The Dai Viet Uprising is the first scenario in the Le Loi campaign in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas. It focuses on how the rebellion of Vietnamese people led by Le Loi began.
Intro[]
The kingdom of Dai Viet is no more. A storm came from the north and plunged the land into darkness.
Torn apart by civil war, the kingdom drew the hungry eyes of the Ming emperor. He sent an immense force armed with weapons of fire and smoke to conquer Dai Viet. The Vietnamese people stood no chance against such a menace.
Foreign soldiers entered the villages and occupied the land. While the Vietnamese aristocracy collaborated and prospered, the common people suffered. The invaders imposed harsh taxes on the people and destroyed many of the holy places. The Vietnamese needed a hero, and that hero was Le Loi.
Although the son of a nobleman himself, Le Loi despised the aristocracy who had sided with the enemy. When the Chinese came, he fled north to the lands of his family. There, in the hills, he was outside the reach of the Chinese while he organized the resistance.
Vastly outnumbered by the large Ming army, Le Loi knew he could not defeat them in open battle, and so he turned to guerrilla warfare. He raided Ming camps to steal supplies and gave them to the starving farmers.
Le Loi's resistance could only succeed through planting the seeds of rebellion in his people.
Calm down, you scoundrel! Calm down and let me tell you a story.
Not too long ago, when your fathers were about your age, the Chinese returned to the Dai Viet. After more than five hundred years of independence, the Vietnamese kingdom came once again under the thumb of a Chinese emperor. The Ming dynasty had come to assist the Vietnamese claimant to the throne, but as the country plummeted into chaos, the Ming emperor decided to take the kingdom for himself. Ming soldiers entered and occupied the Vietnamese villages and cities. But while the aristocracy prospered under Ming occupation, the common people suffered. It was clear that the Vietnamese people need a hero to unite and free the country once more. This hero was Lê Lợi.
Lê Lợi was the son of a nobleman, but despite his heritage, he despised the other aristocracy who had sided with the enemy. Lê Lợi's family had founded a new town in northern Vietnam before the Ming occupation, far from the control of the Hanoi government. Here up far north, he gained the support of two famous families, the Trịnh and the Nguyễn. Vastly outnumbered, Lê Lợi turned to waging a guerilla war against the large and well-organized Ming army in 1418. His resistance could only suceeed if he managed to avoid confrontation with the Ming and waited for the seeds of rebellion to bear fruit...Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age: Feudal Age
- Starting resources: 200 food, 400 wood, 200 gold, 200 stone
- Population limit: 100
- Starting units:
Objectives[]
- Main objectives
- The Trinh and the Nguyen are two powerful Vietnamese families that support your cause. They will put up a decent fight against the Ming, but are reliant on you for protection. You will lose if one of them is destroyed.
- Liberate the Vietnamese people by destroying every Ming tower in the five villages marked by flags.
- Secondary objectives
- Capture the Holy Artifact and return it to the Monastery in the mountains.
Hints[]
- As your army consists merely of guerrilla fighters, you are restricted to a population limit of 100 and cannot advance past the Castle Age.
- You start without a Town Center. It would be wise to carefully observe your surroundings and look for the best spot to construct one.
- The Ming have many fortified camps in the region. It is not advised to attack these.
- The Vietnamese unique unit, the Rattan Archer, is very effective against the many Chu Ko Nu that the Ming will produce.
- Be careful while venturing on the roads. Ming patrols are abundant!
Scouts[]
- Le Loi (1, Yellow) and a few of his men have a small camp in the east. They will quickly have to prepare to face the might of the Ming forces.
- The Ming Army (2, Blue) has several powerful fortresses dotted across the map. Their vast array of elite soldiers will give their best to quell the Vietnamese rebellion.
- Vietnamese Villages (3, Green) are scattered throughout the map and under control by Ming forces.
- The Trinh (4, Red) are a powerful Vietnamese family located in the north and are fed up with the Ming oppression. They will fight vigorously against enemy attackers and train a combination of Rattan Archers, Pikemen, Battle Elephants, and Knights.
- The Nguyen (5, Orange) have a fortress in the southern mountains. Their focus will be Rattan Archers, Two-Handed Swordsmen, Battle Elephants, and Crossbowmen.
- Ming Patrols (7, Cyan) have a great number of troops wandering about the countryside and in the villages. They will have to be dealt with in order to secure the region.
- Malay Pirates (6, Purple) roam the seas and attack anyone they come into contact with.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Vietnamese): The player starts out in the east, controlling only a scattered group of Yurts, Villagers, and soldiers along with Le Loi.
Neutral → Allies[]
- Trinh ( Vietnamese): Located to the north. Their base is small, but quite well-fortified although it can be breached with a strong attack. In the HD Edition, their forces consist of Pikemen, Battle Elephants, Rattan Archers, and Trinh Cavalry (modified Cataphracts). In the Definitive Edition, they train Knights at the Stable instead of using triggers to create Cataphracts.
- Nguyen ( Vietnamese): Located to the south. Like the Trinh, they also have a small but well-fortified base that cannot sustain too much attack. Their forces consists of Rattan Archers, Crossbowmen, Two-Handed Swordsmen, and Battle Elephants.
