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Campaigns » Ming General - The Annam Campaign - Singleplayer Campaign
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Ming General - The Annam Campaign - Singleplayer Campaign
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| Author |
File Description |
| Gweilo2 |
Posted on 07/01/06 @ 04:05 AM
| File Details |
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| Age: |
Steel |
| # of Episodes: |
4 |
| # of Cities: |
2 |
| Difficulty: |
Very Hard |
| Custom Maps: |
Yes |
Minimap:
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In the early 15th century CE, the Ming emperor Yongle ordered an invasion of Annam (ancient Vietnam). His goal was nothing less than the full annexation of the territory. The conquest of Annam was completed by 1407 CE, but the fighting was far from over. For the next two decades, relentless opposition from fierce Dai Viet insurgents turned the Ming dream of annexation into a bloody nightmare. The occupation became so costly that shortly after Yongle's death in 1424 CE, the Ming began a full withdrawal from Annam. The withdrawal was completed by 1428, and once more Annam belonged to the Dai Viet.
This bloody chapter in the history of China and Vietnam is the focus of this campaign. You will undertake the role of a Mandarin general tasked with the planning and execution of the initial conquest. Later, your assignments will focus on the occupation and exploitation of the conquered lands. All the while, you must satisfy the needs of the emperor while dealing with stiff resistance from the Dai Viet. As the reality of the doomed occupation begins to draw to its inevitable, ill-fated conclusion, the pressures and dangers will steadily mount. You must rise to meet these challenges - or suffer defeat and humiliation from both the Dai Viet and a wrathful emperor!
A player will interact with 7 historically-accurate cities. Resources, commodities, and available structures follow the Emperor model for the Steel Age. This campaign features two new custom maps of 'enormous' size. Sabotage by spies has been disallowed for this campaign, although spies can still be used for information gathering.
For chronological continuity, this campaign should be played just after concluding the Song-Jin 'Invaders from the North' campaign.
The download zip file contains the two custom maps built for this campaign, as well as another extra file named 'MGTAC_Readme.txt'. This text file contains installation instructions, historical background information, campaign design notes, general play tips, and mission hints (warning: contains spoilers).
IMPORTANT NOTE: This campaign is rated 'Very Hard', and is designed to provide a solid challenge for advanced players. For the best play experience, a player should possess an advanced understanding of the game's military aspect, time-constrained missions, money management, trading, labor allocation, monument construction, summoning and using the Heroes, and empire-map diplomacy.
Missions Teasers (note: the first three missions have a time-limit)
Mission 1 - 'A Daring Plan for Conquest' - 5 years, from 1403 CE to the end of 1407 CE
Mission 2 - 'And So Begins a Deadly Occupation' - 9 years, from 1408 CE to the end of 1416 CE
Mission 3 - 'Rewards of Beauty and Bitterness' - 8 years, from 1417 CE to the end of 1424 CE
Mission 4 - 'Final Withdrawal, Final Greed' - Survive 4 years, starts in 1425 CE
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| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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| Beijing Tag |
Posted on 07/26/06 @ 08:39 AM
Four missions based on two very large maps. The map sizes allow for a number of build locations and so encourages replayability. A good variety of challenges means the player needs to be well versed in all aspects of the game. City goods requests come early and often which may challenge players with a slow and steady style. Later in the missions some of the goods requests are really steep, "You want how many? Get out of here!"
Balance: 4
The missions provide a good challenge to experienced players. The initial missions (M1 & M2) are excellent and action packed - resource management issues, invasions, requests, natural disasters, predator management etc. The missions where you revisit (M3 & M4) are good, but perhaps not as challenging as the set up missions. But they are still fun.
Creativity: 4
A rational/logical/historical storyline, excellent map design and high incidence of requests/events keep things fresh and original.
Map Design: 5
The M1/M3 map is excellent. A thing of beauty. Very natural looking, great use of islands and mainland. The M2/M4 map is also pretty good with a well designed natural harbour. M2/M4 map also requires multiple invasion point defenses keeping a player on his/her toes. All those active 'gauntlets' suck out manpower.
Story/Instructions: 4
Very good. Up to usual Gweilo standards.
Additional Comments: A lot of fun and a wide variety of challenges. The highlight for me was the M1/M3 map and the variety that it allowed. I tend to overbuild (especially Elites) and this tendency may have blunted the challenge for me on the revisit missions, players with other styles may not experience this.
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Gweilo2
Staff
File Author |
Posted on 07/26/06 @ 09:53 AM |
| h711 |
Posted on 08/08/06 @ 12:01 AM |
| SeaWorld |
Posted on 09/30/10 @ 04:22 PM
Initially challenging but difficult to figure out. Suddenly i'm an absolute rookie. will return to my disc and start with the tutorial again.
I have a flaw, I get too involved in the story and victory without honour is depressing
Balance: 2 upgrade 5
No leeway for mistakes. labour always short. The pause key was friendly but the labour takes too long to arrive. Fall of the Song takes a while for the people to arrive (M2) but this one is shorter distances but more hectic. And then keeping up with tributes is a nightmare.
Pure challenge. Micromanage, micromanage. Seasons, seasons, seasons
Creativity: 5
Stunning, absolute challenge.
