Scenario instructions 
Edit
Main Objectives Edit
- Dracula must survive.
- Defeat the Turkish Raiders.
- Defeat Basarab Laiota.
- Defeat the Ottoman army.
Secondary Objectives Edit
- Capture the fortress of Sabae by defeating its garrison so that the Hungarians can have a proper base to launch their attacks.
- Bring Dracula to the craftsman at his shop.
- To accept the craftsman's offer and give him 2000 food and 2000 gold, select the trade workshop.
- From now on, you may hire Condottieri or Genoese Crossbowmen from the mercenary camp (yellow). To hire a Condottiero click on the barracks. To hire a Genoese Crossbowman, click on the archery range.
Players Edit
Allies Edit
- Hungary (Magyars) - Consists of the walls to the player's starting position. Once the town of Sabac is conquered, it will also belong to the green player.
- Wallachia (Teutons) - The gray player is composed from a base to the northwest of the starting position, as well as the craftsman and his Trade Workshop. Once Dracula visits the base, it will belong to the player.
- Mercenaries (Italians) - Found to northeast of the gray player's position, this player can be tributed with gold, in order to provide Condottieri and Genoese Crossbowmen to the player.
Ally to enemy Edit
- Turks (Sabac) (Turks) - Consists of the town of Sabac, occupied by the Ottomans. It has a small garrison, and once they are killed, the town will pass to the green player.
Enemies Edit
- Turkish Raiders (Turks) - The first enemy to be encountered in this scenario, they have four bases under their control, that must be destroyed in order to proceed with the rest of the enemies. Beware: once defeated, the player's resources are taken away.
- Ottoman Army (Turks) - Their base is found on the easternmost part of the map. They are one of the two final enemies that must be destroyed to win.
- Basarab Laiota (Slavs) - Their base is found just to the west of the Ottoman Army's base. Their siege weapons and heavy cavalry can compliment well the Ottomans' lighter cavalry.
Strategy Edit
The player begins with a base camp in Hungary, to the west. The immediate goal is to campaign along the southwest corridor of the map, sweeping out the Turkish Raiders (purple). They have four small bases along a river, ending with a seaside port. Fortunately, the player starts off with insane amounts of resources, so they should train an unending stream of Knights, Crossbowmen or Cavalry Archers, and Swordsmen or Pikemen. One monk is supplied, and can be used to heal up wounded troops in the back, particularly the starting Imperial Age forces which cannot be easily replaced.
Before defeating the Raiders, however, the player should use their allotted resources to research armor and weapon upgrades at the Blacksmith, Barracks, Archery Range, and Stable too. As soon as the Raiders are defeated, the player's resources are taken away, leaving them with the troops they have trained, so players should also make sure to max out their population limit.
Dracula will now be told to move to gray's town center, where the player will be given a permanent base. Before moving him there, however, it is recommended to place a large army outside of the remaining purple town halfway along the path - the one that can be seen across the river but to which troops are not yet allowed to be moved. As soon as Dracula and perhaps some escorts arrive at the new (grey) base and it is turned over to the player, one can now attack the previously mentioned purple base -- defeating the purple garrison there will cede that whole town to Hungary (green), which will make green a much more formidable ally in the battles to come. On Hard difficulty, quickly capturing this town for green is likely to be essential. Fortunately there is adequate time for the army to secure this city and then move to the player's new base before the enemy begins attacking in earnest, provided the player attacks immediately.
Hold off on crossing the bridge to attack cyan and purple. Instead, the player should build up their base and resources, as well as reinforcing green's nearby base. Walling up the town with a couple gates, and in particular walling the river crossing just south of town so that enemy troops cannot wander around the friendly sections of the map nor reach the Hungarian ally's base, is a cheap early way to maintain control of the situation. Although space is tight, there are several places castles can be built either by deleting some of the initial palisade walls, or one of the southeastern farms, or by sawing down some straggler trees on the hills - channeling the enemy through chokepoints covered by castles can help in keeping the enemies at by while the player builds up an economy.
The player has optional objectives, which they would be highly obliged to take: the nearby craftsman (a gray Teutonic Knight) offers a great deal for the player (Imperial Age upgrades for 2,000 food and gold, making the Castle Age limit a moot point), and Italian mercenaries (yellow, to the player's northeast) offers Genoese Crossbowmen and infantry for gold (clicking on the Archery Range and Barracks, respectively). It's advised to build up to the max population limit (200) before buying Italian mercenaries, so as to have a larger assault force.
Cyan and purple by now will have been hammering away at both the player and Hungary (in some cases, triggers will not trip - by not crossing the bridge, cyan and purple may not attack), so when the player is ready, it is time to counter-attack. Cyan's base is straight across the river, guarded by towers and has plenty of cavalry. Using Trebuchets from the craftsman lets the player take down towers and castles. Genoese Crossbowmen can act as overwatch, and cavalry or infantry can be used to screen and destroy.
Purple is directly east of cyan's main base (cyan has a smaller fort just north of orange, destroying it will finish them off). Once again, towers (including a Bombard Tower) will be standing in the player's way, with a Castle on the other side of the river. Defeating purple and cyan will end the scenario.
