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in: Chronicles, Alexander the Great (campaign)

Alexander the Great (campaign)

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This article is about the campaign in Chronicles: Alexander the Great. For other uses, see Alexander the Great.

“ Unlike any previous expansions, Alexander the Great dedicates the full campaign to one extraordinary figure, granting space for an in-depth character study. Experience all of Alexander's most famous battles, including the Granicus, Gaugamela, and the Hydaspes, as well as Thracian and Puru scenarios which illuminate parallel stories of allies and adversaries. Cutting-edge level design brings these encounters to life with unique mechanics, objectives, and map features. ”
—[1]

Alexander the Great is the titular grand campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Chronicles: Alexander the Great. It covers the military campaigns and conquests of Alexander III of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great, including all of his most famous battles, such as the Granicus, Gaugamela, and the Hydaspes. The player plays as the Macedonians in 16 of the 18 scenarios, with the Puru and Thracians each getting one scenario which intersects with Alexander's story from their own perspectives. 10 out of the 13 achievements added with the expansion can be obtained only in this campaign.

The story is told by the same nameless figure who narrated the Battle for Greece grand campaign as she continues to relay her stories to her guest.

Gameplay[]

Like in the Battle for Greece campaign, players can make choices which have gameplay impact later, such as unlocking unique units of previously defeated factions in subsequent scenarios. Unlike the previous grand campaign, and like the campaigns of The Three Kingdoms, this campaign can be played in five difficulty levels (Easiest, Standard, Moderate, Hard, and Legendary).[2]

When replaying a completed scenario, the game asks the player whether they want to rewrite the decisions taken in the previous playthrough. The replay needs to be played fully from start until victory for the new choices to take effect.

Scenarios[]

No Scenario Location Year
(BCE) 		Civilization Protagonist Historical event
1 A Lesson in Warfare Scythia 339 Macedonians Alexander Defeat of Ateas
2 Let the Prince Decide Thrace 339 Passage of Macedonians through Triballi territory
3 The Battle of Chaeronea Chaeronea 338 Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)
4 Right to Rule Northern Macedon 336 Alexander Consolidation of Alexander's rule, suppression of domestic revolts, and his Balkan campaign
5 Get Rich Quick Thrace 335 Thracians Langaros Invasion of Autariatae by the Agrianes under Langarus
6 Woe unto Thebes Thebes 335 Macedonians Aeropos
Alexander 		Battle of Thebes
7 The Battle of the Granicus River Granicus 334 Alexander Battle of the Granicus
8 Unto the Breach Halicarnassus 334 Siege of Halicarnassus
9 The Cilician Gates Cilicia 333 Battle of Issus
10 Tyre Must Fall Tyre 332 Siege of Tyre (332 BC)
11 The Battle of Gaugamela Gaugamela 331 Battle of Gaugamela
12 The City at the End of the World Fergana Valley 329 Construction of Alexandria Eschate and Alexander's campaigns against the Sogdians and Sakas
13 In the Land of the Five Rivers Punjab 327 Puru Porus Campaigns of Porus against the kingdom of Taxiles
14 The Battle of the Hydaspes Hydaspes River 326 Macedonians Alexander Battle of the Hydaspes
15 No Escape Sangala 326 Siege and destruction of Sangala
16 Katabasis Punjab 325 Alexander's Mallian campaign
17 A Voyage of Discovery Gulf of Persia 325 Nearchos Nearchos' Persian Gulf voyage
18 Wrath Zagros Mountains 324 Alexander Alexander's expedition against the Cossaeans

Carryover[]

This section is most likely incomplete and may need expansion. You can help by adding to it.

