Recap / Age of Empires II – William Wallace

Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned

In this tutorial campaign, the player guides the Scottish resistance as they fight against Edward Longshanks and his encroaching English army. The first five scenarios go over the basic gameplay as they prepare to fight at the Battle of Stirling, with the remaining two introducing the new elements of Age of Empires II, namely trading, the gathering of relics and Castle warfare. The player is in control of the Celts, the color being Blue.

Scenarios

1. Marching and Fighting

The King of Scotland died without leaving an heir, and Edward Longshanks seeks to take advantage of the situation with his elite army in tow, while the Scottish forces were largely unorganized. You are tasked with organizing said forces to move properly.

2. Feeding the Army

If the Scots were to have any chance of fighting back, they must gather up a stronger economy.

3. Training the Troops

The skirmishes between England and Scotland often end up rather poorly for the latter. They must build up a militia force in order to slow the English raids.

4. Research and Technology

Longshanks' army is still imminent, and there's a need to make advancements to the army by upgrading the militia to Men-at-Arms. Meanwhile, rumors were pouring in about a Scottish leader to the South capable of holding off the British to buy his people time.

5. The Battle of Stirling

The army of Longshanks has arrived, and the Scottish forces have mustered enough of a force for their first real battle. While the English were poised to cross the River Forth to invade the town of Stirling, the Scots built up a camp to counter the forces.

6. Forging an Alliance

While the Battle of Stirling was a success, it was at great expense, so the army must establish trade with neigboring clans. There were also relics spread throughout the locale, and acquiring them all will be a boon to Scottish morale.

7. The Battle of Falkirk

The Scottish forces venture southward in hopes of maintaining hold around the town of Falkirk. The Scots are looking to fortify their positions, and as soon as a castle gets built William Wallace himself will arrive with a force to aid in destroying the English castle.

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This campaign contains examples of:

• Anachronism Stew: Much like the film that inspired it, the cutscenes show the Scottish wearing kilts. Kilts originated centuries later, the Great Kilt first appearing in the 16th century and the modern kilt appearing in the 18th century.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Being a tutorial, the difficulty is the same no matter what setting you choose.
• Artistic License – History: While the Scottish did win the Battle of Stirling, they didn't actually win the Battle of Falkirk as the scenario would suggest. Thus a campaign from Edward's point of view.
• BFS: William Wallace's sword is stated to be a "five and a half foot beast".
• Company Cameo: In the first mission, using the "Marco" (reveal map) and "Polo" (remove Fog of War) cheats reveals that the bottom-right corner of the map has a bunch of trees that spell out the logo of the game's developers, Ensemble Studios.
• Cool Sword: William Wallace's claymore, a "five-and-a-half foot beast"
• Cosmetic Award:
  • The HD Edition has "William Wallace Campaign Completed":
    "“We come here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, determined to avenge our wrongs and set our country free. Let your masters come and attack us: we are ready to meet them beard to beard.” - (1297) William Wallace"
  • Definitive Edition has "Guardian of Scotland", for completing the campaign, replacing the HD achievement.
• Easter Egg: In the original and HD versions of "Marching and Fighting", revealing the map would have an overworld of sand surrounding a small confined world used for the tutorial, and in one corner is a patch of grass that spells "ES", for Ensemble Studios. Definitive Edition replaces it with a different map, and hidden within it are two flags, bearing logos for Ensemble and Forgotten Empires.
• Hero of Another Story: William Wallace was waging war against the English somewhere else, which keeps them busy and gives the player a valuable time to grow the economy and raise an army (meaning, learn how to play). Wallace joins the player's forces in the last mission of the tutorial.
• Large Ham: The narrator of campaign in Age of Kings:
  "Build ten more... woooooaaaaad rrrraiderrrs!"
• Perspective Flip: Considered this towards the Lords of the West campaign Edward Longshanks, as said campaign documents the latter's war against the Scottish.
• Protection Mission: Of the "Hero Must Survive" type, once the Briton castle is destroyed in "The Battle of Falkirk", Wallace arrives and the mission requires him to be protected at all costs.
• Succession Crisis: The introduction explains that with the Scottish king dead and no heir to take his place, the English king Edward Longshanks seeks to take advantage of the chaos of the disorganized Scots and claim the land for himself. It's up to you to bring them back to shape and fight back.
• Video Game Tutorial: The first five levels go over the rudimentary basics like what was found in the first game, and the remaining scenarios go over the elements introduced to this game.

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