Into India is the third scenario of the Babur campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India.
Intro[]
Samarkand was the most beautiful face that the earth has ever turned towards the sun, and in Herat, you were sure to accidentally kick a poet whenever you stretched your legs. I missed both of these cities dearly, but my new capital was not too shabby, either.
With skies filled with herons and cranes, surrounded by breathtaking mountains and hills dressed in fruit orchards, Kabul was a jewel in the wilderness.
This unending loveliness inspired me to beautify the city even more. New palaces were erected and mosques established, trees were planted and gardens built — the most beautiful in the world, mind you!
The money required for these lavish projects came easily, as Kabul lay at the heart of the Silk Road, and the trade caravans from northern India brought not only sweets and aromatic roots, but also interesting news.
The Indian city-states beyond the mountains were still recovering from Tamerlane's invasion a hundred years earlier. Apparently, they were weak enough to offer little resistance to a determined invader.
I had to get to the bottom of these rumors, so I organized an expedition to Hindustan, and since you can always combine the useful with the pleasant, I decided to carry out the expedition as a raid.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Castle Age - Starting resources: 800 food, 1,200 wood, 200 gold, 200 stone
- Population limit: 200
- Starting technologies: Light Cavalry
- Starting units:
- 10 Camel Riders
- 11 Cavalry Archers
- 3 Armored Elephants
- 16 Villagers
- 10
Objectives[]
Main objectives[]
- Wait for instructions.
- Acquire 6,000 (8,000 on Moderate, 10,000 on Hard) gold by plundering Indian Markets, Trade Workshops, Universities, Monasteries, Caravanserais, and Trade Carts.
- Do not hesitate to spend the gold that you steal. It is important that you achieve the required amount, not that you do not use it.
Secondary objectives[]
- The Yusufzai will join you if you liberate their quarry from the hostile Afghans.
- Send at least 4 Armored Elephants to the pass buried by the avalanche to clear the way.
- Use chat commands to tell the Yusufzai which enemy to focus on:
- Type "62" to order the Yusufzai to attack Lahore.
- Type "63" to order the Yusufzai to attack Jalandhar.
- Type "64" to order the Yusufzai to attack Ludhiana.
Hints[]
- Babur can support a population of 200, but cannot train gunpowder units yet.
- Remember: you are on a raid and your goal is to loot gold. You can do this by eliminating Indian Markets, Caravanserais, Trade Workshops, Monasteries, Merchants, and Trade Carts.
- You may spend the gold that you loot, as it will continue to be counted as successfully stolen. Gold that you have acquired by other means, such as gold mines or Relics, is not counted as looted goods.
- The Indian petty states are hostile to one another and will not work together to stop you.
- The Afghan mountain tribes are rebellious and hostile. The tribesmen of the Yusufzai are an exception and have indicated that they are interested in a serious alliance with Babur.
Scouts[]
- Babur (1, Orange) has left Kabul to carry out a raid in northern India, for which he has set up a small military camp at the feet of the Hindu Kush.
- Nearby, hostile Afghans (6, Yellow) are wrecking havoc. They are not a serious threat, but could stab Babur in the back. Most of the Afghan warriors fight as infantry.
- The Yusufzai (5, Green) are one of the few friendly nearby tribes, Babur may be able to strengthen his friendship with them.
- There are three small Indian states n the vicinity that Babur can plunder: in the west is Lahore (2, Red), which is mainly defended by Ghulams, Skirmishers, Crossbowmen, and Pikemen. Ludhiana (4, Cyan) is located in the south and has a large army of Chakram Throwers, Camel Riders, Archers, and Elephant Archers. To the east is Jalandhar (3, Purple), known for its well-trained cavalry and swordsmen.
Players[]
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Player[]
- Player ( Hindustanis): starts with the forces and tents set up near the center of the map.
Allies[]
- Yusufzai ( Hindustanis): have their camp in the northern mountains, blocked off by hostile Afghan patrols. They train foot troops and Armored Elephants.
