| “ | I watch the sun rise over the village of Sekigahara, and I wonder what morning will bring. Two paths now wait at my feet. One holds the truth of who I was. The other holds the truth of I have become. The choice is mine alone, and the master waits. | ” |
| —Description in the Definitive Edition | ||
The Battle of Sekigahara is the fifth and final scenario of Act I: Japan in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It starts off from the cinematic "Out of the Fog" and revolves around a disillusioned General Kichiro remaining loyal with Tokugawa by staying with him for one last battle before finally changing his mind and leaving; staining and shaming his family name for generations.
Summary[]
Having learned the harsh truth, Kichiro entered into an existential diatribe of maintaining loyalty to his master despite the fact that he had ended the lives of his parents, but he would decide this after fighting in the battle that would define the definitive unification of Japan in the village of Sekigahara...
Objectives[]
Primary objectives[]
- Destroy Daimyo Ishida. (10000 XP)
Secondary objectives[]
- Assassinate Daimyo Otani of the Northern Clan. (6000 XP)
- Damage the Castle in the center of the battlefield. (2000 XP)
- Send a Coin Wagon to the eastern village to win its support.
Players[]
Player[]
- Eastern Tokugawa Army (
Japanese): The player starts in the southwest of the map with Tokugawa Ieyasu, General Kichiro, a few Yumi Archers, and a base. The player must destroy the enemy bases to the north and east to win the scenario.
Ally[]
- Oriental Clan ( Japanese): After the defenders are defeated, the village in the southeast of the map will belong to the player. The village have a Town Center and a Rice Paddy with a few Villagers.
Enemies[]
- Ishida Army ( Japanese): The principal enemy base that belongs to the campaign antagonist, Daimyo Ishida Mitsunari. His base is in the north of the map and it is heavily fortified with Barracks, Stables, and a Castle.
- Otani Clan ( Japanese): The secondary enemy base that belongs to the Ishida ally, Daimyo Otani Yoshitsugu. His bases is in the west and east of the map, and the player must destroy them in order to reach Ishida's base.
- Ishida Traitors Allies ( Japanese): The third enemy base that belongs to the other Ishida ally, Kobayakawa Hideaki. If the player damages his castle in the middle of the map, he will betray Ishida and ally with the player. He has 2 Incendiary Arrows, 4 Morutarus, and 7 Ashigaru Musketeers.
Treasures[]
There are 11 treasures on the map:
- Click for a list of treasures and their guardians related to the "The Battle of Sekigahara" scenario
| Treasure | Reward | Guardians | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| The armor of Arkantos, which increases Explorer or Hero hitpoints by | 40% | 1x  Mongol Rider1x  Masterless Samurai
| In the south of the player's base |
| A stand of Japanese maple trees worth | 30 wood | 2x  Snow Monkey
|
In the west of the player's base |
| An iridescent dragonfly worth | 90 coin | 2x  Tiger
| |
| A giant salamander worth | 80 food | 2x  Snow Leopard
|
Between the player's base and the southern enemy Outpost |
| A nest of box turtles worth | 40 food | 1x  Black Panther
|
In the south of the allied Oriental Clan |
| A trapped construction team, qualified to build war huts and stables. | 1x  Stable Wagon
| 4x Mongol Rider
|
In the north of the allied Oriental Clan |
| Polecats whose furs are worth | 20 coin | None | In the west of the map |
| A scaly pangolin worth | 40 XP | 1x Black Panther
|
In the south of the western enemy base |
| Possible remnants of the fabled valley Shangri-La worth | 250 wood | 4x  Smuggler
|
In the north of the western enemy base |
| A grove of flowering cherry trees worth | 60 wood | 3x Snow Monkey
|
In the middle of the map |
| A hoard of wild rice worth | 330 food | 4x Mongol Rider
|
In the center of the eastern enemy camp |
The map[]
The map is crossed by one Trade Route from southwest to north. The terrain is based on Honshu. There are some animals in the north, but is not recommended to hunt here, for the enemies attack from the north, so the player should build Rice Paddies to generate food and, when the mines are used up, coin.
Strategy[]
In the scenario, there are seemingly great numbers of armies but as the introduction says, many of them are turncoats and stragglers.
At the start, the player should queue Villagers to gather resources and collect the stray Treasures with General Kichiro and Tokugawa. At the same time, they should build a few Shrines for population as well as collecting resources. The players should start to move their initial troops in the village to the east along with Kichiro and Tokugawa, bringing the Coin Rickshaw along. The player will soon start to see some enemies, among them some are Hatamoto Samurai, which they should try to hit and run as they are extremely powerful. The player should then proceed to destroy the Outpost and head further along the road. The player should defend both ways into the colony.
The player should take out the defenders in the enemy village and send their Coin Rickshaw to the area marked with blue flags - they will gain control of the village and 3 Ninja. Now the player should send most of their army to this village.
They will receive an objective about assassinating Daimyo Otani. The player can put the Ninja on stealth mode and have them move to Daimyo Otani's position without attacking anyone along the route In the meantime, the player can claim the treasure in the Village to get a Military Rickshaw. The enemy will use a lot of Yumi Archer. The player can build more units too, but concentrate on improving the economy and getting to Imperial Age.
This gives the player's army in the Eastern Village a good chance to go to the castle in the center of the map. Start damaging the Castle. Those units, along with a great many other troops and buildings change sides. The player can retreat the units in the Northern parts of the map so they will not lose them to Ishida's army. The player can now progress by starting to gather more troops and upgrade them. Yumi archers and Naginata riders are a good combination of units. When the player damaged the castle, they also obtain 4 Morutaru units and should keep them safe as well as taking out all of the enemy buildings at range.
The player now can mass more units near the two castles they obtained and get ready for the final push. The player will eventually have to fight his great amount of Yumi archers, but once massed some Naginata riders, they will have no trouble dealing with them. Hatamoto Samurai will be extremley dangerous threat to the Naginata Riders and must be countered with Flaming Arrows. The player should keep pushing with their army and train more units from the buildings they captured recently. Once Ishida's castle goes down, a bunch of Hatamoto Samurai will attack them but by now, nothing Ishida throws at the player's army should be a problem for them.
Trivia[]
- The castle in the center of the map represents the army of Kobayakawa Hideaki, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nephew. During the Imjin War, Ishida Mitsunari accused Hideaki of recklessness, and Hideyoshi stripped Hideaki of his lands based on that accusation, only to have them restored when Tokugawa Ieyasu intervened. Just prior to Sekigahara, however, Mitsunari promised Hideaki great rewards and brought him on his side. He partook at the siege of Fushimi, acting as if he would go along with Mitsunari, but intended to betray him, having secretly communicated with Ieyasu. During the battle, he kept his intentions hidden, hesitant to participate on either side, until Ieyasu ordered his arquebusiers and cannons to fire blanks at him to force him into action. Hideaki then attacked the Western Army's right flank, causing others in the Western Army to side with Ieyasu.
- Daimyo Otani is based on Otani Yoshitsugu, one of Mitsunari's allies. He initially hoped to side with Ieyasu, but for some reason sided with Mitsunari. Unlike in the scenario, he was never assassinated, but committed suicide following Hideaki's betrayal.
Gallery[]
