| “ | Athenian raiders arrive in the Peloponnese, surrounding the town of Methone. The Spartan general Brasidas prepares to break the siege - and make himself a hero. | ” |
| —In-game summary | ||
I am Brasidas is the first scenario of the third act of the Battle for Greece grand campaign in Chronicles: Battle for Greece, and the sixteenth scenario overall.
Intro[]
The plague killed Pericles, and with him Athens' steady hand. Perhaps Pericles was fortunate, in a way. He died at the height of his fame, before he could suffer the inevitable downfall of great men in Athens.
But enough of Athens. Let me tell you of the Peloponnese, homeland of the Spartans, where jagged mountains loom over plains riven by earthquakes. All along its rugged coastline came Athenian raiders: triremes drove their bronze-clad prows onto Peloponnesian shores, vengeful hoplites swarming out like hornets. For the most part, the Spartans were unsuited to deal with these raids — they have always been a slow, ponderous people.
The dashing general Brasidas, however, was no typical Spartan: energetic, gregarious, eloquent, sharp in thought and quick in action. When Athenian raiders came to Methone, the town cried out for just such a savior — if only Brasidas could make it in time…
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Classical Age - Starting resources: 200 food, 200 wood, 100 gold, 200 stone
- Population limit: 200
- Starting units:
Objectives[]
Main objectives[]
- Sneak Brasidas and Lysander into Methone before daybreak.
- Brasidas and Lysander must survive.
- Do not lost the Fort in Methone.
- Prepare for the Athenians attack at daybreak.
- Destroy the Athenian supply camps. 4/4 remaining.
- Survive the final Athenian assault.
Secondary objectives[]
- Choose a Bodyguard unit for Brasidas by bringing him to the desired unit.
- Train a Polemarch at the Town Center.
- Destroy the Sapper Tunnels.
- Clear Athenians from the Helot camps to gain supplies.
- Bring 0/10 goats to the Greedy blacksmith.
- Bring Brasidas to the old man.
Hints[]
- Defend the city by day, when the Athenians will launch relentless attacks. At night, raid the Athenian supply bases by sneaking out of the exits to the north and south of the city. Just remember to get your units back in time to defend during the day!
- Do not try to assault the Athenian's main siege camp directly. Use the sneaky exits to skirt around them.
- Gain extra resources by bringing in supplies from the Helots.
- Once you have taken out the supply bases, the Athenians will make one final push against the city before their supplies run dry. Be ready to repel it.
- The Spartans have fearsome heavy infantry, including their tough-as-nails unique unit, the Hippeus. They can also create up to two Polemarchs at the Town Center. These increase the stats of nearby units, as well as being formidable fighters themselves.
- Spartans cannot build Walls so try to defend Methone's existing fortifications.
- You are under siege and cannot build offensive siege weapons (Rams and Palintonons)
- Brasidas starts out with an infantry aura. Do as the Greedy Blacksmith asks to unlock his second aura effect.
- Like the aura, the choice of Bodyguard in this scenario affects future scenarios. You can recruit your chosen Bodyguard at the Fort in this and future scenarios.
- Helot Levies, one of the Spartan technologies available at the Fort, will help you build up your economy quickly.
- The old man side quest is only available if the player chose to bring the Bowl of Menelaus to Pausanias' camp in the scenario Across the Wine-Dark Sea. This quest increases the attack of Hoplites.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Spartans): The player starts with just a small force of heavy infantry in the southeast of the map. They must make their way to Methone in the west to take control of the city and its garrison, and then defend it from attack.
Allies[]
- Helots ( Spartans): The Helots are not a directly involved player, making up just a few occupied Farms for the player to liberate. They do not contribute directly to the effort to break the siege, but freeing them spawns resources in the form of Ox Carts and a Donkey.
- Methone ( Spartans): Methone is the city in the center of the map. It contains most buildings available, and turns over almost everything to the player once they arrive, holding only a few buildings that they do not use, and a handful of troops based on what Bodyguard the player does not choose guarding the Fort.
Enemies[]
- Athenians ( Athenians): The Athenians have a siege camp extending along most of the inland wall of Methone. Their siege base is mostly invincible, and constantly produces units to prepare to attack. They also have four guarded supply camps, and four small forces occupying Helot Farms.
