Broken Stelae

Broken Stelae is the fourth scenario in the Yodit campaign in Age of Empires II HD: The African Kingdoms. In this scenario Yodit has to win local tribes as allies in the fight against Gidajan and wrestle control of important stelae and the city of Massawa from him.

Enemy

 * Gidajan (Ethiopians) controls the city of Massawa in the very north of the map, across a river. He trains mostly Crossbowmen, Pikemen and Light Cavalry, as well as Mangonels, Monks, and a few Camels, and might also build a small fleet.
 * Loyalists (Ethiopians) guard the various stelae and Monasteries cluttering the landscape as well as the two river crossings to Massawa. Their units are numerous and diverse, but poorly equipped and they cannot train new ones.

Ally

 * Tribes (Ethiopians) dot the map. They will attack Gidajan once all of their villages are visited, but their unupgraded Feudal Age units won't make much of a difference.
 * Rebels (Ethiopians)is a placeholder player and won't affect gameplay directly.

Strategies/Tactics
Yodit starts the scenario with 3 Transport Ships which will soon unload at the coast to take over a small village. This village contains the only gold mine and the only stone mine on the entire map, so after they are used up, the player has to rely solely on controlling stelae or plundering Monasteries for an income. To take over a stela, all enemy units surrounding it have to be killed and at least one military unit has to remain near the flag to guard it, else it will fall back under Gidajan's control. Each controlled stela provides a steady trickle of income of 50 units of the resource displayed at its base. A total of 7 stelae can be found on the map: 2 for Food, 2 for Wood, 2 Gold and 1 for Stone. As additional income the 3 Monasteries of Gidajan can be destroyed, netting a whopping 1000 Gold each. Wood is also fairly rare, but south and east of the initial village, additional decently safe forests can be found. The southern sea is inaccessible to Gidajan, so a few Fishing Ships can be used to boost the economy, but contrary to a popular saying there aren't that many fish in the sea, so they shouldn't be too heavily invested in. At the beginning of the scenario the player has a little time to build up, as Gidajan's gate is locked until roughly the 13:30 minute mark. The initial units can and should be used to capture one or more of the stelae to support the economy but the player should make sure to have enough left once Gidajan starts attacking, as his first spearhead boasts a Trebuchet. South of Yodit's village, her army can be bolstered with additional troops by approaching the tribe at the shore. A possible strategy is to capture the Stone stela (located southwest of the base, at the edge of the map) early to provide a constant and inexhaustible Stone income to fortify all stelae with Towers. Ethiopian Towers are fully upgradeable and they have a line of sight team bonus to boot and at least one military unit garrisoned inside a tower qualifies as a guard. The advantage of towers is that they can't be cleared by Gidajan as easily as guarding units and they also save population room. The goal of the scenario is to capture at least 5 stelae and destroy at least 2 Monasteries before razing Massawa, but it is recommended to take care of all of them before attacking. The other goal is to visit all of the 8 Tribes to convince them to join Yodit's cause. Once this is done, they will attack Massawa in full "force", but as mentioned above, their rather weak units mostly serve as cannon fodder. What's more, they player will recieve a small army of unupgraded Shotel Warriors, which can be used to capture more stelae or to attack Gidajan. The optional goal is to build a Dock in the northern waters, where 5 Galleons spawn upon completion. On higher difficulties however, Massawa is fortified by Towers against a maritime attack, so Cannon Galleons would be necessary in order to mount an assault from the sea. Once the grip on the countryside is secured, conquering Massawa isn't that much of a big deal. In an unobserved moment it might be possible to wall off the two river crossings to Massawa (after clearing the Loyalists guarding them) and fortify them with Castles, but this is not necessary. As Gidajan's army consists mostly of Crossbowmen, Pikemen, and Monks a good counter would be Elite Skirmishers and/or the infamous Ethiopian siege units, but they have to be protected from Shotel Warriors and cavalry. The Watch Towers guarding the Palisade Walls of Massawa have high attack but very low hit points, so they can be taken out with one Bombard Cannonball. Once they are taken out, the city can be stormed and when the Market, the Castle, and the Town Center of Massawa are destroyed, Yodit is victorious.