Top 5 Best-Designed Campaign Scenarios in AoE2: DE

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[@T-West]

Can't wait for the "Top 5 Scenarios That Contain Ornlu the Wolf" video!

[@guitar_jero]

Genghis Khan 1 Montezuma 2 and 4 Vindlandsaga 1000 Ivaylo 4 There are actually 5 of them :D

[@T-West]

@@guitar_jero If only there were 1000 Vinlandsagas...

[@encoreperformance1081]

@@T-West 11

[@samuell3bara888]

@@T-West - wait, is it all Vindslaga....? - always has been

[@david_oliveira71]

@@guitar_jero Don't you mean Genghis Khan mission 3?!

[@АбдулКадирДжаиланиИмсан]

Great content, instead of focusing on aoe2 competitive scene like the most aoe2 content creator, most of your video dedicated to campaigns, which also makes more single players like me enjoy this game.

[@tupacshakur5868]

pretty sure like 80% of the playerbase just plays campaigns and skirmishs vs bots

[@MrDeeb00]

@@tupacshakur5868 well campaigns are hard enough, and Competitive in this game is insane to consider

[@tupacshakur5868]

@@MrDeeb00 very few were really difficult tbh

[@АбдулКадирДжаиланиИмсан]

"There is Ornlu the Wolf in this campaign, that's why this is the best campaign" Good reason, despite another aspect.

[@The_Room_2_Doggys_Revenge]

There are 2 other scenarios where you start in dark age with an economy : Genghis Khan 2 and Attila 1

[@NOMIKAD1000]

Well, none of both are started with an economy cause you have to "get" the town center and the villagers. Anyway you are right.

[@mo_not_salah9752]

There is nothing more memorable than "Crusaders are attacking our trade routes" and "La Hire's sword is almost dry"

[@eesaubaydullah4231]

Yes very true Reynald is attacking our caravan

[@JohnDoe-qy3up]

Genoese warships sighted.

[@eesaubaydullah4231]

@@JohnDoe-qy3up Frankish soldiers headed for are walls.

[@felixnathanael460]

@@eesaubaydullah4231 It's Richard thr Lionhearted. He's Attacking

[@YigitAydnn]

An abandoned house?

[@Hainaut183]

Here are my own top 5 campaign missions in the game, with some honorable mentions: 5. La Noche Triste (Montezuma 4): This feels like a grand adventure that never loses momentum. I love how the first half of it is a baseless mission with lots of quirks (i.e., Cuauhtemoc the beefed-up Jaguar Warrior, the jaguars that kill the Tlaxcala Monks, “Out of my way, pig!”), while the second half is a race to take down the Spanish Wonder before time runs out. Definitely a highlight of the Conquerors missions. 4. Blood on the River Bank (Sundjata 4) - Possibly my favorite classic build-and-destroy mission in the game. First of all, the map really immerses me in the African savannah setting with its limited trees, expansive desert tiles, and loads of wild predators, all while the river breaks up the monotony and serves as a nice divider between the Sosso and everyone else. Second, the side quests are all fun and rewarding, with none slowing the mission down; convincing the Fakoli and Mema to slowly join your side after they’re initially your enemies is a lot of fun and gives me a deeper sense of how villainous Sumganguru is in the campaign. Finally, Sumanguru himself has lots of fortresses scattered across the map and puts up a huge fight with a very diverse assortment of troops, including warships, Shotel Warriors, Camel Riders, Halbs, and siege weapons. I wouldn’t call this mission the hardest in the game, but it’s definitely one of the most exhilarating. 3. The Battle at the Kalka River (Kotyan Khan 2) - I love the premise of this mission, where you technically just experienced a devastating defeat but are instead given the task of defeating one enemy to escape from another that’s indestructible. The one Rus’ village staying behind gives the mission a sense of atmosphere, as do Kotyan’s allies holding off Subotai for only a limited period. 2. The Old Tiger (Bayinnaung 5) - This can be considered the climax of not just Bayinnaung, but of the entire campaign mode, for several reasons. First, it’s easily the hardest mission in the game, forcing you to intensely micromanage two separate forces while timing your attacks as efficiently as possible so that you can take Bayinnaung to all four temples while still being able to finish everybody off once you enter the second part of the mission. There’s a ton of detail to the map, and the sheer number of enemies you fight really elevates the epic scope of the war - this is the only mission in the game with a population limit as high as 300, after all. It also helps that aside from the Kyoto and Noryang Point Historical Battles, this is chronologically the latest mission in the game, taking place AFTER the Blood arc of Age of Empires III. The narrative of the mission is also quite intriguing, as it’s the only scenario in the game where the epilogue is spoken by a different character than the prologue. Nanda repeating Bayinnaung’s first line in the campaign feels like a perfect bookend to the campaign, as does the unnamed son’s reflection of the otherwise-first person story. 1. Honfoglalás (895) - This mission is awesome for all the same reasons you listed. Playing as a nomadic civilization is a ton of fun, but it’s also a legit challenge deciding when to transition to sedentary gameplay. Going up too early means you’ll have to deal with Great Moravia’s onslaught of siege weapons and infantry, but waiting too long makes you extremely vulnerable to East Francia’s Imperial Age army of archers, skirmishers, Paladins, and Teutonic Knights. The map is absolutely gorgeous, and the option to either defeat the Bulgarians or East Francia heightens the replay value. Honorable Mentions: Tsar of the Bulgars (Ivaylo 3) - This mission is over super quickly, but it’s a stimulating challenge all the way through. I find myself playing it over and over again. Although the challenge diminishes considerably after you’ve freed either the Tatars or Cumans, the challenge of using your tribute economy to defend against an endless torrent of enemies is pretty thrilling, and it’s by far the most useful the Krepost ever is in the campaign. An Unlikely Messiah (Joan of Arc 1) - This earns an honorable mention not for its lack of difficulty, but for its sheer narrative beauty. The journey from the French camp to Chinon is an adventure that makes me appreciate the campaign mode more than any other mission in the game and is probably the single biggest inspiration to my own custom campaigns’ narrative elements. For that, it earns a special place in my heart. Saving the Huts (Kotyan Khan 3) - This is great for similar reasons as The Battle at the Kalka River, retaining the same high difficulty and quasi-time limit, but being a more grounded build-and-destroy mission. You can destroy the Mongol camp if you have enough time, but struggling to build up your army before getting overrun by the aggressive Tatars and Mongols presents an interesting challenge, not to mention the Cumans’ second Feudal Town Center bonus comes incredibly in handy during the early attacks, when you simply don’t have the numbers or technology to ward off the enemies with soldiers alone. The Lion’s Den (Sundjata 5) - I go intro greater detail about this one in my top 5 overall campaigns, but the mission is basically like “Pyrrhus of Epirus”, only improved and perfectly integrated into the Sundjata campaign as a whole. On another note, I discovered that if you open the AI script for Koumbi Saleh, you’ll discover an extra “Impossible Mode” setting that you can turn on to make the challenge more comparable to its infamous pre-4.8b version (though you’d have to also start yourself in the Castle Age instead of Imperial to complete the effect).

