A Perfect Martyr

A Perfect Martyr is the sixth and last scenario in the Joan of Arc campaign in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. It's based on the Battle of Castillon, the final battle of the Hundred Years' War.

Scenario Instructions

 * Starting age: Castle Age
 * Starting resources: None
 * Population limit: 75
 * Starting units: Guy Josselyne, one Trade Cart
 * Gaia units: Six Villagers, six Paladins, two Trebuchets*, sixteen Arbalests, eight Champions, eight Hussars, eight Hand Cannoneers, six Bombard Cannons*, La Hire, Constable Richemont, Jean Bureau
 * Enemies: British (Britons), Shrewsbury (Britons), Burgundy (Franks)
 * Allies: None

* On the hard difficulty, there is only one Trebuchet and three Bombard Cannons.

Objectives

 * The Trade Cart carrying the French flag must survive.
 * Plant the French flag (loaded in a Trade Cart) on the hill in Castillon (covered with flags).
 * Rendezvous with the French artillery, commanded by Jean Bureau.
 * Rendezvous with the French army, commanded by Constable Richemont.

Official hints

 * Most of the land here is occupied. You will have to displace Burgundy in order to build a town. Don't knock down all of Burgundy's walls - you can use them for your own defense.
 * Longbowmen are powerful, but Bombard Cannons are better!
 * You can order Bombard Cannons and other siege weapons to the No Attack Stance if they are hurting your own troops.

Strategy
Joan has died. To avenge her and defeat the British, Guy Josselyne forms a huge force. It consists of the French army and French artillery (gaia units listed above). You'll acquire both shortly after beginning the scenario: head southeast to get the army, then head briefly west to get the artillery. The Trade Cart you start with contains the French flag, and you must take it to the marked area inside Castillon.

All three of your enemies start in the Imperial Age. The British have rather tight control of the west side of the map, with many Bombard Towers and Keeps guarded by Elite Longbowmen and Cavaliers. Burgundy has two bases: a well-fortified one just west of where you found the artillery, and another one in the far south. Almost all of Burgundy's Villagers are in the southern base, and the northern one contains all of the military units. Shewsbury's base is located in the north. The east side of the map is very crowded - to stand a chance, it's essential to eliminate both Burgundy and Shrewsbury as soon as you can.

Taking out Burgundy and starting your base
You start with no resources and no buildings. There are two ways to get them: either destroy the Town Center in Burgundy's north base, or defeat Burgundy completely. The latter isn't too difficult with your big army, and you'll be much better off if you manage it. You'll need to micromanage your units well though. Set control groups for each type of unit (heavy cavalry, Bombard Cannons, Trebuchets, Arbalests, Hand Cannoneers, swordsmen, Hussars, Villagers, and the Trade Cart itself). As suggested by the hints, set your Bombard Cannons to the "no attack" stance. From where you found the army, head due south and follow the river to the west. You'll eventually come to a rocky outcrop covering the water to the west. It is here you want to cross - although it looks impassable, your units actually will be able to make it through. The Burgundian base is to the south. Use your siege weapons to attack the Town Center and military buildings while you defend them with your Hand Cannoneers. Use the Hussars to kill the Villagers one by one. Leave the Trade Cart and your own Villagers in a relatively safe place. Burgundy will soon bring out the army from its northern base. It consists mainly of Crossbowmen, Long Swordsmen, and Throwing Axemen - nothing your archers can't handle. When Burgundy's more dangerous units appear (Monks and siege weapons), focus all of your melee units on them. You may lose a few units, but you'll come out on top. There's also a British Keep just west of the entrance to Burgundy's southern base that you'll want to get rid of. If Burgundy hasn't withdrawn yet, use your Hussars to track down the last Villager or two. They won't have gone too far from the northern base. After Burgundy has been defeated, you'll loot, , , and some wood from them (the exact quantity depends on how much they have left). Burgundy's south base is the perfect place to set up your town. It's easy to fortify, quite far from your enemies, and has enough resources to last you quite a while (though not forever). Build your Town Center right where Burgundy's was.

Building up and eliminating Shrewsbury
Once your Town Center is built, your first priorities should be stone and defensive structures. Build a Mining Camp next to the stone mining site and a Stone Wall with a Gate right next to it, walling off the shallow water crossing to the north. Then start mining, aiming for the you need to build a Castle right behind the wall.

While your Villagers are working on all this, you should use your army to take out Shrewsbury. As long as you have at least fifty units and most of your siege weapons, it should be no problem. Bring your siege weapons, heavy cavalry, and Arbalests. Leave behind your light cavalry, swordsmen, Hand Cannoneers, and the Trade Cart - this should be enough to take care of any British attacks on your base. You should also use these units to clear out any remaining Burgundian buildings (except Farms, which you can convert with your Villagers when you're ready to start gathering food) while you're raiding Shrewbury - you don't have much real-estate, so you'll need every square inch you can get. To get to Shrewsbury's base, head back the same way you came from. Then go west to Burgundy's former north base and destroy one of their Gates (their walls will come in handy later on, but the Gates are useless because enemy units can go through them but your units cannot). Keep going north through the base until you reach Shrewsbury's walls. Destroy one of their Gates with your siege weapons and defend them with your soldiers. Shrewsbury will mainly attack with heavy cavalry, Trebuchets, and Capped Rams. You'll want to take out a Town Center and a Castle. Kill all of their Villagers - it shouldn't be long before Shrewsbury resigns.

