The Siege of Vilnius is the fourth scenario of the Jadwiga campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes. It depicts the siege and sacking of Vilnius by the Crusader coalition under the Teutonic Order.
Intro[]
The Teutonic Order had its roots in the Crusades in the Holy Land, but now their mission was to Christianize the pagans of Eastern Europe - or die trying.
Most of the time, though, it was pagans who died.
After over a hundred years in the region, the sincerity of the Order's original mission had been nearly forgotten. These so-called crusaders were now playing for land and power and calling it God's will.
That is why they allied with Vytautas. He promised them the lands of Samogitia, home to some of the last pagans in Europe; but when Vytautas made peace with us and refused to cede the region to the Order, they were outraged.
The Knights now lay siege to the Lithuanian town of Vilnius, and Jogaila and Vytautas hurried to the rescue. It was to be the first time that they fought side by side.
Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age: Castle Age
- Starting resources: 600 food, 800 wood, 500 gold, 250 stone
- Population limit: 150
- Starting technologies and upgrades:
- On all difficulties: Crossbowman, Elite Skirmisher, Long Swordsman, Pikeman, Squires, Light Cavalry, Murder Holes
- On standard/moderate difficulty: Bodkin Arrow, Iron Casting
- Starting units:
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On standard difficulty, Imperial Age is researched right in the beginning.
Objectives[]
Main objectives[]
- Wait for instructions.
- Defeat the Teutonic detachment besieging the southern gate.
- Break the siege of Vilnius.
- Break the siege of Vilnius by destroying 5 supply carts bound for the Teutonic camp.
- Crush the last of the crusaders!
- Break the siege of Vilnius by destroying 5 supply carts bound for the Teutonic camp.
- Do not let the Teutonic Order destroy the three Castles in the western part of Vilnius.
- Break the siege of Vilnius.
- Defeat the Teutonic detachment besieging the southern gate.
Secondary objectives[]
- Use your heroes in combat (to fight, heal or convert). The more experience that they gain, the stronger they will become.
- Capture the Relic from the Teutonic Raiders and place it in the Monastery outside of Vilnius.
- Speak to the Teutonic deserter in Vilnius' eastern quarter.
- Find the Teutonic deserter's wife, Gisela, and bring her to him in Vilnius. Do not let the Teutons kill her!
Hints[]
- Jadwiga and Jogaila can reach the Imperial Age but are restricted to a population limit of 150.
- The Teutonic Knights will push hard to seize Vilnius, but they can only maintain their ferocity for so long. They will not attack the city during the night, so use this time to repair your damaged defenses, strengthen your economy, and attack the Teutonic Raiders.
- You will control military buildings inside of the city. Use these to train soldiers closer to the heat of battle.
- You are here to end a siege, not lay one yourself, so you cannot construct any siege weapons. Mounting a direct assault on the Teutonic war camp is futile and will waste good men.
- You do not have the luxury of constructing large-scale defenses in the middle of a siege. As such, you cannot build new Gates, Palisade Walls, or Castles, and every section of Stone Wall costs 200 stone. Towers also have an increased stone cost of 300 stone.
- Obuchs reduce the armor of enemy units with each strike, making them quite useful against heavily armored Teutonic soldiers such as the inconvertible Crusader Knights.
- A relief force is on its way from the south to help you, but it will not arrive until late in the fight.
- Even though Vilnius is the most important location, do not forget to scout the land around the city for resources and potentially rewarding secondary objectives.
- Vytautas has turned from your foe to your friend. You can command him to attack by using taunt 31.
Scouts[]
- Jadwiga and Jogaila (1, Red) have just arrived near Vilnius (3, Cyan). You will need to set up a camp and break the siege of the city to claim victory.
- To the northwest, the vast army of the Teutonic Order (5, Grey) has set a siege. They will assault the city of Vilnius during the day, leaving the nights open for you to counterattack.
- Closest to you is a detachment of Teutonic raiders (6, Orange). They will harass you in an attempt to prevent you from reaching the bulk of the crusader army.
- The city of Vilnius (3, Cyan) will train some soldiers to defend itself, but its people look to you to take charge of their defense.
- Lastly, your former nemesis Vytautas (2, Green) camps to the east and has joined you for the battle; after all, it is his lands that the Order has invaded!
Players[]
Player[]
- The Player ( Poles) starts at the southwest of the map with the three Heroes and an army. Once they reach the city they must defeat all the units of Teutonic Raiders outside. At this point they are granted 12 Villagers and can start building a base. They are also granted control of several military buildings as well as the three Castles that must be protected inside the city, while the control of Hero Vytautas the Great switches from the player to Vytautas.
