| “ | Across the monsoon-swollen Hydaspes, King Porus awaits Alexander's arrival. | ” |
| —In-game summary | ||
The Battle of the Hydaspes is the fourteenth scenario of the Alexander the Great grand campaign in Chronicles: Alexander the Great. It is about the eponymous battle on the modern-day Jhelum River in Punjab, Pakistan, where Alexander defeated the Indian king Porus.
Intro[]
Back at the court of Alexander, things grew fractious. Now that he was King of Persia, Alexander was beginning to adopt Persian customs — including the practice of prostration before the king. To many of Alexander's Greek and Macedonian followers, this gesture seemed not only servile, but blasphemous — an honor reserved solely for the gods. At a banquet, Cleitus — ever the straight-talker — confronted the king. Both men were deeply drunk.
[Cleitus] What is this, Alexander? You dress in foreign finery. You consult with eunuchs and Magi. If a Macedonian wants an audience with you, he has to beg it from some Persian courtier, and then prostrate himself like a slave! Have you forsaken your own kinsmen?
[Alexander] Shut your wretched mouth, Cleitus. If it weren't for me, you'd be fending off Thracian goat thieves from some hillside hovel.
[Cleitus] No. If it weren't for your father, you'd have nor army, no victories, no glory. Without your father, you would be nothing. And if he could see you now, he would be ashamed.
Alexander wrenched a spear from a nearby guard, hurled it across the room, and struck Cleitus dead.
Alexander looked upon the lifeless face of the man he had once called friend; the man who had saved his life at the Granicus. And Alexander wept. All through the night, all through the following day, his grief tortured him. A procession of friends and comrades, courtiers and flatterers, philosophers and wise men came to him, trying to soothe his guilty soul.
But what roused him from his melancholy was a force greater, deeper than any grief: his yearning. India awaited — a chance not just for conquest, but follow in the footsteps of the god Dionysus, to witness marvels unseen by any Greek, to reach the Outer Sea that girdled the earth itself.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Imperial Age - Starting resources: 800 food, 400 wood, 500 gold, 300 stone
- Population limit: 225
- Starting units:
Main objectives[]
- Secure 4 of the 6 landing zones across the river.
- Survive Porus' counter-attack against your landing zones.
- Maintain control of at least 2 landing zones by defending their Towers.
- Bring down Porus.
Secondary objectives[]
- Capture at least one landing zone to keep Porus on the defensive, so that he is unable to send soldiers across the river.
- Use flares to direct Perdiccas to attack locations across the river.
- Defend all of your landing points.
- Capture Porus' Mule Cart to boost your economy. (if unlocked in previous scenario)
Decisions[]
- Choose a new unit for Alexander's army:
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- The number of landing zones the player must capture to trigger the 15-minute defense phase against Porus' counterattacks varies per difficulty level:
- Easiest: 1 landing zone
- Standard: 2 landing zones
- Moderate: 3 landing zones
- Hard and Legendary: 4 landing zones
Hints[]
- You have a slightly higher population limit of 225.
- You cannot build Shipyards or any naval units other than Transport Ships, which will be necessary to move your units across the river.
- Most of the opposite side of the river is sodden and cannot be built upon; you will have to reinforce any landing parties by using more Transport Ships.
- Do not delay your assault too long, or Porus will send increasingly powerful forces against you.
- The more landing zones you take, the more Porus will be forced to split his forces. Each landing zone has a powerful tower with unusually high garrison capacity.
- There are six possible landing zones, each with different features. Scout them and consider your approach.
- Thick mud will significantly slow down both your units and enemy units
- Phalangites are very effective against elephants.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Macedonians): The player starts in the western banks of the River Hydaspes and must lead attacks into the landing zones on the opposite side. When the player's units are near a valid landing zone, they are highlighted with Line of Sight and floating text labels. A total of six landing zones exist. The player will need to take 4 landing zones first, but then needs to hold only 2 for the denoted time. If number of zones held falls below 2, the player will need to recapture 4 landing zones again and repeat. Delaying the attack will cause Porus to grow impatient and instead counter-invade the player's side.
Allies[]
- Perdiccas ( Macedonians): He produces regiments of Phalangites which can be directed using flares to either side of the river. If signaled to the opposite side, he sends them over via transports and tries to hold the flared position. Token soldiers also defend the muddy passes at the periphery of the Macedonian bases in the starting area from enemy raiders or Puru landing parties.
Enemies[]
- Porus' Army ( Puru): They initially hold all the six landing zones with their stationed troops. Each landing zone consists of either a Fortified Tower or a Sea Tower, and may have additional features like muddy terrain, Mining Camps (near Gold Mines), forests, Palisade Walls, etc. The landing zone can be captured by destroying the tower, which replaces it with a tower of the destroying player. This means that any of the player's towers destroyed become Puru Army's again. Once a landing zone is captured, this player periodically sends large forces to retake them. They field Swordsmen, Laminated Bowmen Sannāhyas, Pattiyodha Longbowmen, Indian Tribesmen, Elite Skirmishers, Guardsmen, Mercenary Peltasts, Slingers, Lancers, and Cavalry Archers. They also have a special Mule Cart in the east which can be captured by killing the enemy troops around it.
