The Fruits of Her Labor is the sixth and final scenario of the Jadwiga campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes. It is based off of the decisive Battle of Grunwald, fought between Polish-Lithuanian forces and the Teutonic Order.
Intro[]
June 3rd, 1410.
It has been years since I last entered this room. I always expect her to be lying there, with our daughter on her breast, in that bed now covered with dust... smiling, glowing the way that only they can, who known in their bones that their days on earth are numbered.
My Jadwiga...
Her heart was broken one time too many after our daughter died, only four days old. Jadwiga was sick with grief... and with a fever that would not pass; but despite it all, she held true to her duty through that youthful twilight.
She told me to marry again: to marry a granddaughter of the legendary Polish king Casimir the Great. This, she said, would strengthen my claim to Poland's throne once she was gone and prevent another civil war.
I had broken her heart when I took her from Prince William. I had broken it again when the child I gave her died in her arms... to obey this desire was the least I could do.
She died just two weeks after our daughter.
Much has changed since then. Poland and Lithuania have grown stronger together. Now, the time has come for us to not only survive, but to conquer our old enemies.
We are at war again with the Teutonic Order, but we no longer cower from their discipline and military prowess; we strive to match it.
We march now on Marienburg, the Teutonic capital. Once the dust settles on the ruins of that fortress, the union of Poland and Lithuania โ the wedding ring of Jadwiga โ will stand stronger than ever before.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age: Imperial Age
- Starting resources: 2,000 food, 1,400 wood, 1,000 gold, 500 stone
- Population limit: 200
- Starting technologies: Cavalier, Elite Obuch
- Starting units:
- Jogaila
- 5 Pikemen
- 5 Elite Obuchs
- 5 Cavaliers
- 5 Winged Hussars
- 10 Crossbowmen
- 1 Trebuchet
Additional starting conditions on standard difficulty[]
- Starting technologies: Arbalester, Winged Hussar, Chemistry, Bracer, Blast Furnace, Plate Mail Armor
- Starting units: 1 Trebuchet
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- The harder the difficulty, the more numerous the enemy armies will be in the final battle. On hard difficulty, it will be very difficult to win the final battle without doing most secondary objectives before.
Objectives[]
Main objectives[]
- You will soon have to deal with the main Teutonic army. To prevail, you must first increase the size of your army. You can do so by hiring mercenaries who will join you at the final battle, and by taking Teutonic fortresses, which will free up the Polish soldiers besieging them. Sacking Prussia will also reduce the strength of its army in the finale. You will most likely not have time to complete all secondary objectives, but each one will increase your chances of victory in the final battle.
- Wait for instructions.
- Defeat the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald.
- At least 10 units must survive the battle.
- Wait for instructions.
Secondary objectives[]
- Sack Prussia by destroying its 5 Town Centers.
- Destroy the two Teutonic strongholds to free up their besiegers for the final battle.
- Hire a mercenary band by accumulating 10,000 gold and then selecting its leader.
- Travel to Nicholas von Renys of the Lizard Union and convince him to stand down.
- Destroy enemy Trade Workshops to gain extra resources.
- Use Jogaila in combat. The more experience that he gains, the stronger he will become.
- Kill Ulrich von Jungingen to break the Order's morale.
Hints[]
- Jogaila begins in the Imperial Age and can support a population of 200, but cannot build a Market or convert enemy buildings.
- Your time before the Teutons force you into battle is limited. Spend it wisely!
- When the timer runs out, you will lose control of your starting assets and the action will shift to the location of the final battle. Your prior decisions will determine the strength of your forces and those of your opponents.
- Gold is scarce. Spending most of it on soldiers early on is tempting, but buying mercenaries is a long-term investment.
- The Teutonic fortresses are intimidating targets, but taking them will ensure that the soldiers besieging them can join you for the final battle.
- If you need assistance, you can use taunt 31 to tell Vytautas to attack an enemy.
Scouts[]
Your scouts report:
- Jogaila (1, Red) and Vytautas (8, Green) have arrived in Prussia with a large vanguard. They must gather enough troops to defeat the Teutonic army in battle before they make their way north.
- The vast armies of the Teutonic Order (2, Grey) have been spotted to the west, marching north to protect their capital of Marienburg and seeking an opportunity to force a battle. Some of their soldiers also guard the fortresses of Soldau and Gilgenberg, currently besieged by the Polish army.
- The countryside is dominated by the towns of Prussia (3, Yellow). Their inhabitants will not attack you, but they will defend themselves should you attack them first.
- Spread around the countryside are several groups of mercenaries that have travelled to join you, but not without pay.
- Word has spread that the knights of the Lizard Union (6, Orange) comprise part of the Teutonic army. While loyal to the Order, these knights also have strong ties to Poland and only reluctantly fight against the Polish crown.
- Lastly, the forest to the north appears to be impenetrable...
Players[]
Player[]
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- Player ( Poles): starts with a base and troops in the south of the map.
Allies[]
- Mercenaries ( Bohemians): Three groups that have arrived to lend their services. The first is a band of mercenaries from Smolensk consisting of Elite Boyars, Halberdiers, and Champions in a camp to the east of the player's base. The second is a horde of Elite Keshiks, Heavy Cavalry Archers, and Elite Mangudai under Jalal ad-din, the son of Tokhtamysh, camped to the west of the player. The third and furthest west is a company of Bohemian mercenaries led by Jan Zizka and comprises of Halberdiers, Hand Cannoneers, Crossbowmen, and two Houfnices.
- The Polish Army ( Poles): Two contingents have made camps outside each of the two Teutonic fortresses, and they also take over control of any subdued Prussian settlements and captured fortresses.
- Vytautas ( Lithuanians): Starts with a base at the eastern end of the map, initially separated from Jogaila. He leads raids into the Prussian villages and eventually rides west to aid in tearing down the Teutonic fortresses and subduing more of the Prussians.
