The Moon Rises is the fourth scenario of the Dracula campaign in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.
Players
Allies
- Wallachia (Teutons) consists of friendly locals loyal to Dracula, most notably the central town of Targoviste, which is where Dracula is located at the beginning of the scenario. They also control the eastern and western castles until they are given to the player. They serve no active role in the scenario outside cutscenes.
- Wallachia (Magyars) consists of a burning village in the south and some other neutral units. They serve no active role in the scenario outside cutscenes.
- Wallachian Army (Slavs) is the main army of Dracula, which he uses in the initial cutscene to destroy the Ottoman Army. They serve no active role in the scenario outside cutscenes.
- Ottoman Camps (Turks) is the most powerful enemy on the map, controlling a massive base just south of the northern castle where Dracula makes his final stand. They will send massive waves of soldiers against Dracula, including Cavaliers, Elite Janissaries, Bombard Cannons, Siege Rams and Trebuchets. After resisting their onslaught for some time, their main base will eventually have to be attacked from the eastern flank by a large army Dracula assembled, but even this is difficult, as the base has some extremely powerful towers and very durable buildings.
Neutral
- Countryside (Slavs) consists of some villages located in the west which are not friendly towards Dracula and are thus submitted by the Ottomans. The villages by themselves are only defended by a token force of Men-at-Arms, Spearmen, Archers etc., but they rely on the much more powerful Ottoman Forward Troops for protection. All Countryside buildings have to be completely destroyed in order to progress eventually.
Enemies
- Ottoman Army (Turks) will lead the main assaults near the beginning of the scenario against both the eastern and western castles of Dracula. They field Crossbowmen, Janissaries, Cavaliers, Scorpions, Capped Rams, Trebuchets and other powerful units in an attempt to finish off Dracula's forces. Killing 500 of their units is required in order to force them into a retreat, but attacking their well fortified camps directly is not at all recommended.
- Ottoman Forward Troops (Turks) control a sizeable army sent to destroy a Wallachian village just south of Targoviste, but this army and its leader are slaughtered in an ambush by the Wallachian Army. They are next seen protecting the Countryside villages to the west in order to feed the main Ottoman Army. They have several patrols of Camels, Light cavalry, Cavalry Archers, Long Swordmen and Halberdiers, and will need to be taken care of in order to progress.
Strategy
The scenario starts out with some "cutscenes" showing Dracula and allies defeating retreating Turks. Eventually the player is given control of two separate Castles, guarded by their respective commanders. The immediate goal is to rack up 500 kills, but the Turks (orange) will relentlessly attack the player's fortresses.
Each Castle has one Villager. The player needs him to repair the towers, so he should be guarded well. The player also begins with a decent number of Archers, which should be garrisoned in the forward defense towers. Additionally, there's a Barracks at each Castle, where the player should train up a number of Pikemen for use against Turkish cavalry. The central Castle has a Monastery, while the eastern Castle has a Stable, so the player can build Monks and Knights.
The eastern Castle is more at threat, as it will be attacked by Trebuchets often. The player should use their hero and a number of Boyars or Knights to ride out and destroy them. The central castle's main threat will be Battering Rams and Mangonels, but they will only reach range of the towers, so the player can destroy them and repair the towers when needed.
In some instances, the Turks will cease attacking. This will allow the player to build up an assault force. The eastern Castle is flanked by an Ottoman camp to its west (guarded by towers), and a whole fortress to the south, so the player may have to go on the hunt to get 500 kills. The central Castle has an Ottoman camp just to its north, so if things get quiet, the player should send out Pikemen and Archers to go hunting. Cavalry should be kept behind at both castles in case Turkish siege weapons come knocking.
Once the player gets 500 kills, they'll take control of Dracula and a force of cavalry. The goal is to destroy all of yellow's buildings; they have a well guarded village to the west (beware Halberdiers), a fishing village north, along with Mills and Mines to the west and east of blue's village, respectively. Many players have trouble here, thinking they've destroyed yellow but that the trigger hasn't caught. Keep exploring the entire west side of the map, yellow may have rogue villagers about. Purple (mostly destroyed in the earlier "cutscene") has troops milling about too, and in fact guard the northern fishing village. Before moving on, the player should mind the resources ceded to them upon destroying yellow's buildings, as these will be needed soon enough. If you have any Monks left alive at Rasnov castle from the previous stage, you can heal your troops there anytime.
Once Dracula is satisfied razing the countryside, the player is given control of Poenari Castle in the far north. The Turks (orange) attack relentlessly, and the player should beware their Bombard Cannons and Trebuchets. The player should use Skirmishers, Crossbowmen, or Pikemen to screen enemy troops, saving gold reserves to train up Knights or Cavaliers to take out siege weapons. Dracula should be kept safe in the eastern section of the Castle.
Key to surviving is to position the cavalry, including Dracula, outside the gates to quickly take out the Cannons and Trebuchets at very start of the siege; and then make a quick dash back to inside the gates, and lock it. The enemy does not replenish those particular units, taking out the biggest threat. The player should then fill up the middle tower with Skirmishers and put the rest of the army outside it as fodder. Paramount is both keeping the gate and Hand Cannoneers alive yet keeping the latter also just in range to attack melee units. Best way to do this is putting them right behind the tower and on stand ground. Keep churning out Skirmishers and Pikemen. Don't bother with expensive Knight units. The Pikemen are mainly cheap fodder, while Skirmishers counter the Crossbowmen and Cavalry Archers. Mangonels should be targeted as soon as possible by the fully garrisoned middle tower, while Rams should be targeted by the Hand Cannoneers and fire towers. The player should save often, and keep track of time: the Gate unfortunately has to be unlocked before time runs out and ownership is transferred to Wallachia, or the scenario is not winnable.
After 15 minutes, the player's troops revert to gray and the player will only have Dracula to control. He should be sent along the mountain path south, linking up with a large cavalry army, then head west and attack Orange's camp. Dracula intends this to be surprise attack, however this is all in vain. Dracula should be kept safe by sending him straight north back to Poenari castle (this is why the gate has to unlocked at the end of the siege, else Dracula cannot get back to the castle), minding the attack power of the guard towers, while the cavalry army is slowly slaughtered.