Chuvash Cape is the third Historical Battle in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition.
Summary[]
| “ | Foraying dauntlessly into the bitter cold, the Cossack Yermak led an expedition of several hundred men to aid the people of Perm, who were being brutally raided by their Tatar neighbors. The journey was perilous and the intrepid Cossacks soon found themselves mercilessly harassed as they navigated down the Tura river. Could an army of hundreds prevail against a ruthless horde fives times its size? Could gunpowder weaponry put an end to the 2,000 year dominance of nomadic cavalry armies in the field? | ” |
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Commerce Age - Ending Age: Imperial Age
- Starting resources: 800 food, 300 wood, 300 coin
- Population limit: 200
- Starting units:
Objectives[]
Primary objectives[]
- Find a safe location to unload your boats.
- Travel towards the safe location marked on the map.
- Build a Town Center to establish your camp.
- Destroy the Tatar fortress of Qashliq.
Secondary objectives[]
- Protect the Russian village to the north.
- Destroy the Tatar camp to end their raids.
- Build a Trading Post in the west route.
Players[]
Yermak Timofeyevich, protagonist of the scenario
Player[]
- Yermak's Cossacks ( Russians): The player starts with two flat boats with Yermak, two Cossacks, and ten Streltsy between them.
Ally[]
- Russian Village ( Russians): They make mostly Streltsy, and have a Town Center and Settlers. There is a secondary objective to defend them. In cooperative mode, the second player has this base.
Enemies[]
- Tatars ( Tatars): They use the Chinese tech tree and all cavalry, including Meteor Hammers and Keshiks. They make up part of the garrison and map-wide bands, some of which patrol in patterns. Military encampments only, no Villagers. There is a secondary objective to destroy their main camp.
- Qashliq Fortress ( Tatars): All cavalry, including Steppe Riders and Cavalry Archer. They have a Town Center and Villagers. There is a primary objective to destroy their base.
Strategy[]
Find a safe location to unload the boats[]
When the scenario begins, the player will be at the west end of a river, with two flat boats with Yermak, two Cossacks, and ten Streltsy between them. Yermak is a Dragoon-type Explorer unit, with a melee special ability "Bulava Maul" which deals high damage to a single target. He also has the typical hit point regeneration while idle (though not while loaded in a boat).
To start, land the troops on the right/northeastern side of the river, hotkey them, and load them all back into one boat only (Carefully exploring a bit from here will reveal a large group of enemy cavalry, and a coin mine). Use the unloaded boat to explore ahead of the loaded one, as ranged cavalry will target the boats from land if they get too close.
Next, scroll down to see a campfire on the left/southwestern side of the river with three Keshiks by it. Land Yermak there first, use his ability on one of the enemies for a one-hit kill, and while he takes aggro, land the player's Streltsy and Cossacks and assist Yermak with finishing them off. The player should be able to avoid any damage to the regular troops by using Yermak as a tank. Next, take out the Tigers and take the treasure - 30% hitpoints for the hero Yermak. He will now have 1,300 hitpoints, but there is currently a bug where he loses it later, which even affects earlier saves after that. Let Yermak heal if needed. Reload the troops, switching boats if the transporting one was damaged while landing.
Continue down the river, sticking to the middle to avoid enemies on the cliffs. At the river split, take the south fork, and now keep close to the southwestern side of the river, as there is a tower and troops on the island. There are also troops on the last cliffs on the southwestern side before the river expands. Rush past leading with the unloaded boat. Just past the "corner" cliff on the southwestern side with troops on it, further to the southwest, is another opening to land on, with another three Keshiks and an unguarded 150 wood treasure. Land as far south of it as possible to avoid the troops on the cliffs to the north. Head the boat towards it, then start clicking Yermak so he unloads as soon as possible and can tank damage instead of the boat. Use his ability on an enemy, and land the solders to help wipe up as before, keeping the player's troops on the south side. Reload the troops and continue southwest along the shoreline to reach the shallows.