[@morgs5118]

The Old Tiger is so fun, more challenging than I remember it being in HD for sure and An Unlikely Messiah brings back memories 11 11, it was one of the only scenarios I could easily win as a little kid.

[@JediMindG]

Old tiger is an amazing scenario. The story and the design are brilliant and what you said about this one is spot on

[@muskatDR]

York is really good. You get to choose 4 places to build up, you get no less than 4 different ways to complete the campaign (alltho 2 of them are far easier than the other), naval battles with a naval civ is also a plus and as a scandinavian my love for the vikings is totally not biased

[@mrp4242]

I agree. I think York is my favorite.

[@theuselessdrunk]

it's so badly designed that you will gather the money even before moving to the upper half of the map i mean, you are right the map is good but the idiotic objective ruined it, you have to literally get rid of your gold to keep playing

[@saintpres4ge533]

@@theuselessdrunk There are other objectives you can complete like destroying the monument in the bottom and building your own. I did it before they changed the starting requirements for reinforcements and completed all objectives before I even had a blacksmith. Other than that, use ranged units with siege and you can just bank the gold from crushing them

[@duartecanotilho7773]

The problem with york is that you can win just by establishing a trade route. You will win before you get any of the other objectives. Also, although it has lots of replayability its Hard to go to ireland or even to the isle of man without knowing the map

[@theuselessdrunk]

may i retract from my previous comment? i have obsessive compulsive problems so i struggle hard with the lack of rationale in dropping my well earned gold to avoid the end of the scenario. but aside from that, it is a great map. i am not sure but it gives the feeling of being a lot bigger than any other map. there are several different directions you can go and all of them are fun. i avoid destroying the markets in ireland so that they dont resign and i oblige myself to conquer england to win

[@petermari8299]

I used to beat Barbarossa 4 by knocking out Henry first, while he was allied with me. It made the rest of the scenario hell hard from the corner but I just loved to watch the confused units slaughtered :D

[@encoreperformance1081]

11

[@elduquecaradura1468]

I think that now Henry becomes enemy of yours if you change to enemy, sadly

[@ateium2409]

My favorite is the York Historical battle

[@BenjaminGlover-cp7pm]

Mine too

[@Alchemist1330]

So... Unpopular opinion buy I think that the OG Hongfloglass in HD was the best Official campaign scenario of all time. the remake is good to, but to travel through thousands of years of history in one scenario was EPIC.

[@OrnLu_AoE]

Sorry, you are not allowed to have a contrary opinion - especially if it differs from mine. Don't you know how groupthink works? Kappa

[@tcsiyic3584]

My favorite scenario concept wise is still HD Honfoglalás. I know the scenario is borderline broken, ultra-grindy, but the scenario is truly one-of-a-kind in terms of design. Other scenarios feature one famous historic battle/conquering, while Honfoglalás is like an epic poem of a history over many hundred years about the founding and settlement of a civilization. There's also many unique elements, such as the Ludikris map size, actually going to be defeated, producing cows and sheep from TC, moving through different sections/chapters of the scenario. I still remember the surprise feeling of "how big is this map?", "how are we suppose to survive against this", "where are Green and Purple who's starting at dark age? they are advancing to Imp while I'm being defeated omg", and the Pechengs being Turks with only Cavs and siege felt more like an unstoppable Horde to me than any Genghis Khan scenarios did. It keeps you curious about what's going to happen next all the time. I just hoped it would be remastered to be less grindy, giving you chance for a fair fight and not landing against post-imp Huns/Slavs with thousands of resources banked up, and fix the lag issues, but DE just completely scrapped it... Comments aside, yes all the scenarios mentioned on the list are awesome :D, even the new Honfoglalás is great! but I still think HD Honfoglalás has unmatched epic-ness.

