Star of the Poles

Star of the Poles
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes
Campaign	Jadwiga
Civilization	Poles
Color	Red
Scenario no.	2
Previous	The Matter of the Crown
Next	Duel of the Dukes

Star of the Poles is the second scenario of the Jadwiga campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes.

Intro

Jogaila... it was like the name of a demon in those early days.

He was a handsome man, in his way. He had a face of stone and steel, and eyes like frozen pools. It was not until months later that I saw his features soften, his eyes becoming warm as he looked at me: his child bride; the key to his political legacy.

I was not... immediately swayed by this pagan that the nobles had saddled me with. He was not a man of the heart;he thrived in the royal court and on the battlefield, and every choice he made was to further his political goals.

He was nothing like my William... but, as the months went by, I began to warm to him.

Before ascending to the Polish throne, he was baptized, and he swore to Christianize the whole of Lithuania. He even changed his name to Wladyslaw Jagiello, to sound more Polish - more Christian...

...but to me, he would always be Jogaila.

As ruthless as he was to his opponents, he was always a good husband. My words, whether private or given as political advice, mattered to him, and I often felt that we were equals on the throne... what a strange, powerful feeling!

After the civil war, our first aim was to rebuild what had been lost. Nowhere was this more necessary than in the province of Galicia; and so we travelled there, together, to right the wrongs of the recent past.

Scenario instructions

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Castle Age
• Starting resources: 500 food, 600 wood, 300 gold, 100 stone
• Population limit: 75 (increased by 25 for each Castle build in a neutral town, up to a total of 150)
• Starting units:
  • Jogaila
  • Jadwiga
  • 1  Scout Cavalry
  • 1  Monk
  • 5  Pikemen
  • 5 Obuchs
  • 7  Villagers

Differences between difficulty levels

• On standard difficulty, the player starts with Bodkin Arrow, Iron Casting, Crossbowman, and Pikeman researched. Halych has less troops patrolling the map and the player receives 18 Boyars after building the Castle in Lviv.
• On moderate difficulty, Halych has access to Capped Rams and the player receives 14 Boyars after building the Castle in Lviv.
• On hard difficulty, Halych has access to Capped Rams and Two-Handed Swordsmen, and the player receives 12 Boyars after building the Castle in Lviv.

Objectives

Main objectives

• Defeat Halych.

Secondary objectives

• Build a Castle in each of the Galician towns - Pohonicz (4, Grey), Terebovl (5, Orange) and Rohatyn (6, Purple) - to earn their allegiance. Each town that you control will provide you with resources and increase your maximum population limit by 25. To retain these bonuses, you must maintain your Castle in the town and rebuild it if it gets destroyed.
• Use your heroes in combat (to fight, heal or convert). The more experience that they gain, the stronger they will become.
• Convert the Lithuanian pagans. For every 10 Villagers that you convert (up to 30), you will be rewarded by the Church.
  • Defeat the pagan Lithuanian Rebels by destroying their Pagan Shrine.
• Rebuild Lviv's defenses by repairing its damaged walls and building new Stone Walls in the open gaps.
  • Build a University in the flagged area in Lviv.
    • Build a Castle in the flagged area in Lviv.

Hints

1. Jadwiga is restricted to the Castle Age and an initial population limit of 75. You can, however, increase this limit by convincing the towns of Pohonicz, Terebovl and Rohatyn to support you.
2. You do not need to complete any secondary objectives to win, but doing so will even the odds and increase your chances of victory.
3. Although you cannot advance to the Imperial Age, you can obtain some advanced assets – such as Trebuchets and the Murder Holes technology - and even a Relic through secondary objectives.
4. Protecting allied towns can be costly, but remember that your population limit will decrease by 25 for each town that you lose to the enemy.
5. The Lithuanian locals are peaceful, so your Monks should encounter little resistance.
6. Instead of Mills, the Poles build Folwarks. These cost a bit more, but they also provide 5 population space (like Houses) and automatically gather some food from each Farm constructed next to one.
7. If you subdue the Lithuanian Rebels, you can use chat commands to cooperate with them. Taunts 3-6 will tell them to send you resources. Make sure that you have 'Everyone' checked under the 'Chat' tab, otherwise the Lithuanians will not receive your commands!

Scouts

Your scouts report:

• Jadwiga and Jogaila (1, Red) have arrived in the region of Galicia in southeastern Poland, where Poles and Ruthenians live side by side. They have set up camp outside of the ruined walls of Lviv (3, Blue), an allied town that could be persuaded to help in the conflict.
• Your chief opponent is the town of Halych (2, Yellow), whose walls are undamaged from the recent war. Halych trains a diverse array of soldiers with a focus on heavy infantry, Boyars, and siege weapons.
• Scattered throughout the land are Galician towns and villages that could be convinced to join your side: the farming village of Pohonicz (4, Grey) in the west, the trading town of Terebovl (5, Orange) in the far east, and the town of Rohatyn (6, Purple) in the center of the map.
• Lastly, Jogaila's homeland of Lithuania (7, Green) in the northeast still houses large numbers of pagans, who must be converted if the Church is to consider Jogaila a true Christian.

Players

• The Player (Poles) starts at the north of the map with the two Heroes, some soldiers, Villagers, and buildings.

