Savior of the Greeks is the fourth scenario of the Pyrrhus of Epirus campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome. It is based on Pyrrhus' Sicilian campaign (278 - 275 BC) in the midst of the Pyrrhic War.
Intro[]
Despite suffering two crushing defeats, the Romans quickly recouped their strength. They refused to sign any peace treaty as long as Pyrrhus remained in Italy.
Seeing no clear way forward, Pyrrhus turned his gaze to Sicily. Much like in Italy, the Greek colonies here were threatened by foreign invasion, this time from the Carthaginian Empire and its Mamertine allies.
Carthage had dominated the western sea for centuries with its wealth and vast mercenary armies. Despite this, its grip on Sicily was tenuous, as the rugged island was difficult for any conqueror to hold.
But if any man could succeed in ruling Sicily, Pyrrhus reasoned that it would be him.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Bronze Age - Starting resources: 700 food, 600 wood, 600 gold, 200 stone
- Population limit: 100
- Starting units:
- Pyrrhus
- 4 Cavalry
- 9 Villagers
- 1 Scout Ship
- 2 Fishing Ships
- Starting technologies:
Objectives[]
Main objectives[]
- Kill the Mamertines besieging Syracuse.
- The Town Center in Syracuse must not be destroyed.
- Defeat the Carthaginian Army.
- Defeat Lilybaeum.
Secondary objectives[]
- Liberate Sicilian Towns to receive recurring resource tributes.
- Destroy Mamertine Supply Depots for resources.
- Build a Government Center in any Sicilian town to confiscate its resources. Be warned that if you do this, the locals will no longer pay you tribute.
- Defeat the Carthaginian Suppliers to weaken your enemies' economies.
Hints[]
- Pyrrhus can reach the Iron Age and support a population of 100.
- Build up quickly and send your army to Syracuse, or the city will soon fall to the Mamertines.
- The Carthaginians do not yet consider you a serious threat. Use this opportunity to quickly help your Greek allies.
- Command your allies in Syracuse to attack by placing flares on the map.
- Your enemies can support larger populations than you. To offset this, liberate local Sicilian towns, which will support you with resources.
- The Mamertines keep the loot stolen from Sicilian locals stored in Supply Depots that dot the countryside. Destroy these to take the loot for yourself.
- The Carthaginian holdings are well fortified. Use your discounted siege engines to overcome them!
Scouts[]
- Pyrrhus (1, Green) has established a small base in Sicily from which he intends to strike out at the Mamertines and Carthaginians controlling most of the island.
- In the east lies the last free Greek town of Syracuse (2, Orange). It will provide you with resources and help you against the Carthaginians, but expects you to do the heavy lifting.
- Scattered across the island are various Sicilian towns (3, Grey) occupied by the Mamertines (4, Blue), a renegade band of mercenaries hailing from Italy. Much like you, the Mamertines were once invited by the Greek cities as protectors, but they soon turned to raiding them instead. The Mamertines guard their hoards fiercely, but are unlikely to stray far from them.
- To the south lies Lilybaeum (6, Cyan), a town under Carthaginian control. It will be one of your chief opponents and send forth armies consisting of archers and siege engines.
- The Carthaginian army (5, Purple) camps to the west. This powerful enemy will try to drive you out with armies of cavalry and infantry.
- Carthaginian Suppliers (7, Yellow) support your enemies, but are weakly defended. Taking them out would cripple the enemy war effort.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Macedonians): Pyrrhus starts in the Bronze Age controlling a town and a small military force on the northern coast of Sicily.
Allies[]
- Syracuse ( Greeks): The city of Syracuse lies on the eastern coast, besieged by the Mamertines. Once their city is relieved of the Mamertine siege they can be commanded on where to attack.
- Sicilian Towns ( Greeks): Five local settlements are occupied by the Mamertines. They will tribute resources to Pyrrhus when they're reclaimed from the occupiers. Pyrrhus can opt to take their remaining resources for the war effort, once he engages the Carthaginians.
Enemies[]
- The Carthaginian Army ( Carthaginians): The bulk of the enemy army is located on the western coast, with a forward camp in-between their main camp and Pyrrhus' camp. They use mainly infantry and cavalry, as well as a navy of Triremes and Fire Galleys.
