| “ | Sun Ce invades the south and lays the foundation for the Sun Clan's rise to power. | ” |
| —In-game scenario description | ||
The Conquest of Jiangdong is the second scenario of the Sun Clan campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Three Kingdoms. It is based on Sun Ce's conquests in Jiangdong, mainly campaigns against Liu Yao and Wang Lang.
Intro[]
Liu Biao had sown the seeds of his own demise by killing Sun Jian. As the two Sun brothers grew up, they tended those seeds carefully. One day, they would pick the fruit from that tree of vengeance...
...but for now, Sun Ce could do little. As the new leader of his Clan, he was returning home with neither an army nor lands to rule. To exact revenge on Liu Biao, he would first need to build up his power base.
The Imperial Seal was a priceless artifact, but keeping it was like painting a target on your back. Warlords and bandits alike were eager to get their hands on it. Better, then, to make use of it and pass the target on to someone else.
Sun Ce agreed to trade the seal to his father's old master, Yuan Shao, in exchange for three thousand experienced soldiers. With his top commander and childhood friend Zhou Yu by his side, he would march into Jiangdong province to realize his father's dream.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Castle Age - Ending Age: Castle Age
- Starting resources: 700 food, 600 wood, 500 gold, 300 stone
- Population limit: 125
- Starting units:
- Sun Ce (hero)
- 3 Hei Guang Cavalry (upgraded to Imperial Cavalry if the player rescued the nobles in The Imperial Seal)
- 3 Light Cavalry (changed to Imperial Cavalry if the player rescued the nobles in The Imperial Seal)
Main objectives[]
- Bring Sun Ce to an army to take control of it.
- Defeat Liu Yao.
- Defeat Wang Lang.
Secondary objectives[]
- 0/3 Villager groups rescued.
- Visit the Temple.
Hints[]
- You are limited to the Castle Age and 125 population.
- Several groups of Villagers languish in bandit prisons. You must liberate at least one to build your base, but liberating more will strengthen you.
- Together, Liu Yao and Wang Lang are stronger than you, but separately they are weaker.
- The road to the western temple leads through dense bamboo forests, perfect for staging an ambush.
- Use Jian Swordsmen against archers, Hei Guang Cavalry against ranged soldiers and infantry, and Fire Archers against infantry and buildings.
Scouts[]
- Sun Ce (Red) has arrived in the south with his closest allies and the promise of a trade: the Imperial Seal in exchange for soldiers from Yuan Shao.
- Before taking on the local warlords, Sun Ce must contend with the bandit king White Tiger Yan (Yellow), who holds many locals prisoner. Yan's power base lies further south, but he has some nearby outposts and will send raiders (Green) against you.
- To the east, the warlord Liu Yao (Blue) reigns supreme. This defensive tactician will wear you down with White Feather Guards and Crossbowmen.
- On the other hand, Wang Lang (Purple) controls the south. This reckless commander will overwhelm you with infantry and Hei Guang Cavalry.
- Jiangdong is home to many Chinese villages (Grey). A temple to the founder of the Han dynasty supposedly lies in the western hills.
Players[]
Player[]
- Sun Ce ( Wu): Begins in the north with just Sun Ce himself and some cavalry units, and must first select a starting army from Yuan Shao (orange). After this, the player should rescue Villagers held by White Tiger Yan and establish a base, with the objective of destroying Liu Yao's and Wang Lang's bases to secure Jiangdong province.
Ally[]
- Chinese Villages ( Wu): They provide a background setting with several villages around the map, and initially control the imprisoned Villagers and the Temple in the west of the map, but otherwise play no active role. Yuan Shao and the starting armies also technically belong to this player, but have their player name changed to Yuan Shao via triggers.
Enemy[]
- White Tiger Yan ( Wu): Controls three camps around the map, each holding a group of six Villagers within a Palisade Wall, and defended by Archers, Jian Swordsmen, and Watch Towers.
- White Tiger Raiders ( Wu): They have two camps: one southwest of Liu Yan's base, another northwest of Wang Lang's base. They train Light Cavalry and Cavalry Archers to harass the player.
- Liu Yao ( Shu): Liu Yao has his base in the east of the map, containing several military production buildings, a Castle, and a Town Center. He trains Crossbowmen, Pikemen, White Feather Guards, and Battering Rams. Defeating him is a main objective.