[@elduquecaradura1468]

jokes in that, you can ravage Pechenegs while you are fighting for Byzantines, but warning: if you destroyed the Pechenegs, you loosed. I advice to attack them while they treat you as an ally because if they go for you when you go after the green player, you are screwed xD

[@kingKapuzina]

I think Suryavaman 4 "Challenging a Thalassocrazy" is great. It focuses on naval combat, you can almost win without land units. It is really hard on hard but makes for challenging gameplay. It shows the strength of your faction and gives the players all the tools he needs (in contrast to Tariq ign Zihad 1 which is one of the worst scenarios in the game)

[@Desh282]

Why is Tariq 1 so horrible

[@suyash5608]

Not to mention it has the Imperial Cholas, one of my favourite empires. Only problem is that it is too simple.

[@kingKapuzina]

@@Desh282 th first part of tariq 1 is honestly ok. i like the army morale trigger. The problem comes with the main scenario. You have to destroy 3 fortified positions while being restricted to Castle Age without gunpowder.Doesnt sound that bad. Until you realise that the enemy has unlimted ressources and spams Huscarls (and mangonels). Huscarls will just charge your rams and there is not much you can do other than counterspam them. Additionally the enemy has a big navy. If you dont know this and plan in advance, you are being cut off from a lot of gold. You get no other helpful siege equip (unlike Tariq 2 which gives the player trebs to assault). Both of your special units are (almost) worthless in this scenario. The last fortress even has firetowers which melt rams. Not quite sure if this or Gaja Mada 5 is the worst scenario in the game.

[@kingKapuzina]

@@suyash5608 Not quite sure if we played the same scenario then. On hard you have just enough time to save your ally while your defenses get attacked by canon galleons. The scenario gets easier as you play, i give you that.

[@theuselessdrunk]

CaT can't be in any best design list for the practical reason that it's cloned from "Caesar vs Pirates" AoE RoR scenario which is 24 years old now, so there is no actual design in this scenario

[@The_Room_2_Doggys_Revenge]

I always loved Lepanto and Manzikert

[@nicholasdalby5178]

Manzikert has always been one of my favorites. It stuck with me as a kid.

[@soonyo3430]

lepanto is a gem, just wall of the entire island. and make a beautiful city

[@OrnLu_AoE]

OrnluaFail - there are indeed two other scenarios that you start in Dark Age and can build an eco... I even had it in the script 11. But you guys are clever as always in figuring them out :P Also, it's great to read all the comments and see all the different scenarios you liked most! Really shows what a great set of campaigns we have. Happy new year everyone! :)

[@nicholasdalby5178]

The second one is the Ghengis Khan - A Life of Revenge, right?

[@saccaron]

The one I immediately thought of was Motezuma 1!

[@andishehnaderi]

i dont believe portuguese can make bombard cannons?

[@ethanbrown4167]

@@andishehnaderi well then you are just wrong. portugese have arguably the best bombard cannons in the game thx to arqubus

[@sauravtripathi4128]

@@andishehnaderi Portuguese, Lithuanians, Turks, Italians, Spanish, Burgundians among others have all the Gunpowder units

[@Hainaut183]

Happy New Year, Ornlu! Here are my thoughts on your picks: 5. This is definitely a hard one; I only really survived by walling and castling off my starting town by the sea. The highlight of this mission has to be the voice acting; not only is there so much of it, they all really elevate the sense of conquest your causing to these poor innocent cities. The low point though is that the Armenians and Georgians aren't their own civilizations; I really hope they get their due in a future expansion! 4. By far the hardest mission in this campaign; as soon as you take out that Wonder, it feels like you're free to roam indestructibly. 3. This is definitely hectic for an AoK scenario. I still don't understand why they didn't just make all of the Italian factions Italian but just retain their distinct military compositions. It's not like you're going against Throwing Axemen or Cataphracts! 2. Yes! This is a masterpiece! The nomadic gameplay is so much fun, and the challenge is definitely high enough that you're forced to use it wisely, rather than just cheese the whole thing. On another note, this whole mission is a sort of prelude to my own custom campaign, which I just released a couple and a half weeks ago; I made a campaign centering around Tomislav, the first king of Croatia, and the Magyars and Bulgarians are your two primary enemies, while all of the other Honfoglalás factions also all appear in some form. The enjoyment I got out of this mission was certainly an inspiration to me! HM1: Filthydelphia sure knows how to be innovative yet still engaging with the Scenario Editor. I do agree this mission is a little grindy, but it is fun being forced to really use the Feitoria, and seeing the Indians actually use War Elephants is a breath of fresh air. HM2: Crazy that this is the only build-and-destroy campaign mission where you play as the "Slavs"! But Slavs are one of my favorite civilizations in the game, and having the excuse to flood my enemies with Boyars and Druzhina Halbs is quite a blast, even though it's extremely difficult if you don't act quick! 1. I feel a little mixed about this being #1. I think I've always found it to be the most ~memorable and creative~ mission from the AoC days, what with the whole new world voyage premise, sea serpent, and Native Americans represented as Celts (who I guess are geographically closer than any other civ in the game, including Aztecs and Mayans?). However, on a mechanical level, I find it kind of slow-paced. Raiding Britain isn't much of a challenge, while defeating Greenland is more of a slow grind than a fast-paced fight for survival, and the Skraelings are all too easy to deal with after you've beaten everyone else. It also doesn't help that they based this mission on Erik the Red (who even TheViper barely knew about) instead of Leif Erikson, who actually carried out the voyage circa 1000. Out of the Battles of the Conquerors, I find Kyoto more of a stimulating challenge and find amusement in its mission impossible opening.

