Description[]
William, Duke of Normandy is the second mission in the English Campaign in Empire Earth.
Briefing[]
William, Duke of Normandy: 1047
Gollet the Jester shivered as he emerged from the house in Bayeux, but there was more than a mere chill in the air this evening. A rebellion against his master, William, Duke of Normandy was brewing and Gollet knew it would not be long before the conspirators acted. Even with the pledged assistance of King Henry of France, the outcome for William was far from certain.
Pulling his cloak tighter, Gollet set off for the town gate, eager to return to his master's side. Hushed voices from a nearby alley stopped him in his tracks. The manner and tone of the conversation, especially at this time of night, seemed anything but innocent. Curiosity piqued, Gollet crept closer to the voices.
History[]
Many people did not accept William's claim to the title Duke of Normandy, as he was the former Duke's illegitimate son. Following William's initial victories and a short period of peace, a rebellion arose, centered in the Norman region of Bayeux. William's younger cousin, Guy of Burgundy, turned out to be the main figure behind the plot.
William appealed to Henry, King of France, for assistance in putting down the rebellion and Henry agreed to support him. In 1047, they achieved a great victory at Val-ès-Dunes, near Caen. This decisive battle ultimately secured Normandy for William, who soon turned his sights across the English Channel.
Objectives[]
- Join William's jester, Gollet, on his way home from Bayeux.
- Help Gollet escape from Bayeux and travel to Valognes so that he can warn William of the plot against him.
- Escort William safely to Falaise. William must survive.
- Travel through the countryside, gathering support from all those faithful to William.
- Meet up with King Henry and his army at Val-Es-Dune.
- Defeat the rebel army and kill Guy of Burgundy.
Hints[]
- The guards at the city of Valognes will be on the lookout. It would be best to find a disguise before entering the city. Search around until you find one.
- There is an alternate way out of Valognes. It would be to William's benefit to find and use it.
- After you reach Falaise, you might find additional troops in allied towns and on roadways.
- You will not be able to produce new troops, so use the ones you find wisely.
- William will know when the time is right to fight the rebel army.
Walkthrough[]
Warning: Do not read if you wish to figure out on completing the scenario by yourself
This particular scenario does not incorporate any element of resource management or organic army-building, instead it relies on moment-by-moment decisions in what otherwise is a very linear scenario. Although the scenario might seem very linear in many segments, there are actually multiple approaches players can do to get through them.
In the beginning of the scenario, the player will only have control over Gollet, who is set to travel to Valognes to warn William of an impending assassination attempt; until the scenario has reached the point where the player controls William, the jester's survival is vital to the scenario's proceedings. There are two groups of hostiles awaiting Gollet on the road to Valognes. The straightforward way to get through this is to have the jester fight through. His attributes almost ensure victory at the cost of most of his health. A bit further down the road, Gollet notices sounds of violence coming from the north. If players have him investigate the scene, he discovers a treasure chest containing bandage cloth that heals his wounds, and a sword that grants him greater attack boost; there is a wolf nearby that recently slaughtered a goat being responsible for the noise that piqued Gollet. It tries to attack the Jester, and unless Gollet has very low health, the animal is not much trouble to deal with. If the player is wounded badly in their first skirmish en route to Valognes, they should pick the contents of this treasure, as Gollet is not able to survive fighting the second encounter down the road otherwise.
However, there is a way to circumvent this challenge which might be more in-character - lure the conspirators to the entrance of Bayeux. The town is allied to the player, the two Long Sword guardsmen declare the traitors as bandits and come to Gollet's aid, and the two Towers at the city's entrance make quick work of infantry units pursuing Gollet. This strategy is effective for the first two encounters that Gollet faces by himself.
When arriving in Valognes, the players find that the soldiers at the town's entrance refuse Gollet entry due to his affiliation with William, though at this point, they will not attack. Players need to have Gollet visit a small farm to the northeast, outside Valognes' wall. Gollet will plea for a disguise to the farmer, who gladly helps. Under the guise, Gollet then is permitted to enter the town and warn William, who comes under the player's control. The next objective is to flee Valognes and get to Falaise.
Although it is technically possible to brute force through the front gate via normal gameplay, it is not recommended to have William and Gollet do so due to the heavy injuries William will sustain. Instead, players can hug the eastern wall of Valognes to find a gap that leads out into a path going to the forest; this path will end in the same clearing where Gollet finds the treasure chest. From here on, William and Gollet can proceed south to Falaise.
There is a death trap when William and Gollet go south to Falaise: do not ignore William's instruction to let him pray in the church. Neglecting this results in quick failure, as they will stumble upon a group of heavily armed assassins with Attack power that can easily slay William. If William prays at the country church, he hears the assassins approaching and prompts himself (and Gollet, if he's alive at this point) to hide in the bushes across the road, where shortly they see the band of assailants passing through, headed to Valognes.
After passing the Church, William will arrive in a small town where the mayor will offer his 3 sons (Knights) to accompany him to Falaise; further down the road, a rebel squad will await for William; the 3 Knights offer to fight them off as William and Gollet flee to Falaise. Players can do as the gallant Knights suggested of course, but there is indeed a way to win the fight with possibly everyone surviving: have the Knights run to the visibility range of the rebels' fore, then turn back and bait them towards William and Gollet, then have William cast War Cry on the pursuers before ganging on them. With the Morale debuff, William's healing, Gollet's assistance and some good player command, there might be as many as 5 heads making it to Falaise, the additional Knights couldn't hurt. As a side note, the game disallows the Knights to move past the Rebels' lines if they are still alive, so having them flee with William and ignoring the Rebels is not an option.
After getting new instructions in Falaise, the player has to collect forces from several sites before going to Val-es-Dune. In one town in the northwest, William has to duel the Mayor's champion to earn his support. Though buffed in Attack power, this fight will still be costly to William, as the opposing champion is a Warrior-type Hero unit; to tip the scale further in your favor, do not forget to cast War Cry on the Champion; also remember that being a Strategist-type Hero, William must be manually commanded to engage.
In Val-es-Dune, William will gain the unprecedented support of Sir Tesson and his own troops; with two Strategist heroes, players ought to make the most of casting War Cry in the most effective radius and not just overlay over each other; this is important as the Rebels overwhelm in Numbers. Their leader, Guy of Burgundy, is a Warrior-type, players are recommended to try dispose him as feasibly quick as possible rather than trying to overwhelm his army completely first.