- Porus ( Puru): King Puru and his main army arrive after the landing zones have been held for the denoted time. His army is large and consists of Elite Sannāhya, Pattiyodha Longbowmen, Indian Tribesmen, Porus himself, and may also feature Royal Pattiyodha Longbowmen.
- Mercenaries ( Puru): The various mercenaries patrol outside the periphery of the Macedonian base in their side of the river, which can be cleared to access nearby resources like additional Gold Mines. They also periodically send raiding parties of Light Cavalry, which the guards of Perdiccas or towers built by the player can easily handle.
Strategy[]
This scenario is about quickly building up and forcing Porus to remain on the defensive, as he will attack the player's and Perdiccas' side of the river should the player not capture any of the landing zones quickly. In this scenario, speed of all units (both player's and computer-controlled) is significantly reduced when crossing shallows, and no naval units aside from Transport Ships may be created.
Train Villagers to set up an economy as lots of resources will be needed in the fight ahead. Create a few more Transport Ships at the start (about four in total should be sufficient), multiple buildings for the desired unit types, and keep queues full. About four minutes after the scenario starts, Ambhi will appear with a few Indian Tribesmen and two Carts, granting the player 1,000 food and 1,000 gold when they reach the central Fort.
If the player has chosen Alexander's Mercenary Archers or has another powerful foot archer unit, it is recommended to take the landing zones which consist of Fortified Towers, as they can be garrisoned with 20 archers (increased from base capacity of 5 using triggers), increasing their firepower greatly. The player cannot build anything near the landing zones, including Outposts, so Ends of the World is mostly useless, but a few Priestesses can increase the value of the player's troops greatly by healing up between fights. The player will need to regularly send over transports filled with reinforcements to maintain hold. On the landing zone with the gorge and the fortified tower (second from the right), there are single tiles where construction is possible, so Fortified Outposts combined with Ends of the World should help maintain fighting power in this section.
Note that while the player cannot build directly near the landing zones, they can bypass this restriction by clearing the nearby trees with Onagers or Villagers, and then building in the cleared areas. Also, they can build freely deeper into the Porus' side of the river, away from the landing zones. Another trick that might help with holding multiple landing zones simultaneously is to clear out the garrisons around each landing zone tower, but not actually capturing the tower until ready to do so.
Once the 15-minute defense timer against Porus' counterattacks expires, any attacking units will withdraw, and Porus with his elite army corps appears in the northeast. Carefully draw out the units near the outer perimeter, and after the player gets in his sight, Porus will charge with the rest of the army. It is not necessary to defeat his army completely, only to kill (dismount) Porus himself. He is bulky with 2,120 hit points and regeneration, but will fall quickly to a concentrated Phalangite attack. Perdiccas' Phalangites can help well with this task. Once Porus is dismounted, the rest of his army flees, and the player is declared victorious.
Achievement[]
For the Steam achievement "Amphibious Assault", the player must hold all six landing zones simultaneously. This can be done at any point of the scenario, not just during the initial landing and defending. The achievement is awarded immediately after capturing the last landing zone.
Legendary difficulty[]
The strategy for Legendary difficulty is largely the same as above, but a few details should be considered.
The ability to clear out trees with Onager attack ground to build on that area is essential. This makes landing zones with trees near the tower the best to try to hold. Numbering the landing zones from 1 to 6, with 1 being the northernmost, this makes landing zones 1, 2, 4, and 6 the most viable. Landing zone 5 has no ground to clear for building, and landing zone 3 has too much swampland or too much distance to reinforce as quick as possible. Additionally, the ability to build on cleared land makes Fortified Outposts with End of The World researched a viable strategy for healing.
The Elite Sannāhyas that Porus will deploy over the fifteen minute timer can be devastating to deal with, making Elite Phalangites a good strategy. Armies of Elite Phalangites, Mercenary Archers and/or Mounted Skirmishers, and Heavy Scorpions are good at managing most of the enemy, if consistently reinforced. Fully garrisoned towers go a long way too.
The player should try to defend only two landing zones. They will hit all zones hard, and the player has a maximum population limit of 225. It is far better to have two full armies with extra support units at two zones, than several small armies at four, which strains micro. Use Perdiccas to reinforce; he provides up to 40 Phalangites at a time.
Porus will attack all zones in force, but the greater force seems to come against landing zones 4 and 5, the closest to his camp. Landing zone 4 in particular might take the brunt of the aggression. If landing zone 5 is captured, then lost during the timer, Porus' forces will travel south to attack landing zone 6 from behind if the player is defending there as well.
Trivia[]
- Despite the Pauravas utilizing chariots during the battle as per historical sources, Porus and his Army do not have War Chariots or any other similar unit.
- This is possibly for gameplay purposes, due to the difficulty of securing multiple landing points, and to encourage the use of Phalangites and heavy cavalry to counter the army composition of elephants and archers.
- The scenario features a muddy terrain where all land units move significantly slower. Ships are not affected. This is done by triggers rather than being a terrain feature like Cracked terrain.
