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This article is about the scenario in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. For the scenario in Age of Empires IV, see The Battle of Hastings.

1066: the year that forever changed England. As William the Bastard, sail from Normandy to conquer England and be forever known to history as William the Conqueror.
—In-game scenario description in the Definitive Edition

Hastings is a campaign scenario in the Battles of the Conquerors. The player controls William the Conqueror in his quest to invade Britain. This scenario is based on the Battle of Hastings, and the Battle of Stamford Bridge is also depicted as well.

Intro[]

Mercenaries and Norman knights look dubiously at the ships that wobble in the black, fog-choked sea. What man is this Duke William to put so many horses on leaky transports? William ignores their questioning glances and stares across the channel in the direction of England.

Edward the Confessor is dead, and now three men claim rulership of England. Harold the Saxon sits on the English throne and even now hastens to fortify his shores against two invasions.

Harald Hardrada, King of Denmark and Norway, sends Vikings from the north as William invades from the south. The outcome of this three-way conflict is as murky as the fog that shrouds the English Channel.

Harold the Saxon's huskarls are professional soldiers, not mercenaries. William's only chance is to use heavy cavalry. To do so, he must first get all of these horses onto these unreliable boats. The future of England is about to be decided...

Mercenaries and Norman knights look dubiously at the ships that wobble in the black, fog-choked sea. What man is this Duke William to put so many horses on leaky transports? William ignores their questioning glances and stares across the channel in the direction of England.

Edward the Confessor is dead, and now three men claim rulership of England. Harold the Saxon sits on the English throne and even now hastens to fortify his shores against two invasions.

Harald Hardraade, King of Denmark and Norway, sends Vikings from the north as William invades from the south. The outcome of this three-way conflict is as murky as the fog that shrouds the English Channel.

Harold the Saxon's huskarls are professional soldiers, not mercenaries. William's only chance of defeating them is to use heavy cavalry. To do so, he must first get all of these horses onto these unreliable boats. The future of England is about to be decided...

Scenario instructions[]

Starting conditions[]

Differences between difficulty levels[]

  • On Standard, the player will start with Murder Holes already researched. There will be no Bombard Tower to the west, east, and south of Harold the Saxon's Castle. Harold the Saxon will not train as many units and so it will be easier to destroy the enemy Castle.

Objectives[]

  • William the Conqueror must survive.
  • Conquer England by destroying the Castle of Harold the Saxon (orange).

Later Objectives[]

  • OPTIONAL: Send Transports to the north to pick up Harald Hardrada's Viking Berserks.

Hints[]

  • 1. While you prepare your army to invade England, be watchful of Saxon attacks into Normandy.
  • 2. The Isle of Wight, along England's southern shore, is a safe staging ground for your invasion.

Scouts[]

  • Your scouts report: The Normans (blue) have a large town established in France. Their lands should be free of enemy marauders, but Harold's Raiders (yellow) could attack at any moment.
  • The Saxon Navy (red) will try to repel any Norman Transports or warships that threaten Harold's Army (orange). You can try to defeat the Saxon Navy's shipyards to the north and south before laying siege to Harold the Saxon's Castle near London.
  • The Vikings under Harald Hardrada (cyan) are a wildcard. They are at war with Harold the Saxon, but can they be trusted?

Players[]

Player[]

  • Player (CivIcon-Franks Franks): Located in Normandy, at the eastern part of the map. The player starts with a small base with a Castle and a few units. The player needs to find a proper place to cross the English Channel and destroy Harold's Castle.

Enemy → Ally[]

  • Harald Hardrada (CivIcon-Vikings Vikings): Located in Norway, at the northern tip of the map. He has Berserks and Longboats. Once the player accepts his alliance offer, he will begin his invasion of England, having his ground forces defeated at Stamford Bridge (at the northwest), while having a few Longboats sunk at the south of England. After this, the player will take control of his hero unit, as well as his Berserks and Longboats, which are still in Norway, and he will request a Transport Ship. Once the player's Transport Ship reaches Norway, the player will receive tribute from him.