[@anonnymousperson]

I had assumed that Genghis Khan 1 would be the number 1 scenario. Tactical scenarios without an economy are certainly a type of scenario mechanic, and this mission is one of the best.

[@Anon-yz1xr]

The other Dark Age mission is Attila 1, one of my all time favorite missions back as a kid as well as Vinlandsaga.

[@Hainaut183]

These would be my top 5 campaigns as a whole: 5. Ivaylo - Every mission in this campaign is creative in a pretty memorable way, while the intricate story gives you an exciting sense of discourse throughout the whole thing. The cast of characters is really colorful, ranging from the callous Ivan Asen, to the double-crossing Konstantin, to the Machiavellian Georgi Teter, to the black widow Tsarina Maria, to the third person ham Nogai Khan, to the only real friends of the protagonist, Radu and Kasim Beg. In the classic Filthydelphia tradition, these missions force you to think outside of the box to build up your economy and army, but this is achieved in different ways each time. The only major hindrance to the campaign is that the final mission, “Where the One-Eyed Man is King”, has a lot of flaws. Not only should it have been split into two separate missions, but the Hungarian section is slow-paced and easy, while during the second half, the Poles are painfully grindy due to their diverse infinite unit spam and Relic-boosted heavy cavalry (not helped by the Bulgarians no longer getting Paladins), while the Genoese Gazaria glitch out when trying to send their land units to your base, due to everybody getting stuck at one of the walled cliffs. I also don’t like that Crimea is inaccessible by land despite not being an island in real life. Regardless, Ivaylo is another campaign I find myself returning to quite a bit. The Last Khans campaigns as a whole are probably my favorite of all batches (though African Kingdoms comes close). 4. Bayinnaung - Aside from Le Loi, this is the hardest campaign in the game in my opinion, but that challenge is well earned. It’s fun enough smashing through the jungles of Southeast Asia with Burmese Battle Elephants and Arambai, but the unique challenges each mission brings force you to apply the civ’s strengths to their fullest potential, whether it be turtling against an endless torrent of Shan archers, preserving your Monasteries for gold, or subjugating the Thai kingdoms taking the best and most efficient route possible. The highlight of this campaign though is the final mission, “The Old Tiger”, which I already praised in detail in my top 5 campaign missions here. 3. Genghis Khan - The indisputable winner of the Ensemble Studios campaigns. This was the birth of the series’ proud tradition of leading a notorious historical villain to grand conquest. In my opinion, it comes together better than the Attila or Tamerlane campaigns, both of which are also solid but just not quite as charming as this one. Despite taking more historical liberties than most campaigns, this campaign is loads of fun because of its grand sense of adventure, with a map that spans all the way from China to Central Europe, meaning the assortment of opponents is at its most diverse. Aside from "Into China", these missions are not very difficult, but swarming opponents around the world with Mangudai, Steppe Lancers, and fast-moving siege weapons is thrillingly satisfying every time. What sets this campaign that much more over the top, though, is the late Rick May’s phenomenal voice performance from the original version of the campaign (which can be brought to DE with the help of a mod); he embodies the campaign’s tone absolutely perfectly, coming off as bloodthirsty, ambitious, and excitable all in one. Despite all the atrocities you’re committing, you feel like you’re part of a wild ride all the way through. 2. Sundjata - Of all the campaigns in the game, this is the one I consider to be the most technically well-crafted. The difficulty is remarkably consistent across all five missions, yet all of them are fun and challenging in their own distinct way while still feeling unmistakably Age of Empires. The progression of the story is also wonderful, as we follow the titular hero go from a limping fugitive to the triumphant founder of one of the greatest empires in African history, perfectly ending with a Wonder condition victory where you directly slay the main antagonist in a throwback to the rigorous “Pyrrhus of Epirus” from AoE1. As a nice finishing touch, the ending narration features the only use of the official Age of Empires theme in the campaign slideshows. The below mission may be unmatched in creativity and storytelling, but the Sundjata campaign is really the quintessential Age of Empires campaign experience imo. 1. Kotyan Khan - This is the grand champion in gameplay and storytelling alike. Before this campaign was designed, I had NEVER seen a nomadic raiding culture portrayed in such a sympathetic light. The horde is almost always treated as acceptable targets, like they’re a race of evildoers, but the Kotyan campaign humanizes Cumans in a way I never thought possible. It helps that they up against a far more menacing band of nomadic raiders, but trudging through the solemn narrations and seeing Khan units of all things stutter with helpless fear invoked a sense of drama that in my opinion brings these campaigns to a whole new level. The Cumans' dark side only comes out as a result of an act of treachery orchestrated by a bigoted scoundrel, and being given the choice to either forgive the Hungarians or flee to Bulgaria presents an intriguing moral dilemma. Besides the phenomenal storytelling, the gameplay and pacing of this campaign is stimulating, challenging, and full of replay value. The opening baseless mission is a nice introduction to the Cuman cavalry and cleverly sets up for the following mission, which shares the same map in a different season. The second and third missions are both quite hard and force you to think creatively to defeat the Tatars before Subotai’s horde becomes too difficult to hold off, while the fourth mission is one of the most eclectic and challenging semi-baseless missions in the game. I also love the final mission being split into two separate paths, each with their own quirks and challenges. I’ve already replayed the Kotyan Khan campaign multiple times, and I intend to do so more in the near future. With a dark and bittersweet story, gorgeous maps, fresh mechanics, and a rigorous-yet-fun challenge, this is by far my favorite campaign in the entire game. Honorable Mentions: Prithviraj DE - Another campaign with balanced challenge like Sundjata, as well as creative mechanics like other Filthydelphia campaigns. It’s quite well-done. Dracula DE - Despite few map changes from its HD counterpart, a lot of good came out of this campaign. Like Kotyan Khan, I felt surprising sympathy for the protagonists despite the stereotypically villainous portrayal of Vlad the Impaler elsewhere. It feels like you’re controlling a bold fortress holding off a massive invading force in the midst of a complex political situation, as the other European powers are divided between their allegiance to the Order of the Dragon and the Ottomans. Each mission feels distinct, retaining just the right amount of Forgotten HD elements while ironing out the mechanics for more balanced gameplay.

