Battles of Tarain is the fourth and last scenario of the Prithviraj campaign in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.
Scenario instructions
Main objectives
- Prithviraj must survive.
- Rout the Ghorid Army.
- Defeat Muhammad Ghori and capture Bathinda.
Secondary objectives
- Bring 5 villagers to the wood pile east of the fortress.
- Destroy the market in the supply camp northeast of Bathinda.
- Destroy the connecting reservoir of the aquaduct, to the west.
- Destroy the mosque in the city, to boost your religious power.
- Destroy the castle in Ghori's camp. It acts as the headquarters and manages the training of the elite troops.
Players
Allied
- Tarain (Indians) - Controls the village of Tarain, to the east. This player is neutral to this war, but can be used to trade.
- Chauhan Army (Indians) - The starting army of Rajputs, consisting of many types of units, including but not limited to infantrymen, War Elephants, Elephant Archers and Arbalests. Prithviraj must choose a regiment to personally command. The others will be uncontrollable, and simply attack the Ghorid army on sight.
Enemies
- Muhammad Ghori (Persians) - This player consists of Muhammad Ghori himself, his northern base structures (including some Fire Towers), as well as the Muslim forces encountered later in the game, that will consist of enormous amounts of Paladins, Imperial Camels and Elephant Archers.
- Bathinda (Indians) - Controls the city of Bathinda to the northwest, that must be captured by Prithviraj by destroying its Town Center. The garrison includes Cavalry Archers, Pikemen, Skirmishers and Monks.
- Ghorid Army (Turks) - The first enemy to encounter in this scenario, the army consists of large amounts of Heavy Camels, Cavalry Archers, Mamelukes, Cavaliers, and Hussars. Oddly enough, they are also escorted by Missionaries.
Strategy
The player starts off with control of both Prithviraj, and his monk friend. Before him is a large army, set to square off against green. The player has no control over the army, but rather can choose control of either Arbalests, Cavaliers, or War Elephants.
The game occasionally bugs during the initial battle; sometimes, players start off in the Dark Age rather than the Castle Age, or lose the battle. The best scenario is defeating the Ghorid Army with the majority of allied troops surviving. If the player wins but with heavy losses, there's nothing wrong with restarting. It helps to have the Archer and Heavy Cavalry survive, so as to defend the initial holdings.
In either case, once the player gains control of the army and Villagers, they should begin building up their base. Blue is in the far north, while yellow is in the west. Cyan can be traded with; build a Market in the south/south-west and trade with their city. Every few minutes, War Elephants and Cavaliers will automatically spawn in the south and east, respectively.
It would be wise to build a Castle and other fortifications across the battlefield, near the roads leading to blue's and yellow's bases, thereby intercepting attackers as well as keeping your town away from the fighting. Blue will attack with heavy cavalry and War Elephants, along with Rams, Scorpions, and an occasional Mangonel (along with mobile flamethrower siege weapons). They are by far the larger threat. Using Cavalier reinforcements however, along with stone fortifications, the player should be able to sweep them away. Monks also come in handy, so as to convert blue's Paladins and War Elephants. Yellow will attack with Cavalry Archers, infantry, and archers.
Blue should be the first priority. Their base is much more difficult, but given the alloted units (the player would be wise to attack with their spawned War Elephants, Bombard Cannons, and a whole 60 man platoon of Arbalests or Hand Cannoneers to 'one shot' incoming enemy units), the attack should be successful. Beware however as the main northern entrance is narrow, restricted for space by Palisade Walls and jungle. Alternatively, the player can attack via their western entrance. In either case, blue will continually counter-attack with Monks, Halberdiers, Crossbowmen, and Paladins. Their base is also protected by fire towers.
Eventually during the attack, the player will be given a message about destroying blue's Castle so as to cut off their "elite units." This is no matter, destroying all of blue will win one of the main objectives anyway. In the very rear of the base will be Muhammad Ghori himself (a renamed Saladin hero Mameluke). Once he's killed, refit as necessary, and head southwest to yellow's city.
Along the way, the player will encounter more of blue's outlying buildings, including a Market and some Houses. The player will receive another message, this time about destroying the Market; most of the secondary objectives in Prithviraj's final scenario involve "disabling" the enemy by destroying some of their key structures. For example, the player will be alerted to destroying yellow's aqueduct, Mosque, and blue's market, thereby cutting off yellow. The player should by this point have a strong enough army to sack yellow, finish blue's remaining buildings, and end the scenario.
