Subartu

Subartu
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires: Return of Rome
Campaign	Sargon of Akkad
Civilization	Sumerians
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	5
Previous	The Land of Kings

Subartu is the fifth and final scenario of the Sargon of Akkad campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome. Subartu was a kingdom in upper Mesopotamia, near the Tigris river, and eventually was used as a term to just mean north by the Akkadian Empire.

Intro

Blood, sweat, tears, and the stench of burning bodies accompanied us on our way east, and it was not long before my fears came true.

Barely had we crossed into the kingdom of Subartu when our people took up arms in a rebellion. After years of grandiose campaigns, they were sick of the exorbitant taxes that Sargon levied to fund his wars.

When I shared the bad news with Sargon, I hoped that he would see reason and accept that he had taken things too far - but the hateful glare in his eyes suggested the opposite...

Scenario instructions

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Iron Age
• Starting resources: 500 food, 450 wood, 300 gold, 200 stone
• Population limit: 100
• Starting units:
  • 1 Scout
  • 7 Chariot Archers
  • 7 Horse Archers
  • 16 Villagers

Objectives

Main objectives

• Wait for instructions
  • Gain control over 7 megalithic structures (Ruins).

Secondary objectives

• Liberate occupied villages from the Sumerian Rebels.
• To hire the Suteans (Player 6), tribute them 600 food.

Hints

1. Sargon can support a population of 100.
2. You do not have to completely destroy your enemies. Focus on taking and holding megalithic structures (Ruins) instead.
3. Ruins conquered by allied factions count as yours.
4. Sumerian rebels dissatisfied with Sargon's rule have captured some settlements and should be dealt with.
5. The Hurrians are less than enthusiastic about providing military aid to the Akkadians. Time will tell how trustworthy they really are.

Scouts

• Sargon (1, Blue) has assembled a large army for the invasion of Subartu. This time, he has numerous Villagers and enough resources to start building a camp.
• Subartu (2, Red) lies to the east and is defended by archers, cavalry, and towers.
• The Hurrians (3, Cyan) formerly only contributed financially to Sargon's campaigns, but have now been conscripted into military service. They will primarily deploy Catapults, Camel Riders, and Chariots.
• Sumerian Rebels (4, Yellow) have occupied several villages (6, Grey) that had once sworn loyalty to Sargon. The rebel forces consist of swordsmen, Chariot Archers, and Ballistas.
• If the Akkadians manage to retake the aforementioned villages, they will pass to Sumerian Allies (5, Orange) who support Sargon's cause.
• Rumor has it that Sutean desert nomads (7, Green) roam the northeast - perhaps Sargon can ally himself with these hordes of Horse Archers.

Players

Player

• Player ( Sumerians): The player starts in the Iron Age controlling an established town and small army just south-west of the centre of the map.

Allies

• Sumerian Allies ( Sumerians): Initially not present on the map, they will take over each Sumerian village that has had its garrison of Sumerian Rebels killed. They provide tribute every three minutes of 200 food, 125 wood, 200 gold, 125 stone if at least one village is taken, or if all five are taken this rises up to 450 food, 325 wood, 450 gold, 250 stone. They also raid the player's enemies with Broad Swordsmen and Bowmen.
• Sumerian Villages ( Sumerians): This player initially controls the buildings in the five villages occupied by the Sumerian Rebels. They lose control to the Sumerian Allies if the player defeats the Sumerian Rebels inside.

Ally → Enemy

• Hurrians ( Hittites): Initially allied to the player and sending a single tribute at the start of the scenario, they will rebel against the player and ally with Subartu just before 19 in-game minutes. They field Camel Riders, Chariots (upgradable to Scythed), Chariot Archers and occasionally Stone Throwers.

Neutral → Ally or Enemy

• Suteans ( Hittites): Located in a camp at the very north of the map, they send Heavy Horse Archers and Cavalry against the player's enemies in exchange for a tribute of 600 food. If they haven't been met by 15 in-game minutes they'll contact the player; if their request isn't granted within 20 minutes of meeting them they'll ally with Subartu instead and attack the player.

