Crossing the Delaware

Crossing the Delaware is the fourth scenario of Act I: Fire in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs. The scenario starts out with the cinematic "Washington" where Amelia Black narrates how after George Washington takes command, a series of defeats drives the colonials back across the Delaware River, where they are joined by Nathaniel. Nathaniel and Washington lead a small force to attack a Hessian winter quarters across the Delaware River.

The scenario is based off the Battle of Trenton set in 1776 in which Washington lead the Continental Army to a successful surprise attack against the Hessian mercenaries. The scenario is very similar to Raid in Delhi in that the player will have a very limited amount of forces provided and must try to avoid enemy patrols at all costs, likewise both scenarios are fighting against the British.The terrain of the scenario will feature tundra as this is set in winter season during Christmas, with snow capped trees and terrain as well as the frigid cold river being frozen in certain sections.

Players
American Revolutionaries - (Patriots)

Enemies
Hessians (Germans) - Troops will consist entirely of Grenadiers and will be found in the quarters guarding the tents in small numbers

British (British) - Forces are lead by General Cornwallis, troops will consist mainly of Musketeers and Skirmishers, as well as Falconets and a small number of Jaegar mercenaries.

Primary Objectives

 * Cross the Delaware and destroy the Hessian tents
 * Light a signal fire at the two flagged locations
 * Destroy Cornwallis' rear guard stationed in Princeton
 * Destroy Cornwallis' Capitol in Trenton

Secondary Objectives

 * Destroy the British prison ships (500 XP)


 * Capture the cannon at the Hessian Garrison (500 XP)

Strategy
Players start out on the western bank of the Delaware River with Nathaniel, Washington, and 9 Colonial Militia provided. 3 Flat-bottomed Boats will also be provided to the player and will help with scouting the river as well as transporting the forces across the frigid river. Immediately, the player can board the forces onto the boat and transport them to the Hessian garrison in the town of Trenton just east across the river, the player can then carefully place them on Trenton where the Hessian tents are located. There will be 10 tents scattered throughout the town and the player can carefully proceed to raze them. There will be a enemy Hessian patrol marching clockwise and the player must avoid fighting it at all costs. While razing tents, individual Hessian Grenadiers will attempt to defend but the player can take them out with Nathaniel's special ability.

After all 10 Hessian tents are destroyed, George Washington will want Nathaniel to build 2 signal fires to trick general Cornwallis into thinking the colonials made camp for the night. The signal fires will be built by Nathaniel and must be started by the two flagged locations. At this point the Hessian guards aren't present, and the player can go anywhere for the most part in the town without being bothered. While Nathaniel is starting the signal fire, reinforcements of 8 Colonial Militia and 1 Surgeon will arrive at the western river bank and the player can transport them across the river to merge with the rest of the forces with the Flat-bottomed boats.

As soon as both signal fires are lit, Cornwallis' very powerful army will come south from the Princeton with powerful Falconets, Musketeers, and Skirmishers to retake the town. There will a smaller and weaker rear guard stationed at Princeton consisting of Musketeers and the player can begin to head northeast with their forces to take out the rear guard. The rear guard will take down a few troops before being defeated. As soon as the rear guard are defeated, the colonists of Princeton will help with the cause and join the player's side. A small band of 4 British Jaegars will shortly after attack the settlement, apparently aware of Washington's whereabouts and the band must be quickly defeated before further damage is resulted.The Princeton settlers will gather large crates of. Another primary obejctive will be revealed entailing to destroy Cornwallis' capitol in Trenton. The player should spend all the resources gathered on training 15-20 Tomahawks from the War Hut as they are cheap and can be trained in the masses. With the remaining resources, the player should train 4 Falconets from the Artillery Foundary. The resources will be depleted at this point and the player shouldn't bother tasking Villagers to gather resources but instead should send them to Fire Pit to do the War Dance. The player can then use the shipments provided to soley spend on reinforments of Colonial Militia and Kanya Horsemen. After the player's massive war party has been assembled, they have more than enough needed to destroy the capitol building in Trenton. The player should keep a group of 5 Kanya Horsmen at Princeton to hold off a British attack for a short amount of time. Meanwhile, the player can advance the war party directly south towards Trenton. They will have to traverse through a shallow branch of river and head directly west to the British capitol in the building. The player can then directly raze the Captiol with the Kanya Horsmen, Tomahawks, and militia. There will be enemy hessian forces attempting to defend the capitol but they can be ignored as the mission is to destroy the Captiol. With a few fires from the Falconets, the Capitol will be destroyed in no time and the scenario will be completed.