


Barbarossa is fighting from the borders, so he is heavily dependent on his allies for supplies.īy the third scenario, Barbarossa has conquered most of Germany and can now turn his attention to Italy. In the second scenario, Barbarossa and his newfound allies must defend Germany against a full-scale invasion by Poland. The tricky part of this scenario is that while you are technologically superior, you must fight against six enemies all at the same time! Using Teutonic towers can give you some breathing room, but if you wait too long you may find that the other Germans have stripped the land of gold. In the first scenario, Barbarossa must demonstrate his authority over the other German duchies, such as Bavaria and Saxony.

The Barbarossa Campaign is broken down into three parts: the unification of Germany, the invasions of Italy, and the Crusade to the Holy Land.

We recommend that players who are new to Age of Kings start with the Joan of Arc campaign and Wallace learning campaign first, but of course you can play the campaigns in any order. When the enemy is coming into your town with Siege Onagers and Bombard Cannons, even if you outnumber him, you can easily lose many men. Like King Arthur, he is said to be sleeping until his nation is in need of his return.Īs campaigns go, the Barbarossa campaign is perhaps the most difficult for one simple reason: much of the action takes place in the Castle and Imperial Ages. In addition to his political and military achievements, Barbarossa acquired a legendary status. Although Barbarossa is known primarily for his military conquests, he also worked endlessly to establish a strong, centralized government and financial footing for Germany that perhaps endures to this day.
#AGE OF EMPIRES 2 DEFINITIVE EDITION CAMPAIGNS SERIES#
The emperor's life was a series of feuds, plots and intrigue. He was imposing in appearance, skilled in arms and a great military and diplomatic leader of men. Much of his life was spent feuding with German princes, Polish neighbors, Italian Popes and a group of cities in northern Italy known as the Lombard League.īarbarossa was, in many ways, the epitome of the feudal emperor from which Age of Kings gets its name. The HRE had fallen into disrepair in the last several hundred years, and Barbarossa strove to reunite it. As the old saying goes, the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was neither holy (the Pope did not consider himself a part of the empire), Roman (the HRE had problems keeping Italy within its ranks) or an Empire (the nation-state was little more than dozens of squabbling cities, many of whom had no issues with raising armies to openly challenge their purported Emperor).īarbarossa came to power in 1121. Frederick Barbarossa was a direct descendant of Charlemagne, and emperor by right of birth. The region that we know of as Germany was founded as the Holy Roman Empire by Charlemagne in 800 AD. His period represents the height of the medieval age, when heavy cavalry were coming to dominate warfare, and the inventions of the crossbow and chainmail revolutionized combat. Barbarossa fought in northern Europe, Italy and across into Anatolia on his way to the Third Crusade. He did so many interesting things, and went to war with so many different people, that we felt certain that his story would translate well to Age of Kings. However, Barbarossa's story is an incredible one. He is certain to be the least well known of the five campaign protagonists. Frederick the First, called Barbarossa because of his red beard, was not an easy choice for an Age of Kings campaign.
