Into China is the third scenario of the Genghis Khan campaign in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. It is a simplified version of the Mongol conquest of China (1205-1279).
Intro[]
Now all of Mongolia is in the grasp of Genghis Khan. Beyond are two vast empires: China to the east and Persia to the west. Persia is the sensible next choice of battle, since it separates us from the rich forage pastures in Europe.
But first, Genghis Khan has another score to settle.
After witnessing the power of our cavalry in action, the Chinese spoke of nothing but peace. They even promised support for our campaign westward.
But now that we have turned away from China, they decided not to deliver the men and arms they promised Genghis.
It is time for another demonstration. Persia can wait as the Horde wheels east once more, and we prepare to march into China, the largest, most advanced empire in the world.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Feudal Age - Starting resources: 800 food, 1,000 wood, 800 gold, 1,200 stone
- Population limit: 150 (75 before the Definitive Edition)
- Starting units:
- Gaia units:
- 6 Villagers
- 6 Bombard Cannons
- 1 Rocket Cart (Mangonel before update 141935)
- 1 Battering Ram
- 1 Transport Ship
- 6
- Gaia buildings (PS2 only*):
- 1 Town Center
- 5 Houses
- 6 Farms
- 4 Siege Workshop
- 1
* Replaces the Engineers player, which is not in this version.
Objectives[]
Hints[]
- Genghis Khan is restricted to a population limit of 150.
- The Great Wall will give you trouble without siege equipment. Fortunately, you can capture some siege units northeast of it.
- Your initial base can defend you for a short time, but you will soon have to push into China to find resources.
- The Chinese factions will put aside their differences to fight a common enemy. You must wage war on all four at once, lest one of them gains the upper hand.
- The Great Wall will give you trouble without siege equipment. Fortunately you can capture some siege units northeast of the Wall.
- Your initial base can defend you for a short time, but you will soon have to push into China to find resources.
- The Chinese nations will put aside their differences to fight a common enemy. You must wage war on all four at once, lest one of them gain the upper hand.
Scouts (Definitive Edition)[]
- Genghis Khan's horde (1, Orange) has assembled to the north of China.
- The Jin (4, Yellow) live to the east and own a large fortified city. They will train Knights, Chu Ko Nu, and will also construct Trebuchets.
- The Hsi Hsia (3, Green) control the Great Wall of China. Their army consists of Chu Ko Nu, Light Cavalry, and Onagers.
- The center of the map is controlled by the Tanguts (2, Red), who will train Crossbowmen, Battering Rams, and Scorpions.
- The Song (5, Cyan) are the weakest of your opponents. They only own insignificant estates in the southwest that are guarded by archery units.
- Camps of Chinese siege engineers (6, Blue) can be found in the northwestern and northeastern regions of the map.
Players[]
Player[]
- Genghis Khan (colored cyan in the Beta) ( Mongols): The player starts in the north, only with 4 Light Cavalry and 6 Cavalry Archers. They must acquire some Villagers and defeat all enemies.
Enemies[]
- Engineers ( Chinese): The Engineers have a small town at the northeastern part of the map defended with a few Militia and Crossbowmen. There are also a few Gaia Villagers, a Gaia Rocket Cart (Mangonel before the Definitive Edition), and a Gaia Battering Ram in their base. They have another two Siege Workshops at the northwestern part of the map, along with a few Gaia Bombard Cannons.
- Jin ( Jurchens (Chinese before update 141935)): Jin occupies a large fortified city on an island to the east. They train Steppe Lancers (formerly Knights/Cavaliers), Iron Pagodas (formerly Chu Ko Nus), Rocket Carts, Grenadiers and Monks. They will start building a Wonder when the game has exceeded 2400 seconds (40 minutes), and have the right amount of resources and Market price (they might sell food, buy or sell wood, and buy stone, in order to prepare the necessary materials). In versions before the Definitive Edition, they train only Chu Ko Nus, Cavaliers, and Monks.
- Hsi Hsia ( Chinese): Hsi Hsia owns the Great Wall of China and has a small town in the center of the map. They train Scout Cavalry/Light Cavalry, Rocket Carts (formerly Mangonels/Onagers), Chu Ko Nu, and Trebuchets. They also have several outposts outside the great wall. At Standard difficulty, the towers at the Great Wall would not attack the player unless the Wall is being attacked.
