Northern Rebellion - walkthrough | Commonwealth Campaign AoW III Guide

This is where you start your journey.

Conditions of victory:

1. Laryssa must survive

2. Stop the Rebellion (Slay Oscar)

Side missions:

1. Secure the Area

2. Take the first Settlement

3. Capture the Frost Giant's Keep

You start at the Southern end of the map, with two leaders - Edward Porthsmith and Laryssa Mirabilis. Your main objective is to defeat Oscar's army and capture his Throne City. Remember that Laryssa must survive and Edward, in the case of a failure, respawns after 3 turns in your Throne City. However, you need to avoid this, because this will weaken the moral of both your Empire and your army.

First of all, deal with the Watchtower. Then, turn to your Human Settlers move left of the starting point and start your first city in the marked area. Order Edward, Laryssa and the available army to move to the North-West, ignore the enemy settlement for the time being. Remember about choosing an area of research, before you end your turn - a good idea is to choose Fertility Rites, which will make the population of your Empire grow faster, which will result in faster growth of your cities.

The first skirmish in the game, in a picturesque area.

Follow to the North-West with your forces, where you will find an excellent place to found the second city. Remember that, in the meantime, you should expand the newly-founded cities - invest in the Store House, and then into the buildings that allow you to manufacture new units. Near the second city, you will find a Strong Treasure Site. You should have no problems defeating the small army that defends it. Then, proceed onwards, into the woods. Try not to lose any units because you are going to need them in a moment. The next skirmish that you are going to fight is one with a small band of orcs. Also here, you should have no problems and, after you defeat them, keep going to the West. Take advantage of your ranged units and the two leaders and remember that you should, to the extent it is possible, and eliminate the first, and then the second enemy unit. Capture the Refugee Camp thanks to which your second settlement will receive an injection of manpower.

An enemy fortress and just as hostile beasts around it.

After several turns, you will reach an enemy fortress. If you have lost too many units, try to manufacture some reinforcements in your cities. Otherwise,, also here, you should have no problems dealing with the enemies. Watch out for Laryssa, however, and prevent her from getting lost in the heat of the battle, because she can die easily. Again, take advantage of your ranged units and try to eliminate, first the enemy unit and then another. After the victorious battle, you will become the new owner of the fortress, which you can upgrade for the right amount of gold, and make it expand over the Mana Node, which will increase the production of mana per turn. (by 10 units). If the condition of your units is unsatisfactory, train 2-3 units of Human Archers in one of your cities - you are going to need them at the short battle to capture the first enemy settlement.

Order your armies towards the starting point, to the South-East, where there is the last skirmish for you to fight, with a Yeti, among others. Here, you need to watch out, especially, for the melee attacks of the beast and, do not expose your leaders to the attack, because the amount of their HP will drop way too much, as a result. Then, enter the field with Production Resources, which will cause one of upgrades to be built in your nearest city .

Here's the cavalry! Well, almost.

After the successful introduction, you will receive reinforcements, complete the side mission (Secure the Area) and receive another one (Take the first Settlement). Order your forces to the settlement that you ignored earlier and attack it. Here, if you have amassed sufficient forces, you will have no problems. To destroy the gate and deal high damage, use the Cannon that you have recently received, as well as the other ranged units. You should already have several parties of these. watch out for Laryssa, to prevent exposing her to archer attacks. After you have captured the settlement, it is best to Absorb the city, thanks to which it will become the legal part of your Empire and you will be able to start manufacturing your units there. Apart from the city, also include the settlers into your army (Human Settlement) and 2 other units. Remember that you need to leave some units in the city, to ensure it with protection. At the same time, you should move ahead, with your main army, and follow the road from the city, towards the Southern end of the map.

After you walk over the bridge, you will find a perfect place to use your settlers and found another city (see the screenshot). Of course, you should clear the nearby buildings of the enemy units. Then, go up the map. Along your way, destroy the Brigand Hideout, thanks to which you will curb the danger in the area. After a short walk, you will encounter a fortress, which you should capture. A bit higher, there is another enemy city. While seizing it, you should remember to have some siege units in your army, thanks to which you will be able to tear the gates down. Remain in the area for a moment and clear it - it is an excellent way to gain experience for the leaders and the units, which will show its results in the final confrontation. To the East of the city that you have just captured, there is another Brigand Hideout and, past the mountain range, the Ancient Ruins.

