William Wallace has shown us the path to victory. Although he is but one man, he inspires great deeds in others. Many of the Scottish knights and lords have drawn their swords with his. Wallace's own sword is a five-and-a-half foot beast, forged, of course, in Scotland. He has sworn not to rest until his sword finds the neck of Edward Longshanks. The struggle will continue, but we have learned the ways of war. Now, it is the English who will know true fear.
The warriors of Scotland attempt to hold off an invasion of the better-equipped English armies. Learn the basic concepts of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, such as building an economy, training your soldiers and, most importantly, fighting and defeating your enemy. If you are new to real-time strategy games, you will learn all that you need to know. If you have played the original Age of Empires games, you can skip forward to more advanced features, such as collecting relics and siegecraft.
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—In-game campaign description
“
The warriors of Scotland attempt to hold off an invasion of the better equipped English armies. Take the command of the highlanders, and learn the basic concepts of Age of Empires II, such as how to build an economy, how to train your soldiers and, most importantly, how to fight and defeat your enemy. If you are new to real-time strategy games, you will learn all you need to know. If you have played the original Age of Empires, then you can skip ahead to new features, such as garrisoning and formations.
”
—In-game campaign description
The William Wallace Learning Campaign consists of 7 scenarios. The player plays as the Celts, and the player color is blue. The campaign is narrated by an unnamed Scotsman.
The first four scenarios have been combined into the Preparing for Battle scenario for the Xbox edition. The scenario makes players familiar with the console version's exclusive gamepad control scheme and automatic Villager distribution AI.
History[]
William Wallace (c. 1270 - August 23, 1305) was a Scottish Knight who led an army of Scots in an attempt to keep Scotland a kingdom independent from King Edward I of England. After defeating an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297. He was appointed Guardian of Scotland and served until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298. In August 1305, Wallace was captured in Robroyston, near Glasgow, and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason and crimes against English civilians. Since his death, Wallace has obtained a legendary status far beyond his homeland.
Unit[]
William Wallace is an infantryhero. Originally having the appearance of a Champion, he received a unique sprite and a new icon in the update immediately preceding the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West. He is slightly faster than a Champion. He appears as a controllable unit in the last scenario of the Learning Campaign, and as an enemy unit in the fifth scenario of the Edward Longshanks campaign in Lords of the West, where one of the secondary objectives is to kill him. He also appears in the first scenario of the X-Box version of the Learning campaign. He is also available in the Scenario Editor.
In the Definitive Edition, a renamed William Wallace appears in the Alaric campaign as the enemy Sarus the Goth (d. 413 A.D.). Sarus' forces have to be defeated in the third scenario (where he does not physically appear), and he can be fought and killed in the fifth and last scenario. He also appears in the first scenario of the reworked William Wallace campaign in the Xbox version of the game.
Trivia[]
Unlike other campaigns, only the fifth and seventh scenarios are inspired by historical events.
In the original cutscenes, Wallace and the other Scots were depicted in kilts, much like in the then-recent movie, Braveheart. This was an anachronism, because the kilt was introduced in the 16th century and gained its modern configuration in the 18th. The new cutscenes in the Definitive Edition depict more period-accurate clothing.
In the Definitive Edition, the player is offered the option of choosing the difficulty level (like what happens with the other campaigns). Since this is the learning campaign, there is no actual difference between difficulty levels (unlike what happens with most other campaign scenarios). Players can set the difficulty level on hard for this campaign for the sake of getting the gold medals.
Gallery[]
The statue of William Wallace in Aberdeen
William Wallace beta art in the Definitive Edition
Comparison between The Age of Kings and the Definitive Edition