- Wang Lang ( Wu): Wang Lang's base is located near the south of the map, also containing several military production buildings, a Castle, and a Town Center. He typically sends Hei Guang Cavalry, Jian Swordsmen, Long Swordsmen, and Battering Rams against the player. He too must be defeated to complete the scenario.
Strategy[]
The scenario opens in the north of the map with a decision as for the player's starting army, with Yuan Shao providing three choices: a ranged army (8 Crossbowmen, 4 Cavalry Archers), a cavalry army (6 Light Cavalry, 4 Hei Guang Cavalry), or an infantry army (8 Pikemen, 6 Elite Skirmishers). For the rest of the campaign, unit upgrades (Archer line, Scout Cavalry line, and Spearman line, respectively) will automatically be researched for free upon advancing to the next Age.
Shortly after moving out, the player can choose between two heroes: Cheng Pu, a cavalry Commander Class hero, or Huang Gai, an infantry Champion Class hero, with their choice also remaining for the rest of the campaign.
The first order of business should be to rescue Villager groups held by White Tiger Yan in three camps, with those groups located southeast, south, and southwest of the starting point, respectively. In all cases, their garrisons consist of Archers and Jian Swordsmen, so either units countering these or heroes should go kill the units, and destroy a section of Palisade Walls holding the Villagers. Once done, the rest of the camp, including Watch Towers, is automatically deleted, and the Villagers turned over to the player.
While the rescue of the remaining Villager groups is ongoing, the player should find a good location to build up, and prepare to face attacks of the White Tiger Raiders, Liu Yao, and Wang Lang. Two sites with a relatively easy access to all resources are either between the Hall of Heroes and two White Tiger Yan camps in the east, or a rather centrally located site bounded to the west by some impassable crags and a large forest. As initial attacks will be rather large on higher difficulties, building a Castle as soon as possible goes a long way to secure the chosen site. Rescuing all Villager groups gives the player 18 Villagers, which should be enough to jumpstart the economy and boom further.
When building up, the player should train counters to the units the enemies will send. Wang Lang trains Long Swordsmen, Jian Swordsmen, and Hei Guang Cavalry, while Liu Yao deploys White Feather Guards, Crossbowmen, and Pikemen. Both enemy warlords also send trains of Battering Rams after several waves. White Tiger Raiders will harass the player with Light Cavalry and Cavalry Archers. The player should also make good use of Sun Ce's active ability Master of Persuasion: he is able to convert any enemy unit (including enemy Monks and siege weapons) except heroes like a Monk, but does so in approximately three seconds, and has a 15 second cooldown. Using this well on high-value targets such as Hei Guang Cavalry or Battering Rams can save the player some resources, and build up for the eventual counterattack.
Roughly 25 minutes after starting the scenario, the player is given a secondary objective to visit the Temple located near the western end of the map, with an eight-minute window to act before White Tiger Yan steals the Relic located there. There are two possible approaches: one from the southeast through a White Tiger Raiders camp and a Palisade Gate, or from the east, which contains a Barricade, where Liu Yao stages an ambush (16 Crossbowmen, 8 White Feather Guards). As such, the player should send the heroes and cavalry, and use their passive and active abilities well to defeat the ambush, and break the Barricade. Reaching the Temple in time grants the player a Monk with Relic, which they can immediately garrison in the Monastery, and the player will be given a free Relic in the subsequent scenarios.
Once the player built up their forces, they should strike against the two warlord opponents, making sure to train a mix of units to counter the units enemies will send. If training Fire Archers, the player can use them to damage enemy buildings from far, while letting Battering Rams take down enemy Castles. While the player can defeat the White Tiger Raiders by destroying their two camps, it is not required, and brings no future benefits aside from stopping their raids. Once both the Town Center and the Castle of both Liu Yao and Wang Lang are destroyed, they delete their remaining buildings and resign, winning the scenario for the player.
Outro[]
Yuan Shao's warriors were initially skeptical of their new master; but after a string of victories, their contractual obligation grew into admiration for the man they dubbed the "Little Conqueror".
At the mere age of 20, Sun Ce was already filling the void left by his father. Helped by Zhou Yu's masterful tactics, he was quickly carving out the domain his father had dreamed of.
Yet, all was not quiet on the home front. While Sun Ce carried out their father's dreams, his younger brother, Sun Quan, still watered the vengeful tree. For him, revenge, not empire-building, was all that mattered.
Still, they would have to temporarily put their differences aside. While much of Jiangdong province had been subdued, one major threat still remained: the bandit leader White Tiger Yan.
