Lepanto is a scenario of the Battles of the Conquerors in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. In it, the player (red) has to build and defend a Wonder against Turkish military forces (purple) in 1571. This scenario is based on the Battle of Lepanto.
Scenario Instructions
Starting Conditions
- Starting age:
Imperial Age - Starting resources: 800 wood, 600 food, 1000 gold, 400 stone
- Population limit: 100
- Starting units:
- Gaia units: None
Objectives
- Complete and then defend your Wonder from the Turkish navy for 200 years.
Later Objectives
- OPTIONAL: Tribute the Greeks (green) 800 gold so they will ally with you.
Hints
- 1. Do not use all of your villagers to construct the Wonder. You will need some to gather resources and to repair walls, towers, and ships.
- 2. It is very difficult to go offensive against the Turkish fleet. Concentrate on defenses instead.
- 3. Greek isles hold additional resources, if you can defend them….
Scouts
- Your scouts report: Don Juan's Spanish and Italian fleet (red) has abandoned the sea to build a Wonder on the beach.
- They must defend it from the warships and Transports of Ottoman Turks (purple). The Turks use a variety of different ships, including Cannon Galleons, and will attempt to transport Janissaries and Bombard Cannons across the sea. However, quick counterattacks against the Turks may slow their progress.
- The Greek villages (green) are caught in the middle of the battle, but might join you if presented with the right opportunity.
Players
Neutral → Ally
- Greek village (Byzantines) is at the western corner of the map, and have an island with Gold Mines and Stone Mines. Provided that the game has exceeded 700 seconds (11 minutes 40 seconds) and they have less than two Town Centers, they will offer an alliance by demanding tribute of 800 gold, and once the player does so, they will keep sending tributes.
Enemy
- Turks (Turks) is across the sea from the player's base, spanning from the east to the south of the map. Their base is well defended and formidable with Bombard Towers and Castles. They have a small outpost near them with Gold and Stone deposits however, they will never exploit them. They will initially attack with Cannon Galleons and fire ships, and will send Janissaries and Bombard Cannons across the sea. They have 8 Docks with 16 loaded transport ships in reserve which will make up the bulk of their invasion force. They will keep producing Janissaries, Fire Ships, Bombard Cannons, and transport ships, even without Castles, Docks, and Siege Workshops. They are produced for free for them, although they do have Villagers and a Town Center - they lack gold and stone deposits.
Strategy/Tactics
The player is playing as Don Juan of Austria (Spanish, red), and the base is at the northwestern part of the map, and the foundation for Wonder is laid at the shore.
There is a Greek village (represented by the Byzantines, green) nearby, who during the game will offer to join the player for 800 gold. Once they've joined him/her, they'll start tributing him/her resources, quickly repaying their cost, and more. They also have a small outpost on a nearby island with Gold and Stone deposits available.
One way to keep the enemy forces from destroying the Wonder, is to not start building it immediately, but instead focus on creating soldiers to meet the Turkish forces.
Turkish landing parties and ships are considerably strong at first and can quickly overwhelm a player if they're too aggressive. The foundation is placed at the start of the game and cannot be moved without failing the scenario, but if the player hasn't started building it, there is nothing to be destroyed. Once most of the enemy forces have been dealt with, one can start building.
Trivia
- G. K. Chesterton wrote a poem about this battle, "Lepanto", in 1911. Lepanto is indirectly referenced in Age of Mythology, where Gargarensis recites quotes from the poem, usually before taunting the heroes and unleashing a spell or god power at them.
- The Spanish were chosen in-game to represent the coalition of Catholic Maritime powers, including Venice. This coalition formed the Holy League, organized by Pope Pius V and mostly financed and led by the Spanish and ultimately, Admiral Don Juan of Austria (Spain and Austria were the two major Hapsburg empires at the time). Notably, the Venetian language is considered to be the closest of the local Italian languages to Spanish.
- The player can pause the game as soon as the game starts, and assign a Villager to build any building on the location where the Wonder's foundation would be placed, as the foundation will appear 1 second after the game starts. This, however, after resuming the game, will prevent the Wonder's foundation to be placed, causing the player immediate defeat.
- On the Battles of the Conquerors campaign selection screen, Lepanto is represented by a Fast Fire Ship belonging to a Central European civiization based on its sail flag, which depicts a cross. However, no player in the scenario uses a civilization with Central European architecture.
- In the Definitive Edition, the "Battleship" achievement can be earned by completing this scenario without letting any of the Turkish Transport Ships drop off troops. This can be done fairly easily by walling off all the shorelines, as it will leave no space for the ships to unload.
