| “ | The fleet stops in the city of Calicut, realm of the Zamorin of Kozhikode. The crew's hatred of the Admiral has reached a fevered pitch. My own patience would be strained if not for Chen, a strange old barnacle that has fastened himself to my side. | ” |
| —Description in the Definitive Edition | ||
Storming the Beaches is the second scenario of Act II: China in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It is based on Zheng He's sixth voyage to Calicut in 1421.
Summary[]
The scenario centers around rescuing Admiral Jinhai and gaining vengeance on the Zamorin's forces in Kozhikhode, India. The scenario starts off with the cinematic "A royal greeting" where it shows Jinhai's fleet exploring the Indian city and ending up being driven and chased out by the Zamorin's troops, and the player must swiftly and successfully save Admiral Jinhai and defeat the Zamorin's forces to complete the scenario.
Objectives[]
Primary objectives[]
- Build a Town Center and a Dock. (1,000 XP)
- Rescue Admiral Jinhai. (1,000 XP)
- Destroy the Zamorin's Town Center. (10,000 XP)
Secondary objectives[]
Players[]
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This section is most likely incomplete and may need expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
Player[]
- Imperial Fleet (
Chinese): The player start out in a fair sized island on the bottom of the map with 4 Villagers, A Covered Wagon, Captain Huang, Lao Chen, 3 Chu Ko Nu, 4 Qiang Pikemen, 1 Chinese Treasure Ship, and starting crates worth 1,000 of each resource.
Enemy[]
- Zamorin Army ( Indians): As the player advances and explores east of the island, they will be confronted with a small band of Landsknecht mercenaries and Urumi Swordsmen that will attack them. These units are very powerful and can kill many of the player's provided Qiang Pikemen and Chu Ko Nu. Using Lao Chen and Jiang Huang's special abilities is recommended against these units. While these enemy units are fought, two enemy Marathan Catamarans will sail from the north and will attack the Treasure Ship. The player can build a War Junk to take down the Catamarans with ease to handle the threat.
Treasures[]
There are 8 treasures on the map:
- Click for a list of treasures and their guardians related to the "Storming the Beaches" scenario
| Treasure | Reward | Guardians | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| A stand of Mangrove trees worth | 125 wood | 3x  Lion
| On the player's southern island |
| Polecats whose furs are worth | 20 coin | None | |
| A menacing king cobra worth | 270 XP | 4x  Rhino
| |
| Piles of vanilla beans worth | 50 coin | 1x  Tiger
| |
| A stand of live oak worth | 70 wood | 2x Tiger
|
On the northern island |
| A wounded tiger that can be tamed. | 1x Axehilt the Tame Tiger
| 2x Tiger
| |
| A stand of Mangrove trees worth | 125 wood | 3x Lion
| |
| Empress Zoe's cookbook, which increases the maximum population cap of whomever recovers it by 5. | Population cap +5 | 2x Tiger
|
The map[]
The map bears many simalarities with Indian-themed maps in the expansion, including Deccan, and all maps featured in Act III: India. The map consists of a small island in the south and a larger landmass in the north, separated by a stretch of sea. Players begin on the smaller island in the south where resources are somewhat limited. Ashoka and Eucalyptus trees dominate both landmasses, although are scarcer on the smaller island. Nilgai are the only huntable animal in the island, and are found in small herds of 3-4. Treasures can be found on the small island, but are defended by stronger Treasure Guardians, including Lions and Rhinoceroses. The sea on the map contains many bounties as well. Tuna can be fished in the sea for food, while Humpback Whales can be used for coin.
Strategy[]
Once the starting resources have been gathered by the Villagers, there will be a massive supply of 800-1,000 food gathered from crates. The player can now start to massively spawn Villagers with this bounty of food. The player will need to build Villages for their population. At the same time, they can purchase improvements from the Market to increase Villager gather rate on resources and other bonuses.
The player can also begin to build Fishing Boats with the surplus wood they received. Although it will be costly in the beginning, they will help provide food needed for growing a military and Villagers. The Fishing Boats should fish close to the player's Dock, as they are susceptible to enemy attacks.
As the ships explore, the player can begin to massively build their military from the Military Academy and begin to age up to the Fortress Age and then the Industrial Age if they have the economy going.
If the player has at least 15 troops, they can send them to the eastern edge of the island to defeat an enemy encampment consisting of an Outpost and Barracks. The encampment will be guarded by enemy Rajputs and Urumi Swordsmen, although their numbers will be small and can be dealt with, with little loss.
Once the Catamarans are sunken, the player has plentiful time to grow their fleet on the island. They can use this time to increase resources gathered and to build an army and navy. The player can proceed to build War Academies for faster military training and Rice Paddies to gather Food and coin faster. While doing this, they should send a pair of ships to scout North and explore the waters and the enemy islands for a visual view.
The player can now transport their large military from the other naval ships they have, it is recommended to have at least 20-25 military units well balanced with Flamethrowers, Changdao Swordsmen, Steppe Riders, Qiang Pikemen, and Chu Ko Nu.
The Zamorin's settlements will be poorly guarded although his military units will put up strong resistance. Groups of 4-5 Howdahs as well Urumi Swordsmen and Rajputs will be stationed near each wall checkpoint and can be taken down with the Player's Changdao Swordsmen and Qiang Pikemen. Once the player keeps marching past and defeats the Zamorin's forces defending, they will reach Admiral Jinhai near an Udasi settlement with his captors. Once the player moves their forces to Admiral Jinhai, the scenario is completed.
Trivia[]
- Zheng He visited Calicut on his first three voyages between 1405 and 1412. His last voyage to there was in 1433, when the financing of his voyages by the Chinese court ended.
- That there were Landsknechts in western India in the 15th century is clearly fictitious, since the first Europeans to arrive in India was the Portuguese expedition of Vasco da Gama in 1498, more than seven decades later, in addition to the fact that the Landsknechts only began to be used in 1470 by the Burgundian troops of Charles the Bold. Rajputs would have been more accurate than Landsknechts.
Gallery[]
