A demo scenario in the beta version of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was available to beta testers before the game's release, and was showcased in E3 2019. The player was challenged to command a Byzantine army and defeat all enemies by destroying a series of buildings before time ran out. At the end, the points earned by the player was displayed.
Mongol Raiders, a very similar scenario, was released as a temporary event challenge in a later update.
Summary[]
Explore the map for blue enemy flags placed in front of structures.- Destroy the flagged enemy buildings to gain the enemy civilization's loot.
- Build new units back at your city to reinforce your army.
- Time is limited so be aggressive!
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age: Imperial Age
- Starting resources: None, then 2,000 food, 2,000 wood, 1,500 gold, 600 stone
- Population limit: 200
- Starting units:
- Byzantine General (modified Belisarius)
- Obtained from ally:
- 19 Elite Cataphracts
- 12 Arbalesters
- 6 Champions
- 4 Monks
- 3 Hussars
- 2 Trebuchets
- 2 Capped Rams
- 1 Onager
- 28 Villagers
- 19
Objectives[]
- Bring the Byzantine General (your hero) to his army (3, Green) to assume command of it.
- Defeat the Japanese (2, Red) by destroying their Wonder for 4,000 points.
- Score 4,000 points!
- Keep advancing, crush your foes, and score as many points as possible!
- Defeat the Franks (4, Yellow) by destroying their Castle for 1,000 points.
- Defeat the Aztecs (5, Cyan) by destroying their Monastery for 1,000 points.
- Defeat the Burmese (8, Orange) by destroying their Town Center for 1,000 points.
- Defeat the Malians (6, Purple) by destroying their Town Center for 2,000 points.
- Defeat the Saracens (7, Grey) by destroying their Town Center for 2,000 points.
Hints[]
- Be aggressive! You have a very limited amount of time, so do not waste any!
- To defeat your enemies in this scenario, you only have to destroy their Monasteries, their Castles, or their Town Centers. Do not bother with the rest.
- If you defeat an enemy, you will capture their supplies. Use these extra resources to fuel your attack on the next player.
- There are two paths to the Japanese Wonder. On each path lie different enemies with their own strengths and weaknesses. Make sure to use your own civilization's strengths to defeat each of them.
- Chat '200' to the Japanese to see all of the objectives and chat '201' to the Japanese to hide these objectives again.
Scouts[]
- Your ally (3, Green) has managed to conquer half of the city, but has not yet been able to cross the river and seize the other half. Go meet up with their army to gain control of it.
- The fiendish Franks (4, Yellow) control the other half of the city. Kick them out! Their force consists of Knights, Spearmen, Throwing Axemen, and some siege units.
- To the north are the brutal Burmese (8, Orange). They rely on Battle Elephants, swordsmen, Arambai, Scorpions, and warships to defend their petty base.
- East of the Burmese are the malicious Malians (6, Purple). These desert dwellers have amassed a large army of Heavy Camels[sic], Elite Gbetos, Heavy Scorpions, and swordsmen. They will not stop your mighty army!
- To the south of the city are the atrocious Aztecs (5, Cyan). Their Eagle Warriors, Skirmishers, Crossbowmen, and Mangonels are no threat to our mighty cavalry forces, but beware of their Monks. They are very annoying.
- Next to the Aztecs are the savage Saracens (7, Grey). Not only do they have Arbalesters, Elite Mamelukes, Heavy Camels, and Siege Onagers; they also dominate the shallows with their Galleons.
- Finally, there is our arch enemy, the jarring Japanese (2, Red). Entrenched on a cliff fortified with Keeps and Castles, they think that their massive army will be enough to prevent us from destroying their Wonder. They could not be more wrong. We will destroy their Arbalesters, Halberdiers, Cavaliers, Trebuchets, and Elite Samurai with impunity and tear their precious Wonder down brick by brick.
Players[]
- The Player ( Byzantines) begins on the northwestern corner with only a Byzantine General.
Ally[]
- The Byzantines ( Byzantines) occupy the northwest with abundant resources, troops, Villagers, and buildings. When the Byzantine General reaches the flag next to their Castle, they fall under the control of the player.
Enemies[]
- The Japanese ( Japanese) occupy the eastern corner and are the most formidable enemy. The player must destroy their Wonder.
- The Franks ( Franks) are just across the river and are the weakest enemy. The player must destroy their Castle to take over their buildings and resources.
- The Aztecs ( Aztecs) occupy the south. The player must destroy their Monastery.
- The Malians ( Malians) have a walled town to the northeast. The player must destroy their Castle.
- The Saracens ( Saracens) occupy the southeast. The player must destroy their Town Center.
- The Burmese ( Burmese) have a walled town in the northern corner of the map. The player must destroy their Town Center.
Strategy[]
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There is timer of 264 years at the start of the match. The year counter goes down by one every five in-game seconds. The player is also notified that they have 15 minutes to attain victory, although this does not correspond to the timer given.
With the large starting army and resources, the player should not find much difficulty in clearing out the nearest enemies. The player can first train more Villagers and set up more Farms, while also researching Blacksmith technologies immediately. Unit upgrades can be obtained later. A composition of Arbalesters with cavalry or Halberdiers in front, or a mix of Paladins and Elite Cataphracts, should be able to deal with most enemies. Breaking into the Japanese base may be time consuming due to their many Keeps atop cliffs.
Trivia[]
- Players can play this scenario by copying the
0_E3_Scenario.aoe2scenariofile from the directory...\steamapps\common\AoE2DE\resources\_common\campaigntoC:\Users\<username>\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<numbers>\resources\_common\scenario, and choosing it as a custom scenario in the skirmish settings.
