The Mandalay Cobra is the second scenario of the Bayinnaung campaign in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas. It is based on the Toungoo-Ava War.
Intro[]
1543 AD. Year thirteen of the reign of King Tabinshwehti.
Our conquest of Lower Burma has brought fear to the Shan warlords. They call upon their allies, the Kingdom of Ava and the mighty Rakhine people, to raise armies against us.
My King and I march north to Upper Burma, following the pilgrimage trail to Pagan, city of 10,000 temples. From this city, the ancient kings of Pagan once ruled over a united Burmese people. If my King is to rule all of Burma, he must be crowned in Pagan.
I will march ahead of my king to secure the ancient city and prepare for the coronation. With my help and the blessings of the nats, my brother will fulfill his prophesied destiny.
1543 AD. Year Thirteen of the reign of King Tabinshwehti.
Our conquest of Lower Burma has brought fear to the Shan warlords. They called upon their allies, the Kingdom of Ava and the mighty Rakhine people, to raise armies against us.
My King and I march north to Upper Burma, following the pilgrimage trail to Pagan, city of 10,000 temples. From this city, the ancient Kings of Pagan once ruled over a united Burmese people. If my King is to rule all of Burma, he must be crowned in Pagan.
I will march ahead of my King to secure the city while he leads the army against our enemies. I will make all preparations for his coronation in that ancient capital. I will make sure that my brother fulfills his prophesied destiny.Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Castle Age - Starting resources:
- Population limit: 125 (200 before Dynasties of India)
- Starting units:
- Bayinnaung
- Thano Dhamma Yaza (a Monk)
- 13 Arambai
- 6 Monks
- 6 Toungoo Warriors
- 4 Battle Elephants
- 2 Demolition Rafts
- 2 Fire Galleys
- 2 Scout Cavalry
- 7 Villagers
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On standard difficulty, the player starts with Bodkin Arrow, Iron Casting, and Murder Holes researched, as well as the War Galley upgrade.
Objectives[]
Main objectives[]
- Accumulate 4,000 gold.
- Kill King Hkonmaing of Ava (King) and take the Pagan crown.
Secondary objectives[]
- Find Tabinshwehti to merge with his forces.
- Do not lose a Relic.
Hints[]
- You are restricted to the Castle Age and a population limit of 125.
- Because Pagan is a pilgrim's city open to all, you cannot construct walls.
- If Relics are removed from their Monasteries, whether purposefully or through destruction of the Monastery, they are irretrievably lost.
- Arambai are best used in hit-and-run attacks and as a mobile defense, buying time for slower elephants and infantry.
- If King Tabinshwehti's army is reached early enough, they can provide a significant advantage.
- You are restricted to a 100 population limit.
- Because Pagan is a pilgrim's city open to all, you cannot construct walls.
- If relics are removed from their monasteries, whether purposefully or through destruction of the monastery, they are irretrievably lost.
- Arambai are best used in hit-and-run attacks and as a mobile defense, buying time for slower elephants and infantry.
- If King Tabinshwehti's army is reached early enough, they can provide a significant advantage.
Scouts[]
- Pagan is an important religious center, housing many Relics of the Buddha. The Relics are fragile and will be lost if they are moved or if their Monastery is destroyed. As a pilgrim's city, Pagan does not have walls and must be protected by a mobile army.
- The Shan (3, Yellow) field heavy cavalry and archers. They feed their army from lakeside farms which are vulnerable to waterborne raids.
- The Ava (4, Red) and the Rakhine (2, Cyan) have joined the Shan in battle. The infantry, Arambai, and Monks of Ava are comparable to Toungoo's while the Rakhine infantry are fast and numerous. The Rakhine also possess a strong navy owing to their coastal origins.
- King Tabinshwehti is nearby, commanding the Toungoo army (Gaia). If his camp is found, he will join in the battle for Pagan.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Burmese): Starts with the control of the city of Pagan in the northwest of the map. The city contains a Castle near the Town Center, all military buildings, 6 Monasteries (each holding a Relic), and a small mixed composition force defending the city, led by Bayinnaung with Thano Dhamma Yaza (a Monk) by his side. A small Arambai detachment can be found near the southern end of the map. The player cannot construct additional fortifications during the scenario. The player must gather 4,000 gold and kill King Hkonmaing of Ava.
Ally[]
- Toungoo Camp ( Burmese): Villages dotting the area. At these villages, Gaia units can be found.
Enemies[]
- Rakhine ( Malay): 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): A base in the north. Like in the previous scenario, their army consists of Knights, Crossbowmen, and Chu Ko Nu, but this time they also construct War Galleys.
- Ava ( Burmese): 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 cannot 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. However, trade is a viable option, as the ally has a Dock at the lake located in the east.
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 4,000 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.
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.
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.
Scorpions fare very well against nearly all of Ava's units but have to be protected by bulky units like Battle Elephants or Long Swordmen. 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 4,000 gold at any point during the scenario, the player is victorious.
Alternative strategy[]
Another way to win the scenario is to focus solely on Ava and their King, ignoring the Shan and the Rakhine except when defending Pagan and (especially) the Monasteries. The player should send their starting Scout Cavalry to the northeast, speeding through the Shan base, to the King Tabinshwehti's army. The player can optionally research Redemption, taking advantage of discounted Monastery technologies for the Burmese. Tabinshwehti's force should then march east to the Ava base. Just southwest of their Castle, Ava forces should go on the attack, which should be easy to handle.
Because Ava's Castle has no Murder Holes researched (even on Hard), the three Elite Battle Elephants, two Cavaliers, and Tabinshwehti himself, optionally converting Ava's Battering Rams (if Redemption is researched) can easily destroy the Castle even when under arrow fire from the towers and some infantry attack. The other units should stay near the Gold Mines southwest of the Castle to pick off any Ava units coming from that direction and stay out of the Castle's arrow fire (they can be bolstered by the four Arambai from the south of the map). At the same time, the two Tabinshwehti's army Villagers can build a Mining Camp and mine gold from their mines (either southwest or north of their Castle). Once the Castle is destroyed, Cavaliers and Elite Arambai should rush in to help quickly kill the Ava King before he can garrison elsewhere (he does not move until attacked). Despite Ava's Monastery being next to the Castle, no Monks should come out during the siege.
While building Markets is not disabled in this scenario, the player can also convert Ava's Market just southeast of their Castle, if Redemption is researched. An Elite Battle Elephant or Tabinshwehti (as he is immune to conversion) should accompany the Monk to draw arrow fire while the Monk converts it. The sold resources can help the player to reach the required 4,000 gold.
It is possible to win in 15 minutes or less with this strategy.
Outro[]
Our kingdom is mighty under King Tabinshwehti. The greatest monks, warriors, and administrators in all of Burma come to our court. The king has made me his chief minister but I worry for my brother.
A man from distant Portugal has stumbled into the court and intrigued the king with his foreign ways and bottles of strong wine. I fear that the blessed path that we have walked together will come to a cursed end.
Our kingdom is mighty under King Tabinshwehti. The greatest monks, warriors, and administrators in all of Burma come to our court. The King has made me his chief minister but I worry for my brother.
A man from Portugal has stumbled into the court and intrigued the King with his foreign ways and a bottle of strong wine. I fear that the blessed path that we have walked together has now come to a cursed end.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.
- If the player defeated all the enemies before collecting 4,000 gold, then they will instantly receive 4,000 gold, making them instantly reach the goal.
- With the release of Dynasties of India, the player cannot reach the Imperial Age.