Map Design: 3
Multiple levels, trees suck out initial start up capital. City seems messy and cramped (M4).
Story/Instructions: 5
Great story line. Not the Song's return or Sun Wu Kong. Interesting. I get too involved. Depressing to withdraw after the blood sweat and tears.
Additional Comments:
Sorry Gweilo. Not my style. Something just didn't catch me. Think my game play is a little different. Might return to this when i've revisited the Tutorial Campaign.
The battles in M4 are hectic. If anyone can advise i'll appreciate it.
Thanks for the challenge, Gwielo you win again. Drag me in so deep i can't see anything but the next challenge. [Edited on 10/01/10 @ 03:54 AM]
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| Gweilo |
Posted on 10/04/10 @ 09:06 PM
The storyline sticks with true history, including the doomed ending. Still, I tried to leave you (the player) with a feeling of honor as you sailed away from Annam, albeit bittersweet. The Dai Viet sent you the gift of the tiger not to mock you, but rather to honor you as a respected enemy. And I hinted that the new emperor was impressed by your prowess, and had future assignments for you.
I had originally planned on making at least one other campaign as a sequel to this one, as part of a "Ming General" series, but good subject matter just never materialized. |
Gweilo2
Staff
File Author |
Posted on 02/22/17 @ 06:27 AM
http://emperor.heavengames.com/gallery/album13 |
| Strategic Indian |
Posted on 12/04/23 @ 10:39 PM
(Insert Playability analysis here)
One of the best created by Gweilo!
I am obsessively playing M3 and spending whole days on replaying M3 despite winning it. Such a treat!
Balance: 5
(Insert Balance analysis here)
This is a tough campaign and teaches a lot about the game to anyone who is willing to take a deep dive (pun intended, as there are plently of floods in M1 and M4) :D
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Fascinating! The military aspect is strong and hard. The enemies have 1 shield but field very competent armies which can beat you if you do not have fortifications.
Map Design: 5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Each of the maps are incredible! Very beautiful with a lot of open spaces to build. I spent hours mapping out the districts and it was great! In M2 I built up 3 full elite housing so my taxes went near to 100k per year.
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Great story and campaign details. You start by taking on a grand mission which always results in eventual failure: China trying to take over Vietnam :D
You feel the highs of conquest but fee the doom of it all fall apart.
Additional Comments:
Check out my end level city
60k profit per turn
3 full elite housings
2 full luxurious housing blocks
12 full forts [EDIT: I accidently stated I built 16 forts. Sorry for the typo]
Powerful industry
completed large temple complex
Check out the screenshot:
https://imgur.com/a/Noy43Bu[Edited on 12/07/23 @ 01:51 AM]
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Gweilo2
Staff
File Author |
Posted on 12/06/23 @ 08:21 AM
This campaign remains one of my favorites, mainly because I really loved the way the two maps turned out. The Daxingcheng map is my adaptation of the actual Detian Falls (also called the Bản Giốc Falls in Vietnamese) that are still located in Guanxi province, on the border of China and Vietnam. This map is definitely the best "waterfall" map I ever built. I like the Jiaozhou map, too; it features the best coastal harbor I ever created on a map (my opinion).
There are 267 scripted events dispersed among the four missions, but I don't necessarily feel like I overscripted this campaign. Most of the scripted events were necessary for plot elements like requests and the tricky behind-the-scenes adjustments to cities on the empire map during gameplay.
This campaign has one of my favorite storylines. I feel the story is entertaining while also maintaining its historical accuracy. I remember the mission 4 storyline was particularly challenging to write. I struggled over how to convey that the player might win the mission, and also the respect of his enemies, but was still destined to lose the war.
At the time I built this campaign, I had been experimenting with scripted floods, with emphasis on how the flood would affect combat (if a battle was occuring on the player's map when the flood was triggered). You see the results of my experimentation in this campaign, and I believe it does make some of the battles quite interesting.
Mission 4 of the campaign also contains the biggest battles I ever scripted in a campaign. As you saw, multiple invasions arrive, and some do so simultaneously. This pushed right up to the game's maximum limit of 250 enemy soldiers being allowed on a map at one time.
Quick question: your comments above stated you had 16 forts. Did you use the "exceeding max forts" exploit to place the extra 4 forts beyond the normal game limit of 12? Just curious.[Edited on 12/06/23 @ 08:23 AM]
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| Strategic Indian |
Posted on 12/07/23 @ 01:50 AM
I sent you an email after completing the ST-taow campaign (For which i also submitted a 5* review)just now.
Sorry i wrote 16 forts by mistake. Can you open the link posted? It might not be working but in that blurry image you can see i have 12 forts (3*4). I have learnt to make better screenshots. Please see here another rerun of the campaign with 12 forts only :)
https://i.imgur.com/2rYGJoM.jpg
I know of that exploit to have up to 24 forts but i refuse to use such methods.
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 4.7 | | Breakdown |
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| Playability | 4.3 | | Balance | 4.7 | | Creativity | 4.7 | | Map Design | 5.0 | | Story/Instructions | 4.7 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 4,293 |
| Favorites: [] | 0 |
| Size: | 783.41 KB |
| Added: | 07/01/06 |
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