- Carthaginian Suppliers ( Carthaginians): Carthaginians have two supply outposts on the outlying islands to the north and south, possibly Sardinia and Malta. They have a small navy guarding each and will trade with Lilybaeum.
- Lilybaeum ( Carthaginians): The city of Lilybaeum is located along the southwestern coast. The city is mainly protected by archers and is quite aggressive towards Pyrrhus.
- Mamertines ( Romans): The rogue Mamertine mercenaries have a finite force of land military units occupying local Sicilian villages and besieging Syracuse. They will attack Syracuse early on and must be repulsed.
Strategy[]
As soon as the game begins, a timer of 20 in-game minutes starts to the commencement of the Mamertine assault on Syracuse. During this time, the player's focus should initially be on expanding their economy, such as building another Town Center and a Market and researching economic upgrades, as well as building more Fishing Boats and another Dock on the northern coastline. The player can also wall off the western and southern routes into their base to control enemy access. This becomes more important later on if the player's army is elsewhere or is comprised of slow units.
The next focus should be on reaching the Iron Age and fully upgrading the Hoplite line or any other preferred powerful melee unit. Meanwhile, the player can utilize the starting units as well as a few trained Hoplites and Stone Throwers to clear the Sicilian Towns of their Mamertine guards of Long Swordsmen, melee Chariots, Slingers and Guard Towers. The player can avoid losing units (as damaged ones cannot be healed due to lacking Temples and Priests) by using Pyrrhus to bait units away from the tower to the Hoplites, and then to distract the Guard Tower while the Stone Throwers raze it. Keep in mind that Stone Throwers cannot out-range Guard Towers, and Pyrrhus cannot research Engineering to improve their range, so it is essential to keep the towers distracted while they work. If engaging a building in melee while pelting it with Stone Thrower fire, ensure that the melee troops attack the opposite side of the tower to prevent them being damaged by the siege weapons' splash damage.
Every liberated Sicilian Town increases the resources they tribute by 200 food, 100 wood, 100 gold, given every seven minutes. There are five such towns; the southernmost also donates the player a pair of Docks, which should immediately be fortified as they are exposed and vulnerable to Lilybaeum's raids.
The Macedonians have several strong melee and ranged options for a late-game army composition: Centurions, Armored Elephants, Cataphracts, and even Heavy Horse Archers can be used against the Mamertines. Against the Carthaginians however, Horse Archers and siege weapons are less effective, as the enemies train a large number of Heavy Cavalry. Centurions will be most cost-effective here, along with War Elephants to destroy buildings quickly.
After clearing a path to the Mamertine army, which consists of 20-60 Long Swordsmen and 1-2 Catapults (depending on difficulty), the player should begin bombarding them with Stone Throwers/Catapults and archers. It is ideal to attack them before the battle begins, as they are in a defensive stance and will not pursue the long-ranged attackers. This tactic can lead to destroying a significant portion of their army before the battle even begins. When the battle does begin, the Mamertines will attack the Syracusans, but can be instead diverted towards the player with the Catapults and then destroyed with Centurions or other units. The Syracusan Town Center must never fall; on Hard difficulty the Mamertines will destroy it after about 2 minutes' fighting if the player does not intervene. It is also advisable to preserve their Academy, Market and Dock as these will not be rebuilt if lost.
Once Syracuse has been saved, they will become an active player, eventually advancing to the Iron Age and training Hoplites (upgradable to Centurions), Improved Bowmen, Short Swordsmen and Axemen. They can be commandeered to attack a specific location by using flares, if they have sufficient troops. They also begin to send a tribute every 8 minutes 20 seconds of up to 300 food, 200 wood, 200 gold, 100 stone, depending on their own stockpiles.
The player now has a choice of which Carthaginian faction to destroy first. Both cities begin in the Bronze Age and can eventually advance to Iron, and neither will build a navy until Pyrrhus starts producing additional warships (however Lilybaeum and the Carthaginian Suppliers do begin the scenario with some War Galleys). Before building a navy it may be advisable to send out the starting ship and use it to whittle down the Carthaginian Army's Docks, or ambush the Carthaginian Suppliers' Trade Boats. However sea power can be key to winning this scenario as all the Carthaginian factions are highly exposed from the coast, so when a large stockpile of wood is obtained, it is a sound strategy to build a horde of warships and send it to take out the enemies' Docks, then scour their coastlines.
