The jungles and hills of Vietnam proved as hospitable a home to the locals as they were a formidable obstacle to invaders. Lead the rebellion against the Chinese Ming Empire and become a Vietnamese hero. Guide your people to independence by waging guerilla warfare with an extremely powerful arsenal of ranged units. The Vietnamese unique unit is the Rattan Archer, a heavily-armored ranged unit that is effectively impervious to arrow fire.
The Vietnamese' civilization music theme in the Definitive Edition
The Vietnamese are an East Asian[2]civilization introduced in Age of Empires II HD: Rise of the Rajas. They focus on archers. Gameplay-wise, the Vietnamese function as a "support" civilization in team-games that is more late-game oriented, as they give the most amount of team-related bonuses (revealing enemy Town Centers, their Imperial Age unique technology, giving their allies access to the Imperial Skirmisher upgrade). Because of their team-focused bonuses, the Vietnamese excel better in team game settings than in one-on-one matches (although various buffs in the Definitive Edition make the Vietnamese a decent civilization in one-on-one matches).
The Vietnamese are an archer civilization with strong emphasis of team support, and their foot archers are excellent soldiers, getting additional HP as well as every upgrade there is. Additionally, their unique unit and team bonus are both foot archers, making the Vietnamese able to pick from a wide variety of different units there. Their infantry and cavalry both miss Blast Furnace, and the latter is especially shallow with other upgrades such as Paladin and Hussar missing. Their Battle Elephants, however, get additional HP out of Chatras and therefore have good defensive capabilities. The siege units are overall weak. Their navy is fair, but the Fast Fire Ship and Shipwright are missing. Their Monks rank below average as well. The defensive structures are overall good, but the lack of Masonry and Architecture is not helping. Their economy is good and especially suited for team games with Paper Money, but the lack of a major early game economic bonus makes the Vietnamese vulnerable to rush strategies.
Campaign appearances[]
The Vietnamese have a campaign devoted to their civilization: Le Loi. They also appear in:
Initially, (Elite) Rattan Archers had 35 (40) HP. With patch 5.8, they now have 40 (45) HP.
Initially, Archery Range units have +10%/+15%/+20% HP in the Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. With patch 5.8, they have +20% HP.
Paper Money instantly gives every ally 500 gold.
Definitive Edition[]
Husbandry added to the technology tree.
Paper Money now costs 500 food, 300 wood, and takes 60 seconds to research.
Architecture style changed from Southeast Asian to East Asian.
With Update 35584, economic upgrades no longer cost wood.
Dawn of the Dukes[]
With Update 54480, Chatras: Battle Elephants [Standard & Elite] bonus hitpoints increased from +50 to +100.
Dynasties of India[]
Paper Money gives Lumberjacks the ability to generate gold, and costs 600 wood and 350 gold.
In-game dialogue language[]
Vietnamese units spoke their namesake, an Austroasiatic language (related to the language spoken by the Khmer) spoken in the modern-day Vietnam. It is formerly written with modified Chinese characters and currently written with modified Latin alphabets.
The language spoken, however, is anachronistically modern Vietnamese rather than Middle Vietnamese spoken during the Age of Empires II timeline (e.g. "heaven" is pronounced trời instead of blời, spelled with phonetic elements 巴+例[3] (ba + lệ) in Nôm script).
Select 2Khanh có điều gì thỉnh cầu? (卿固條咦請求?) — Do you have any request?
Select 3Sao khanh lại phiền đến trẫm? (𡫡卿吏煩𦥃朕?) — Why do you disturb me?
Select 4Mau đến hộ giá! (𨖧𦥃護駕!) — Come quickly to protect me!
Move 1Trẫm sẽ ân chuẩn điều mà khanh thỉnh cầu (朕𠱊恩準條嘛卿請求) — I will approve your request
Move 2Bằng ân điển của trẫm (憑恩典𧵑朕) — By my grace
Move 3Như khanh đã dâng tấu (如卿㐌揚奏) — As you've reported
Move 4Trẫm sẽ ân chuẩn (朕𠱊恩準) — I will approve
AI player names[]
When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Vietnamese AI characters:
Dinh Bo Linh (丁部領, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh; 924–979): Vietnamese emperor from 968–979, first independent ruler of a unified Vietnam since Ngo Quyen liberated the country from Southern Han Chinese control. Emerged victorious after the chaotic "Anarchy of the 12 Warlords" period.