Travel towards the safe location marked on the map[]
A voiceover will say that rocks block the way and that the player must continue on foot. However, to maximize the player's chances, it is better to go find some more wood treasures, explore, and gain additional shipments before the enemy AI starts raiding when the player starts a base.
Go directly north to see a small peninsula sticking out of the northeastern shore, and go around it into an inlet. The player will then see a 75 wood treasure guarded by two Tigers directly north, and a tower and Tatar cavalry to the southeast. This is a good place to save, as it's possible to lose Yermak to the enemy patrols. Be warned: it is also possible to attract enough of a patrol that the player won't be able to land anywhere, in which case it is recommended to go back to this save.
- Note: One possible, if cheesy, solution is to land Yermak and the Streltsy in the opening that held the unguarded wood treasure. The aggroed patrols will likely attempt to give chase here, allowing Yermak to pick them off from a safe distance thanks to his superior range, with the Streltsy able to provide support due to the distraction. This only works if Yermak is unloaded first.
Land Yermak and the Streltsy. Use Yermak's ability on the closer Tiger so the further one away comes closer, to help with avoiding patrols. Take the treasure, put the Streltsy in Defend Mode to keep them from moving around, and then carefully take Yermak (put him on Stand Ground or at least Defend Mode as well so he doesn't go off and try to fight the tower) east to the treasure north of the tower. It is worth 300 wood, but has two Delinquent Thuggees and three White Tigers guarding it. Use Yermak's ability on a Thuggee and then run back to the Streltsy (the tower will probably shoot at him a few times). The player can try shooting at the tigers to keep them coming back, but it is easier to just wait until Yermak's ability recharges and then take out the other Thuggee first. The player can draw off the tigers one by one after that and finish with Streltsy assisting Yermak. Reload the Streltsy and take the treasure with Yermak once done with the guardians. Another save point is suggested here.
Now, take Yermak along the west side of the pond by the treasure the player just took, and head directly north, slowly and watching for a large cavalry patrol. Once the player sees a small lake, head up its east side—further east are patrols that go along the visible dirt trail in the snow. Once the player reaches the northern corner of the lake and sees a campfire on the right, continue straight north. Deviate east and the player will run into patrols, deviate west and the player will run into a Tatar camp with towers and cavalry. The player will reach the green Russian Village (Russians) with a Town Center and some Blockhouses, as well as Villagers and some Streltsy. They are allied and an optional objective later is to defend them from the Tatar cavalry coming from the west and southwest of it. Head east along the line of the lower Houses and another lake to see another 100 wood treasure, this one guarded by two Polar Bears. Use Yermak's ability on one, run and recharge it, then repeat and take the treasure. If the player inches south of this point, another voiceover will occur and the player will see shallows—which have a large Tatar cavalry group patrolling it, so avoid getting close.
Return along the same path to the boats. The player may see or have seen another treasure a little west on the south side of the lake, guarded by two Snow Monkeys, but the reward is only the locations of treasures that the player have already mostly gotten, and there are at least six Tatar cavalry by it. Take the boats back south to the shoreline west of the southeast shallows and land. Take the troops east, but hug the shoreline to get past the flag without triggering it. Continue east to find another treasure, this one 205 food guarded by ten Snow Monkeys. Use Yermak's ability to take one out and take their aggro, and then assist him with the other troops to take the treasure. Take Yermak and the two Cossacks, assuming the player wants to defend the Russian village to the north later, back along the shoreline again avoiding the flag back to the boats, back up to the landing zone that the player used before, and then take them on Defend Mode up to the southeast corner of the lake. From there, the player can barely see the Tatar patrol going by now and then. Keep them here to be able to time taking a couple Villagers up later safely, and to allow Yermak to heal from the earlier fight with the Snow Monkeys.
Take the Streltsy to the flag and five Villagers and a Town Center wagon will appear and join the player's forces.
Build a Town Center to establish a camp[]
Start building a Town Center, about where it is, is fine, but avoid getting close to the shallows, as Tatar raids will come from that direction. Start the Villagers on food. Once the Town Center is built...