Building and defending your base
Bring the rest of your units back to your base. With your wood, you'll be able to construct several buildings. First build a Lumber Camp near the trees to the west so you can start gathering more. Also construct Houses - you'll need enough to support your current population before you can start creating Villagers. Pack them in tightly, as you don't have much room. For major buildings, your first priorities are a University, a Stable, and a Market for defense and to exchange resources.

Some British ships will harass you from the north. They consist of two Galleons and a Cannon Galleon. There are a few ways to deal with them: shoot at them with your siege weapons, lure them toward your Castle, build defensive structures on the coast (Watch Towers or a Castle), or build a Monastery and convert them with Monks. The British will not rebuild them, but you should avoid building anything (other than defensive structures) too far north until they're gone.

The British will soon attack. Their forces include Trebuchets, Onagers, Scorpions, Cavaliers, and Elite Longbowmen. Their first attack or two can cause quite a bit of damage, but it will be a while before they attack again so you're in good shape if you survive. Save your game frequently, as you're one heartbeat away from losing the scenario. Once the coast is clear, rebuild whatever has been knocked down and construct the rest of your base. Create more Villagers when you can and get five on each resource, plus a few more to build and repair. Build a Blacksmith and research defensive technologies (Murder Holes, Ballistics, Husbandry, Fortified Wall, Bodkin Arrow, and Masonry). Keep building Houses until your population limit is 75. Keep enough military units on hand to fight off British attacks - heavy cavalry are the most effective against Longbowmen and Trebuchets.

Advancing in age
As usual, invest in economic technologies as you go and build the last few major buildings (the Barracks, Siege Workshop, and Monastery if you don't already have it). Then save up enough resources to advance to the Imperial Age.

You can research everything your civilization has to offer in this scenario. The Cavalier and Paladin upgrades will be worth researching right away, as well as Conscription. There are actually two different ways to win this scenario: complete the stated objectives, or build a Wonder.

Capturing Castillon
You'll finish the mission if you can bring the Trade Cart to the flagged area inside the British base. By now, the resources in your base will probably be running dry. To get more, you can gather from Burgundy's other base or Shrewsbury's base in the far north. Both of these areas have mining sites (both stone and gold), food (either Forage Bushes or preplanted Farms), and trees. The Shrewsbury one is recommended because it's easier to fortify and is a more strategic position. There is also gold to mine on the southeast edge of the map in no-man's land. Shrewsbury has a market too, but sending Trade Carts to it is inadvisable unless you can somehow keep them away from the river (as the British will shoot at them). If you do choose to use Trade Carts, be sure to keep the special cart in your base and away from the Market (as it's indistinguishable from a normal Trade Cart and can even trade with Markets). Assigning a control group to the special cart is also a good idea.

Send some Villagers to the former enemy base, along with some military units. Before you start gathering, you'll need to do some renovations. Add walls where necessary, and demolish any enemy Gates before replacing them with your own (remember that an enemy gate will open for the British, but not for your own units). After adding Castles, you can make yourself at home. Add a Town Center and any other important buildings you need, then begin gathering. You now have plenty of time to research everything and build your army.

The British are very strong at the river crossing, but they have no navy (aside from the three ships they had at the beginning). Furthermore, the northwest edge of the map is relatively unprotected (and close to your destination). This should give you a good idea of how to get in: by water. Build a Dock in Shrewsbury's former base. Create a Transport Ship and research Careening as well as Dry Dock. Your army should have at least five Monks (to heal the Trade Cart), five Bombard Cannons or Trebuchets (either will get the job done), a few Villagers (to construct buildings on the west side of the river) and plenty of Paladins. Other than that, it's hard to go wrong. Bring your army and the special Trade Cart to your base in the far north, and ferry them across with the ship. It will probably take two or three trips, but the distance is very short and the fully-upgraded Transport Ship can carry up to 20 units at a time.

Once you get everyone across, scout around until you can see two Guard Towers and a Castle to the southwest. You'll want to build your own Castle nearby before knocking the enemy buildings with your siege weapons. Combined with your soldiers, this should be enough to counter the British defense. Keep an eye on the Trade Cart (healing it if necessary) and move further southwest when it's safe. You can create more Trebuchets if you lost some. There's a Bombard Tower behind the British walls that you'll want to take out. After it's gone, simply knock down their wall and move the Trade Cart into the flagged area to win.

Building a Wonder
If you don't fancy driving the flimsy Trade Cart into the enemy base, you can win this scenario by building a Wonder instead. This is probably faster and easier than fulfilling the objectives, and you probably won't even have to build a second base or research as many military technologies. Defensive technologies like Architecture and Hoardings are worth the investment however, and Treadmill Crane will make your life easier as well. Use your Market to acquire the necessary resources, then get all of your Villagers working on the Wonder. Keep creating Paladins as well, just in case the British manage to launch a serious attack. You'll win if the Wonder stands for 200 "years".

Notes/Trivia
It is possible to finish this mission without even building a base or creating a unit. Simply use your starting army to cross the river, destroy any threatening buildings or units, and break into Castillon from the northwest. This is a promising strategy on the standard and moderate difficulties if you can micromanage well. However, it's less viable on the hard difficulty because you'll start with fewer siege weapons (and Burgundy will have its own Bombard Cannons right off the bat).