[@filthydelphiacreations1619]

Thanks for the kind works, Jacqueline!

[@gamerdanger7717]

Tamer lane wasnt a bad guy though.

[@theuselessdrunk]

second half of ivaylo 5 is super easy there is enough stone to put at the very least three castles in front of your tc and while the poles are clashing against them you sneak a group of 60 petards from the north west pass into the city and go direct after the wonder and thats it you just finished the hard part with one single attack

[@saurermatthias]

Id say my top 3 are: - #3 Montezuma 6 (Broken Speer) - #2 Saladin 6 (The Lion and Demon) - # 1Bayinnaung 5 (The Old Tiger) Also i really like your videos, on one hand they are really helpfule to get better at the game and on the other side you provide us with some more interesting historical facts which is also really nice Keep up the great work man :)

[@nicholasdalby5178]

Those are all really great levels. Bayinnaung 5 - The Old Tiger is by far my favorite scenario that does not involve running an economy, and happens to be what I consider the most difficult scenario in all of AoE 2 DE. What an insane scenario. Love Saladin 6 and Montezuma 6 also! Great levels.

[@cmchanakyayadav3359]

but remember all of those are historically inaccurate.

[@pierrez8570]

Thanks for taking the time to make this! My favorites are the Filthydelphia ones and I haven't played through Sforza yet so in a way I'm glad you don't share that opinion so I'm not spoiled :-) The 4th scenario of the Burmese campaign is my all-time favorite. I think I won it with less than 2 years left on the timer the first time I played through it.

[@DarklordZagarna]

I still have about 30 scenarios to go of the new ones, so I won't weigh in on those just yet, but my favorite old school ones: 5. Aztecs 4: Build up from one jaguar warrior to a force large enough to take down a Spanish wonder. Lots of fun exploration and liberating of prisoners in this one. 4. Huns 6: Super hard, but also very fun, as you have to use the Huns' strengths and weaknesses to take down diverse enemies, on a clock. 3. Huns 3: Yes, it's easy, but it's also way too much fun to not make the list. 2. Mongols 4: The flavor in this one is off the charts, and the whole split-bases-converging-on-one-objective thing is very satisfying. Plus, Subotai. 1. Barbarossa 5: As an old Myth: the Fallen Lords player, I love me some fixed-army scenarios, and this is the best of them from the original game. You get a very impressive army, but it's easy to get yourself into a pickle with careless attacks. Overall it just captures the feel of a crusade gradually getting whittled down as it grinds its way through hostile territory wonderfully.

[@Basil-HD]

indeed, plus the first appearance of the byzantine empire presented with Constantinople!

[@felixnathanael460]

I like how you mentioned the Jaguar warrior with 300 hp and high upgrades in Aztec 4 xD

[@mahatmaniggandhi2898]

is the barabrossa one the one where you enter constantinople only for it to turn against you? and then you cross the channel into asia and at some point an earthquake destroys the enemy walls? that was insane!

[@DarklordZagarna]

@@mahatmaniggandhi2898 That's the one.

[@elduquecaradura1468]

@@mahatmaniggandhi2898 that map already had that since AoK, wich is outright brutal, didn't have a shaking effect, just suddenly walls and castle got destroyed, but still amazing map, curiously, in the original AoK didn't exist Heresy tech, or at least byzantines didn't have it, so you could convert all Constantinople, having enough houses to do more units in case you loose your own... somehow

[@araulen4820]

8 months late here, but doing honfoglalas in the coop campaign menu was one the best experiences, since my friend and I had a great time doing both the sedentary and nomadic route! being stuck in castle while the enemies are in imperial because of the nomad requirement was a very unique and fun way to complete the mission. The best part? ITS OPTIONAL!

[@elduquecaradura1468]

data of color: you can destroy East Francia while it's in feudal age, or at least destroy it at the point where it won't be a threat at long term, same for Great Moravia, coop should be able to split efforts to kill villagers and destroy buildings to keep busy both of the enemy civs, and at the end, make it a lot easier, I mean, what's left? Alans and Bulgarians? Bulgarians aren't even an enemy xD I was able to do that map in full nomad, I should try to go sedentary at least once, but nomad is the most interesting one, food for Light Cav, wood and coin for cav archers, it just cannot fail!

[@nanodiaz2073]

"The lion and the devil" of Saladin its a fucking awesome scenerio too.