The following carry over from one scenario to the next:

Alexander's auxiliaries and custom technologies[]

The following unlocked units and technologies are available at the Macedonian Command Post, which can be constructed by the Macedonians beginning in Unto the Breach. The player should note that when the option to unlock either unit from a pair is available, a few of both types are spawned at the X flared location on the map. The player can then check the unit attributes and make an informed decision, after which several more of the selected choice are spawned:

Abilities[]

  • Unto the Breach: Killing every Bear on the map (found inside the "caves") grants Alexander a melee shield ability (like the Iron Pagoda).
  • Tyre Must Fall: If Alexander is brought to the Temple of Melqart, he can choose between an attack aura or a movement speed aura to boost nearby friendly units:
    • Speed aura: +10% speed for nearby Companion Cavalry, Phalangites, and units trained at the Macedonian Command Post.
    • Attack aura: +1 attack for Companion Cavalry, Phalangites, and units trained at the Macedonian Command Post.
    • After he reverts to his infantry form in No Escape, the auras will instead reduce the attack or movement speed of enemy units, respectively.
  • Katabasis: The player can choose between granting the Flagship the ability to passively heal nearby friendly land units or ships.

Other choices[]

  • Let the Prince Decide
    • If the player managed to protect all the Plunder Carts, they will be awarded a share of the loot by Philip at the start of The Battle of Chaeronea in the form of an Ox Cart which deposits a Gold Mine near Alexander's starting Town Center.
  • The Battle of the Granicus
    • If the Greek Mercenaries are spared at the end of the scenario, Mercenary Hoplites will be available for recruitment at the Barracks for the rest of the campaign when playing as the Macedonians.
    • Killing them grants 500 gold in the subsequent scenario, Unto the Breach.
  • Unto the Breach
    • If the player completed the side objective to slay all the Bears in the caves, Parmenion will comment to Alexander in the following scenario that the bearskins he retrieved from Halicarnassus might have been responsible for his illness.
    • If the player recovered the armaments from the Royal Island:
      • Bringing the Weapon Cart to the player's Town Center grants +1 attack and +1/1 armor for all melee units only in the current scenario.
      • Bringing the Weapon Cart to the Transport Ship to be sent to Delphi will result in the Delphians sending word of an auspicious prophecy in the following scenario, granting +1 attack to all units trained at the Macedonian Command Post.
  • The Cilician Gates
    • If the player chose to pay off the Pirates instead of destroying them, they will send a fleet of reinforcements in Tyre Must Fall to assist Nearchos' navy against the Tyrian defenders.
  • The City at the End of the World
    • If the player constructs the Garden Wonder District, their farmers will have a +10% food gather rate in subsequent scenarios when playing as the Macedonians.
    • If the player constructs the Theater Wonder District, their gold miners will have a +10% gold gather rate in subsequent scenarios when playing as the Macedonians.
    • If the player defeats the Royal Scythian Army before the scenario is completed, they will unlock the Scythian Horse Archer and its Elite variant at the Archery Range, in place of the Cavalry Archer line for the rest of the scenario and subsequent scenarios when playing as the Macedonians.
  • The Battle of the Hydaspes
    • If the player captured Porus' Mule Cart, they will receive a special Mule Cart for use in the following scenario which improves the work rate of nearby Villagers by 15%. The Mule Cart will also reappear in the final scenario (as a constructible foundation).
  • A Voyage of Discovery

Characters[]

The characters are ordered as per their appearance in the campaign:

