Saracen and Berber armies swiftly conquered Spain and now march north into the Frankish heartland. As Charles 'The Hammer' Martel, lead the Frankish warriors in a desperate defense of your homeland.
”
—In-game scenario description in the Definitive Edition
It is impossible to imagine the world ending on such a fine fall day. Yet the storm of Muslim horsemen continues to rage throughout Europe, leaving conquered cities and shattered armies stunned in its wake. The lightning-quick strikes of the Muslim horsemen break the city of Bordeaux and then Poitiers, leaving precious little of the Frankish Kingdom to defend.
Yet Charles Martel gathers the disheartened Frankish army for one last stand at the city of Tours.
Arabic horses, bred for speed and beauty, begin to splash across the Vienne River. Martel's knights and swordsmen, trudging under the weight of iron mail, struggle to interpose themselves between the Muslims and the city of Tours.
Carrion birds circle the air, anticipating the savagery to come. The rest of Europe watches anxiously, for this is the climax of the Muslim invasion and the last stand of Christian Europe.
It is impossible to imagine the world ending on such a fine fall day. Yet the storm of Moslem horses continues to rage throughout Europe, leaving conquered cities and shattered armies stunned in its wake. The lightning-quick strikes of the Moslem horses break the city of Bordeaux, and then Poitiers, leaving precious little of the Frankish kingdom to defend.
Yet Charles Martel gathers the disheartened Frankish army for one last stand at the city of Tours.
Moslem horses, bred for speed and beauty, begin to splash across the Vienne River. Martel's knights and swordsmen, trudging under the weight of iron mail, struggle to interpose themselves between the Moslems and the city of Tours.
Carrion birds circle in the air, anticipating the savagery to come. The rest of Europe watches anxiously, for this is the climax of the Moslem invasion and the last stand of Christian Europe.
On Standard difficulty, a Castle guards the southwest gate of Tours, and the player begins with Murder Holes researched.
On Hard, the Berbers start with additional Light Cavalry and Villagers, and the 'cemetery island' on Charles Martel's path to Tours is guarded by Moorish Watch Towers and Camel Riders.
Objectives[]
Prevent the Muslims from destroying any of your 3 Town Centers.
Capture the 6 Trade Carts in the Moors' baggage train and bring them to the Cathedral in Tours.
Later objectives[]
Since part of the Muslim baggage train has been lost, you will now need to defeat the Muslims.
The Franks are restricted to a population limit of 125.
The Berbers and Moors utilize inexpensive troops in combat. While Frankish Knights can defeat them, the Muslims spend fewer of their resources fielding armies.
The Muslims are attacking outlying Frankish Farms. This will slow them down while you send for Charles Martel's army and build up your defenses.
The Moslems are attacking outlying Frankish Farms. This will slow them down while you send for Charles Martel's army and build up your defenses.
The Berbers and Moors utilize inexpensive troops in combat. While Frankish Knights can defeat them, the Moslems spend fewer of their resources fielding armies.
You can click on signs for directions.
Scouts[]
The Franks (1, Red) defend the large city of Tours to the north. Charles Martel's army is to south of the city.
The Berbers (2, Yellow) occupy the western edge of the map. They train Light Cavalry, swordsmen, and rams, but their town is not well-defended and could fall to an early attack.
The Moors (3, Green) have occupied the city of Poitiers to the southwest, making their army harder to defeat. They train Camels, Knights, and Scorpions, but will switch to Mamelukes given enough time.
Charles Martel (Franks): Located at the top of the map in the titular city, their army is located near the eastern side of the map. There are a lot of Farms scattered around the top half of the map, though they are usually destroyed by wandering enemy troops.
Ally[]
Frankish Villages ( Franks, only the Definitive Edition): They are burned villages that consist of some abandoned Houses, Mills, and Farms outside Tours.
Moors (Saracens): Occupying Poitiers, at the southern tip of the map. Being the stronger enemy, they frequently attack with Camel Riders and Scorpions, occasionally with Trebuchets if they have reached the Imperial Age. If given enough time, they will begin attacking with Mamelukes as well.
