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This article is about the the event scenario in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. For the campaign scenario in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend, see The Battle of Ayn Jalut. |
| “ | The entire world trembled before the Mongols. Rulers of China and Persia, the fearsome horsemen swept through the cities of the Islamic world, leaving ruins. Only Baybars and the Mamluks of Egypt stood in their way. Baybars had gathered an army at Ayn Jalut, the site where the Biblical David slew the giant Goliath. Baybars had been born a thousand miles away, but he knew the Mongols well: they had slaughtered his family and sold him--as a mere boy--into slavery. At Ayn Jalut, he was determined to have his revenge--and slay his own giant. To celebrate the partnership with the Louvre Museum, we're releasing a brand new custom scenario for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on PC, "Ayn Jalut". Created by World's Edge Senior Business Manager, and famed Age campaign designer, Ramsey Abdulrahim (a.k.a Filthydelphia). In this scenario, you play as Baybars before the pivotal battle when the fate of the Muslim world held in the balance. Prepare your forces, set up your ambushes, and use your cunning and strategy to overcome the Mongol horde. Like the Mamluks, can you be the first to defeat the Mongols? |
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| —Scenario description[1] | ||
Ayn Jalut is an official custom challenge scenario for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, developed to commemorate the partnership of the Age of Empires brand with the Louvre Museum for its exhibition on the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt.[2] It is based on the Mamluk victory over the Ilkhanate Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut on September 3, 1260. Players can obtain a total score (out of a maximum of 25,000) which is tracked in the upper-right section of the screen.
As this is a custom scenario, it can be accessed by downloading and subscribing to the mod, then opening the Single Player menu from the main menu, followed by Campaigns, and then clicking the Custom Campaigns button at the bottom.
Intro[]
It is September 1260. The air is hot and the ground dusty. The once-slave turned general Baybars has returned to the service of his erstwhile rival, the Mamluk Sultan Qutuz. It is an alliance forced by dire circumstance.
Baghdad is in ruins. The Mongol army has sacked Aleppo, taken Damascus, and continues its advance in Syria, where it enlists Crusader prisoners along the way. Only the Mamluks still resist the Mongol expansion.
Sultan Qutuz musters his army to meet the Mongols near a village called Ayn Jalut, said to be where the Biblical David slew the giant Goliath. He sends Baybars, his closest general, ahead to prepare for his arrival.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Population limit: 100
- Starting Age:
Imperial Age - Starting resources: None, then:
- Starting units:
- Baybars (modified Shaybani Khan)
- 3 Mamelukes
- 3 Cavalry Archers
- 9 Villagers (after the initial raid is defeated)
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- The player starts with a higher score on higher difficulty levels (Standard: 1,000, Moderate: 3,000, Hard: 7,000).
- On the Standard and Moderate difficulties, the player starts with additional Cavalry Archers (3) and Mamelukes (3).
- On the Standard and Moderate difficulties, the player receives 3 additional Villagers after the initial raid is defeated.
- On Standard difficulty only, Masonry is researched.
- On Standard difficulty only, Bedouin troops join the player automatically at no cost when approached.
- On Standard difficulty only, the Mongol Raiders (grey) do not spawn.
- On Standard difficulty only, Baybars' scouts groups contain more units.
- Destroying the Mongol Raiders (orange) camps yields less gold on higher difficulties (Standard: 1,000, Moderate and Hard: 500)
- On higher difficulties, saving the other village from raiders yields fewer resources (Standard: 2,000 food, 2,000 wood, Moderate and Hard: 1,000 food, 1,000 wood).
- On Standard and Moderate difficulties, a Monk is spawned from the Monastery after defeating the initial raid.
- On Hard difficulty, the Castle starts damaged with 2,000 hit points lost.
- On the Standard and Moderate difficulties, the allied Mamluk army has Mamelukes, Camel Riders, and Cavalry Archers upgraded to their Elite/Heavy versions. On Standard difficulty only, Ghulams are upgraded to their Elite version.
- On Standard difficulty, Mongol Army units lack upgrades. On Moderate difficulty, Mangudai and Steppe Lancers are upgraded to their Elite versions. On Hard difficulty, Kipchaks and Keshiks receive the Elite upgrade as well.