[@elliotpankhurst5806]

When I was first introduced to AOE 2, Age of Kings by my father a long time ago, I could briefly remember a battle map that involved a large green wall with towers and a blue enemy to the south east. For the past 20+ years I had not been aware that this map was the Mongels campaign - Into China. The nostalgia hit I got from your episode was insane. Thank you. I love your content.

[@GoldenRoyal5]

You forgot the part in Honfoglalas where the red AI completely breaks the game :P

[@Desh282]

How so?

[@sauravtripathi4128]

@@Desh282 the Teutons received a buff, making their Paladins super strong against generic Magyar Light Cavalry Combine that with the AI making Skirmishers, your Cavalry Archers are also useless

[@snieznybalwan]

Yeah, those attacks from red once he becomes aggresive are absolutely brutal. You need to set up your defenses on time and wall in properly to defend that, but damn surviving it feels epic

[@SomeNordicMan]

I love Vinlandsaga, have played that scenario so many times and never get tired of it, amazing and spooky map!

[@limon16025]

A New Home from the Cuman campaign is one of my favorite concepts for a scenario. It's simple, but I really love the idea of having two different missions in one. Plus both the Hungarian and Bulgarian sides are really fun, and different enough that it doesn't feel like playing the same scenario again. Honorary mention to The Battle of the Kalka River, Saving the Huts and Blood for Blood (I really like the Cuman campaign)

[@davidcastillo868]

What a coincidence, after 4 years not playing the game, and even more not doing campaigns, first scenario I wanted to try on DE was Vindlandsaga. Currently I'm doing the African Kingdom Campaigns since I had only played the AoC ones. I love that there are currently many campaigns with so many different architectures and scenarios. Personally, the beginning of Attila 1 and Genghis Khan 1 worked great as starting points and they stuck with me.

[@leoorellana6472]

I know it was ranked as one of the hardest scenarios but I really enjoyed the cuman campaign scenario were you have to beat the tartars and run. I found the story of running for survival compelling and the sense of urgency in the back of my mind made a fun scenario for me.

[@protestantsfailurend7890]

The Bureaus then advanced two cannons (likely two breechloading culverins), and barraged the English position. The barrage was effective, particularly since the cannons had a greater range than English longbows. Taken from wikipedia on Jean Bureau. Proof how there are historical inaccuracies in the Jeanne d'Arc campaign, as his cannon cannot shoot as far as history tells.

[@NOMIKAD1000]

I love Lepanto, Manzikert, all 6 scenarios from Atila and Genghis khan campaings (probably cuz i love Mongols and Huns), also York fascinates me but it could get bored sometimes, but my fav on this last year of playing was Ivaylo 3, its so cost-efficient cuz you cant create villagers and almost no gather resources while dealing with 3 enemies.

[@SuperMewKittyKatGaming]

the Vlad Dracula one that you start with a monk in your army you can convert all "allies" and make a town is fun

[@SuperMewKittyKatGaming]

In DE you start with no monk,its only available in HD

[@Crawsack]

I'd love to see an updated version of this video with the new Dynasties of India campaigns, I thought those were really good!

[@whoisaiahmoore9100]

This is the content I watch on a 5k readmill. Thanks for posting before I disappear behind my pc

[@light_david7]

Interesting that vinlandssaga got the top spot, because going in to the video it was the only one I could think of as "most memorable" my self, but I thought that it must only be because of my bias twords it, because I am Norwegian, and this was the first campaign I ever played, and the only one I keep coming back to. I knew all I the easter eggs, exept for that the wolf is you Ornlu :p

[@pierredross2959]

Love the list

[@yokatta-f]

Whenever I replay the Lombard League scenario, I always get pissed off at them and focus on winning the level by destroying all enemies. Furor Teutonicus

[@endlessgalaxyz]

i apreciate your time playing and making this i can stand by how long some of these campaigns be

[@suyash5608]

11:53 "Treacherous Zamorin". Easy there Ornulu 11

[@aureliuspro6448]

Tatar's battle when you have flaming camels against elephants, and also Le Loi battle are also great

[@shaeisgae8952]

Agincourt was one of my favorites to play as a kid, that and the entire el cid campaign, and the mongols and huns (but that might just be because i was a bit obsessed with them historically at the time)

[@Firebird377]

I enjoyed this video but the ultimate challenge would be to rank every single scenario, including the upcoming ones, whenever you have a spare two years or so

[@OrnLu_AoE]

Not gonna go quite that hard (that will likely be ~170 scenarios in total by the end of the month!), but I do plan on doing a tier list video of all of the campaigns! I think I'll hold off on doing that though until we can get our hands on the new ones :)

[@sanmartinnomurio]

I like Sundjata 5. I found its two paths to victory very gratifying

[@DarklordZagarna]

I haven't yet played that one but really enjoyed Sundjata 4 with its "win the opposing allies over" side quests. Malay 3 is similarly fun.

[@elduquecaradura1468]

well, that's Sundjata, for ground or sea the victory can be attained, but I prefer first secure the sea and then go earth btw, in that map I learned by first time the value of trash units, I had no idea how to face the hordes of swordsmans and other units made by Sumanguru, so I decided to bet in Light Cavalry with Farimba, wich gives +5 attack to cavalry, and I realized I could loose a lot of those to deal a good damage to the enemy

[@awdrab8553]

You should do a tier list of all the campaigns! (Or maybe wait to play the 3 new ones so you can include them!)

