| “ | Cao Cao rises through the ranks and fights the Yellow Turban rebels. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Yellow Turban Rebellion is the first scenario of the Cao Cao campaign in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Three Kingdoms. Similarly to the scenario The Oath of the Peach Garden in the Liu Bei campaign, it depicts the start of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 CE, and Cao Cao's role as a cavalry commander in fighting the rebels, specifically in the campaign against the rebel leader Zhang Jue.
Intro[]
As they hacked away at the Han dynasty's fragile foundations, the Yellow Turbans tore China apart.
Across the empire, ambitious warlords exploited the feeble imperial court to empower themselves. None were more persistent in this pursuit than Cao Cao.
The son of a commander who had bought his way to power, Cao Cao was no stranger to the corruption consuming the court. He openly mocked all those who decried the state of the empire while doing nothing to change it.
"Virtue without action is a luxury reserved for times of peace", he said. "But in times of trouble, it is ability and decisive action that lead to victory."
In Cao Cao's heart burned the twin flames of confidence and ambition. Once unleashed, these would consume the very empire he purported to save. Yet, at the moment, he was only one of hundreds of ambitious warlords making a name for themselves.
Serving as a cavalry commander under general Huangfu Song, Cao Cao was sent to quell the Yellow Turban rebels near the city of Yingchuan. Thus began the rise of the Great Usurper.
Scenario instructions[]
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Starting conditions[]
- Starting Age:
Castle Age - Ending Age: Castle Age
- Starting resources: 300 food, 200 wood, 200 gold
- Population limit: 125
- Starting units:
- 8 Hei Guang Cavalry
- 6 Xianbei Raiders
- Cao Cao (hero)
- 8
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- Each village saved gives 600 food, 600 wood, 500 gold, 100 stone
- The Zhang Jue towers next to the Market and the Trade Workshop are deleted
- Yellow Turban Rebels has no Spearmen
- Yellow Turban Rebels starts with 6 fewer patrols
- The Zhang Jue eastern gates are deleted
- Bandit unit hit points are reduced to 35
- Zhang Jue's Hall of Heroes work rate divided by 3
- The Bandits player does not receive upgrades
Objectives[]
- Defeat Zhang Jue.
Optional objectives[]
- 0/6 villages captured.
- 0/6 rebel carts destroyed.
- Recapture the workers' stolen building materials (0/2).
Hints[]
- You can support 125 population but are limited to the Castle Age and cannot build siege weapons, Docks, Monasteries, or initially create Villagers.
- Use Hei Guang Cavalry and Tiger Cavalry to quickly and decisively crush the Yellow Turbans' foot soldiers.
- Be aggressive. The emperor's court will provide you with new troops and resources.
- Dong Zhuo is a reliable ally who will send cavalry to assist you in battle. He outranks Cao Cao and is arrogant, yet his advice is valuable.
- The rebels have established a trade route to the southeast on the other side of the Yellow River. Zhang Jue receives additional resources this way.
- Explore the map! There is a path that will allow you to bypass Zhang Jue's Castle and attack him from behind.
- The Hall of Heroes is a campaign-only building that costs wood. It trains hero units (and retrains fallen ones) that you recruit throughout the campaign.
Scouts[]
- Cao Cao and his cavalry (Blue) have arrived in the northeast, near Dong Zhuo's base (Purple). This experienced ally will primarily train Tiger Cavalry and Hei Guang Cavalry to support Cao Cao.
- The Yellow Turban Rebels (Yellow) hold several settlements (Grey) on the Yellow River. The rebels are poorly trained but numerous foot soldiers.
- Zhang Jue (Orange), the rebels' leader, has retreated to Yingchuan, but will counterattack with Pikemen and Crossbowmen. Recapturing villages (Grey) will weaken his forces.
- Bandits (Cyan) have taken advantage of the chaos to harass the rural population.
Players[]
Player[]
- Cao Cao ( Wei): Starts in the northeast in a small camp with several military production buildings and a Blacksmith, with some Hei Guang Cavalry and Xianbei Raiders accompanying Cao Cao himself. The player's objective is to defeat rebel leader Zhang Jue in the south of the map, with optional objectives aiding in this goal.
Ally[]
- Dong Zhuo ( Wei): Has a small base with a Castle just to the west of the player's initial position. He will support the player's efforts in liberating the villages. He sends cavalry-based armies, namely Hei Guang Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Tiger Cavalry, and Xianbei Raiders, into battle. After the fourth village is conquered, he leaves, upon which the player takes over his base along with any surviving Villagers and military units.
- Chinese Villages ( Chinese): They are present in the six villages the player may capture, and near the broken bridge in the western part of the map, but otherwise play no active role in the scenario.
Enemy[]
- Yellow Turban Rebels ( Chinese): The rebels are present patrolling areas around the map and in the villages. The player must defeat the village garrison to capture it. Their troops are composed of Men-at-Arms (Militia on the Easiest difficulty), Archers, Skirmishers, and Spearmen, which they do not replenish. They remain in the Feudal Age, and do not actively attack the player.