Strategy[]
If done with care, this scenario can be finished without much difficulty. Begin by bringing the player's initial force into the city, fighting a small group of Hoplites on the way (the small group of Hoplites will not appear if the player groups their units in two and send them into the city a few seconds apart). Once inside, bring this force to the Fort and choose a Bodyguard unit. While this is happening, bring the handfuls of soldiers near the Gates the player now has to the Fort too. Set the player's Villagers to work, focusing on food and gold, with some wood.
The player wants to try to research technologies to benefit the troops, like armor technologies, early, while also managing to build three Mangonels. As the hints suggest, the Helot Levies technology will help in constructing an economy quickly. Put a Mangonel near the top three Gates clockwise, not counting the one by the mountain path. Focus these Mangonels on the rams when the attacks come, and this will significantly slow down Athenian progress.
Once the player has some Blacksmith technologies researched and consolidated the player's forces into one army, send them up the mountain path. At the end, the player will find a barricade. Travel shortly east to find a path around the barricade, sparing the player time and troop hit points. Attack and destroy the supply camp. This counts towards the main objective, and severely limits or eliminates the Athenians' ability to field ranged units in their siege. Continue east to find the first Helot Farm, occupied by Athenians, and eliminate them. This will free the Farm and grant the player a supply cart. Send it down the mountain path into the city to receive 1,500 food, 2,000 wood, 1,000 gold. Use these resources for more technologies and building up a force to defend the city, and/or reinforce Brasidas outside the city.
Just east of this first Helot Farm is the second supply camp. Being careful of the Mangonels and Scorpions, eliminate this base for the main objective, also hampering the Athenians being able to field Scorpions and Mangonels. By this point, this force may need reinforcements, but the player is likely to face the first attack if the player hasn't already. Focus on keeping the Athenians out of the walls, at least out of the inner wall. Do not try to attack their siege base, as their military buildings are invincible. Sapper Tunnels may begin to appear, but do not worry. They take some time to complete, and the player can win the scenario before they accomplish anything significant.
Reinforce the player's troops outside when the player can, and continue on. If the player finds any Goats, send them through the mountain path to the city, as eventually, the Greedy Blacksmith will ask for 10 Goats in exchange for an aura upgrade, though it is possible to win the scenario before this occurs. If the player wants it, try to take it slow.
Depending on how the player is doing, the player can either free more Helots for more carts, or focus on the supply camps to win as quickly as possible. It is possible to skirt around the Helot Farms to reach the next supply base, which is guarded by a decent force of cavalry units. Destroying this base makes it difficult for the Athenians to train more cavalry for the siege.
The final supply camp is along the beach, with decent infantry forces, as well as towers and several beached ships that can attack at range. Reinforce the army if needed (potentially with Catapult Ships), and wipe out this camp. Once this is done, immediately bring the player's army back up to the Fort, as the Athenians prepare for their final attack.
This attack will be large, and definitely break through the walls. Do not bother guarding the walls, the Fort is the priority. Garrison it with Bowmen and train as many Hippeis or Hoplites as the player can, and stay here. As the Athenians break through, they will attack everything in their sight, which means the Athenians at the closest Gate with reach the Fort first, and should be handled easily, and then the other forces will close in separately, making them easier to pick off. Depending on how well the Gates were defended and how much of their forces are left, the player can send the troops to go clean them up, so long as ensuring the Fort is not in danger.
Once this final attack is defeated, the scenario is won.
Hard difficulty[]
On hard difficulty, the enemy assaults are larger, are reinforced more frequently, land in the port in the city as well, behind the player's walls, and generally are much more difficult to survive.
A time-consuming and dangerous method to getting an advantage in this scenario involves using the player's initial force, Brasidas and Lysander primarily, to kite units from the Athenian Camps and Helot villages. This might require save scumming, as neither hero can die this early. It also takes a long time for them to heal. The player can lead enemies out a few at a time until they either clear out a village, and send the resources to the city, or are able to attack and destroy the Storehouses or Leviathan on the beach camp.
The player must make absolutely sure to protect Brasidas and Lysander, and save often. This method should mean that by the time they take the city, the player only needs to weather the final assault before winning the scenario.
Gallery[]