Le Dai Hanh (黎大行, Lê Đại Hành; 941-1005): Became Emperor of Vietnam after the Dinh queen deposed her six-year-old heir of Dinh Bo Linh and trusted Le Dai Hanh to save the country. He successfully defended Vietnam from Song dynasty invasions.
Le Thai To (黎太祖, Lê Thái Tổ; 1384-1433): Real name was Le Loi, Emperor of Vietnam from 1428-1433, first emperor of the Later Le dynasty which would remain in power for over 300 years. He came to power via the Lam Son uprising against Ming Chinese rule.
Le Thanh Tong (黎聖宗, Lê Thánh Tông; 1442-1497): Later Le Emperor of Vietnam from 1460-1497; he lead Vietnam through prosperous times and military successes against foreign threats. He also reformed the empire's legal system.
Ly Nam De (李南帝, Lý Nam Đế; 503-548): Vietnamese king from 544-548; first ruler of the Early Ly dynasty. Originally a regional leader within the Chinese Liang Dynasty's administration of northern Vietnam, he resigned, and with local forces, rebelled to establish his own kingdom.
Ly Nhan Tong (李仁宗, Lý Nhân Tông; 1066-1128): Vietnamese Emperor from 1072-1128; a ruler of the Later Ly dynasty. He established Confucianism as the state philosophy; created schools of Confucian learning. During his early reign, Lý and Song China engaged in a two-years bloody border war that resulted in 500,000 deaths.
Ly Thai To (李太祖, Lý Thái Tổ; 974-1028): Vietnamese Emperor from 1009-1028; the first of the Later Ly dynasty. From an orphan raised by monks he rose to head of imperial guards, elected by the entire country after the previous emperor died and none of his childen wanted the throne.
Ngo Quyen (吳權, Ngô Quyền; 897-944): Vietnamese King from 938-944 who rose to power after defeating Southern Han Chinese forces at the Battle of Bach Dang River in 938. While he won back independence for the country, his reign was marked by chaos and unrest, however, and his death was followed by the "Anarchy of the 12 Warlords" period.
Phung Hung (馮興, Phùng Hưng; 761-802): Mounted a rebellion against the Chinese Tang Dynasty in 791, becoming the de facto ruler over the region from 791-799. The Tang Dynasty still officially laid claim to the region.
Tran Anh Tong (陳英宗, Trần Anh Tông; 1276-1320): the fourth emperor of the Tran dynasty; ruled from 1293-1314. His reign was notable for relative peace and prosperity, upholding a détente with the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Son of Tran Nhan Tong.
Tran Nhan Tong (陳仁宗, Trần Nhân Tông; 1258-1308): the third emperor of the Tran dynasty; ruled from 1278-1293. He presided over the repulsion of invading Yuan Dynasty forces on land and at sea. Father of Tran Anh Tong.
Tran Thai Tong (陳太宗, Trần Thái Tông; 1218-1277): Vietnamese Emperor from 1226-1258; the first of the Tran dynasty. Grandfather of Tran Nhan Tong.
Trivia[]
The Vietnamese civilization icon is a rattan shield adorned with the Vietnamese sun symbol. The Vietnamese unique unit, the Rattan Archer, carries a small rattan shield.
The user interface in the HD Edition features two flanking women with swords, likely referencing the Trưng Sisters, and the middle shows a dragon in Lê dynasty style.
The user interface image in the Definitive Edition shows a Hoan Kiem turtle.
The Vietnamese being a foot archer civilization reflects many linguists' conjectures on the Austroasiatic origin of Chinese word for crossbow (弩)[4].
When debuting in Rise of the Rajas, the Vietnamese used Indianized Southeast Asian architecture, which was changed to Sinicized East Asian in Definitive Edition.[5] Real-life Vietnamese architecture strongly resembles Chinese architecture, due to China's strong cultural influence in Vietnam throughout history.
According to developers, the use of Southeast Asian architecture in Rise of the Rajas was a reference to the Champa Kingdom in southern Vietnam. However, the Le Loi campaign takes place during the Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam (1407-1427), when Dai Viet did not include most Champa territories; Lê Lợi's grandson Tư Thành conquered two Champa principalities and reduced the third to vassalage. After the conquest, Vietnamese colonizers built towns with the same architecture as northern Vietnam.
Since the architecture change, the Vietnamese are the only non-South East Asian civilization that can train Battle Elephants, and whose stable doesn't have a visible elephant as a result.
Contrary to what is suggested in the History section, the name Đại Việt is attested from 1054, not during Ngô Quyền's time.