Allies[]
- Vytautas ( Lithuanians) starts with a base at the south-west of the map, outside the city. If they have enough military units, they attack every twelve minutes and whenever the player uses taunt 31.
- Vilnius ( Lithuanians) (3) represents the civilians and military units of the city that the player will take control of.
- Vilnius ( Lithuanians) (4) represents the buildings of the city not under the player's control. They have an army of Pikemen, Leiciai, Knights, and Crossbowmen which they will use to defend the city.
Enemies[]
- The Teutonic Order ( Teutons) (5) starts with a base at the north end of the map defended by Castles, towers, and lots of soldiers and siege weapons. Their units also patrol the supply route and escort the supply carts. They have no Villagers or economic base and do not rebuild or replenish their units.
- Teutonic Raiders ( Teutons) starts with a base at the western end of the map. They have two Town Centers as well as several economic and military buildings, with soldiers and towers defending their camp.
- The Teutonic Order ( Teutons) (7) represents the soldiers who periodically lay siege to the city with their army spawning at the northern Teutonic base.
Strategy[]
Begin the scenario by following the road until there are some enemies on the way. Attack the units and the Trebuchets, but try not to destroy any of their buildings, especially the tower, as these will turn to the player's control. Upon arriving at the city, after a dialogue, the player is given a handful of Villagers and, in addition, given control of some buildings in Vilnius.
After update 54480, the player is given a three-minute time limit to destroy the enemy forces by the southern gate of Vilnius, and they only get starting resources after the main part of the scenario begins.
Start building a base and try to boom with 3 Town Centers. Be mindful of the timer, as this indicates when the enemy will attack. At the same time, beware of Orange, as they will try to raid the player's base even outside the attack timer. Have some Obuchs, Crossbowmen, and Knights ready when the first attack comes. The enemy attack will always come from the northwestern gate of Vilnius. It is very difficult to save the first Castle, as enemy Bombard Cannons can bring it down. It probably isn't even wise to try and stop the first Teuton attack, as the player's army and economy will be too weak to slow them down for long at that point, especially on Hard difficulty, and attempting to stop them could result in too many losses to be able to mount an offensive at night.
After the first attack, there is a relief time which allows the player to repair and replace losses. It is best to advance to the Imperial Age now while training more units, mainly Cavaliers, Arbalesters, and Obuchs. Once a sizable army has been trained, it is best to deal with the Raiders before the second attack. Focus on bringing down their Town Center and production building, but if the player spots a supply cart on the road, it is best to eliminate it, as it gives the player resources, and it is one of the main objectives. It might be a good idea to call in Vytautas to attack during this time, as this means there is no longer a risk of attacks on the player during the night. Be sure to pick up the Relic from the Monastery and garrison it in the Vilnius Monastery in the northeast corner of the map to fulfil a secondary objective, which gives the player access to a large cache of gold that their Villagers can mine.
In the meantime, between attacks, try building obstacles in the northwestern part of the city which was previously attacked by the enemy. Because walls are expensive to build, it is best to use buildings instead to block the path and delay the enemy. Houses, Universities, and Blacksmiths, as well as production buildings, are the best to build to block the enemy's path. Spamming Houses in the path of the attacking Teutons is cheap, built quickly, and the enemy will not ignore them, making them a very good distraction (just make sure the Villagers escape before the enemy comes). With enough wood, the player can build enough buildings to prevent the Teutons from reaching the third Castle (and possibly the second) entirely without needing any other forms of defense. Building mass Keeps or Bombard Towers is not feasible due to their increased stone cost (300 stone each) and the ease with which Bombard Cannons will destroy them, but sprinkling a few of them around in key locations will help inflict more casualties on the Teutons' melee units if the player draws them in. The player should also make Trade Carts and send them toward the Vilnius Market that's near the Wonder in order to have a continuous gold supply.
Fighting the Teuton units, especially on Hard difficulty, is tough because the Teuton bonuses and unit composition counter the Poles very effectively. Polish cavalry is almost useless against Teutonic Knights and struggles against Teuton Paladins due to their +2 melee armor. Massing Obuchs isn't as good as it could be because of the enemy's Hand Cannoneers (which the Poles themselves lack), and even when using their armor-shredding attacks against Teutonic Knights, Obuchs don't win against them because their initial damage is too low, but Obuchs will still be a better choice than Polish Champions or Pikemen. The player will need either Arbalesters or Heavy Cavalry Archers to take down Teutonic Knights, and Winged Hussars to deal with the enemy's gunpowder units. Note that since the Teutons will also have Ironclad, taking out their Siege Onagers and Bombard Cannons will take longer than expected with melee units. The player's lack of siege units is a significant problem, and even if they somehow convert an enemy Siege Workshop, they cannot make anything from it, so there is no way for the player to deal area damage except Petards (which are not suitable for the task). The Teutonic Order also has Heresy, so the player cannot convert enemy siege units and will only kill them if they attempt a conversion. In essence, the best composition for the player's defense force should be Obuchs, Arbalesters (or Elite Skirmishers if gold is low), and a few Winged Hussars to take out siege units once the Teutonic Knights and Paladins are dealt with.