Ally, actually Neutral[]
- Vietnamese Villages ( Vietnamese): Small bases located at northeast, southeast, near west, and far west. Their bases are occupied by Ming Patrols' army and Watch Towers. Some of the bases possess Markets that can be used as a trading partner after being liberated. They also have a Monastery and several Monks in the south. If the player is able to bring the Holy Artifact from the Malay Pirates' base to the Monastery, their Monks will join the player.
Enemies[]
- Ming ( Chinese): They have a lot of fortress to the west, north, south, and middle of the map. Their fortresses are extremely difficult to breach because they are protected by Castles, Guard Towers, and Fortified Walls. Furthermore, each fortress is also protected by various units such as Crossbowmen, Chu Ko Nu, Long Swordsmen, Pikemen, Elite Skirmishers, Light Cavalry, and Scorpions. They will deploy these units alongside Battering Rams and Mangonels when attacking the Trinh and Nyugen bases.
- Ming Patrols ( Chinese): Soldiers scattered all over the map. Their bases are protected by Watch Towers that need to be destroyed to accomplish the primary scenario objective. They cannot train units, but possess massive forces consisting of Chu Ko Nu, Crossbowmen, Elite Skirmishers, Pikemen, Long Swordsmen, Knights, Light Cavalry, Scorpions, and War Galleys. Some of them patrol regularly in short distances along the roads.
- Malay Pirates ( Malay): Located to the easternmost. They have small forces consisting of Sunda Royal Fighters, Karambit Warriors, Rattan Archers, War Galleys, and Fire Ships. Their base is small, but protected by some Sea Towers, and is located on an island that can only be accessed by the sea. They also have some troops at the eastern coast near the player's original base.
Strategy[]
Hard difficulty: in this scenario the player will not be attacked much, but will lose if one of their allies fall, so the player must try to keep them alive.
Do not produce any units in the beginning, just focus on a wood-food-stone economy. Once the player's allies start getting attacked by the blue they need to send two Villagers into the allies' base (watch out for the roads, as they will be heavily patrolled by the Ming) and build a Castle, Stable, and Barracks and start producing Pikemen and Light Cavalry to help them especially against rams. They may also tribute them with resources to fund their own armies. The north base will need more help.
Once the player has secured that their allies are safe, they can start producing Battle Elephants and Rattan Archers, then they may proceed with taking down the towers. Start with the north one because there is a Market there that could be used to produce gold.
Standard difficulty: the player can focus on a gold-food economy and mass-produce Battle Elephants that can then go for the towers.
There is a Monastery in the southern corner of the map belonging to the Vietnamese Villages that tasks the player with bringing back their "Holy Artifact" (a Relic Cart) which is located on the Malay Pirates island base.
The island has to be conquered in order to gain control of the Relic Cart, with the forces there being at their weakest when attacked from the southeast. Destroy their fleet, Sea Towers and Dock on the south side and then land the attacking troops to take care of the rest (or try to spare their 2 Docks if possible, to send Trade Cogs later for additional gold). Upon returning the Holy Artifact all Vietnamese villages will change to be under the player's control along with six Monks. Be aware that the Ming players will begin to attack them straight away so its wise to clear the villages of strategic importance that the player aim to keep at their control.
The Holy Artifact quest should be ignored completely, since it would render their two Markets useless. A more beneficial path is to clear out Ming patrols, keep the Vietnamese Villages as ally and send Trade Carts for additional gold instead. Getting all the Vietnamese villages under control, however, does have one peculiar advantage, as once the Ming destroy everything there will be significantly fewer obstacles for the player's units to circle around to get to the enemy units/towers, making liberating the villages quite a bit easier.
In the Definitive Edition, completing the Holy Artifact quest only gets the monks and the Monastery changes to the player's control, while Vietnamese villages stay the same. Trinh will train Knights instead of creating Cataphracts near the Castle with triggers.
At least four Relics can be found on the map: one west of the southernmost Ming fortress, one just north of Trinh base across a small bridge and one in the western end of the map guarded by a sizable Ming force. The one on a small island in the Malay Pirate base (Holy Artifact) is actually a Relic Cart, which cannot be garrisoned inside a Monastery.
Despite being said in the Hints, Rattan Archers are not as effective to counter Chu Ko Nu as other ranged units, as Chu Ko Nu have additional arrows that will still do damage. Also, the Rattan Archer is harder to mass and more expensive. As a result, it is better to use Skirmishers or Crossbowmen, which will benefit from the Vietnamese hit point bonus.
Outro[]
The resistance began slowly and with only minor successes, but Le Loi's reputation grew each day. The people started calling him "The Peace Making King" and wanted to see him on the throne of the old kingdom.
The Ming heard rumors of this rebel king with and vowed to crush him before his seeds of rebellion could take root.It began slowly with rather few successes, but soon Lê Lợi started to gain more and more support from the people. The people even dismissed the former Trần dynasty, calling Lê Lợi "The Peacemaking King". However, the Ming became wary of his actions and decided to act. A war was imminent...
Trivia[]
- A Cataphract can be seen at the Trinh base, even though the trigger which will create it was removed in the Definitive Edition.