The Battle of Ayn Jalut

This article is about the scenario in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend. For the event scenario in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, see Ayn Jalut.

The Battle of Ayn Jalut
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend
Campaign	The Sultans Ascend
Civilization	Mamluk Sultanate (based on the Ayyubids)
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	6
Previous	The Battle of Mansurah
Next	The Siege of Acre
Setting information
Year	1260

The Battle of Ayn Jalut is the sixth scenario of the The Sultans Ascend campaign in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend, and the second scenario in the 'From Slaves to Sultans' chapter. It is based on the Battle of Ayn Jalut in 1260 between the Mamluk Sultanate and the Mongol Ilkhanate.

Intro

Scenario description

A new menace threatened the sultanate itself: The Mongols had arrived.

Opening cinematic

A new power rose under the banner of former slaves. The sultanate of the Mamluks was born. The ravages of the Franks - monstrous though they were - could not match the sudden terror brought upon us by the thunder and malice of the Mongols. Like the unstoppable spread of a plague, they were upon us. One after another, we fell. Baghdad... Aleppo... Damascus. Our lands were choked with smoke and ran with blood. But Sultan Qutuz - may God be merciful to him - would not stand idle nor flee in fear. He gathered his Mamluk army... and marched.

Loading screen

With Baybars at his side, Sultan Qutuz marched to intercept the dreaded Mongols.

Start of scenario

It was written that every place the Mongols attacked, they captured. And every army they fought, they defeated. Such was the anguish of the people. But the Mamluks would not be so easily swept aside. Before day's end, the Mongols would know the meaning of defeat.

Scenario instructions

Starting conditions

• Starting Age: Castle Age
• Population limit: N/A
• Starting units:
  • Baybars
  • 12x Veteran Turkic Horse Archer
• Resources: N/A

Objectives

• Keep your Horse Archers Alive
• Weaken the Mongol vanguard until reinforcements arrive
• Stop the Mongol invasion
  • Enemy waves defeated (0/5)
• The people of Afula must survive
  • Villagers remaining (55)

Gameplay

• You will not have any Villagers or economy in this mission.
• Starting with Baybars and his Horse Archers, eliminate as many Mongols as possible while waiting for reinforcements.
• Stop the Mongol invasion from passing through the valley. The people of Afula must survive.

Hints

• When engaging enemy units, use unit types that are strongest against them. Crossbowmen can pierce Heavy Units; Spearmen are devastating to Cavalry.

Players

• Mamluk Sultanate (Mamluk Sultanate): The player begins in the southwest of the map with their small force. They control no buildings or economic units, and rely solely on regular reinforcements to replenish their army. These reinforcements will primarily consist of Archers, Spearmen, Men-at-Arms, Crossbomwen, and Horsemen, with smaller numbers of Turkic Horse Archers, Lancers, and eventually Handcannoneers. The player must defend Afula and resist the Mongol invasion.

Allies

• Afula Civilians (Mamluk Sultanate): The Afula citizens have a small base at the southwest of the map with only a few economic buildings, along with a number of Villagers that must be defended to win the scenario. Although they have a Town Center, the Villagers will not attempt to garrison in it if they are under attack, and the Town Center will not attack Mongol units. They also have several Imams which can heal the player's army. There are additional economic buildings and Villagers in the northeast that belong to the Afula Civilians, but these are more for cinematic purposes to be destroyed by the initial wave of Mongols, and do not require defending.

Enemy

• Mongol Ilkhanate (Mongols): The Mongols attack in large waves from the northwest of the map, marching each wave along the path until they form a line outside the valley. They will attack with Horsemen, Militia, Archers, Men-at-Arms, Lancers, Mangudai, Spearmen, and Crossbowmen. They will relentlessly attack both through the center and on the flanks to try to directly target the Afula Villagers.
• Franks (Crusaders): A Crusader army appears as the third wave of the attack. This consists of Templar Knights led by the Templar Grand Master on the left flank, Hospitaller‏‎ Knights led bythe Hospitaller Grand Master in the center, and Teutonic Knights and Crossbowmen on the right flank led by the Teutonic Grand Master.

Strategy

Note: The below scenario conditions and strategy are written for the Hard difficulty. Lower difficulties may differ slightly from what is described below.

Similar to The Battle of the Kalka River, this scenario will purely test a player's ability to micro their army, as it contains no economic or base building components. The Mongol army outnumbers the player's considerably, and trying to defeat it simply with brute force will likely fail even the first wave. Even with proper army maneuvering and tactics, the scenario is tremendously difficult on Hard, and it is advised that the player saves in between each wave if they feel they have managed to get through it fairly successfully and are not trying to defeat it in one single attempt. Each wave has its own strategy, but in general, to be successful, the player has to break off Mongol units from their main formations and defeat them in smaller chunks, taking advantage of Lanchester's law. For this reason, keeping as many Turkic Horse Archers alive as possible throughout the scenario is useful, as they are easiest to harass with, and Baybars' ability can ensure even enemy cavalry cannot catch up to them. Additionally, they can slow down enemy units to delay them from reaching allied civilians. The player should continue attacking and harassing at all times during the scenario rather than wait for the Mongols to line up and charge. It is often better to let one flank of the attacking wave pass directly by and start killing Villagers so that the other flank can be focused down, before going back and stopping the other flank.