Enemies

• Subartu ( Assyrians): This player controls a large city in the north-eastern part of the map. It is well defended with towers and walls atop cliff facings. They field a diverse army consisting of Broad Swordsmen (upgradable to Legionaries), Cavalry (upgradable to Cataphracts), Chariot Archers, Horse Archers, Ballistas, and Catapults, and if the player builds any War Galleys or Triremes they'll do the same.
• Sumerian Rebels ( Sumerians): This player is initially occupying the five Sumerian villages and defends them from the player. They posses a finite force of Camel Riders, Horse Archers (Heavy on Hard) and Chariot Archers set to defensive stance, with no economy.

Strategy

At the beginning, there will not be much aggression by Subartu unless they are provoked, so the player can focus on expanding their economy, researching technologies and building out their base defenses. However an aggressive play is to use the starting force to take out Subartu's exposed Storage Pit in the valley north of Sargon's base; it's within the range of two Guard Towers but its loss will slow the enemy's access to gold. There's also a rare source of stone slightly west of here, and a sneaky new Storage Pit may allow the player to extract it before the area becomes heavily contested.

Next, send a fast unit across the western shallows and up to the north corner of the map, to make contact with the Suteans. They will attack Sargon's enemies with a useful force of Heavy Horse Archers and Cavalry in exchange for a tribute of 600 food. They eventually contact the player anyway, but it's worth recruiting them early. They don't need protecting, Subartu will attack their units but leave their buildings alone.

Task Villagers with building fortifications ready for Subartu's onslaught. Subartu has no access to the eastern landmass, but will stream units out of the north and eventually the west. Set up defenses in the mountain passes to the north and northeast of Sargon's base. Subartu will field powerful melee units as well as siege weapons, so an effective tactic is to build several layers of walls, with Priests behind them to convert melee units, and Catapults or Heavy Catapults upgraded with Engineering to out-snipe the siege weapons.

This just leaves one route for Subartu to march out of the fortress, down the western landmass through the Hurrians' territory. The Hurrians will eventually turn on Sargon and ally with Subartu, so it may be worth building fortifications south of the Hurrians' base rather than across the shallows. The southern end of this landmass has one of the map's few sources of stone, as well as plenty of gold and wood, so it's important to secure at least this part of the western landmass.

Initially the Hurrians provide a western bulwark against Subartu, but at 18:45 game time they switch sides and become a dangerous flanking force against the player. This can't be prevented or even delayed. The Hurrian force is less advanced than Subartu's, but it's recommended to end their nuisance quickly and not be at risk of being flanked or raided later on, and to be able to freely focus on the other enemies. A particularly sneaky strategy is to position military units near their Villagers and Town Center while still allied, and then change diplomacy to Enemy to betray them first. These units will immediately take severe punishment, but if the Hurrians' workforce is eliminated, they'll surrender. The player can then move up the western landmass and fortify across the shallows from Subartu.

On the eastern landmass (and the southeast tip of the central landmass) are five Sumerian villages that have been taken over by rebels, and can be turned into allies by wiping out the occupying units of Camel Riders, Horse Archers and Chariot Archers. These units never stray far from their starting positions, so can be dispatched at the player's leisure. An effective tactic is to convert gradually convert the rebel units with Priests, a slow technique but one that gives the player a large 'free' military to send against Subartu. It's worth capturing at least one of these villages early on though, as a single 'liberated' village will result in Sargon receiving a significant tribute every 3 minutes. The amount doesn't increase until all five villages are conquered, after which the tribute will be more than doubled. Note that this is still an optional objective that can be ignored, as the rebels don't go out of their way to attack the player's base or armies elsewhere.

For a late-game army composition, the player has several choices such as War Elephants (though the Sumerians cannot upgrade them to Armored Elephants), Centurions, and the very versatile, strong and fast Horse Archers. As the population limit in this scenario is 100, it is recommended to create a deathball of Horse Archers and use hit-and-run tactics vs enemy Cataphracts while also using their speed and range to quickly dodge and kill enemy siege. Utilize staggered formation to reduce damage taken from Catapult shots that could not be dodged. For anti-building options, the player can employ Heavy Catapults, but protecting them both from enemy Cataphracts as well as siege will require a lot of attention, while the other powerful option of War Elephants are also vulnerable to Ballistas. As in previous scenarios, Priests continue to be helpful to turn the tide of battle, as they can convert enemy Cataphracts, granting a powerful and mobile heavy cavalry unit, which perform much better than Scythe Chariots that the player can train themselves.

