do like that it leads directly in to Tours and that the narrative just slams closed- They thought they were going to win, with no doubts, and then they lost. poo poo happens. quote:Already time to include Rajas in the pool, huh? Starting to get to what I remember being the less fun campaigns, but well... gotta get through 'em all. yeah the African Kingdoms/Rise of the Rajas campaigns are pretty rough. Lots of infinite resource unit spam. In any case... A. Sundjata - Malians I think was pretty solid. Better than Tariq for sure.
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Jul 29, 2023 01:17
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Mazerunner posted:I'm not sure if it was a difficulty level thing, or if they've dialed the mission difficulty down in patches, but the first two missions and the last were incredible slogs for me (on hard). Enemies have infinite resources, firetowers (scenario only super powerful but short range towers), constant attacks, etc etc. I do remember there being Fire Towers for Cordoba even on Standard, but that's the only memorable place where they showed up in the campaign. Mostly because I couldn't just blaze past the static defenses in the first scenario with Trebuchets. It's really the infinite troop spam (or lack thereof based on difficulty) that makes or breaks the first couple of missions. Part of the problem with the story is that in trying to cover the entirety of the conquest, it's following two different characters, several years apart. There really isn't enough here to make a compelling narrative out of beyond: "and then the Umayyads steamrolled everything." Maybe if they limited it just to the initial conquest under Tariq and bought into the medieval romance angle more from both sides of the aisle there would be something here, although the ones having the most fun with the narrative tended to be the Europeans describing the downfall of the Visigoths due to their own soap opera-esque internal politics. Although if someone wants to point me to a compelling English historical fiction detailing the life of Tariq ibn Ziyad, I'd love to read it! EDIT: At the very least, should've had a couple of quotes from the apocryphal speech attributed to Tariq... though in the 1500s, which is still pretty late off. Tariq ibn Ziyad posted:Oh my warriors, whither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage and your constancy. Remember that in this country you are more unfortunate than the orphan seated at the table of the avaricious master. Your enemy is before you, protected by an innumerable army; he has men in abundance, but you, as your only aid, have your own swords, and, as your only chance for life, such chance as you can snatch from the hands of your enemy. If the absolute want to which you are reduced is prolonged ever so little, if you delay to seize immediate success, your good fortune will vanish, and your enemies, whom your very presence has filled with fear, will take courage. Put far from you the disgrace from which you flee in dreams, and attack this monarch who has left his strongly fortified city to meet you. Here is a splendid opportunity to defeat him, if you will consent to expose yourselves freely to death. Do not believe that I desire to incite you to face dangers which I shall refuse to share with you. In the attack I myself will be in the fore, where the chance of life is always least. Okay, maybe not the bit about ravishingly beautiful Greek maidens, not sure how well that would play out for AoEII's target audience. Jossar fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Jul 29, 2023 |
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Jul 29, 2023 01:38
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Vote's closed! It's pretty close, but I think we're off to slay a sorcerer-king with Sundjata.
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Jul 29, 2023 14:07
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Sundjata - Part 1: Hunted Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Malians Theme Very well, then let us begin, the tale of the Lion of Mali.   Mission 1 Starting Text "You ask me if I know the epic of Sundjata, the great founder of the Mali Empire? Ha ha! You were right not to seek out any ordinary storyteller. For I am Kouyaté, griot of the royal family. Listen well, and I will tell you of this man, Sundjata. Sundjata was born to the second wife of the king of the Mandinka people. For the first several years of his life, he could not stand upright. A blacksmith made a sturdy iron rod so that the boy might prop himself up on it, but even that broke up beneath him. Then Sundjata found a branch from the sacred baobab tree and miraculously he took his first steps. The king's first wife seethed with jealousy, however. She saw no reason for this feeble son of a second wife to take the throne over her own son. When the king died, she exiled Sundjata and his mother. They fled to faraway lands, but each kingdom feared the wrath of the Mandinkas and would not take them. Only the Mema, far to the south, did not fear the Mandinka. They are a people of proud warriors, and among them Sundjata learned how to hunt and fight. He left his disability behind and became as fierce and strong as a lion! Before long, he was ready to take back his rightful place on the throne. When he arrived, however, he found the Mandika capital in flames…"  Niani: Sundjata, you must flee the city! We will hold Sumanguru's men off as long as we can! (after exiting the gates) Good luck, Sundjata! May your fate be better than ours! You start the mission solely in control of Sundjata, a cavalry Hero unit, having to flee the city of Niani, which is under attack from the peripheral/scout forces of the king of the Sosso people/empire, Sumanguru Kanté. Once you leave the city, Niani turns hostile to you, but unless you're trying an unorthodox strategy there's no real reason to ever have to deal with them again for the rest of the mission.  Malian Soldier: We will follow you wherever you go, my prince!  