The Royal Peacock

The Royal Peacock is the third scenario of the Bayinnaung campaign in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas.

King Tabinshwehti has been murdered. Bayinnaung's loyalists have to inform the chief minister of the incident, who is currently occupied with quelling a rebellion. Once Bayinnaung hears of the murder of his milk brother, he has to oust the other pretenders to the throne and take over the kingdom himself.

== Objectives ==

Main Objectives

 * Bring word of king Tabinshwehti's death to Bayinnaung
 * Choose one of the following:
 * Build and defend a wonder
 * Defeat all 4 of the pretenders

Secondary Objectives

 * Kill or convert Smim Sawhtut before reaching Bayinnaung

Ally

 * Pegu (Burmese) is the city from which the loyalists have to escape in order to reach Bayinnaung.

Neutral, possible ally for a short time, then enemy

 * Smim Sawhtut (Burmese) is the King's assassin and one of the pretenders for the throne. Once Bayinnaung is reached, he takes over the city of Pegu, but his economy is vulnerable southeast of the fortified city. His army consists of infantry (Champions and Halberdiers), Battle Elephants, and Mangonels

Enemy, possible ally for a short time

 * Thado Dhamma Yaza (Khmer) is another would-be usurper. His fortress is southwest of Pegu and his Castle Age army consists mostly of Ballista Elephants, but also Scorpions and Battle Elephants. Like Sawhtut, most (but in his case not all) of his economy can easily be raided, being located southwest of his base (his gold and stone mines are in the northeast, near his Castle and Pegu).
 * Smim Htaw (Burmese) is the brother of the King killed in the second scenario, and the third pretender. His base is located on two islands in the south and in the Castle Age he trains Long Swordsmen, Arambai, and Monks and also builds War Galleys (he also has some initial Fire Ships).

Enemy

 * Rakkate (Burmese) hail from the very east. They have no economy but spawn small bands of troops regularly, consisting of Karambit Warriors, Skirmishers, and Archers.

The loyalists' escape and the assassin's repentance
The player starts with only a Villager and a "Blind Lame Priest" (a Monk who can't move). In order to move the Battle Elephant road block, the Priest has to start converting one of them, which prompts the rider to run away, making way for the villagers.

Now there are two [more?] ways to get word out of the city (both can and should be done to explore more of the map), west or east. When heading west, the villager has to be garrisoned and then ungarrisoned in the Pegu Fire Tower, and then, when approching the western gate, a Gaia Light Cavalry can be taken over, which then can reach Bayinnaung via land.

The eastern way is blocked by a crowd of priests, but a Gaia Monk can be found there, and he can convert a Karambit Warrior on the other side of the crowd. The Karambit Warrior can then kill the priests to allow the Monk passage. When heading southwest afterwards, Smim Sawhtut, the King's assassin, can be seen and converted from maximum range (the Monk might have to regenerate his faith beforehand). When Sawhtut is converted, his forces set their diplomatic stance to ally temporaryly [other benefits?]. In the harbor, a Gaia Trade Cog can be found, which can then bring word to Bayinnaung via the river, while also collecting a Heavy Demolition Ship and a Monk along the way.

Once Bayinnung is reached one way or another, his troops and a few villagers are taken over and the palyer can start building a base, for example northeast of Bayinnaung's initial location, east of some Gaia Yurts. The new objective is to either build a Wonder or defeat all of the four pretenders.

An uneasy alliance
Shortly after reaching Bayinnaung, Smim Htaw and Thado Dhamma Yaza will each offer an alliance, if the player sets their stance to ally with one or the other. While this gives the player some respite in the beginning of the game, it will later come back to haunt them, as this gives them 9,000 (blue) or 10,000 (orange) resources respectively and researches them Imperial Age, while otherwise they stay in the Castle Age. Like the longtime Age of Empire player has come to suspect, once one of the other 3 pretenders is defeated while the alliance holds, the uneasy ally will backstab the player.

Offense is the best defense
The starting Arambai, as well as Bayinnaung, the picked up Monk, and the Light Cavalry (for line of sight) can be sent immediately east to raid Sawhtut's economy. When micromanaged carefully (and the Monk is used to convert a Battle Elephant), they are able to take out all of Sawhtut's initial army and the Town Center (with Bayinnaung tanking it) and the Villagers afterwards, rendering Sawhtut unable to perform any role for the remainder of the game, and he can be saved for last (or not eradicated at all, should the player prefer to build a Wonder)

Immediately afterwards, the player can shift their attention to Rakkate's camp, but they have to make sure to let the first wave of their spawning units pass, so they can be smashed at the player's Town Center, and none of the raiding party dies. To defeat Rakkate, their Barracks and Archery Range, as well as their Storages have to be destroyed.

The little army can then head sothwest to use the Arambai to harass Htaw's gold miners (on a smal island) and farmers. In the meantime Htaw's first wave, containing Monks, should have arrived at the player's Town Center and subsequently have been killed. When Htaw's navy arrives however, the player should retreat to the shore, to convert his initial Fire Ships, which can then sink most of the War Galleys.

Thado Dhamma Yaza's wood and food income can also be diminished by raiding his farms and lumbercamps southwest and west of his base with a separate raiding party.

Of course, during all this raiding and conquering, it is imperative not to neglect building up an economy and defending the base.

The peacock's feathers or claws
The scenario can either be won by defeating all four pretenders or by building a Wonder, the decision is up to the player. Castles are a great way to defend a Wonder, as no enemy has serious Siege Weapons, but Sawhtut has Battle Elephants at his disposal (if not dealt with beforehand, see above), which can become dangerous in large numbers, if no defending units are posted nearby.

Once a Wonder stands for 200 years (approximately 16.5 minutes ingame time) or all four pretenders are defeated, Bayinnaung can take the throne and the scenario is won.