[@perrytran9504]

Can't wait for the top 5 worst-designed campaign scenarios to be populated with stuff from The Forgotten.

[@CrnaStrela]

I don't think they all gonna be from forgotten if it's DE, the remake made them actually good instead of stupid grindy adventure with 1000 triggers.

[@perrytran9504]

@@CrnaStrela Yeah I haven't played them in DE yet, just have bad memories of the "guide the army you can't train more of past infinite enemies" nonsense.

[@theuselessdrunk]

The Forgettable

[@netrolancer1061]

I'd have to say Erik the Red is the best designed, just because the Sea of worms is designed like a f*cking dragon. That said, I'd also say Agincourt is a real fun and easy scenario to beat, along with the Genghis Kahn campaign, 'Crucible' is a fun and unique way to complete your objectives. In the end the first mission of Attila the Hun is in my personal opinion the most memorable just because of the cool options of how you want to proceed with your strategy, which will give you a slightly different experience every-time you play the mission differently.

[@duartecanotilho7773]

Really loved the analysis and would agree on some of the picks. Mine would be 1. Attila 1 2. Honfonglass 3. Ivaylo 5 4. Tamerlane (the one you mentioned) 5. Jan zizka 1.

[@felixrr7381]

worst-designed ones next? :)

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

Tariq ibn Ziyad 4. Having no other recourse than microing with your hero (itself a mediocre mounted skirmisher) in mountain passes

[@erkocab]

Thanks for putting in all of the effort in producing this great video. It’s fun to hear your very well informed opinions.

[@bottlecapbrony366]

My favs, all played on moderate difficulty: Most favourite: Jadwiga 5 - Vytautas's Crusade due to the gorgeous world map design, and also because of the epic surprise right at the end (which I will not reveal!). 2nd favourite: Jadwiga 3 - Duel of the Dukes due to it's really unique gameplay mechanics. 3rd favourite: Le Loi 2 - The Mountain Siege since when you think you are about to beat the level, it throws several extra objectives at you, which you have to complete while hopelessly defending your base. 4th favourite: Jadwiga 6 - The Fruits of her Labour, once again due to unique gameplay mechanic, and your choices at the beginning ultimately affecting the final battle. My least favourite: Lake Poyang due to the fact that it feels more like a chore and is not fun at all. You legit cannot waste even one second or make any mistakes whatsoever or you lose. Also because of those damn super towers. Had to reload my game like 100 times before getting it right. 2nd least favourite: Alaric 5 - A Kingdom of our Own, since you get rushed and I ended up holding a line of castles for literally 4+ hours until the enemy ran out of resources and I could finally attack.

[@theuselessdrunk]

holding a line of castles for 4+ hours sounds literally the best gaming experience to me lol but seriously my experience was worse, ala Dunkirk i ran back to the island and was trapped there for hours until ragequit

[@viniciusosorio2550]

Feel like I need to play all the campaigns again.

[@diosn6909]

Great video! I think its time for a campaigns tier list hahahahaha! Happy New Year!

[@MrLTSmash]

My favorite scenarios are Lepanto and Saladin 6: The Lion and the Demon.

[@NOMIKAD1000]

You like building wonders, Lepanto is one of my favs as well :)

[@casioak1683]

I like the Cuman campaign the most. Not only beautifully designed, but it has the one of the most tragic story in AOE2. This is my favorite of the whole game along with the classic Joan of Arc and El Cid campaign.

[@theinscrutablebaldness2597]

Nice to see some of the forgotten campaigns getting some love here. The original execution wasn't quite there and the overreliance on a couple of mechanics made them a bit samey, but there were a lot of great ideas and details that didn't get the proper rewards. The DE redesigns really brought the good parts to the fore IMO.

[@elduquecaradura1468]

well, I see this comes before the dlcs, one good example is the first polish map where you don't have to destroy your enemies, but get them on your side, one is destroying two castles, and the other, reducing it's military force as below 5 units, while fending off Teutonic Knights, wich is painful as hifl other is to relieve the siege of Vilna, wich it was the most terrifying map that I might seen the first time I played it, the idea of a hell horde coming at me was something I still tremble on, that and walls costing 200 stone. Good thing that goth housing was on the rise and doing enough houses to accomodate modern China's population saved the day (no offense intended). In fact, most of polish campaign is of my like, even so half of it is the typical "build an eco and destroy your enemies", same goes for Burgundians, and their civ wich is as fun to me as are lithuanians and tatars last but not least, the Break of India dlc has very good scenarios, the Babur campaign is my favorite, although can be quite annoying, Rajendra second favorite, and for reasons... I never managed to connect with Devapala's campaign

[@marioverde7267]

A la comunidad hispanoparlante, mis escenarios favoritos son estos: 1) La marcha de Barbarroja: Creo q es el mejor en cuanto a microgestión y te hace sentir que estas realmente camino a una cruzada. 2) Honfoglalas (HD version): Es una historia contada por al menos 200 años en un solo escenario. 3) Bohemundo en el Oriente: Me gusta el hecho de tener que defender una ciudad de los ataques turcos u organizar una ofensiva para ir a matar a Keborgha. 4) El Azote de Dios: Me gusta porq sabiendo como jugar al inicio puedes hacer q te den muchos recursos para iniciar sumado a que los 3 tipos de enemigos le dan mucha variedad. 5) El Yugo Tartaro: Tengo una debilidad por las campañas en europa oriental y que esten basadas en la invasión mongola. Especial: La campaña de Koten Khan, te pone no en una conquista, sino en una retirada desastroza, tu misión es sobrevivir y escapar, no a atacar.