Main objectives[]
- Baybars must survive.
- Save the village from Mongol Raiders.
- Protect the valley from Mongols until Qutuz arrives.
- Prepare for the battle.
- Lure the Mongol Army to Qutuz's army.
- Defeat the Mongol attack (waves remaining: X).
- Protect the valley from Mongols until Qutuz arrives.
Secondary objectives[]
- Find Baybars' scouts (X remaining).
- Save the other village.
- Destroy Mongol camps.
- Find Towers.
- Tribute 300 gold to the Bedouin.
- Place units at ambush sites.
Hints[]
- You have a population limit of 100. You cannot construct most buildings.
- Explore the map while waiting for Qutuz to arrive.
- Do not invest too heavily in your economy; you will need a large army for the main battle.
- Technologies you research apply to Qutuz's army as well.
- Make use of the ambush sites. Onagers and ranged units are especially effective from cliffs.
- Do as Baybars did-keep luring the Mongols into disadvantageous positions. When their formation breaks, take advantage by picking off as many enemies as you can.
- Use the imams with Qutuz's army to heal between Mongol waves.
- Your score is based on your performance, completing objectives, and the difficulty you play on. The maximum score on Hard difficulty is 25,000.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Saracens): Starts in the southwest with a small force and approaching a friendly Saracen village under attack by Mongol raiders. They must survive until the Sultan arrives with his large army, after which the real battle with the Mongols commences.
Allies[]
- Mamluks ( Saracens): The Sultan's army is in the northwest, declaring their presence only after a fixed duration. Afterwards, he provides the player part of his army, and himself controls Camel Riders, Mamelukes, and Monks. See the below table for an overview of their starting units per difficulty:
Difficulty Standard Moderate Hard Mamelukes
50 50 30 Camel Riders
32 32 16 Cavalry Archers
24 24 12 Ghulams
20 20 15 Arbalesters
20 20 12 Hand Cannoneers
10 10 6 Monks
6 6 4 Onagers
6 4 3 Total units 168 166 98
- Villages ( Saracens): Two passive villages of Ayn Jalut are present. The western one is captured after rescuing it, while the eastern one can only be saved from the Mongols.
- Bedouin ( Saracens): The Bedouin nomads have a camp between the two villages, and can be hired for gold. They provide 11 Elite Camel Archers and a Bedouin Chieftain hero (modified Musa ibn Nusayr).
Enemies[]
- Mongol Raiders ( Mongols): They represent the three Mongol raider camps and their guards. They can be defeated by destroying their camps, which also stops the attacking raiders from spawning.
- Mongol Raiders ( Mongols): They represent the raiders which are spawned at the camps and attack the player. They consist of Steppe Lancers and Mangudai.
- Mongol Army ( Mongols): The Mongol army lies across a riverbank to the east, and are unreachable before the Sultan's army arrives. They attack in three waves once the battle commences. Initially, only Yurts and wave one units are under this player; wave two and three units are transferred from the Mongol Raiders (orange) when triggered. They consist of Steppe Lancers, Keshiks, Kipchaks, Mangudai, and Khans.
Difficulty Standard Moderate/Hard Keshiks
58 58 Steppe Lancers
115 150 Mangudai
141 241 Kipchaks
25 37 Khans
8 8 Kitbuga
1 1 Total units 348 495
Strategy[]
Use Baybars to kite the enemies while the other units kill the enemy units. The enemy can also be led to the Castle to the northwest which has Ballistics (but not Murder Holes). Once they are defeated, the village with all its units (Villagers) and buildings (Town Center, Monastery, Castle, Market, and several other buildings, but lacking a University or Siege Workshop) become the player's, along with a stockpile of resources. A timer (15 minutes on all difficulties) appears on the top right to show the time left for the allied army to arrive.
Boom up to about 30 Villagers (due to the population limit being just 100), harvest the many Gazelles and Sheep on the map, as a lot of food will be required for Mamelukes and technologies. Train Mamelukes and some Monks to heal injured units, taking advantage of the already-researched Saracen unique technology Bimaristan. The player can build only resource drop sites and Farms. Try to prevent buildings falling to the enemy, as that not only deducts from the score, but also, most cannot be obtained again once lost.