- Tanguts ( Chinese): The Tanguts have their town and farming areas in the center of the map, northwest of the Hsi Hsia. Once the player obtains the Gaia 'Engineers', the Tanguts immediately tribute 10,000 food, 10,000 wood, 10,000 gold, 10,000 stone to Jin. Their army consists of Archers/Crossbowmen/Arbalesters, Battering Rams/Capped Rams/Siege Rams, Scorpions, and Monks.
- Song (Sung before the Definitive Edition) ( Chinese): The Song have a small town in the southwest. They are the weakest player. Starting from the scratch with only a Town Center and three Villagers, they later train Men-at-Arms/Long Swordsmen, Archers/Crossbowmen, Skirmishers/Elite Skirmishers, and Monks.
Player[]
- Genghis Khan ( Mongols): The player starts in the north, only with 4 Light Cavalry and 6 Cavalry Archers. They must acquire some Villagers and defeat all enemies.
Enemies[]
- Jin ( Chinese): Jin occupies a large fortified city on an island to the east. They train Knights/Cavaliers, Chu Ko Nu, and Monks. They will start building a Wonder when the game has exceeded 2400 seconds (40 minutes), and have the right amount of resources and Market price (they might sell food, buy or sell wood, and buy stone, in order to prepare the necessary materials).
- Hsi Hsia ( Chinese): Hsi Hsia owns the Great Wall of China and has a small town in the center of the map. They train Scout Cavalry/Light Cavalry, Rocket Cart line (formerly Mangonels/Onagers), Chu Ko Nu, and Trebuchets. They also have several Outposts outside the great wall. On standard difficulty, the towers in the Great Wall do not attack the player unless the Wall is being attacked. This player shares some walls with Tanguts and is also taking control of the units of the Engineers, which are not in this version.
- Tanguts ( Chinese): The Tanguts have their town and farming areas in the center of the map, northwest of the Hsi Hsia. Once the player obtains the Gaia 'Engineers', the Tanguts immediately tribute 10,000 food, 10,000 wood, 10,000 gold, 10,000 stone to Jin. Their army consists of Archers/Crossbowmen/Arbalesters, Battering Rams/Capped Rams/Siege Rams, Scorpions, and Monks. This player shares some walls with Hsi Hsia.
Dialogue[]
When approaching the Great Wall of China:
Mongol Soldier: The Great Wall of Chinaโฆour army is not equipped to deal with such walls. Scouts report a Chinese village to the northeast. Perhaps we can 'convince' some siege engineers to join us.
When capturing a Transport Ship:
Mongol Soldier: Great Khan, we have captured a transport ship.
Upon approaching Engineers:
Chinese Engineer: Mongols! Run for your lives!
When capturing the Villagers:
Mongol Soldier: Great Khan, with these engineers, we can establish a stronghold in China and construct powerful engines of destruction.
When Jin builds a Wonder:
Jin: What do a people who sleep in tents know of the word 'culture'?
Strategy[]
To win, the player must defeat four Chinese factions, the Tanguts, Hsi Hsia, Jin, and Sung. The player will lose if Jin's Wonder stands for 300 years. The player can advance to the Imperial Age. The Tanguts, Hsi Hsia, and Jin can advance to the Imperial Age as well.
To reach the enemy bases, the player must destroy the Great Wall or circumvent it. Destroying the wall is easier after attacking a tribe of Engineers which allows the Siege Workshop to be built. Unfortunately, while the former Engineer base is a good place to start off and build an base, said area lacks crucial resources.
Another location to establish a camp is just south of where the player's starting forces started. This area offers enough resources to sustain an army in order to take down the Great Wall. However, the player will be pestered by raids non-stop. Also, Jin will build a Wonder if the player takes too long to defeat them, so defeating this player should be a top priority.