[@jan-michaelholzinger5298]

Happy new Year! Leaving a like and a comment, as soon as I heard how much effort you put into this..

[@jan-michaelholzinger5298]

Considering the unsub now, as you just killed Ornlu.

[@theplanetmercury7487]

The other scenario is Genghis Khan II

[@hazin9279]

El Cid Story always got my heart 🥺

[@ferminresco7119]

I Really enjoy these type of videos. Thank you and keep the content up. :)

[@mqayyum9226]

I waited 20 mins to hear 'Reynald is attacking our caravan' :(

[@Trypes4ever1]

Happy new year Ornlu! Keep up the good work

[@mihaibelu3912]

I am actually from Romania and I like how in Vlad Dracula 3 u Say Giurgiu 11

[@mihaibelu3912]

Plus that Giurgiu and orsova aren't near one another( check for Orșova in Google maps and than giurgiu to see)

[@OrnLu_AoE]

Pronunciation is not my strong suit, it must be said 11

[@FluffyFractalshard]

Joan of Arc was actually a very highly evolved soul from the order of Magdalenes (going back to Mary Magdalene, twinflame of Jesus) and has since ascended. She's awesome, I love her! 🥰

[@estefanoespinozapiccoli7015]

Could be interesting if you do a new video talking about the best designed Scenarios of all the new DLC Campaings, has been a while since this video xD

[@aribetterlari]

This game is a beautiful relic

[@mintoo2cool]

you challenge my every decision…

[@Bruno-ki9iz]

top #1 was extremely challenging, in a fair way.

[@loganvervicos8395]

Why Erik the red when you can choose York ? So many options. Three civilizations to face. Barbarossa 2 is great too. Having military units but no villagers changes the deals. If all the game went like this it would be even better. But it’s hard to say 5. Many good scenarios

[@derusername7218]

tbh i would have expected to see some Joan of Arc campaigns in this video, idk if i agree on that Chingis Khan scenario being in the top 5

[@sweetandsourivan]

17:35 - lol i was just traiding with british markets

[@CaptainCamp]

Nice! My favorite is Lepanto 😎

[@gurugru5958]

I like the Bulgarians campaign a lot

[@Thomas-u8q]

Reminds me, it really is inexplicable Vlachs/Romanians and Georgia were not added to AoE2, instead of increasingly obscure or already-covered civs like Cumans, Tatars and.. Burgundians and Sicilians (wtf?).

[@jacobmills4511]

that vlad campaign is fucking hard lol

[@Wobbuffet0]

Great work Mr. Wolf

[@JuanRodriguez-ce8vs]

should do a top worst campaign scenarios

[@PhoenixAlaris93]

What about favorite scenarios from each campaign? (excluding Wallace because tutorial)

[@pavelnovak4797]

In dracula 3 I made cannon galleons, destroyed all town centers and castles with them and enemies were defeated :)

[@hoooday2047]

Great vid Ornlu

[@HinnStormur]

Have you played the new campaigns? I find the Hautevilles' one excellent and quite creative!

[@KipsPixels]

I never complete Genghis Khan campaign I can't win before.

[@user-vo1sb3bo1s]

The Genghis Khan mission 3 is a little too boring to me. In history Mongol allied with Song to conquer Jin first and annexed Song decades later. But this was not presented in the gameplay. They should add this option in the DE remake like many other campaigns that contain an alliance betrayal plot (Montezuma 2, Tamerlane 2, Bukhara, Gaja Mada 1, etc)

[@suyash5608]

I think Gajah Mada scenario should have made an appearance

[@johnchristensen9650]

hey ornlu i love to see you play the custom campaigns how can I get them myself since steam says there is no DE workshop

[@xxlordtinchoxx9015]

5- Francisco de almeida 4 4- Tariq 2 3- Barbarossa 4 2- Genghis khan 3 1- Saladin 6

[@TalabAlSahra]

Lol I always got gold in Vinland Saga by building a market in England and just trading with the English market after I destroyed the TC

[@Qtrainer]

Cant' hear you very well ...what is number 5? How about listing them...

[@syas8737]

Tamerlane and Francesco are the Hardest if you ask me or the worst

[@GamesGirlsMovies]

Tatars campaing was the most enjoyable for me

[@Bits32]

Good content!

[@hartantoanggoro]

mongol campaign literally player able to destroy the great wall

[@rickweijers500]

Funny! I like everything on your list, but not the first place hahaha. It's a cool scenario, but to dull for me. I much more like build & destroy.

[@CornBredCrusader]

Kind of sad that you didnt even touch upon Ivaylo 4

[@MudroZvon]

What are the names of campaigns? I don't understand a word

[@karolcarolos]

Good choise!

[@ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣΠΑΝΑΓΙΩΤΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ-γ9η]

If you prefer the original Vlad Dracula campaign +1

[@juanignaciolopeztellechea9401]

The other one is Atila1

[@snorrijornsen4566]

So, to get this to 150 comments, I want to make an honorable mention to the last Yodit scenario, which really incorporates archer micro into the campaigns.

[@theuselessdrunk]

???? collect all stone in the east, abandon east tc, bombard wonder from the isle, build a few castles, spam petards, destroy both enemy castles, no more treb assaults and it's gg?? whats new???