Wave one

Starting immediately, the player should use their initial horse archers to defeat the small force of Horsemen, and then try to defeat as many Spearmen as possible. Horsemen can catch up to horse archers, and both Horsemen and Spearmen deal bonus damage vs them, so take care not to get too close, and use Baybars's ability as often as possible. As the column of Archers and Militia makes its way down the path, Militia should be continuously drawn from out of the formation using horse archers. Enemy Archers should be left alone as much as possible, since they can easily defeat horse archers. Baybars is useful for drawing fire from stray Archers that may have abandoned their formation, due to his healing and high hit points. The Horsemen on the right flank should be ignored for now. When reinforcements arrive, Horsemen can be used to defeat enemy Archers drawn out of formation, and Spearmen can immediately be sent to defeat the Horsemen with ranged unit support. Once the enemy Horsemen are defeated, any remaining enemy Archers and Militia can be defeated with the rest of the player's army, taking care to save as many Spearmen as possible for the next wave.

Wave two

Before wave two attacks, the player's ranged units, especially horse archers, should harass and attack the Militia on the Mongols' right flank. Leftover Spearmen can also attempt to draw the Mongol Lancers out of position. The combined forces of reinforcing Men-at-arms and Crossbowmen, along with leftover Archers, Spearmen, and Horsemen, should defend against the Mongol Archers, Lancers and Mangudai. The Men-at-Arms are especially critical here as a frontline damage sponge while ranged units deal damage from the rear. Crossbowmen should focus down any remaining Lancers and should be kept as safe from damage as possible, because they will be critical for the next wave. Enemy Mangudai do not attempt to hit-and-run, so they should be fairly straightforward to take out. The Militia pose the smallest threat to the civilians, so any leftover from the initial harassment can be left to advance while the more dangerous units are defeated, and then cleaned up later.

Wave three

Before the Crusader wave lines up and charges, Crossbowmen and other ranged units should be used to harass the Teutonic Knights on the right flank. Crossbowmen are the player's only counter to these, which is why it is vital to keep as many alive as possible. Teutonic Knights are much faster than their Age of Empires II counterparts, especially while charging, but they are still easier to hit-and-run than Knights. Before the enemy formation charges, the player should move all their units and reinforcements to the Crusader left flank to stop the Templar and Hospitaller Knights, as these will very quickly shred through civilians if they make it through, while the Crusader Crossbowmen are somewhat less of a threat. The reinforcing Spearmen should provide a solid backstop to the enemy cavalry with any remaining Men-at-Arms, while Mamluk Crossbowmen and horse archers provide additional damage. The Grand Masters should be focused down as quickly as possible, especially that of the Hospitallers, since his ability passively heals other units. Any remaining enemy Crossbowmen or Teutonic Knights left on the right flank should be cleaned up.

Wave four

The Lancer and Archer reinforcements should be brought to deal with the Mongol Archers and Spearmen on the left flank and center respectively. It is easier if one of the archer groups can be broken off the main formation. Having Spearmen left over from wave three will be very helpful against the Lancers on the right flank, but otherwise they can be hit-and-run with remaining horse archers and Crossbowmen, or a combination of Lancers and Archers left over after dealing with the other soldiers.

Wave five

Mongol Lancers, Crossbowmen, Mangudai, and Men-at-Arms led by Kitbuqa himself will lead this fifth and final wave. As this is the last wave, after doing any initial harassment of the Mongol formation, the player can hunker down on one side of the city to cover any remaining civilians and prevent them from being killed. Doing this will not only inherently split up the Mongol army, but for this wave, it is also beneficial for the player to keep their army closely packed so that Qutuz's incredibly useful armor-boosting ability can have the maximum effect. As usual, melee units such as Men-at-Arms, Horsemen, and any remaining Lancers should be on the frontlines keeping the Handcannoneers safe in the back. These Handcannoneers provide a very good source of damage that can quickly take down enemy Lancers and Men-at-Arms. Kitbuqa deals enormous damage-per-second from range, so he should be killed as quickly as possible. If the player manages to survive through this wave with even one remaining civilian, they will then win the scenario.

Outro

End of scenario

Our victory that day changed the story of the Mongol invasion. Qutuz and Baybars made them taste the cup of death, and all hearts were gladdened by the news. Never again would we shrink at the sound of the Mongol war drums.

Post-game screen

The Mamluks shook the very core of the Mongol invasion, and the invincible enemy was at last defeated

Unlockable content

• Video: The Battle of Ayn Jalut
• Page from History: Might Steeds

Trivia

• Although there were some Franks under the vassalhood of the Mongols at this time (although not necessarily from the Holy Orders), most of the Crusader States notably sided with the Mamluk Sultanate at this time, allowing them to march unimpeded and make camp through their territory to fight the Mongols.
• There are contradicting claims by historians on whether the Mamluk Sultanate used handcannons against the Mongols in the Battle of Ayn Jalut. Whether true or not, these claims are likely the inspiration for their inclusion in the reinforcements of this scenario.