| “ | Once again, we emerge from battle victorious. The Company proves time and again that it is unstoppable. It does not give confidence. On the contrary, every time I lift my sword I do not know whom to strike: my people, or my employer. | ” |
| —Description in the Definitive Edition | ||
Fires of Calcutta is the second scenario of Act III: India in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It shows the ever-increasing violence and bloodshed from the revolting Indians. The scenario features waves of constant attacks by small groups of revolting Indian troops.
Objectives[]
- Move east to the Company Town Center. (1,000 XP)
- Destroy the 8 Barracks of the resistance fighters. (10,000 XP)
- Protect the Company Command Post. (4,000 XP)
Players[]
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Player[]
- British India Company (
Indians): The player start out in Calcutta with Nanib Sahir and Colonel Edwardson, as well as a small band of Sepoy, Urumi, and Sowar.
Enemy[]
- Indian Mutineers ( Indians): Enemy units will quickly start attacking the player's forces. Small bands of Arsonists and Chakram Throwers will resume their raids on the village from both the north, south, and possibly east, and will put the player on constant alert.
Treasures[]
There are fourteen treasures across the map: two on the northern trade route, four on the southwestern trade route, one on the plateau west of the lake, two north of the player's base, two east on the map near an enemy base, and three on the plateau south on the map.
The map[]
Minimap.
The terrain is similar to the Deccan map. The player has food, coin, and wood in the northeast. The best thing the player can do once the natural resources are consumed is send a Mango Grove from the Home City for more wood and build Rice Paddies for food and coin. To the north and southwest are two mutineer-controlled Trade Routes that the player can conquer and control and upgrade to Iron Horse to receive a constant trickle of resources.
Strategy[]
The player's main focus should be on going east towards the center of the map, where a village lies. Use the heroes' abilities to help, but try not to fight early on.
Once the player's forces reaches the village Town Center, they will automatically be granted control of the colony as well as the Villagers. 10 Villagers on wood will be important to sustain production. There are berries, but huntables are available and faster to collect from. Due to the lack of Villagers and resources, building a Market may be helpful in distributing and receiving wood, coin, and food. A deck will available and 6 free Home City Cards will be generously gifted. A Caravanserai will also be provided. Wood shipments will be important until the base is set up and the northern forest is secure.
Once the player starts massing an army, small bands of Arsonists and Chakram Throwers will resume their raids on the village from both the north, south, and possibly east, and will put the player on constant alert. Due to the majority of the enemy units in the scenario being infantry, an army of Sowars and Gurkhas will be helpful. Sepoys are no longer as effective due to the Chakram's damage bonus against them; Castles can be helpful for garrisoning villagers, but several barracks will be more important for producing defenders. Mahout Lancers will be the best unit for fighting off the Arsonists and Chakrams, as they take little damage from them and deal high damage back.
The Northern crossing should be guarded first, as it is a chokepoint for most of the barracks on the west of the map. If aging up, the coin from the Taj Mahal can help produce more units.
When the player's army becomes large enough, they can start to advance south in the plains or west across the river (there is one along the riverbank under the cliff as well as one in the northwest) towards the nearby isolated barracks and stop them training raiding units. In the south, the Trade Routes are near each enemy settlement and once the player takes out each base, they can build the Trading Posts for extra resources (although it is not necessary). It may be helpful to use Siege Elephants for the base in the east. Once the 8 Barracks are destroyed and the last remaining rebel troops are killed, the player will finally complete the scenario.
Alternative Strategy (no Town)[]
The player can win this scenario or come close to it without claiming the town. The spawn time between enemy units being created is so long the player can deal considerable damage to them before having to retreat with the heroes. The enemy units will not pursue the player's units after they go far enough away.
On the easy and normal difficulties, the various Barracks the player must destroy are lightly guarded and only spawn one final group of units when near destruction, making this process fairly straightforward. On hard, the player will need to micro heavily to kill the occasional spawning of enemy units. This process can be sped up considerably by:
- Setting hotkeys for the 2 heroes
- Letting Colonel Edwardson fall unconscious, because it is more effective if revived within the range of enemy units
- Using the higher speed and range of Nanib Sahir to micro down enemy units
- Using Nanib's Eye of the Assassin ability on the strongest enemy units
- Using the Sepoys to also siege enemy buildings, making sure to retreat them before taking significant damage from enemy units
On the map, there are some Cows which can be found, which will generate xp, allowing the player to gain access to many cards from the xp generated over the time of destroying enemy Barracks.
If the player knows the locations, they can micro the starting units and exploit the heroes' regeneration to destroy many Barracks before claiming the town, significantly reducing the challenge, but increasing the time to beat the scenario.
One of the Barracks is completely guarded by a Castle, so it will be hard to destroy before claiming the town, though it should be easily rushed down after claiming the town.
Trivia[]
- When the first mutinies happened in 1857, the mutineers attacked the British bases all along India. Among them was the most important one, Calcutta, which was the capital of the Bengal Presidency and of all British India until King George V changed the capital to New Delhi in 1911.
Gallery[]