Taking the city of Subartu is a challenge, as the pathways leading into it are narrow and uphill, lined with walls and towers, with the enemy also employing many Chariot Archers and siege weapons to attack from the cliffs above, along with the Long Swordsmen and Cataphracts to block the pathway leading to it becoming a kill zone. It is recommended to use Horse Archers to focus fire enemy siege and provide cover to War Elephants pushing the enemy walls, gates, and towers, or to bait them with feigned retreats and deal with the faster and slower enemy units separately.

However, Subartu doesn't have to be taken. The goal of the scenario is to hold (or have allies hold) 7 of the map's 8 Ruins simultaneously. 5 Ruins are outside Subartu, so can be taken easily. Of the three within Subartu, one is a short trek from the city's eastern Docks. This area is unwalled, so units can be brought in by Transport and march straight to the Ruin (albeit facing heavy resistance within seconds). Subartu doesn't field any warships if Sargon doesn't, so Transports can slip through the waterway uncontested apart from projectiles from land units and Guard Towers. However if the player does start building War Galleys or Triremes, Subartu will unleash a constant stream of warships themselves. Fire Galleys won't provoke a response though, so torch the Docks down or siege them from across the river before building any longer-ranged ships.

Another Ruin is located near the city's western gate. This can be captured sneakily by bringing military units via Transport up the western river to the tiny strip of beach at the foot of the cliffs north of the Ruin - this area is just about within the Ruin's capture area. Note however that any of Subartu's nearby units will need to be cleared out before the Ruin can be captured, so the landing force should consist of at least one durable unit (a War Elephant or Centurion) to absorb the inevitable hail of arrows, and Horse Archers or siege weapons to take out the defenders. The area is defended by Guard Towers, but these don't count towards Ruin ownership. The final Ruin is in the fortress's south, near the south-central gate, so if Sargon's forces do manage to break into the fortress then this can be taken quickly. However as the other two Ruins in Subartu can be captured sneakily from the rivers, and five more are exposed around the map, it's possible to win this scenario in minutes.

Outro

Can a mortal being of flesh and blood become a god? The answer is no. No matter how much power a man attains, anyone who towers too far above others is doomed to fall in the end.

Sargon was the king of kings, the most powerful man that had ever walked the earth, his empire the first that mankind had ever seen.

In the temples, Sargon had replaced the statues of the gods with statues of himself - and now truly believed that he was divine, yet I had seen him bleed.

I sought him out after the sack of Subartu, only to find him standing atop a mountain of gold and corpses, precious stones passing through his fingers.

He did not listen when I told him that this madness had to end.

Once, I left my sword in its scabbard to spare the man who would be my king - but things were different this time. This was no man standing in front of me. No deity. It was an evil demon from the underworld, striding the earth to claim the souls of the innocent.

I then remembered the prophetic words: 'The blood of the innocent will be paid for by the blood of the one.' I plunged my blade deep into Sargon's chest. As he stared at me with wide eyes, a strange, wicked smile appeared on his face. Even in the face of death, Sargon never ceased believing in his own immortality.

I have no such delusions. As old age withers my once-supple frame, I welcome the journey to the afterlife, satisfied that no more innocent blood will be spilled in the name of this false god. Yet, I fear Sargon's legacy. The vices of power and a desire for divinity can inspire grim changes in even the most noble of men.

I can only pray that for every haughty Sargon, there will be a humble Ushar, guided not by delusions of grandeur - but by a simple conscience of what is right and what is wrong.

Trivia

• Although its exact location is unknown, Subartu would have been found between northeast Syria and northwest Iraq near the Tigris River.
• Although the exact date is unknown, Sargon's campaign towards Subartu would have occurred in his last regnal years, in 2284 BC.
• The outro claims that Sargon was murdered, but there is in fact no surviving record on exactly how Sargon died, with several different accounts.
  • Additionally, while Ushar seems to think he brought about an end to Akkadian conquests, Sargon was succeeded by his son Rimush (2279-2270 BC) and for decades the Sargonid dynasty, especially during the reign of Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin (2254-2218 BC), continued to expand the Akkadian empire until its fall and conquest by the Gutians, invading from the east in 2154 BC.

Gallery

The city of Subartu

One of the various Ruins that must be captured

Approximate location of Subartu.