The road to more cities that need to be captured.

After you have cleared the area, go North of the city that you have recently captured, by following the road. Along your way, you will find a Refugee Camp, which will ensure rise in population in the recently conquered city. A bit higher, to the North, you will find an independent settlement, which will join your Empire, in exchange for completing the quest to kill several units (the Independent Party staying around, which remains in the domain of the settlement). Return to the road and go towards the last-but-one city, which you need to capture. Expect heavy guards. This is why you need to summon some more forces and remember about siege engines.

The last city with Oscar inside.

After you have captured the city, you can start preparing for the final battles. To be sure of your victory, you should remember about siege engines and ranged units. Attack at the moment at which your units are in full health. The last city is located to the West of the one that you captured earlier - along your way, you can still capture an enemy keep, but this is not required for the ultimate victory. Remember that, even if you manage to win the battle and Laryssa dies, you will still have to load the game. After you have won the final city, the mission will conclude.

Side missions

Secure the Area - you complete this task in the way described in the walkthrough for the main mission. It consists in going to the West of the starting point and defeating all of the enemy units, ending with the Yeti. For that, you are rewarded with reinforcements - 2x Human Engineer, 2x Human Musketeer) and Cannons.

Take the first Settlement - this task is a piece of cake - you need to capture an enemy city that you run into along your way, a bit to the east of the starting point.

Capture the Frost Giant's Keep

The battle with giants.

You receive this mission after you run to a village inhabited by Stone Giants. It is located to the East of the first enemy settlement that you captured. Then, another enemy location will be marked on your map, which belongs to Frost Giants. After you have captured their settlement, the settlement that tasked you with this mission will join your Empire. The fight with the giants is not the easiest thing to do. What works well here is the strong cavalry - Human Knights. Additionally, if the battle is participated by your leaders, you really need to be careful - one bad move and someone may die.

Note: The quest will be failed, if you open the border with the Stone Giants village and include them in your Empire through diplomacy.

Hints

It is more difficult to capture a city without siege engines but still, that's possible.

1. Laryssa must survive, and you need to remember about that. This is why you need to make sure that you do not let her roam about, around the main map. Your enemy may take advantage of that. The same goes for battles - make sure that Laryssa attacks mainly at a distance and is not exposed to melee attacks, especially from the units that might inflict serious damage to her, as a result of such an attack (e.g. Frost Giant), and make it impossible, for her, to retreat.

2. Do not leave the cities unprotected - this way, you will save yourself a lot of trouble, which would occur if an enemy army got behind your lines and capture the unguarded city. You will then have to summon reinforcements from the other cities, or use the main army, which would then probably be somewhere else. This way, you will save yourself some time and, in some cases, alsostress.

3. Make sure that you do not lose too many units, especially at the beginning of the mission, thanks to which you will be able to get about capturing the first settlement straight away. It takes time, and predominantly gold (which you do not have plenty of, at the beginning of the game), to recruit new units.

4. While capturing cities, much of the advantage will be ensured by siege engines, such as Battering Rams, Trebuchets and Cannons. They will allow you to tear down gates quickly and attack enemy units at a distance, while dealing quite decent damage.

5. Remember about the map exploration and about attacking independent parties. Thanks to this, your units, and leaders, will obtain the much-needed experience. When it comes to the leaders, they will also obtain some valuable items, which will raise their statistics.

6. Make the best of your advantage in battles, provided by ranged units and leaders that are stronger and can cast useful spells. The appropriate use of these units should bolster your chances of winning.

7. Remember that you do not need to hurry. There is no limit of turns on the missions, which is why you can slowly explore the map and gain experience. Remember, however that you never know what might happen and the enemy is also developing his Empire. Therefore, it would be a good thing to do, to leave the exploration of the entire map for a moment. Thanks to this, you will minimize the probability of defeat, virtually to zero.

8. Levels and items of the leaders are carried over to the next chapter, where you will be able to assign skills to them again.