The Lombard League is the fourth scenario of the Barbarossa campaign in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. It is loosely based on Barbarossa's fifth and final Italian campaign (1174-1177) and the punitive campaign against Henry the Lion in Saxony (1180-1181).
Intro[]
As long as Barbarossa's knights were present, peace endured. But the emperor could not be everywhere at once. Whenever he went to Italy, Germany would flare up, and when Barbarossa returned to Germany, the Italians began plotting again.
Milan had fallen, but the remainder of the Italian cities joined together in a confederation known as the Lombard League for the purpose of defeating Barbarossa.
If Barbarossa intended to make Italy part of the Holy Roman Empire, he would have to conquer the Lombard League city by city.
But Barbarossa still had a secret weapon: Henry the Lion and his seasoned troops.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age: Imperial Age
- Starting resources: 1,000 food, 2,000 wood, 400 gold, 800 stone
- Population limit: 75 (125 in the Definitive Edition)
- Starting units:
- Gaia units:
- 6 Fishing Ships
- 5 Villagers
- 5 Onagers
- 5 Knights
- 4 Transport Ships
- 4 War Galleys
- 3 Teutonic Knights
- 2 Scout Cavalry
- 2 Fire Ships
Objectives[]
- Construct a Wonder within the city walls of Venice, Padua, or Verona.
Hints[]
- The Lombards have a head start on you, so build defensive structures until you can train an army.
Scouts (Definitive Edition)[]
Your scouts report:
- The Italians have rebelled against the rule of Barbarossa (1, Red) once more. This time, several cities oppose him, and Barbarossa has called in the aid of Henry the Lion (2, Orange). The Italians, however, have split up the German forces and are already assaulting Barbarossa's fort.
- Venice (3, Purple) lies on the coast, and from there its inhabitants control the Adriatic Sea. They will use Pikemen and Bombard Cannons to defend their city on land and will build Galleys, Fire Ships, and Cannon Galleons to control the water.
- Padua (4, Green) is initially the most dangerous of the Italian cities. With their army of Cavaliers, Genoese Crossbowmen, and siege weapons, they will be able to pressure Barbarossa early on.
- Verona (5, Yellow) is the Italian city the farthest from Barbarossa. Although it does not pose an immediate threat, its army of Cavaliers, Hand Cannoneers, Scorpions, and Monks will become formidable in time.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Teutons): The player starts in the southwest with a Town Center which is under heavy attack and is doomed to fall in a matter of minutes. The player's starting units are assembled around the Town Center.
Ally โ Enemy[]
- Henry the Lion ( Teutons): Henry the Lion has a camp in the far west. As soon as the player completes a Castle, he changes his diplomatic stance to enemy. He attacks with Champions, Teutonic Knights, and Capped Rams.
Enemies[]
- Padua ( Italians ( Teutons before the Definitive Edition)): Padua has the largest army. They launch an attack at the beginning of the scenario using Trebuchets, Cavaliers (Paladins before the Definitive Edition), and Genoese Crossbowmen (Teutonic Knights before the Definitive Edition), among other powerful units. Their fortified city is in the northern corner of the map. They also have a minor encampment consisting of stables and towers in the south, just west of the player's starting position.
- Venice ( Byzantines): Venice is situated in the center of the map, with a large fortress on the mainland, with a Castle and large army on an island offshore. They have the largest navy on the map. They produce naval units, Halberdiers, and Bombard Cannons.
- Verona ( Franks): Verona inhabits a small fortified city in the northwest. They train Knights (which they will eventually upgrade to Cavaliers and Paladins if the game progresses long enough), Hand Cannoneers, Monks, and Heavy Scorpions. They are the only faction in the scenario that does not have a Castle.
Strategy[]
This is a more challenging scenario than the previous three. The player should start off by loading their Villagers on a Transport Ship and sail east to acquire a navy and additional units. There are two viable locations to build the player's own town; the area immediately south of the old town, and another area across the ocean to the northeast, near to Padua. The northeast area is a better and wiser choice if the player wishes to build a Castle, since it will be awkward for Henry The Lion to attack the player there once he changes diplomatic stance. Be sure to reorder the boats - do not put them on Aggressive stance - so they will sail directly there and don't chase down enemy ships or get hit by the Venetian towers across the sea. Padua will be occupied attacking the player's old walls for some time, so they will not immediately be aggressive towards the player's units or buildings; the player will have time to build a town. Build the town northwards after the player lands, behind the patch of trees and towards the edge of the map, to avoid the Venetian navy, which can be quite aggressive. A good place to build the Castle is in front of the left set of shallows, as this places it close enough to Padua, yet suitable for defense.