Ally โ Enemy[]
- The Lizard Union ( Teutons): Troops led by Nicholas Von Renys that are allied to the Teutonic Order and have made camp in the west of the map, but are initially not hostile to the player and can be convinced to withdraw from the battle before the main Teutonic army arrives.
Enemies[]
- The Teutonic Order ( Teutons) (2): They have two fortresses overlooking the Prussian countryside and they train troops to staunchly defend them and also patrol the roads. Their army consists of Crusader Knights, Teutonic Knights, Halberdiers, Cavaliers/Paladins, Hand Cannoneers and, if under attack, Crossbowmen.
- Prussia ( Teutons): Six villages spread around the map, each with meager defenses. Their Town Centers can be destroyed to subdue them (and receive 1,200 gold for each destroyed Town Center) and their Trade Workshops can be destroyed for loot, while the one furthest west lacks a Town Center and will be captured just by leveling the Trade Workshop in it. They have symbolic defenses of Long Swordsmen, Halberdiers and Crossbowmen.
- The Teutonic Order ( Teutons) (5): The main army of the enemy forces, led by its Grandmaster Ulrich von Jungingen hasten to the village of Grunwald to intercept the Polish-Lithuanians and prevent the fight to be taken to their capital.
Strategy[]
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Time is of the essence in this scenario. The player has 25 minutes to weaken the Teutons for the final battle. Immediately send Villagers to gather resources, especially stone. To ensure success, simultaneous operations will be recommended. Send the starting army to take the first Prussian Town, west of the starting base. Vytautas will also attack two of the Prussian Town Centers right off the bat. At the same time, train more troops and send several Villagers to build a Castle outside the stronghold at the center of the map. The strongholds will become the Polish Army's after all the Castles and Fortresses are razed. However, the player must exercise extreme caution, as Teutonic patrols frequent the region, and they can attack anytime and anywhere.
Prussia has a total of five Town Centers and seven Trade Workshops. Each destroyed Town Center will give the player 1,200 gold and each destroyed Trade Workshop will give the player 500 food, 500 wood, 150 stone.
After the Town Center to the north is cleared, the player should send Villagers to build another Castle outside the Teutonic stronghold and repeat the same method. The player may need to send a unit to lure the Teutonic army since the Castle alone cannot suffice.
The player will be reminded of the Lizard Union's presence west of the map. By sending a unit to meet with the Union, they will not appear in the final battle. The shallows leading to their camp is guarded by more Teutons as well as two Sea Towers, and leading them away with some units as a distraction is recommended.
There are several Relics on the map: one in the shallows to the southeast and a few sequestered in the Prussian Monasteries from where they can be grabbed. Pursuing them is not recommended, as there is not sufficient time for the Relic gold generation to be substantial. There are several gold mines on the map which must be a higher priority. The player should also mine stone (even if they will not be using it) due to the Polish civilization bonus.
The key focus here are the strongholds, the Town Centers, and the Lizard Union (the latter should be ignored if the player is going for the "No Quarter" achievement). If the player still has 10,000 gold in their inventory, they can hire one of the three Mercenary groups to appear in the ensuing battle by clicking on the respective Hero leader.
As soon as the time runs out, the battle begins after a brief cutscene. All the units participating in the final chapter of the scenario (the battle sequence) have double Hit points. Killing the Grandmaster Ulrich von Jungingen lowers the morale of his army and greatly increases the attack of the player's troops. The player has to kill the majority of the Teutonic army to win.
Outro[]
We were never able to take the fortress of Marienburg โ but, in the end, it did not matter.
The Teutons were crushed. Their masters lay slain on the fields of Grunwald and the Order would never truly recover.
We held a wild celebration. Vytautas was more drunk with pride, joy, and wine than anyone else after that Tatar maneuver that helped win the battle.
After a few hours, I could no longer stand the heat of that great tent; the shouting and the music and the laughter of so many victorious men.
I slipped out into the darkness, down to a small stream near our camp. I sat there in silence, giving thanks to God for our victory and listening to the murmur of the stream and the cold evening wind.
I could not help but think of her then โ my Jadwiga, who made all this possible...
...I lost you too soon, and Poland lost its brightest star... but now, at last, I know that your dream will live on where you could not.
I could hear a bell tolling, then. A friar, somewhere in the distance, hailing the arrival of the night, with that deep, resounding music.
It has been a long time since I noticed such things: the little things of beauty, that season our days of war and toil and make them almost... palatable.
Historical comparison[]
- In reality, Nicolas von Renys refused to fight, for which he was executed as a scapegoat by the Teutonic Order. Therefore, travelling to the Lizard Union instead of fighting it later is the historically accurate option.
- One of the mercenary leaders, Jan Zizka, has a campaign dedicated to him and in fact its second scenario is also based off of the Battle of Grunwald, but from Jan Zizka's perspective, where his army is required to kill three Teutonic commanders.
- One of the mercenary leaders that player can hire is Jalal al-Din, who is the son of Tokhtamysh Khan. In-game, he is represented as a renamed unit of his namesake father.
- In reality, all three mercenary groups in the scenario participated in this battle.
Trivia[]
- The "No Quarter" achievement can be earned by killing the heroes Ulrich von Jungingen and Nicolas von Renys (the leaders of the Teutonic Order and of the Lizard Union, respectively) in the final battle. For this, the secondary objective asking the player to travel to the Lizard Union must be ignored, otherwise Nicolas von Renys will not show up in the final battle. The player should also kill the two heroes when they start moving and become less protected. If the player waits too long and ends up killing too many enemy units, the heroes may disappear from the map before the player is able to kill them. If the player is going for this achievement, it may be a good idea to save before the final battle.