The best start is to find the Transport Ship and move all units east to the Engineers' island, landing up the inlet. This will give the player a Rocket Cart (Mangonel before the Definitive Edition), a ram, and 6 Villagers. Quickly kill the Engineers' troops to protect the Rocket Cart, then send all units to the eastern end of the island, ignoring the buildings. Transport the Villagers and siege units east to the next island, then head south towards Jin's walls. Build a Town Center on the path heading towards the Gate, then five Houses and some Farms and more Villagers to chop. While this is happening move the Rocket Cart into position to destroy the Gate without getting hit by the towers. It is slow and takes several minutes, but the player gets time to make two buildings for the Castle Age. Keep the starting cavalry force right there in case Jin sends some Chu Ko Nu, so the player can save the Rocket Cart. Once the Gate falls, send in the ram to take both towers right at the Gate. Select all the Villagers the player has and and send them in to build a Castle inside the walls, near the Stone Mines. If the player wants to put it deeper in the base, the player needs to repair the ram and send it to take out 2 more towers below the Stone Mines.
This area only has wood and a couple of Boars, so it is recommended to fish for food before switching to farming, while selling resources at the Market for gold and stone. There are 3 Gold Mines found on Jin's island, behind their walls and guarded by towers. The player can also send some Villagers over the water to the west to gather gold and stone (with a Transport Ship), but don't be afraid to lose them to the Chinese. Advance to the Castle Age as soon as possible and build a Castle around Jin's base in range of their walls. Research Murder Holes and arrow upgrades and attack their walls to lure their Knights out. As they continue training Knights, their Wonder will be delayed due to spending all their gold on Knights. Use this time to mass Mangudai and Garrison them inside Castle, and if the player must, advance to the Imperial Age in order to siege Jin's base with Trebuchets (or with Bombard Cannons).
By this stage, the player will have plenty of resources in their parts of the map and are completely safe from attacks, since Jin's territory is completely surrounded by water, and the player's forces have been upgraded considerably. Build military units, gather some Villagers, and cross the water at the southern tip of the island. Cross the river west with many Elite Mangudai to clear the area and set up a mine camp on the stone. Build some walls or a Gate to the north of the stone, from the cliffs to the shore, blocking off that route, making all enemies come from north or west, and possibly a Castle to make Trebuchets for the push into the Hsi Hsia base.
Build up a substantial force of Elite Mangudai, Hussars, and siege weapons. Attack the Hsi Hsia first, as they are the greatest threat. It can be good to clear the lands around the base before pushing up the ramp at the south end. Their town is nestled on a cliff with two entrances, making it easy to bottleneck their defenders and slaughter them with Mangudai and Siege Weapons (Siege Onagers are very useful for this). This also makes it easier to slaughter any Villagers trying to flee, therefore preventing them from rebuilding their Town Center elsewhere. Destroying their Castle with Trebuchets will stop the flow of Chu Ko Nu, which will leave them with light cavalry and Onagers that the Mangudai can easily deal with
The other Chinese nations are relatively easy to deal with after the Hsi Hsia, as they do not produce any units that can counter amassed Elite Mangudai, except the Sung who train Skirmishers (who can easily be dealt with by Hussars).
Just remember to hunt down any fleeing Villagers to prevent them from rebuilding their Town Centers elsewhere, which is very annoying given the vast open area their towns are located in. Researching Spies once the player has enough gold will help with this.
Outro[]
It was... a glorious slaughter. For years, visitors to China will be astounded by the mountain of human and horse skeletons that we have erected.
The Hordes have gained one huge advantage by this invasion of China: technology. We now possess the knowledge and equipment to allow us to make siege weapons.
We will crack open the Persian and European castles to reach the softer parts within.
Genghis is pleased with our progress and with the legacy he leaves behind. His mother once ate wild onions and rodents to keep from starving. But the children and grandchildren of Genghis will eat off plates of Persian gold.
Trivia[]
- The fifth Design Document of Ensemble Studios (dated 17 July 1998) mentions several campaign missions in China that could have resulted in different scenarios:
- Defeating a large Tangut cavalry force.
- Infiltrating a Hsi Hsia mountain fortress with assassins (at the time planned as a trainable unit) and killing their Emperor. This was divided into assaulting the Hsi Hsia fortress in this scenario, and assassinating the Shah in The Horde Rides West.
- Besieging the Jin capital Kaifeng while allied with the Sung (the Mongols historically took Kaifeng in 1233, six years after Genghis Khan's death).
- Except for Song, none of these factions were of Han Chinese origin. The Jin dynasty was founded by the Jurchens, a Tungusic people; the Tangut were an ethnic group originating in western China, closer to the Xianbei and Tibetans; Hsi Hsia was a Tangut-led empire which was highly Sinicized. Despite being presented as separate factions in the scenario, Hsi Hsia and the Tanguts were not separate entities.