This particular area forces the opponent to sail up or march up, bringing them in range of the Castle. Be sure to research the unique technology to give Castles more range, as it will aid the player's defense. Good unit choices in the The Conquerors are Halberdiers to counter the Paduan and Veronese cavalry, Hand Cannoneers to deal with Henry's Teutonic Knights and Venetian Halberdiers, and some Cavaliers to take care of any of Henry's Capped Rams, Venetian Bombard Cannons, or Paduan Trebuchets. Destroy the Paduan walls with some Trebuchets or Bombard Cannons, with units in front of them to defend, and the player's Castle and units should defeat them easily and drain them of resources. Edge forward until the player has destroyed their town, then build the Wonder there. Defending it is not necessary, as the player wins as soon as construction of the Wonder is completed.
Alternatively, the scenario can be beaten in 20 minutes by following this strategy:
Alternative strategy[]
Rescue as many troops and Villagers as possible from the starting position. Sail east to encounter gaia troops. Take all the ships and sail to the opposite coast.
Build two Town Centers at mark "1" and "2" as per the video. Collect more stone and build a Castle at mark "3". Venice will aggressively attack the Castle, sending many ships to their death. Start training at least two trebuchets.
Take the army to fight Padua. Break the Gate at mark "4", destroy towers with Onagers and attack the Castle with Trebuchets. Destroy the whole town and all of Padua's Villagers. Prioritize production buildings, keep an eye out for your Onagers, and do not let the units be dragged into Castle fire.
While this is happening, build up the economy. Build a Dock to put the six free Fishing Ships to work. Build Lumber Camps, Mills, a Market, and two Stables. Train Knights to reinforce the army and bring Villagers to the town of Padua. If the Fishing Ships get raided and the Dock destroyed (Venice appears to hate Docks), build Farms. Teuton Farms are cheap.
Re-complete Padua's walls with a Gate at mark "4", and build walls behind mark "5" and "6". Build a second Castle close to mark "5". Padua will attack shortly after attacking their town, and they bring a Trebuchet, rams, and Onagers. If the walls are complete, the army will not know where to go, get stuck, and die from the Castle's defense. The enemy Trebuchet, however, will attack the Castle. If the player's Trebuchets are still alive, try to snipe the enemy Trebuchet. Otherwise, take a couple of Knights to finish it off.
Start building the Wonder. Once it is complete, the player wins. The player will be attacked until the Wonder is finished, but the enemies pose no real threat. Padua may attack with rams and Onagers, Venice may attack with Pikemen, and Verona sends Monk after Monk. They all die easily to the Castle.
Once the player is within the walls of Padua, they can even try to defeat every enemy on the map. However, Henry the Lion will betray the player at about minute 23. This does not really make the conquest of the map much more difficult, but more time-consuming.
Outro[]
Henry the Lion was immediately banished to England. Separated from his wealth and army, there was little more he could do to plague Barbarossa.
After six campaigns down to Italy, Barbarossa was weary of crossing the Alps.
The fighting ended with the signing of the Treaty of Constance, which said effectively that the emperor and the pope were equals.
It was a tenuous peace, and one that seemed unlikely to endure when, suddenly, the pope died.
The new pope was less interested in squabbling with the emperor than he was with events down south. You see, the Europeans were being driven out of the Holy Land. It was time for another Crusade.
Trivia[]
- In the beginning of the scenario, Henry the Lion says "I will send my knights to assist you though I fear they will be too late". While probably unintentional, this can be seen as a coded reference to Teutons' lack of Husbandry.
- In the fifth scenario of the Thoros campaign, Reynald says a similar line, which could be interpreted by some people that this could be a red flag, that the allies may betray the player later on.
- Some players manage to win this scenario without building a Castle and thus without being betrayed by Henry the Lion and so the outro mentioning Henry the Lion's exile may sound confusing to them. One possible reason was that Henry simply did not provide help in the battle that would have satisfied Frederick Barbarossa (as was the case in real life).
- Since the Italians were not introduced until The Forgotten, the Italian cities in this scenario were represented by Franks, Teutons, and Byzantines. It was announced that in the Definitive Edition, all would be changed to Italians, but in the end, only Padua was changed to Italian.
- This was possibly done to give the enemy players some variety and also a reference to the The Fall of Rome scenario from the Attila the Hun campaign, where Verona was played by the Franks, except that the aforementioned scenario's color is orange instead of yellow.
- The use of gunpowder units by Verona and Venice is anachronistic, because gunpowder was not introduced in Europe until the 14th century. This was most likely done to make the scenario more challenging.
Historical comparison[]
- In addition to the northern Italian cities and the Papacy, the Lombard League was joined by the Kingdom of Sicily and the Byzantine Empire.
- The battle that begins the scenario is likely a reference to the Battle of Alessandria (1175), a defeat for Barbarossa considered shocking at the time, although it happened in Piedmont rather than Veneto.
- The Italian campaign was a defeat for Barbarossa, who was crushed again at Legnano on May 29, 1176, and had to recognize Alexander III as Pope.
- Instead of allying with the Lombard League and trying to usurp Barbarossa's throne, Henry the Lion just refused to provide troops unless given the city of Goslar, which was in turn denied by Barbarossa, and was a convenient scapegoat for Barbarossa's failure and the actual reason for Henry the Lion's exile.