Allies

• Lviv (Slavs) is a city just north of the player's base. Fulfilling their requests will give the player technologies and units for free.
• Pohonicz (Poles) is a Galician town with farmlands in the west end of the map.
• Terebovl (Slavs) is a Galician town with Forage Bushes and a Boar pen in the east end of the map.
• Rohatyn (Slavs) is a Galician town with a Monastery and a Monk in the center of the map, south of the player's base.

Ally → Enemy → Ally

• Lithuanian Villages → Lithuanian Rebels → Lithuanian Villages (Lithuanians) lie in the northeast of the map. They are initially allied and only train Villagers, but after the player converts 30 of their Villagers, they become enemies and start training Feudal Age military units. They become allies again after the player destroys their Shrine.

Enemy

• Halych (Slavs) is a fortified city in the southern end of the map with three Castles and a Town Center that must be destroyed to win the scenario. They start with a sizeable economy and army and their units patrol several routes around the map. Despite being restricted to the Castle Age, they have access to Capped Rams and Two-Handed Swordsmen on harder difficulties.

Strategy

In this scenario, the player's base is located in the northern part of the map surrounded by neutral towns. Namely, Blue right next to the player's base, Green northeast, Orange in the east past the river, Purple south and Grey southwest past the river. The player's enemy, Yellow, is located in the south corner of the map. Grey, Purple and Orange can join the player's side provided the player builds a Castle in their respective towns and each one will grant the player 25 population cap (for 150 total with all three towns converted). The player is restricted to the Castle Age, and some Castle Age technologies are missing from the University. Several triggers exist to acquire these.

Blue requests

Blue will ask the player to fulfill certain tasks. Here are the associated rewards.

1. Blue asks for the walls to be repaired. This grants Ballistics, Treadmill Crane, and Murder Holes. The player can do this with the starting stone provided they do not build a second Town Center.
2. Blue asks to rebuild the University. This grants Capped Ram and Siege Engineers. The player can use the Capped Rams to reclaim a city should they fail in preventing Yellow from building a Castle.
3. Blue asks to rebuild their Castle. This grants access to Trebuchets and gives 12 Boyars to the player (18/14 on standard/moderate).

Green conversion

Jogaila wants to put an end to Paganism and ask to convert 30 Green villagers to Christianity. Green will not retaliate against the player's Monk until the count is fulfilled, at which point Green will turn to enemy. Their army is a weak force of Militias and Scout Cavalry. Here are the associated rewards.

1. At 10 Villagers converted, the player is granted Heresy, Sanctity, and Fervor. Heresy is useful against Yellow's Monks.
2. At 20 Villagers converted, the player is granted Block Printing, Illumination, and Theocracy. This will speed up the last 10 conversions and help the player converting enemy Boyars.
3. At 30 Villagers converted, the player is granted Faith and one Relic by Blue's Castle. Faith is also useful against Yellow's Monks.

Heroes

While vulnerable at the start of the scenario, Jogaila and Jadwiga will gain stats in combat. Jogaila's gains come from fighting, while Jadwiga gains hers through healing and conversions.

• Jogaila gains 30 HP and +3 Attack per level.
• Jadwiga gains 40 HP and 20% Heal Rate per level.

Obtaining Victory

The player should build an economy that reflects the population cap (roughly half the max population). The player should keep this ratio whenever they increase their population cap. This will allow the player to balance the need of having a standing army against Yellow and have the means to reinforcing it after every fight. A few of Yellow's patrols are found around the Purple base. The player should use these to gain a few levels on their heroes. The player should consider walling river crossings leading to any towns they capture while leaving a single one open and concentrate their defense at that location. Yellow usually attacks immediately following a player's capture. The armies of Boyars, Knights, Pikemen, Crossbowmen, Long Swordsmen (eventually upgraded to Two-Handed Swordsmen on hard), Monks, Battering Rams (eventually upgraded to Capped Rams on moderate/hard), and Mangonels are quite large. The player should counter them with their cheap Knights, Obuchs, Pikemen, Crossbowmen, and Monks. The player should acquire Purple's base first as it covers the main attack path to their base. A second Castle northeast of Yellow's Trade Workshop will cover both paths Yellow is prone to use to attack the player. Yellow will go to capture Orange shortly after the player's capture of the Purple base. Therefore, if the player is going for the "Protector of the Realm" achievement, they need to send their forces to prevent the Castle from going up. Grey is an easy capture, as Yellow seems to ignore their town even when the player initially captures it, sending the troops against Purple instead.

Once the player obtain access to Trebuchets and has all three towns under their control, they should launch an attack against Yellow. Destroying the three Castles and the Town Center in Halych will grant the player victory.

Outro

As the noblemen of Halych surrendered, the last embers of insurrection in Galicia went out. Poland was at peace, and Jogaila was now the unquestioned king of the country.

With Poland unified and Lithuania on its way to being Christianized, it seemed as though nothing could stand in our way.

Unfortunately, Jogaila was not the only warrior-duke that his house had spawned...

Trivia

• The name of this scenario is also the name of the achievement the player will earn upon completing the Jadwiga campaign. This can sound confusing since the scenario also has its own achievement, "Protector of the Realm", which can be earned by winning without losing any neutral towns to Halych (that is, without letting Halych build a Castle in either Pohonicz, Terebovl, or Rohatyn).
• The scenario hint describing Murder Holes as an "advanced asset" is inaccurate since Murder Holes is a Castle Age technology. It is most likely that the developers meant Siege Engineers instead, the Imperial Age technology the player will get after building the University in Lviv.