Find the Fortified Tower and clear the road to the southeast first. This allows the player to reach two groups of additional reinforcements. Then, save the friendly village to the southeast from the Mongol raiding party. This village does not become the player's, but remains a passive ally, with the benefits being some resources, a bonus to the total score if they survive, and providing a Market to trade with. Find the other Fortified Tower and reinforcements (denoted as Baibars' scouts) around the map.
Clear the three Mongol camps (consisting of Yurts and Chief's Yurts) to stop the Mongol raids and gain some loot (500 gold on Hard difficulty, 1,000 gold on other difficulties). After the timer expires, the Sultan's army will reveal itself to the player and hand over many units, consisting of Mamelukes, Arbalesters, Onagers, Hand Cannoneers, Ghulams, and Cavalry Archers. The location of the Mongol hordes in the east will also be identified as they ready to attack. After having set up ambushes as hinted (referring to just keeping ranged units on top of cliffs to take advantage of the +25% attack and resistance elevation bonuses), the player can now either lure in the Mongols early, or wait for them to start attacking after a while automatically. The Mongol armies attack in three large waves with short gaps in between. The Sultan's army is controlled by the AI itself, and they do not reposition after each wave, so the player will have to move in more towards the frontlines to stay close to the AI ally. Keep long ranged units on the cliffs to gain the focus of the enemy and Mamelukes in the valleys to kill the hordes as they try to pass by. The player should also try to reduce the size of the attacking waves before they reach the main army with hit-and-run tactics: massed Mamelukes efficiently handle Steppe Lancers and Keshiks (and perform reasonably well against Mangudai), enabling other camel units such as Camel Riders to focus on Mangudai and Kipchaks.
Should the player's and Sultan Qutuz's armies be defeated on the road from the main Mongol encampment to Sultan Qutuz's camp and the Mongols start attacking the player's village, the Castle can help thin out the Mongol troops. However, some Mamelukes with Monk support should remain close by to lure away Steppe Lancers and Keshiks, as Murder Holes is not researched in this scenario. This allows the Castle to focus on Mangudai and Kipchaks.
Once the Mongol Army troop count is reduced to roughly 15 units, they retreat, and the player wins the scenario.
The total score obtained depends on kills to deaths ratio, number of buildings lost, and the side objectives completed. The current score is displayed at the top right, above the objectives panel.
Trivia[]
- Baybars was born a Turkic Kipchak in the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. His family was killed by the Mongols and he was captured and sold into slavery. He found himself in service of various owners before being entered into the Egyptian military, where he rose to power and became a commander under Sultan Qutuz. After the events of this scenario, Qutuz was assassinated and Baybars became the Sultan of Mamluk Egypt.
- The ingame intro and outro sections provide additional exposition regarding the collaboration with the Louvre Museum:
| “ | From April 30 to July 28, 2025, the Louvre Museum in Paris is hosting an exceptional exhibition dedicated to the Mamluks (1250-1517 CE). Through nearly 260 works of art and precious objects—manuscripts, weapons, textiles, paintings, and other invaluable artifacts—the exhibit showcases the military skill, cultural richness, and political power of this legendary Egyptian-Syrian empire. The immersive scenography allows visitors to delve into the heart of this brilliant and unique civilization, which constituted a golden age for the Near East during the Islamic era. In popular culture, Age of Empires II introduced these mythical warriors to millions of players, with some historical inaccuracies corrected in subsequent games. The Louvre Museum is now collaborating with World's Edge and Age of Empires to create an official playable scenario that lets you relive the famous Battle of Ayn Jalut: on September 3, 1260, the Mamluks confronted the Mongol Empire and halted their westward expansion. It was a major historical turning point, preventing the Mongols from establishing their domination over the Islamic world. |
” |
| —Intro section | ||
| “ | Thank you for playing the official Battle of Ayn Jalut scenario, a collaboration between the Louvre Museum and Age of Empires! Discover the full story of the Mamluk Empire and its legendary warriors in the exhibition 'Mamluks. 1250-1517' at the Louvre Museum until July 28. For more information, please visit www.ageofempires.com/lelouvre to discover more about the exhibition, a fascinating interview between the Louvre Museum team and the studio's creative director, and much more! |
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| —Outro section | ||
Gallery[]