Soon, there will be some triggers for a secondary objective, which is to meet the Teuton defector inside the city. The player only needs to bring a unit to him, and he will make a request. He asks to bring his wife back to him. She can be found at the edge of the map to the left just outside Orange's base where there are some Cyan buildings. There are two Towers guarding the way to Gisela, but these may have been destroyed already during the initial attacks on the Raiders. Once brought back, the LOS of the supply carts will be exposed to the player.
In order to win the scenario, the player needs to eliminate 5 supply carts which will travel on the road past the Raiders' base. These carts are escorted by mostly infantry and Hand Cannoneers, though there might be some Paladins on Hard, so it is best so send some Arbalesters and Obuchs to eliminate them. Alternatively, the player could snipe the carts with Heavy Cavalry Archers. The carts will only appear at night, with three spawning per night.
After the fifth cart has been eliminated, the enemy will make one last attack which the player needs to defend against. Try to cap the population before this, as reinforcements will arrive, which allows the player to go beyond the population limit. The scenario will end once the timer for the final attack runs out.
Alternative strategy[]
This is an alternative strategy for Hard difficulty.
Build two or three Town Centers and boom. Use the initial army to defend the base against raids from the Teutonic Raiders. Completely ignore the first attack on Vilnius (cyan). The enemy will destroy two of the city's three Castles, and might start damaging the third, but the timer will run out before they can destroy it and they will retreat. This will give the player a long time to focus purely on economy. Make sure to also build a Market as far west as possible and trade with the Market in the city. The first attack will not reach far enough into the city to threaten the Market, but the enemy does cross the path the Trade Carts will take, so only start making Trade Carts once the enemy retreats.
Before the second attack starts, have the following ready
- At least 6 (but preferably at least 10) fully upgraded Bombard Towers built on the site of the first Castle that was destroyed during the first attack. The player should research Guilds at the Market and buy stone as needed. They do have increased cost, but they will make short work of the Teutons.
- At least 5 Stables that can produce fully upgraded Cavaliers (including the unique technology that reduces gold cost)
- At least 20 Cavaliers.
During the attack, continuously produce Cavaliers from all Stables, which should be easy at this point with the strong economy. Stay under the cover of the Bombard Towers. When spotting an enemy Bombard Cannon, charge it with 5 or 6 Cavaliers. Those Cavaliers will likely die, but it's fine, as the enemy does not send many Bombard Cannons. Enemy Siege Onagers can be killed with the Bombard Towers if they come into range (just be sure to manually command them to attack Onagers, since they won't prioritize them), or they could be charged with a small breakaway Cavalier group as well.
When the second attack ends, repair any damaged Bombard Towers and build more Bombard Towers to reinforce further, Continue training Cavaliers. By the time the third attack starts, the player should have a maxed-out army, and repelling it should be trivial.
When the third attack ends, take all Cavaliers and attack the Teutonic Raiders. Send message "31", which will cause Vytautas to attack the Teutonic Raiders as well. The Teutonic Raiders will give little resistance against the mass of Cavaliers. Once the majority of the Teutonic Raiders' army is dead, target its two Town Centers. Once the Town Centers are destroyed, the Teutonic Raiders will resign.
At this point, the player can kill the supply carts and finish the scenario at their leisure. The player can easily survive against the attacks indefinitely, so the player can do the secondary objectives with no pressure if they want to.
Outro[]
On that day, the combined forces of Poland and Lithuania drove the Teutons back to their Prussian domains. But, more importantly than the victory in the field was the fact that the alliance between Jogaila and Vytautas - the former rivals โ had held fast.
Those imposing men eyed each other after the battle, never exchanging a word, and - I believe โ realizing at last that they could accomplish things together that neither could do on their own.
Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken. So says the Preacher.
Trivia[]
- The Teutonic deserter refers to the protagonist of the poem "Konrad Wallenrod" by the Polish-Lithuanian writer Adam Mickiewicz. Both characters are Lithuanians raised by the Teutonic Order and desert from it, in addition to having a clandestine wife.
- While Hoardings is available in this scenario, it will not benefit the player's Castles, since they originally belonged to Vilnius, therefore just wasting the research cost.