Dialogue[]
(Note: before the Definitive Edition, "Moslem" is used instead of "Muslim".)
Frankish Soldier: The Muslims are advancing slowly, but we will not have long before they are at the walls of Tours. Poitiers has fallen already.
Sign #1 to the northwest of Charles Martel (not active in-game):
-- North to Tours --
Sign #2 to the south of sign #1 (not active in-game):
-- West to Poitiers --
Sign #3 to the southwest of sign #2 (not active in-game):
-- Poitiers --
Sign #4 to the west of sign #3 (not active in-game):
-- Poitiers - West Gate --
Sign #5 to the northeast of sign #4 (not active in-game):
-- North - Tours | South - Poitiers --
Sign #6 to the northeast of sign #5 (not active in-game):
-- Graveyard --
Sign #7 to the northwest of sign #6 (not active in-game):
-- Tours - South Gate --
When approaching Poitiers:
Frankish Soldier: We have reached Poitiers! The Muslim baggage train is protected inside. If we can capture it, they will retreat back from whence they came.
After bringing 6 Trade Carts to the Cathedral in Tours:
Frankish Soldier: The Muslims have retreated from Frankish lands! We are victorious!
If a Town Center in Tours is destroyed:
Frankish Soldier: The Muslims have destroyed one of our town centers. The rest of the city is sure to fall!
If Charles Martel is killed:
Frankish Soldier: We lost Charles Martel in battle today. The Franks may keep fighting, but their hearts are no longer in it.
Strategy[]
The player faces two enemies in this scenario: the Berbers (Berbers/Turks before the Definitive Edition, yellow) and the Moors (Saracens, green).
The Berbers' base.
In the north lies Tours, a city owned by the player, with a handful of villagers, lots of buildings (including a few Guard Towers for defense), and many Gold and Stone mines for a stable economy, yet no army (on Standard difficulty, the player also starts with a Castle). The army, consisting of 16 Knights, 11 Throwing Axemen and the heroCharles Martel, is at the south of the map, not too far from the now-Moor-controlled city (Poitiers).
There are two ways the player can continue the campaign from there. On one hand, with the starting army, it is possible to break through the wall or hold the enemy Gates open with units, sneak in, and steal the Trade Carts that will grant victory. But this plan has a lot of flaws. Aside from being a major risk, Poitiers is heavily defended and the player is not armed with any siege weapons, and they might lose the entire army trying to break in. If the player loses a single Trade Cart, they will have to defeat all enemy forces, so take good care of them.
The city of Poitiers under Saracen control, as it appeared in the scenario.
A second, risk-free, safer way is to send the army back to Tours and advance to the Castle Age as soon as the player has the resources. Gather the Sheep from outside the city for food, and delay the enemy by rebuilding walls if possible. When in the Castle Age, build a few Castles for defense close to, but inside, the walls of the player's city. Use Throwing Axemen to destroy any rams and straggler enemies from inside the walls of the city. The hero unit, Charles Martel, is particularly good at this. Unlike other scenarios and campaigns in the game, the hero does not need to survive, so it is not a major risk if he joins the forces to attack.
From here, the player will finally have some breathing room to build up an army and economy. Make a large army consisting of Pikemen/Halberdiers and siege weapons, and research all useful upgrades. Break through the Moors' base through the east, ignoring the Berbers' base, and escort the Trade Carts out of the city to the Cathedral in Tours.
The Cathedral in Tours
If the player loses the Trade Carts, they will need to defeat the enemy forces. Since the enemy forces rely heavily on Infantry, Camel Riders and Mamelukes, sending in Knights will be costly, so the player should rely almost exclusively on Pikemen or Halberdiers, with Knights being used to protect the other units from enemy siege.
While that is not strictly necessary to win the scenario, the player can advance to the Imperial Age, which will enable the construction of Trebuchets, thus making the siege easier.