Enemies[]
- Lahore ( Hindustanis): lies in the west. The train Pikemen, Ghulams, Skirmishers, Armored Elephants, and Trebuchets.
- Ludhiana ( Gurjaras): lies in the south. They train Camel riders and Chakram Throwers.
- Jalandhar ( Gurjaras): lies in the east. They train Petards, Shrivamsha Riders, Camel Riders, and Elephant Archers.
- Hostile Afghans ( Hindustanis): fighters patrol some of the roads or guard some points of interest, but have no base or economy of their own.
Strategy[]
It is strongly recommended to use the initial troops to conquer at least the Monastery, Market, merchants and Trade Carts near the original location. This will gather some gold to help to upgrade the troops and boost the economy. In addition, do not trust the hint that Indian petty states are hostile with each other. They are actually united and will attack the player's base together.
Early defense is extremely tricky. Part of the reason for that is that the enemies are likely to advance to the Imperial Age more quickly, allowing them earlier access to Trebuchets. That, and their numerical superiority, mean that it is easy to quickly become overwhelmed. Hence, the player needs to decide very early on, whether to build a Town Center at the starting location, slightly east, or very far east of the starting location.
Building a base[]
The player may consider the narrow strip of land just East of the original starting location. The area is protected on the left and right with a cliff and a waterway respectively, and the exposed areas in the front and back are both very narrow, and hence easy to wall off. Not only that, there are plenty of wood in that area, and if the player is quick enough, the player cannot only defend against attacks from most sides using Galleys (War Galleys and Galleons), but also trade and fish with ease. While moving into Green's base does make defense pretty manageable, the location just east of Green's base is much easier to defend and has far more resources available, assuming the player is able to go for a fast Dock and about 3-4 War Galleys in the beginning.
Another alternative is to make base by the gold and stone to the west near the bridge. While booming, the player's initial forces should be sent east to wipe out the nearest Purple Market and Docks located outside its walls, and continue east to remove Purple's Castle(s). Once that is done, the player can build either a Mining Camp or a Town Center next to Purple's gold mine. Alternately, the player can also choose to temporarily spare one of the Docks, since they cannot only trade with it, Purple does not build ships from it. By seizing Purple's gold sources so early in the game, Purple's economy and military buildup would be set back. From this point, trash units such as Pikemen and Skrimishers are mostly sufficient for base defense and more expensive units could be used for attacks.
Early-game moves[]
Regardless, the important opening moves remain the same. The first step is to move up north, towards the mine which the player's ally (Yusufzai, Green) wants the player to liberate before they will move from friendliness to actually fighting for the player. Concurrently, the player should build a Siege Workshop.
The second step is to build an Armored Elephant, while clearing out the Hostile Afghans immediately to the west of the starting location. Doing that will trigger a secondary quest to bring 4 Armored Elephants to that location. The reward for this is 1 Monastery, 4 Monks and 2 Relics, as well as a one-time reinforcement of Mangudai once one of the enemy cities are raided.
The third step is for the player to move every economic unit available to the desired base location, and develop the economy from there.
Better players may choose to use their initial units to destroy the Monastery, Market, merchants and Trade Carts near the original location. However, this is not absolutely necessary, since they are among the first buildings and units that Yusufzai will attack once the player receives their allegiance.
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Outro[]
For all the coin, diamonds, and rubies that my men presented to me, these spoils were merely the promise of something far greater — but I had just the idea for how to invest these new riches!
Far to the west, in the Ottoman Empire, great advances had been achieved in gunpowder technology. The Sultan had entire gunpowder regiments at his disposal and his new cannons were suitable not only for sieges, but also for use in battle.
Thus I sent negotiators to the Ottomans to acquire these miracle weapons for me, and to hire experts to demonstrate their use to my men, who only knew how to fight with bows and sabers.
Trivia[]
- The scenario is about Babur's campaign into the Hindu Kush, where he captured Kabul (present-day Afghan capital) in 1504 and his campaigns to defend Samarkand and Kabul between that year and 1521.
