A Rescue in the Wilderness

A Rescue in the Wilderness is the fourth scenario of Act II: China in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. The scenario starts off with the cinematic "At the Edge of the World" and centers around Captain Huang and Lao Chen sending a rescue party to find more lost crew members including Admiral Jinhai after destroying the Native village and rescuing crews captured.

Unlike other the previous scenarios, being swift and vigilant will be a key to completing the mission due to the prisoner convey moving after the timer runs out. Maya settlements will also be found in the map unlike the previous scenarios, allowing quick and cheap training of Maya Holcan Spearmen. Like the previous three scenarios however, using Lao Chen and Captain Huang's special abilities will be a requirement to get the mission completed, especially when knocking down trees obstructing the path.

Primary

 * Stop the prisoner convoy before it reaches its destination  (2000 XP)
 * Find and free your captured shipmates (15000 XP)

Strategy
Players start out on the Southwestern corner of the map, and where they face their first objective of stopping the prisoner convoy. They are provided with Captain Huang, Lao Chen, and 4 Chu Ko Nus as reinforcements. Immediately, the player can then use Captain Huang's special ability "Fleet Explosives" to knock out the trees blocking their path. Once they knock down the trees, a small band consisting of 2 enemy Jaguar Prowl Knights and 3 Eagle Runner Knights will promptly attack the player's troops. The small band of natives will be defeated very shortly after and the player can proceed to use Huang's second ability "Heavenly Fire" to knock down the trees behind the stationed band of natives. As the player advances further east ahead of the trees knocked down, the player will find a stranded group of 3 Villagers, 1 Qiang Pikeman, and 2 Chu Ko Nus that will be rewarded to them.The player will also be brought with their other primary objective of freeing the remaining captured shipmates. The 3 Villagers should be tasked to to save for a Town Center. Building a Trading Post on the nearby Maya settlement will also be useful and allow the training of Maya Holacan Spearmen. Further east the player will find another band of enemy natives behind a grove of trees obstructing them. Once again, Captain Huang's special ability will be used to knock down the trees. The band of natives will be slightly larger this time, although the player will be able to defeat them with minimal loss, using Lao Chen's special ability will help quickly take out the 3 enemy Eagle Runner Knights in the back.

As the player continues to advance further east, they will face a medium sized band of Aztec natives stationed by an enemy War Hut behind a small wooden wall. As soon as the player is found within their Line of Sight, the enemy band will charge at the player. Using the hit and run strategy will help take down a several enemy units before and weaken them before the player directly clashes with them. At the same time, the player can begin to build a Town Center with the wood they gathered earlier. Once the band is defeated, the player can then advance their troops further north and cross over a shallow river; where they will find more stranded Villagers and Chu Ko Nus behind an obstruction of trees. Once again Huang's special ability will be used and the stranded units will be rewarded to the player.

At this point, the newly provided villagers should be sent back to the Town Center they can hunt Capybaras while the player can continue to advance further east to fight more natives and rescue trapped additional captured Villagers to the east. Once the player's troops are within reach of the natives, using Huang's ability "Heavenly Fire" will be vital in killing most of the enemy Jaguar Prowl Knights who will cause substantial damage before being slayed. Once the band is cleared, the player can proceed to raze the War Hut laid in the site. Once the War Hut is razed, the player can proceed to advance further east into a walled cavern where 2 Stockades where large numbers of imprisoned Villagers and Chu Ko Nus lay trapped.

After the Stockades are razed, the villagers should be sent to mine by the nearby Silver Mines. The player can combine the trapped Chu Ko Nu's into a larger mass of army and advance further south where near the river bank to rescue the prisoner convoy. The convoy will be guarded by large amounts of enemy natives warriors who will charge immediately on sight, the band will come in two waves of Jaguar Prowl Knights and Eagle Runner Knights. The player can once again use Huang's ability "Heavenly Fire" to knock out the first wave of the army and use Lao Chen's special ability to finish off the remaining second wave with much ease.

When the band is defeated, the prisoner convoy of Villagers will be awarded to the player, the Villagers should be split half on mining for Coin and hunting for Food. At this point, building a War Academy will be a beneficiary as the Player's economy will be healthily and steadily growing; allowing military production. At this point the player will be able to steamroll the enemy throughout the rest of the game, with their dominance in the region waning. Large herds of Llamas will be sporadically found throughout the native sites and will provide a quick and fast source of Food to the player.

The player should age up to Colonial Age and Fortress Age with the Porcelain Tower and Temple of Heaven due to the Porcelain Tower's economic benefit and the Temple of Heaven's military benefit. The enemy Natives will continue to spawn attack if the player does not keep raiding and destroying their settlements. Building Castles will help counter this and will also allow the training of Hand Mortars, which will be critical in destroying enemy buildings very quickly.

At this point the player can combine and merge all their military units into one large force to attack and destroy the native Nobles Hut and Aztec temple to the Northwest. Flamethrowers and Hand Mortars will be useful in this role although the natives warriors will put up high resistance at this point. Armies of Jaguar Prowl Knights and Eagle Runner Knights will be desperately pouring in to defend their settlement only to no avail from the player's powerful military. The player shouldn't underestimate the strength of the enemy as they will take many hits before ultimately falling. Hand Mortars and Flamethrowers should be protected behind Steppe Riders and Iron Flails as they would otherwise become easy targets for the enemy.

Once the Noble's Hut, Aztec temple, and remaining War Huts are destroyed, a final small band of stationed Eagle Runner Knights will be guarding the last remaining 3 Stockades. The enemy units will fiercely charge and muster all their strength before they are finally finished off. Once the last band is defeated, the player can proceed to destroy the last 3 remaining Stockades containing the crew mates. After all 3 Stockades are razed, all the lost crew members are rescued as a result and the player has completed the mission.