The Mandalay Cobra is the second scenario of the Bayinnaung campaign in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas.
King Tabinshwehti further expands his kingdom. In order to rule over all of Burma, he has to be crowned in the highly symbolic city of 10,000 temples, Pagan. To do so, he has to kill the king of Ava, Hkonmaing, and amass a large sum of gold.
Objectives
Main Objectives
- Accumulate 4,000 gold
- Kill King Hkonmaing of Ava (king) and take the Pagan crown
Secondary Objectives
- Do not lose a relic
Players
Ally
- Toungoo Camp (Burmese) are villages dotting the area. At these villages, Gaia units can be found.
Enemy
- Rakhine (Malay) have a base west of the player's one, across the river. They build Galleys and Fire Ships, as well as Transport Ships to send infantry, namely Karambit Warriors, Pikemen, and Long Swordsmen. Being the Malay, they also have Harbors.
- Shan (Chinese) have a base in the north. Like in the previous scenario, their army consists of Cavaliers, Crossbowmen, and Chu Ko Nu, but this time they also construct War Galleys.
- Ava (Burmese) have a base in the east. King Hkonmaing himself hides inside a Castle. His men consist mostly of infantry (Men-at-Arms and Spearmen), but also Arambai, Battle Elephants, Monks, and Battering Rams.
Strategy
Setting
The player controls the ancient pilgrim's city of Pagan. Owing to the city's religious role, it has no walls, and the player can't construct walls, towers, or Castles, so they have to rely solely on their military for defense, rather than fortifications.
At the beginning of the scenario, the player has 6 Monasteries with a Relic in each of them, so they have a steady gold income. However, if any of the Relics is ungarrisoned (for example if the corresponding Monastery is heavily damaged), the fragile Relic is irretrievably lost (removed from the game via trigger), so the player has to defend from multiple angles to keep the gold flowing, as there are no gold mines to be found on the map, except for in the enemies' bases.
Since the player cannot build walls or towers, they should instead consider surrounding their Monasteries with Houses or other structures to prevent enemy melee units from surrounding them. This can at least buy time for the player to defend the Monasteries if they are attacked.
There are several Gaia camps to be found on the eastern half of the map, most importantly among them king Tabinshwehti and his forces, in the northeast, between Shan and Ava.
While the objective is to accumulate 4000 gold, this sum has to be reached only once, and can then be spent freely.
Early attacks
Rakhine immediately attacks with Galleys and Fire Ships, and they also regularly try landing their infantry units. While Fire Ships are usually great for defence in small numbers, they might have a hard time sinking Transport Ships in time, due to their low line of sight and range, and Rakhine's Galleys can kite them towards their Towers and Harbors, so the player should lean more towards Galleys on their own. Should a Transport Ship succeed in crossing the river, Toungoo Warriors or starting micromanaged Arambai (also decent against Fire Ships near the shore) can deal with their infantry. While below average (lacking Leather Archer Armor), Burmese Crossbowmen are a decent, but gold-intense counter. Another possibility is to simply overpower them using the superior Burmese infantry (+1 attack per age). Once the player has naval superiority, Rakhine is no longer a threat.
Shan also attacks immediately, from the northeast. A gold-conserving counter to them would be Elite Skirmishers and Pikemen.
The collector
Immediately upon the start of the scenario, the player should use the Arambai in the camp in the south to collect all Gaia units near the eastern shore of the river. The Toungoo Warriors and Monks should be able to halt Ava's troops. The Gaia Monks are significantly stronger than the ones the player can train, having double the base hit points (60) and a whopping 15 range. The Canoes and Dragon Ship (an improved version of the Fire Ship) can be used to sink Shan's Fishing Ships and War Galleys or help in the fight against Rakhine. One Canoe can go to the northeastern tip of the lake to collect King Tabinshwehti and his troops. If the player feels like this wasn't intended by the designers, they can also try to make a run for it through Shan's base, using some Cavalry.
Shan siege
While not an objective, it is beneficial to eradicate the Shan, halting their annoying raids and grabbing their resources (most importantly gold mines). Tabinshwehti and his army can be used to attack Shan immediately. As Shan have a Castle though, his villagers should construct a Siege Workshop to create Battering Rams or (if in the Imperial Age already) Bombard Cannons.
Regicide
Once Shan is defeated and the threat of Rakhine contained on their small island, the player can focus on killing King Hkonmaing. His base can be attacked either from the north or the west. The north is preferable if the player has a lot of ranged units, due to the narrow winding path and the cliffs, whereas the west is better if the player has a lot of melee units, due to the open area.
Heavy Scorpions fare very well against nearly all of Ava's units but have to be protected by bulky units like Elite Battle Elephants or Champions. While the Burmese Crosbowmen are very fragile, they are still a decent counter to Ava's infantry and Monks. Like always, Monks are a perfect counter to enemy battle Elephants.
Like mentioned before, King Hkonmaing hides inside a Castle, so bringing along siege weapons should not be forgotten.
Once the Ava King is dead, and the player has had at least 4000 gold at any point during the scenario, Tabinshwehti can be crowned and he and Bayinnaung are victorious.
Trivia
- Thado Dhamma Yaza, Bayinnaung's youngest brother and Diogo Soares de Albergaria, a Portuguese mercenary and explorer in service to King Tabinshwehti, make an appearance in this scenario as a renamed Bui Bi and Francisco de Orellana, respectively.