Right outside the gates are a couple of loyal soldiers, who are useful to have because pretty much the instant you get far enough away from Niani you'll start running into Sosso Scout patrol groups. The first one or two are pretty definitively placed, but the later patrols can and will just pop out of the darkness to join a currently existing fight in an attempt to ensure that Sundjata does not make it to safety.  Camel Archer: Do not worry, you are not alone on your journey. Our village is on the other side of the river. When we reach it, it is yours.   Crossbowman: Sumanguru is a cruel ruler. We will help you get out of here. The process repeats two more times. It's possible to get lost along the riverbank, so finding these additional troops is helpful because it indicates that you're going along the "intended" pathway, the one that actually leads to the crossing and not a dead end or a Niani barricade.  The enemy force at the river crossing is the largest of the bunch, but still relatively small. It can be a problem to defeat if you lost most of your troops along the way due to bad micro, but otherwise just marks the point after which you are temporarily safe from additional attacks.  Kangaba Villager: We have heard of your sad story. Please let us help you as best we can. Sumanguru's scouts have an encampment south of here. We will help you destroy it! Once you reach Kangaba in the west of the map, control of the village switches to you and the base-building portion of the mission begins.  Kangaba Villager: The enemy knows that you are here, Sundjata! We must prepare for their attacks!  About five minutes after you take control of Kangaba, the Sosso Scouts will actively try to start destroying your base, sending a wave of troops (mostly trash units and a few Archers) every few minutes. The waves aren't so overwhelming that you can't defeat them with your starting forces, but if you do nothing they will eventually chip you down and wreck the place.  The mission once again limits you to the Castle Age, so you don't have access to Trebuchets and you're also blocked from being able to research the Malians' Imperial Age unique Tech, Farimba (which gives their Cavalry an additional +5 attack). Given these constraints, I decide to stick primarily with Infantry for the assault on the Sosso Scouts' base. The units of choice here are primarily Long Swordsmen and Gbetos (Malians' unique unit, fast-moving Infantry unit that can attack at range), with a couple of Rams, Monks, and other miscellaneous units thrown in for good measure. You could probably still make a good showing with a mostly Knight army though, given their relative population efficiency on a mission with a 75 unit maximum pop cap.    The Sosso Scouts have a large, sprawling base protected by garrisons of the same kind of troops that they throw at you and a whole bunch of Watch Towers. Even with a large army it takes a good deal of time to go through the base and destroy enough production facilities to force the Scouts to retreat, but once you put them on the defensive, it's just a matter of time. Malian Soldier: This will surely slow them down, but we should still get out of here quickly. Soon, Sumanguru's men will swarm this region looking for you. Mission 1 Ending Text "Sosso warriors from the far north had overrun the capital on the river, slaughtered the new king and all of the royal family, and claimed the land of the Mandinkas for their lord, Sumanguru! Sundjata barely escaped the raiding parties ravaging his homeland. As the only survivor with a claim to the Mandinka throne, Sundjata would never truly be safe. Sundjata knew that he had to bide his time and hide from the Sosso spies until he was strong enough to strike back!" Already much better execution on this scenario compared to Tariq, even if it seems to be inspired by a lot of the same design elements as that campaign's first scenario. 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 - End Slide 1 Mission 1 - End Slide 2 Mission 1 - End Slide 3 Jossar fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Jul 29, 2023 |
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Jul 29, 2023 15:33
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worth mentioning that gbetos are the only trainable female combat-unit in the game there's a few heroes, like Joan, and the female variant of the Burgundian unique tech, except that only affects pre-existing female villagers, and the trainable version from the barracks is always male
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Jul 30, 2023 23:40
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Yeah, it's a nice little touch - reflecting a corps of female soldiers/hunters from the just post-AoEII timeline Kingdom of Dahomey rather than Mali itself, but the Malians as a civilization are to some extent as much a stand-in for the various kingdoms of the region as much as their own empire. Alas that we can't all get the Dynasties of India treatement!
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Jul 31, 2023 01:18
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Jossar posted:Yeah, it's a nice little touch - reflecting a corps of female soldiers/hunters from the just post-AoEII timeline Kingdom of Dahomey rather than Mali itself, but the Malians as a civilization are to some extent as much a stand-in for the various kingdoms of the region as much as their own empire. Alas that we can't all get the Dynasties of India treatement! I'm kinda curious as to what the total civ count would be if each instance of a culturally distinct group appearing in a campaign/conquerors mission would be grounds for that civ getting DoI'd. Taking Celts as a quick example: William Wallace/Edward Longshanks - Scots Vinlandsaga - Inuit Alaric - Valentia should still be Roman at this point but I guess the Gallic cities deriving their civs from the earlier migration waves for gameplay variety so these guys can stay as the OG Celts. Dracula - ngl, didn't even know Celts were in this until I looked it up but it appears they're just the P7 scenery faction York - Irish Tariq - Basques
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Jul 31, 2023 14:20
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