Destroy the Tatar fortress of Qashliq[]
- Protect the Russian Village to the North
- Destroy the Tatar Camp
Another five Villagers will arrive with the Town Center's completion. The player should now be at 22/25 population, so the player will want some Houses and a couple Blockhouses for defense, and the player will have an extra 625 wood from treasures for it. The player will also receive secondary objectives to defend the Russian village to the north that the player found earlier, and to destroy the Tatar camp to its southwest. If defended, they will assist the player with resources and send out troops to attack the enemy. It does require another front to fight on, as the player will also need to defend their own town from attacks to its north, and send an army to clean out the Tatar cavalry and a tower to the west to find more resources and a couple Trading Posts. The 6-7 shipments the player starts with after gaining all of the early XP will help with this, however.
Send one Villager to build two Blockhouses by the shallows, and a few Houses for both population and as a partial wall. Send two Villagers to the boats to join Yermak. Send the last two west along the edge of the map to herd in huntables, but do not go up the slope and cliffs, as there is a tower and more Tatar cavalry there.
Send the player's 600 food, 700 wood, 700 coin crates, 7 Sheep+Homestead Wagon, as well as Reformist Tsar once the player's Town Center is built and queue up Villagers. Queue up a group of Rekruts at one of the Blockhouses. The player will soon be raided by Steppe Riders and Cavalry Archers from the yellow Qashliq Fortress (Tatars), and by red Tatar Meteor Hammers and Keshiks.
Save the Homestead Wagon for an Estate in the Fortress Age, as those are the most expensive and the player will need at least three later on. Build a Livestock Pen and two more as wood permits, as well as a Market. Building a Church is also important. It is recommended to make four Priests, two each for the player's base defense and the Russian village defense. Do not upgrade to Veteran at the military buildings - use the Church's Westernization tech which will upgrade all troops to Veteran for 400 wood and coin instead, in order to save resources.
Keep sending in cards, especially for resources, and for troops if needed. The player will be fighting entirely cavalry, so focus on counters to those. Streltsy can still back up Rekruts and Poruchiks though, and Cavalry Archers are a good option instead of infantry if desired. Build a Blockhouse at the Russian village, and send the player's Fortress Age troops to its shipment point if the player does not require them at the main base. Ship the Town Center card and two Blockhouses card up there as well and make Poruchiks/Rekruts and Villagers there.
Age up with Heavy Cannon (to the Industrial Age) sent to the player's main base - these can assist with taking out the tower to the west. Alternatively the player can also send cards for Falconets and Heavy Cannons, and Mortars can be more useful for this task, due to the lack of enemy infantry and cannons. Make sure to check the edges of the cliffs when clearing out enemies to the west; there are scattered small groups as well as large groups by the tower, northeast of the first Trading Post, and northwest of the goats. The player will probably want about 40 infantry and a couple Priests for this. This opens up two Trading Posts, five Goats, two mines, a herd of huntables, and more wood.
Once the western area is clear, the player can move north from the base and place a Fort at the first shallows the player comes to on the right, just outside the enemy base, or bolster their army at the Russian village and take out the Tatar camp objective. The latter allows the player to be able to combine their armies to attack the Tatar camp. After that, the northern shallows found before by the Polar Bear wood treasure leads to a Tatar Town Center that can be destroyed, and another route to the main base from the north. This way, the northern and eastern sides can be attacked simultaneously. The Heavy Cannon and Falconets from the cards and additional (possibly from age up) are enough for the defenses, but Mortars can be used as well. Going up to the population cap and then sending the two Church technologies for cavalry can boost the player even further for an easy wipeout of the base and win.
By gaining extra XP early before the enemy AI starts raiding and the extra wood from treasures, it shouldn't be long before the raids become nothing more than an annoyance, even on hard difficulty.
Trivia[]
- The Tatars use a similar tech tree to the Chinese.
- This scenario is based on the Battle of Chuvash Cape.
Gallery[]
