Barbarossa's March

Barbarossa's March is the fifth scenario in the Barbarossa campaign, in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. In this scenario, you must cross the Sea of Marmara, and then move through Anatolia to find the Hospitaller camp to win.

Overview
Barbarossa must sail across the Sea of Marmara to reach the Hospitaller camp in the south. At least 10 military units must make it. He must threaten Constantinople (blue/Byzantines) who change their diplomacy to enemy once you get close to them in order to use its navy by stationing near the wonder. You may go to the weak port of Gallipoli (cyan/Byzantines) but they do not have a protective navy, just transport ships, so I would advise going to Constantinople. As you cross the sea, you can find Throwing Axemen and a trebuchet shipwrecked and as you land, the Seljucks will attack and have Cavalry Archers and Onagers and Monks for you to steal. As you get closer, an Earthquake tears down the seljuck walls and some of their units. You do not have any villagers on this level.

This is a very hard mission, so use your troops with extreme care. The only way to get Constantinople back to your ally is to garrison your troops near their Wonder. You may change your stance with Gallipoli to Neutral and convert their Pikemen if you are running out of soldiers. You must have either your Siege Onagers or Trebuchet alive because there is no direct way from the Sea of Marmara to the Hospitallers camp so you will need to knock down some trees to get there. There are two other ways to get more men from tributes. There are Throwing Axemen and a Trebuchet stranded on a deserted island to the south, you will have to go through Guard Towers to get there. Another way is on your way to the Hospitallers camp, while your in the Holy Land, 4 Seljiuk Turk Heavy Calvalry Archers will join you. They can be found to the East.

One of the easier ways to get your army across the Sea of Marmara is to remain allies with both Gallipoli and Constantinople. Send one of your soldiers to Gallipoli. They will give you all their transport ships. The entire enemy navy will sail to the Gallipoli and destroy these ships. While they are doing that, invade Constantinople quickly and board their transport ships. The enemy navy will be out of position and you should be able to undock on the other side.

Strategy
Starting the game, you have an army of 70 men but no villagers. You must take the route to the south, where you find a river. This river is guarded by a Saracen galleon. You need not waste time trying to destroy it. This galleon is unable to kill many of your soldiers.

When you pass the river, you will meet Saracen mamelukes destroying a house. You have enough soldiers to kill the enemies, but the Saracen mamelukes are powerful and you will lose men. When this ends, you walk to the south. Remember, do not take the path to Gallipoli. The Saracens will fight you everywhere and you will not have warships to defend yourself with. easier is the path to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

In the path to Constantinople, you will see many outposts, and if you keep walking, you will see the walls of Constantinople, with double fortification and eight very powerful bombard towers. The Byzantine Emperor automatically changes diplomatic stance with you to Enemy, and you must fight through the walls. Remember. keep your army and your siege weapons far west of the bombard towers, to avoid high damage. When the attacks from Byzantine troops end, take your three trebuchets, unpack them, and destroy the bombard towers. Do not besiege the gates with your men, only destroy the two gates using the trebuchets. When the gates are destroyed, get your soldiers to Constantinople. Do not attack any building except the Wonder. Especially, do not attack the castle. When your troops are next to the wonder, the Byzantine Emperor changes diplomatic stance with you to Ally, and you can use the Byzantine ships. But at this point, you have a problem. The Saracens trade with Constantinople, and many Saracen ships will be in the Byzantine Navy station. When the Byzantine ships become yours, the Saracens will attack them. Fight the naval battle and do not try to get on the ships. When the Saracens leave, take your men and get on. A Byzantine transport ship can take 20 men, so you will only need four at most. Take also the galleons to protect you from Saracen naval attacks. The Byzantine ships are extremely fast, and you will be at the Anatolian beach in 5 to 10 seconds.

When you reach the Anatolian beach, you have only one enemy, the Seljuks. Unload the units off the transport ship. You must find a way to the Seljuk wall, which is protected by two towers. When you arrive there, an earthquake will make a gap in the wall, while the towers and the castle automatically fall, and your army can pass this Seljuk station. You must remember, that in Anatolia, the Seljuks have many camps and they will attack you. Take the way to the south, through the desert. You will see a lake. Pass it and go east. If you see a Teutonic wall, you are in the Hospitaller camp.

While east to the lake, you may be attacked. When the Hospitallers open the gate, the Seljuk units will enter the camp. You probably cannot fight anymore against a serious attack at this point, so your life becomes easiest when the Hospitallers' soldiers attack the Seljuk units, kill them and close the gate only to your army. Then you will have reached the end. Select all your men (commonly you remain with no more than 30 soldiers) and then right click the Castle or press the Garrison hotkey and then the Castle to win the scenario.

Notes/Trivia

 * The throwing axe was used by the franks during late antiquity and high middle ages. They weren't used in this time period.
 * Knights templars and Hospitallers were french orders, not german.