- Zhang Jue ( Wei): The rebel leader Zhang Jue has a walled military base at Yingchuan in the southwest of the map and a Monastery with four Monks to the west, and sends raiding parties against Dong Zhuo and the player. He fields Long Swordsmen, Pikemen, Crossbowmen, Scorpions, and Battering Rams. Defeating him is required to win the scenario.
- Bandits ( Wei): They have two hideouts in the western part of the map, guarding materials needed to repair the broken bridge. Bandits and Skirmishers guard the materials. They do not actively attack the player.
Strategy[]
The key to succeed in this scenario on Legendary difficulty is to quickly capture villages, and cut off Zhang Jue's trade route to the southeast, to weaken his raids against the player and Dong Zhuo while the player prepares an assault against his base. Right after the scenario starts, the player should capture the first village just to the south of the starting camp. The player should not hesitate to use Cao Cao's active ability to defeat the garrisons more quickly. Each captured village provides a one-time influx of resources (300 food, 300 wood, 200 gold on Legendary difficulty), and any production buildings or Blacksmiths located in them. In the meantime, Dong Zhuo should capture the village south of his base, or at least weaken its garrison. Should the player's troops get very low, they will receive some reinforcements (Hei Guang Cavalry) from Huangfu Song near the starting camp.
The player should then proceed to capture the village in the east of the map. Near the village east of Yingchuan, six rebel Trade Carts run on the road between Yingchuan's Market and the southeastern edge of the map, which the player should kill to weaken Zhang Jue's raids, then proceed to capture the nearby village. By this point, it is likely that Dong Zhuo will be under attack by Zhang Jue's forces, so the player should help him to protect his base.
After three villages are captured, Conscription is researched. Shortly after conquering the fourth village, Dong Zhuo leaves, citing unrest in the capital, and the player takes over his base. From now on, the scenario plays like a regular "build and destroy" scenario, and the player should boom to enable continuous training of expensive Stable units and Xianbei Raiders (if going for the achievement) to fend off Zhang Jue's raids, and to capture the remaining two villages to further weaken him.
As Yingchuan is walled and under protection of a Castle, a sneakier way to attack Zhang Jue's base is via a bridge to the west, which is broken at first, and the player is tasked with retrieving the building materials from two nearby Bandits hideouts, surrounded by mountains. At this point, it should be little issue to overwhelm the Bandits, but the player should beware of powerful melee attack of Bandit units. After the materials are retrieved, the bridge is repaired, and the player may cross it, though the player should be aware that Zhang Jue may do so as well.
Just beyond the bridge is an enemy Monastery with four Monks, with a decision presented to the player to either execute or spare them. Executing them grants the player 1,000 gold and an extra Relic in subsequent campaign scenarios, while sparing them turns the Monks over to the player and grants extra Monks and researched Redemption in subsequent campaign scenarios. Whatever the decision the player makes, they should now move their forces from the Monastery along the southwestern edge of the map, which leads straight into Zhang Jue's unprotected economic base around their Town Center. The player should proceed to sack it and kill the opposing Villagers, before moving to kill Zhang Jue himself, who usually stands near the Castle. Be careful, as he can convert the player's units. Once done, his and Yellow Turban Rebels (if not already defeated) factions should resign shortly afterwards, without the need to raze the Castle or the military production buildings around it.
Achievement[]
The Steam achievement "Horses for Courses" can be obtained by training no military units other than mounted units in the scenario. While this restricts the player to the Stable units and Xianbei Raiders, it should not be difficult to achieve, as the player is not required to besiege fortifications, and can counter Spearman-line units with properly managed Xianbei Raiders.
Outro[]
The Yellow Turbans wilted like dry grass before Cao Cao's fire. Yet, even as order was restored, the empire's troubles were far from over. The old Emperor had died, leaving the throne to his young son. The power shift transformed court rivalries into violent conflicts.
Cao Cao's former ally Dong Zhuo massacred the once-powerful eunuchs. Rather than return power to the new emperor, Dong Zhuo deposed him and replaced with his half-brother, a child that he controlled as a puppet.
Dong Zhuo abused his new power by sleeping in the Emperor's bed, lying with the wives of court officials, and torturing hostages for entertainment. Just as before, the men of inaction decried this outrageous new status quo but did nothing to stop it.
For Cao Cao, doing nothing was not an option.
Even as he served the tyrant, Cao Cao planned to assassinate Dong Zhuo. By killing him, Cao Cao hoped to gain the favor of commoners and warlords alike - but Dong Zhuo caught him in the act and forced him to flee the capital.
On his way east, his uncle Lü Boshe took him in. As night fell, Cao Cao heard Lü Boshe sharpening a knife, and in his paranoia took this as a prelude to his own murder.
Cao Cao murdered Lü Boshe's entire family, realizing too late that they had only been preparing a feast in his honor. As flames engulfed the house, his last loyal follower asked how he could commit such an atrocity. Cao Cao's reply?
"I would rather betray the world, than have the world betray me!"
No enemy, real or imagined, would stand in his way.