Việt Nam (越南) itself was introduced by Gia Long in the 19th century; a less anachronistic name for the civilization would be just "Viets" (越).
As part of their identity as an archery civilization in the game, the Vietnamese do not receive Hand Cannoneers, even though they quickly adopted Chinese Fire Lances during Le Loi's uprising and improved them to the point that the Ming themselves imported the Vietnamese design after the war. In later times the Vietnamese used arquebuses and muskets introduced by Europeans.
Originally, the Vietnamese were not going to have the Champion upgrade or Bloodlines to put more emphasis on their Archer units and Battle Elephants, but testing revealed they lacked cost-effective answers to the late-game Goths.
The Vietnamese still have one of the lowest win-rates against the Goths, due to lack of economy bonuses, and lacking Blast Furnace make them less effective when using Champions to fight against infantry rushes.
Vietnamese were also going to have Fishing Ships that collected food from Fish Traps without needing to drop it at Docks.
Before their buff in update 35584, the Vietnamese were among the weakest civilizations in the early game, due to lacking an economic bonus to help in the production of foot archers, and their other bonuses are only relevant in late game and team games.
Prior to Lords of the West, the Vietnamese were the last civilization released with access to the Arbalester, and the last one that could fully upgrade them until Dynasties of India.
History[]
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According to a fifteenth-century legend, the first Vietnamese state was founded in 2879 BC when king Hung Vuong united the tribes of the fertile Red River delta in Northern Vietnam. Thanks to the natural boundaries of mountains in the north and sea to the south, successive states were able to defend their independence for several centuries. In the first century BC, however, the Han dynasty of China invaded the Red River delta in order to secure their trade interests. For over a millennium, the Vietnamese would live under Chinese rule.
Even though Chinese rulers persistently tried to force their culture and traditions on the region, their efforts were only partially successful. The Vietnamese people retained a sense of pre-Chinese identity, which resulted in several rebellions against the central government. When the Chinese Tang dynasty collapsed in the early tenth century AD, local leaders used the opportunity to gradually reclaim independence. In 938, general Ngo Quyen repelled the last Chinese invasion and proclaimed himself king of the Vietnamese kingdom, known as Dai Viet. For the next centuries, successive Vietnamese dynasties would not only resist new Chinese invasions, but also expand the empire southward against the Cham. Three powerful dynasties were especially important during the Middle Ages:
In 1009 Ly Cong Uan, a former temple orphan and commander of the palace guard, founded the Ly dynasty when he was elected as the new emperor. The Ly dynasty (1009-1225) laid the foundations for a powerful Dai Viet through the development of an organized central administration. Adopting the Chinese model to their own needs, the Ly emperors established the Imperial Academy where all nobles and bureaucrats were educated in Confucianism. Officials were recruited based on their scores in an examination. In addition, the Ly dynasty promoted Buddhism as the state religion and enhanced the irrigation network.
The Ly emperors were succeeded by the Tran dynasty (1225-1400). In this period, the Vietnamese culture witnessed a golden age: theatre and literature in the Vietnamese language developed. Many innovations, such as paper money and new medicines, were introduced. Nevertheless, the Tran are most famous for their military skills. In 1257, 1284, and 1287 they successfully repelled the Mongol armies of Kublai Khan through clever use of terrain and guerrilla tactics. In the fourteenth century, spurred by economic and demographic expansion, the Vietnamese campaigned against the Champa kingdom to enlarge their empire, but ultimately failed to conquer the whole kingdom. The Tran upheld a specialized army of infantry and archers, but reduced its cost by rotating troops in training during peacetime. By 1390, the Vietnamese had also adopted the use of gunpowder from China.
After the Ho dynasty (1400-1407) had overthrown the Tran emperors, Ming China launched an invasion under the guise of restoring the Tran dynasty. Two decades of harsh rule followed until Le Loi, son of a local village leader, started a rebellion in 1418. After ten years, Le Loi restored the independence of Dai Viet by defeating the Ming rulers. During the Le dynasty (1428-1788), the state converted to Confucianism as the main religion and the law system was remodeled according to Chinese fashion. Under the emperor Le Thanh Tong (1460-1497), Dai Viet witnessed another golden age: he restored agricultural production, revised the tax system, and reorganized administration. In 1471, the emperor succeeded where the Tran did not: he defeated the Champa Kindgom. After Le Thanh Tong, the Le dynasty held the throne through much of the pre-modern period and became the longest ruling dynasty in Vietnamese history.