The Carthaginian Suppliers have two island bases on opposite sides of the map, each defended by 7-8 War Galleys and a pair of Sentry Towers. They send tribute to the other Carthaginian factions, but do not play an aggressive role; their ships stay close to home unless provoked. They also have four Trade Boats, which will travel between their northwest island and the Carthaginian Army's Docks - the player could use their starting warship to take out these civilian vessels (which will be much easier after researching Ballistics), after which they will not build more. They will however trickle out a few replacement War Galleys if put under pressure. They resign after all their Docks are destroyed, but this is a purely optional objective.
The Carthaginian Army has an exposed military enclave just southwest of Pyrrhus' base, with two Academies and two Barracks protected by a single Guard Tower. They can be destroyed quickly and easily before a concerted response can be mounted, especially as the Carthaginian Army rarely recruits infantry. If the player starts training warships, the Carthaginian Army can produce dangerous Fire Galleys (which should always be taken out first) as well as War Galleys or Triremes. On land, they produce a lot of Cavalry (upgradable to Heavy Cavalry) and War Elephants, and begin with a significant number of Hoplites (upgradable to Phalangites) although they rarely produce more unless pressured. Most of their base is walled off, but vulnerable to coastal attacks. They resign when their three Town Centers are destroyed.
Lilybaeum is the more aggressive enemy, fielding Improved Bowmen, Cavalry (upgradable to Heavy) and Broad Swordsmen (upgradable to Long). They begin with a pair of War Galleys (upgradable to Triremes) and will produce more if the player builds warships. Their raids are likely to begin before the Mamertines' battle with Syracuse. Their base is small and well fortified; most of their economy is outside their walls, but any attacks on them will receive a quick and powerful response, so it is advisable to strike with a large army of Heavy Cavalry, War Elephants or Phalangites before they have a chance to upgrade their units. They resign when their Town Center and both Stables are destroyed.
After Lilybaeum or the Carthaginian Army is defeated, the surviving city becomes more powerful. If Lilybaeum survives, their Improved Bowmen can upgrade to Composite Bowmen. If the Carthaginian Army survives, they receive three Heavy Transports from the western corner of the map loaded with Centurions (try to ambush these ships before they land if possible), and can upgrade their Heavy Cavalry to Cataphracts and their Phalangites to Centurions. Because the Carthaginian Army becomes so much more powerful after Lilybaeum is defeated, it is advisable to defeat the Carthaginian Army first.
Also after the defeat of a Carthaginian city, the player gains the option of subjugating the Sicilian Towns by building a Government Center in any of their formerly Mamertine-patrolled enclaves. The yields a one-time tribute of 3,500 food, 2,000 wood, 3,000 gold, 500 stone, but angers the townsfolk so much that they cease sending further resources. This option should be avoided if the player does not expect to draw the battle to a close soon, unless they really need the resources in a pinch.
Alternate strategy[]
The player should try to get to the Iron Age as quickly as possible, and start connecting all the gold from the north to spam Ballistae and some Hoplite-line units. The starting battle can be reached just in time with around 10 Ballistae and some Hoplites. Most of the Mamertine (blue) army can be destroyed with this, and the remaining will not attack. Some Ballistae can be made at the base to defend. The sea can optionally be ignored, to only build Fishing Ships. Some more gold can be obtained by destroying the Mamertine Supply Depots. The player should destroy The Carthaginian Army (purple) first, then Lilybaeum (cyan). Hoplites should be the meatshield units.
Outro[]
Pyrrhus had bested another great empire, yet as so many times before, his victory was short-lived.
As the war dragged on, he became increasingly suspicious of the Greeks who had called him there. Their refusal to give everything to the war effort was, in his mind, akin to treason.
When he executed one of the men who had invited him to Sicily in the first place, the public turned against him. Pyrrhus, they claimed, had become just the sort of tyrant they had wanted to escape.
With the entire island in revolt, it seemed that Pyrrhus was out of options.
Trivia[]
- The map of Sicily here is more geographically informed than that of Roger in Sicily, especially the island's forms in both and the absence of the Etna volcano in the latter scenario.
Gallery[]