  • Philip: Also called the Lion of Macedon, he reforms the military of Macedon to turn the insignificant kingdom into a regional power, but has a complicated personal life, especially his discordant relationship with his son, Alexander.
  • Alexander: The prince of Macedon is ambitious despite his young age, and does not appreciate his father's restraints on him, nor the doubts cast on his legitimacy due to his mother, Olympias, not being a Macedonian.
  • Cleitus: A general in Philip's army, and also Alexander's close advisor with a tendency to speak his mind openly.
  • Parmenion: An old veteran general in Philip's army, who is fiercely devoted to Philip but frequently derides Alexander.
  • Ateas: King of the Scythians who opposes Philip; his death at the hands of Alexander's men causes the Scythian forces to retreat.
  • Hephaistion: Alexander's close childhood friend and confidant, he is fiercely loyal to Alexander and displays great admiration towards him.
  • Langaros: A leader of the Thracian tribe of Agrianians, who preemptively swears fealty to Alexander and undertakes campaigns against other Thracians to both gain Alexander's favor and pillage rival tribes.
  • Aeropos: A Macedonian officer with little taste for battle who is given command of the garrison at the Cadmeia Citadel of Thebes. He later serves as an emissary to the Sogdians. During the Indian campaign, he is initially in charge of accounts, but is later forced to lead the Macedonian forces against the Oreitans, much to his chagrin.
  • Perdiccas: One of Alexander's loyal generals who serves with him across his campaigns, he later accompanies Nearchos on his voyage through the Persian Gulf. While he is a competent soldier, his diplomatic skills are often found wanting.
  • Ada: The exiled queen of Halicarnassus, she lends her support to Alexander in exchange for her reinstatement. They find each other admirable, and Ada adopts Alexander as a son.
  • Nearchos: Navarch (admiral) of Alexander's fleet and a passionate naturalist, who is more interested in exploring and studying interesting flora and fauna than campaigning
  • Darius: Achaemenid Emperor and "Lord of Asia", he is a distant descendant of Darius the Great, who ordered the invasion of Greece over a century earlier. He initially dismisses Alexander as a "bandit", but later flees from him repeatedly in battle, which ultimately results in his death at the hands of his own men.
  • Ambhi: King of Taxila and rival of Porus; following his defeat by Puru forces in In the Land of the Five Rivers, he showers tributes on Alexander as he coaxes him towards the lands of his rival.
  • Porus: King of the Puru who conquered the lands of his rival, King Ambhi, after murdering the latter's father. Following his defeat by Alexander at The Battle of the Hydaspes, he becomes a satrap in Alexander's empire, and urges him to battle against his own enemies in India.

Trivia[]

  • Like Battle for Greece, Dr. Ben Angell was also involved in the production of this campaign.
  • This campaign focuses on a single person as the protagonist for 16 scenarios out of 18. This makes it the one of longest campaigns focusing on a character in the series. This is in stark contrast to the previous content focusing on Alexander, being exactly one scenario, Alexander the Great, which was the finale of the Glory of Greece campaign in Age of Empires.
    • Alexander is outnumbered in this regard only by Arkantos, who is the playable protagonist of most scenarios in the Fall of the Trident campaign in Age of Mythology. However, Arkantos, being a fictional character, is only a means of propelling the story forward, while linking all scenarios of the campaign.
  • The cutscenes are in Macedonian pebble mosaic style.
  • 13 new music tracks are used in the scenarios of this campaign.
  • The intro cutscene features many historical artifacts, such as the Gold Chariot from the Oxus Treasure set. A naval ram is visible in the bottom right, whose design bears resemblance to a Roman naval ram (rostrum) found in Egadi, Sicily, in the wreckage of a battle in the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage.[3]
  • As was the case in the previous grand campaign, the outro hints at a future grand campaign implied to be the rise of the Roman Republic.

Gallery[]

Cutscenes[]

Scenario minimap icons[]

Scenario minimap selection icons[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Steam page
  2. ↑ Chronicles: Alexander the Great Campaign Preview on ageofempires.com
  3. ↑ Post by Stephen DeCasien, Ph.D., on twitter
Grand campaigns in Chronicles
Battle for Greece
Achaemenids Prologue: Gates of the Gods · Greeks Bearing Gifts · The Ionian Revolt · A City Ablaze · Chasing Smoke · Death to Traitors · Earth and Water
Athenians The Battle of Marathon · Raise the Sails · The Hot Gates · Divine Salamis · Across the Wine-Dark Sea · Wrath of the Regent · The Fruits of Empire · Within the Long Walls
Spartans I am Brasidas · Pyres on the Coast · Speeches and Spears · To the Wall! · Blood and Gold · The Fall of Athens
Alexander the Great
The scenarios which do not have mentions of the civilization are played as the Macedonians.
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