Enemies[]

  • Harold's Raiders (CivIcon-Goths Goths): Based at the southeastern part of the map, with a Watch Tower and a few soldiers at the northeastern part of the map. Despite being the nearest threat, they will remain stationary and will not actively attack the player, unless provoked (e.g. entering their line of sight). Their force consists of Huskarls and Pikemen.
  • Harold the Saxon (CivIcon-Goths Goths): Located at the central-western part of the map, where London is located. The player must destroy his Castle there to win. His army is primarily composed of Huskarls, Spearmen and Archers, and he will upgrade these units. He is generally passive, but once the player builds any buildings in Britain, he will turn aggressive and attack the player.
  • Saxon Navy (CivIcon-Goths Goths): Protecting Harold the Saxon, they have a ground military base at the western tip of the map (including a Market), two Docks at the northwestern part of the map, and a civilian base at the southern-central part of the map (including a Dock). It is the strongest player in this scenario, and will advance to the Imperial Age soon. The navy will keep invading France until all their docks are destroyed. They field Galleys and Fire Galleys at sea, and employ a mix of Huskarls, Spearmen, and Battering Rams on land, and will upgrade all of these units as soon as they are able.

Strategy[]

At the start of the game, both the Saxons (Harold's Raiders (yellow), Harold the Saxon (orange), and Saxon Navy (red), all Goths) and the Vikings (Harald Hardrada, cyan) are hostile to the player. Research Murder Holes, Bodkin Arrow, and Ballistics and mine stone for a second Castle on the shore. Meanwhile, use William the Conqueror to scout the path to the shore and lure any enemy units into the player's starting Castle. When the path is cleared, send the Villagers to build the second Castle, which will take care of enemy ships and prevent enemy landings.

After 2 minutes and 50 seconds, Hardrada will offer an alliance, which the player should accept. Then the player can watch his soldiers' failed invasion of England, and the player will take control of him and his remaining warriors (still in Norway). Note that this part of the scenario is often bugged, with Hardrada's troops landing on the coast of England and then advancing no further. If this happens, send a Mangonel by Transport Ship over to where Hardrada's units in England are standing idle, and then have it use Attack Ground to destroy them. This will trigger Hardrada's transfer of his remaining units to the player.

Meanwhile the Saxon Navy will attack with a small group of Huskarls. When this happens, garrison the Villagers in the Castle and let the Castle kill the Huskarls.

When the second Castle is built, build a Dock and a Transport Ship to transport Hardrada's units to Normandy, where they can help defend the player's base from the Saxon Navy's landings.

Keep gathering resources, advance to the Imperial Age, and start creating an army and a navy to defend the Transport Ships (research Careening). Since the Saxons rely on Huskarls, training archers is out of the question (the creation of Hand Cannoneers is disabled in this scenario). While the narration suggests using heavy cavalry against enemy Huskarls, the Saxons also train Halberdiers, and, thanks to the Goths' civilization bonuses, as well as their unique technology Perfusion, they can easily overwhelm the player's cavalry. Therefore, it is better to use Elite Throwing Axemen (research the Frankish unique technology Bearded Axe) and Hardrada's surviving Berserks. Since Harold the Saxon's Castle is uphill and has 9,600 HP, the player should also bring lots of Trebuchets (with Siege Engineers researched). Since the player may end up being overwhelmed by Harold the Saxon's numerical advantage, the Trebuchets should focus on destroying the Castle as fast as possible.

Harold the Saxon will train units, but will remain defensive unless the player builds a base in England. Any buildings on the English mainland will trigger Harold to go on the offensive. The island to the south is a safe spot for the player, since Harold will not react to buildings on the island.

Note: if playing on standard difficulty, Harold the Saxon does not train as many units and so Hardrada's Berserks are enough to protect the player's Trebuchets.

Alternatively, the player can train 40 Petards (once again, research Siege Engineers) and send them to destroy the Castle. With such an high number of Petards, Harold the Saxon will not be able to kill them before they get close enough to the Castle and destroy it.