Bugs[]
Researching Spies before the Trade Carts are captured will cause the "Since part of the Muslim baggage train has been lost, you will now need to defeat the Muslims" objective to appear, despite no Trade Carts being lost, and the player will have to defeat the two enemies to win the game. Using the "marco" then "polo" cheats will also cause this bug. It is fixed in the HD Edition.
The soul of the Frankish army was its knights, but Charles Martel knew that his cavalry-undisciplined, buried under weight of weapons and armor-could not match the swiftness of the Muslim riders. Therefore, he ordered the knights to dismount and join ranks with the Frankish swordsmen to form a tight shield-wall.
The Muslims had always conquered with swift offensiveness and were not equipped to counter the Franks' defensive strategy. The arrows of the Muslim archers bounced harmlessly off the heavy Frankish armor, and the light Muslim cavalry could not breach the human chain.
Battered and bleeding, the invaders broke ranks and fled back to the Pyrenees and the protection of Spain. From Charles Martel's Frankish kingdom eventually grew the Holy Roman Empire, making him the founding father of both Germany and France.
The soul of the Frankish army was its knights, but Charles Martel knew that his cavalry -- undisciplined, buried under weight of weapons and armor -- could not match the swiftness of the Moslem riders. Therefore, he ordered the knights to dismount and join ranks with the Frankish swordsmen to form a tight shield wall.
The Moslems had always conquered with swift offensiveness and were not equipped to counter the Franks' defensive strategy. The arrows of the Moslem archers bounced harmlessly off the heavy Frankish armor, and the light Moslem cavalry could not breach the human chain.
Battered and bleeding, the Moslems broke ranks and fled back to the Pyrenees and the protection of Spain. From Charles Martel's Frankish kingdom eventually grew the Holy Roman Empire, making him the founding father of both Germany and France.
Trivia[]
This battle in 732 AD directly follows from the last scenario of the Tariq ibn Ziyad campaign in The African Kingdoms: Razzia, which depicts the Battle of the River Garonne. In the battle, Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi raided Bordeaux and defeated an Aquitainian army under Odo of Aquitaine. Odo, fearing for his fiefdom in Aquitaine reached out to the Mayor of the Palace of the Frankish kingdom, Charles Martel, which starts off this scenario. Charles Martel accepted Odo's submission and let him join his army in Tours, where they defeated the Umayyad forces and killed al-Ghafiqi.
The Berbers on this scenario are represented by the color Yellow, which probably explains why the player uses the same color in the Tariq ibn Ziyad campaign.
This is corrected in Definitive Edition, where they are properly represented by the Berbers.
After update 34055, the Berbers can now advance to the Imperial Age.
Abd ar-Rahman al-Ghafiqi in the Berber camp.
In the Definitive Edition, Abd ar-Rahman al-Ghafiqi appears as a Genitour hero unit in the Berber camp, and even attacks the player. However, killing him gives no result.
In the French localization, the scenario retains the name of Tours despite the fact that the battle is commonly referred as the Battle of Poitiers in the French language. The battle site is generally located between the two cities, and English and French historians disagree on which of the two was closer.
The French localization's intro of the original edition refers to "one last stand at the city of Poitiers", but the Definitive Edition did not retain this change.
The first illustration in the Definitive Edition version of the opening cutscene was also used to represent the Lithuanians in the History section. This was corrected with Dawn of the Dukes, where it is replaced with a Leitis illustration.
While the scenario depicts the Muslim forces besieging the city of Tours and the Franks responding with an attack on occupied Poitiers, the actual battle took place in the open on a hill somewhere between the two cities, the exact location of which is still unknown.
In co-op mode, the first player controls the city of Tours, while the second player in blue controls Charles Martel with a starting base where his army starts.
Winning the scenario in this mode will unlock the achievement "Can I be Frank with You?".
Feudal Age
Frankish Soldier: The Muslims are advancing slowly, but we will not have long before they are at the walls of Tours. Poitiers has fallen already.