- The Towers of the Great Wall will be upgraded to Keep at the 1st second, it does not depend on the difficulty level.
- Jin owns several Blacksmiths, which they will later delete before they build the Wonder, despite the fact that the latter will not be built on the previous location of the former.
- Having The Conquerors expansion (or HD edition) makes things a lot easier: while in the Castle Age, the player can make a plentiful of Petards and transport them to Jin's shores. Then, use some to breach the wall, and the rest to destroy the Wonder, preventing Jin's victory condition and letting the player focus on the other Chinese enemies. Jin won't build another one for the rest of the game.
- The Jin Wonder is built with more than 30 villagers, so it's constructed faster than all four enemies in The Fall of Rome in the Attila the Hun campaign, and faster than Cortรฉz in the La Noche Triste level in the Montezuma campaign, so it's the fastest built Wonder in the game.
- Although the objectives state that the player needs to defeat only Jin, Sung, Hsi Hsia and Tanguts, the level won't end if the Engineers are still alive. This has been fixed in the Definitive Edition.
- When played with Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten, the Tanguts will also try a Wonder victory in some games.
- Although the Mongols capture Bombard Cannons from the Chinese in this scenario, neither civilization can build them in the game. Furthermore, cannons had not yet been invented at the time of the Mongol conquest of China.
- The original Artificial intelligence files indicate that the Jin AI was originally meant to produce Bombard Cannons and Hand Cannoneers, indicating that the Chinese had these units during the Alpha development of the game.
- In the Definitive Edition, the achievement "I Was In China Before" can be earned by defeating the Jin before they begin to construct their Wonder.
- This is the only scenario in the Genghis Khan campaign where there's a large body of water and the player can build Docks.
- The map is completely inaccurate when compared to China's geography in real life.
- Update 141935 originally planned to update the Tangut and Hsia Hia factions to Khitans[1], but due to technical difficulties, the civilization change will be implemented in a later patch.
Historical comparison[]
- Despite common belief, Genghis Khan did not conquer all of China in his lifetime, just the Hsi Hsia, and was campaigning against the Jin when he died in 1227. His son Ogedei allied with the Sung to defeat the Jin, and his grandson Khubilai conquered the Sung in 1279, nearly half a century later.
- The intro claims that the Mongols wanted to invade Persia to reach "the rich pastures of Europe", and that the Chinese promised support but went back on their word. In reality, the Mongols coveted the pastures of China, but were content with puppetizing it at first, and wanted to trade with Khwarazm (Persia), but the Persians killed the Mongol traders. Genghis Khan demanded support to invade Khwarazm from the Hsi Hsia (the only who had accepted Mongol suzerainty at this point), but they disobeyed under the reasoning that if Genghis needed their troops to fight, then he didn't deserve to be their ruler. The brutal Mongol response did not come until Khwarazm fell.
- Although portrayed as allies against the Mongols, the Chinese dynasties changed sides several times and often allied with the Mongols against each other:
- The Sung (960โ1279), referred by later scholars as the Southern Song Dynasty (1127โ1279) were militarily weak at the time and constantly beset upon by their neighbors.
- Jin (Chinese: ้) means "gold" in Chinese, which is probably why they use the color yellow in the scenario. The Jin were a Jurchen dynasty and the greatest threat to the Song dynasty prior to the Mongol invasion. The descendants of the Jurchens, known as Manchu, also conquered post-Mongol China (Ming dynasty) and established the Qing dynasty some four hundred years later. Jin is famous for its heavy cavalry (they called them Iron Towers) which explains why they train Cavaliers in-game. With update 141935, they train Iron Pagodas instead of Cavaliers.
- The Hsi Hsia or "Western Hsia" was a kingdom founded by the nomadic Tanguts in western China who had military clashes with the Song. The Tanguts and Hsi Hsia were historically the same entity instead of separated factions.
- Both the Jin and Hsi Hsia are counted as "Conquest dynasties" in China, which refers to non-Han dynasties. The others are the Khitan Qara Khitai, Mongol Yuan, and Manchu Qing dynasties. Unlike the Jin and Hsi Hsia, the Qara Khitai are represented by Mongols in the game.
Gallery[]