Outro[]

Harold the Saxon's huskarls looked certain to defend the crown for him as they fought the Vikings to a bloody stalemate at Stamford Bridge. Despite his losses, Harold marched his exhausted troops south to meet William the Conqueror near Hastings.

William's archers and pikemen were no match for Harold the Saxon's veteran huskarls, Harold even broke the charge of William's Knights. William himself went down in the fray, and as rumors of his death spread, the Normans turned to flee.

William was not dead, however, and he rallied his troops by throwing aside his helmet so they could see his clean-shaven face and know that he was alive. William and his armored knights rode down the huskarls, breaking the Saxon force, and continued their ride all the way to London. William was crowned king on Christmas Day.

Because his reign eventually ushered England into a position of unprecedented world leadership, the year 1066 became established as the most famous date in English history.

Harold the Saxon's huskarls looked certain to defend the crown for him as they fought the Vikings to a bloody stalemate at Stamford Bridge. Despite his losses, Harold marched his exhausted troops south to meet William the Conqueror near Hastings.

William's archers and pikemen were no match for Harold the Saxon's veteran huskarls. Harold even broke the charge of William's Knights. William himself went down in the fray and as rumors of his death spread, the Normans turned to flee.

But William was not dead, and he rallied his troops by throwing aside his helmet so they could see his clean-shaven face and know he was alive. William and his armored knights rode down the huskarls, breaking the Saxon force, and continued their ride all the way to London. William was crowned king on Christmas Day.

Because his reign eventually ushered England into a position of unprecedented world leadership, the year 1066 became established as the most famous date in English history.

Trivia[]

  • In reality, Harald Hardrada and William the Conqueror were separated claimants over the English throne.
  • Contrary to the game, Harald Hardrada was actually killed in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, marking the end of the Viking Age.
  • The Normans are represented in this scenario by the Franks, which is historically accurate as the descendants of the Viking settlers of Normandy under Rollo had by the time of the Norman conquest assimilated into the culture of their adopted country and did indeed consider themselves as Franks (the terms French and France did not come into widespread use until the reign of King Philip II Augustus), albeit speaking their own distinct dialect of the French language.
  • The Normans in this scenario are represented by the Franks, while the Normans in the The Hautevilles, Bari, and Edward Longshanks campaigns are all represented by Sicilians.
  • Harold is represented by the Goths. While seemingly not historically accurate, it is a better fit than the Britons for the infantry-heavy armies of the Anglo-Saxons, the troops of which were the household troops or huscarl, the old English spelling of the Danish Huskarl.
  • The intro states that Harald Hardrada was King of Denmark and Norway; only the latter is true. The King of Denmark at the time was Sweyn II.
  • Harold the Saxon's Bombard Towers are obviously anachronistic, as gunpowder had not been introduced into Europe yet.
  • In the co-op campaign mode, both human players are unable to build Trebuchets and Harold the Saxon's Bombard Towers are replaced by Watch Towers. The color for the second player is green, and their camp is north of the first player's main base, near Harald Hardrada's camp. Additionally, the second player controls another hero unit named Alan Rufus. A new AI player called the Saxon Army is present, and controls the western camp that the Saxon Navy controlled for the normal campaign mode.
    • It would be more accurate for the second player to be represented by the Celts, as Alan Rufus was a Breton Knight, and Bretons had Celtic heritage.
  • This battle reappears in the first scenario of the The Normans campaign in Age of Empires IV, but at a minor scale (only the battle where Harold the Saxon dies is played there).
  • At the end of the scenario, William is lauded as "King of England and Normandy". While this is de facto correct, as he now ruled both domains, his actual titles were King of England and Duke of Normandy; his holdings in Normandy remained formally subject to the King of France, and William was officially both a vassal of the French King (as the Duke of Normandy) and an equal (as the King of England).
  • Due to the size changes in the Definitive Edition, there is a Huskarl that is stuck in Harold's Castle.
  • In a previous version of the Definitive Edition, the name "Harald Hardraade" was used instead of "Harald Hardrada" in all text such as hero name, player name, objectives, etc, except for the intro and dialogues, which used "Hardrada".

Gallery[]

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