Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
Fleeing from the monstrous Huns pushing them from the east, the Visigoths have been forced to side with the Roman Empire, who treated them as disposable cannon fodder. In this chaos, a hero, Alaric, rises. Will his skills and charisma be enough to motivate the Visigoths and have them find a new place they can call home?The campaign has been drastically reworked for the Definitive Edition and the old scenarios have been replaced with brand new ones.
The player is in control of the Goths, the color being Greennote
Scenarios (HD)
1. All Roads Lead to a Besieged City
For years, the city of Rome has taken advantage of the Visigoths and their troops. Fed up with Roman scheming and plots, the warlord Alaric leads his troops to an uprising to threaten the army of Rome and force them to recconsider their views and give them better conditions.2. Legionaries to the Horizon!
Having secured a land of their own, the Goths' peace comes to an abrupt end when a massive army of legionnaires, led by General Mageius, encroach the villages of Alric and Athaulf. Caught by surprise, the two chieftains must join forces to get rid of these unwanted guests and destroy their fortress to the north.3. Emperor of the West
The Emperor has sworn to explain things to Alaric and gave him a rendezvous in the Western Capital of Ravenna. However, the Visigoth's army is then attacked by another Gothic army lead by the treacherous Saurus, a rival chieftain. Caught without a base and only with a small band of mercenaries, Alaric must find a way to overcome Saurus' army.4. The Sack of Rome
Fed up with the Roman's betrayal, Alaric and Athaulf gather all the troops they could find for the most ambitious conquest yet: crush the Legions and raze Rome to the ground: only after dealing such a hard blow to their tyrants, the Visigoths will have the strength and resources to leave Rome and claim a proper land to call their own. Scenarios (DE)
1. The Battle of the Frigidus
The massacre of the Huns still fresh in their minds, the Visigoths were forced to leave their home and find refuge in the skeptical and inhospitable Roman Empire, who provided them with scarce, arid land and outrageous tributes, until the Goths defeated the Romans at Hadrianople, forcing them to provide them with better lands. Having recognized the valor of the Goths, the Eastern Empire enlists them to fight an army from the Western Empire, aided by Frankish troops.2. Razing Hellas
Having realized that little had changed from their previous condition, a man named Alaric spoke to the Goths and exhorted them to get rid of the Romans' control. Motivated by his words, the Visigoths are determined to turn against their unjust masters. The first target will be Greece: the vast cities of Sparta, Corinth, Argos and Athens will feel the wrath of the Goths, and if the Roman Army dares to interfere they will suffer as well.3. The Belly of the Beast
Greece burns, and the Roman forces protecting it are in disarray. However, the Eastern Emperor remains silent. Worse, when the Goth sympathizer, General Stilicho, tries to persuade the Emperor to negotiate with the barbarians and hear Alaric's surprisingly humble and polite requests. However, he's executed for treason by the Senate and so Alaric and Athaulf have to force the hand of the Romans. Their targets are the cities of Cremona and Aquileia. With them gone, the Emperor in Ravenna will perhaps hear what Alaric's got to say...4. The Giant Falls
Just as the Visigoths were about to negotiate peace, a Visigoth chieftain, Saurus, led an attack on Alaric's troops in an attempt to kill his rival. Furious at this turn of events, Alaric's wrath turns to the city of Rome itself: Emperor Honorius will pay for this, and the huge Gothic army is ready to pillage the eternal city and teach the Romans the meaning of the word Fear.5. A Kingdom of Our Own
After weeks of siege, Rome fell. Magnanimous, Alaric was content with letting the city stand and take everything even remotely precious in the city as his own before leaving with an immense caravan of plundered gold. The next course of action was creating a fleet to establish a Gothic Kingdom somewhere in Africa, but then, Alaric's life come to an end. As Alaric was buried in a river, the Goths planned their next move, as the ships sunk in a storm. It was then that Alaric's brother-in-law took over the army and decided to march to Gallia. There, they would carve a kingdom of their own, as well as settle matters with Saurus, who has been spotted in the area.These campaigns contain examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The The Forgotten version of the campaign is, essentially, the story focused on Alaric and his struggles in Italy against Rome's treachery. Definitive Edition expands on this, showing Alaric's fights against the Eastern Empire and the aftermath of Rome's fall.
- Adapted Out: Galla Placidia is completely unmentioned in DE.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Visigoths have pillaged Rome, left for Gallia and established a quiet and peaceful domain in the south of the country. On the other hand, the Huns are coming to Europe, and they know it.
- Book Ends: The first intro has the narrator describes his visions of a field of grain and massacre, a prelude to the war the Visigoths will embark against Rome. The last outro has the narrator describing the very same visions after the settlement in Gallia, foretelling the coming of the unstoppable Huns.
- Call-Back: "Razing Hellas" is a combination of the second and fourth scenarios of Attila the Hun, only this time you use more infantry and you cannot produce villagers, only use resources obtained through pillaging to build more troops, and the final obstacle is a fortress to lay siege to rather than an army to crush.
- Cosmetic Award:
- The HD Edition has "Alaric Campaign Completed":
"Through toil and perseverance, you have found a new home for Alaric's people, showing even mighty Rome that the Goths are a force to be reckoned with. Use your migratory skills and resilience to find a new home, recover, and succeed in your future aims even when the present looks bleak."- DE replaced the achievement with "The Thicker the Hay, the Easier Mowed".
- DE has a few more for the reworked campaign: "Numerous As the Grains of Sand"note and "Rome Was Destroyed in One Day"note .
- The Dreaded: Roman Heavy Cavalry (Cataphracts), since they're powerful and can make mincemeat out of your infantry, even Pikemen. You'll have to fight them using archers or Scorpions.
- Dirty Coward: Saurus leads an ambush against your troops, but is nowhere to be see after you destroy his keep.
- The Dog Bites Back: Both versions are based on Alaric's revenge on the Roman Empire who mistreated him and his people for their own gain.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: Being part of The Forgotten, this campaign features unusual objectives and gameplay features: an example is "Legionaries to the Horizon!", which includes a scouting mission, a build and destroy part, a Hold the Line mission and finally a siege. The final scenario has you in control of Alaric's soldiers as they breach Rome's defenses, changing units as the siege continues and you control Athaulf's forces.
- Giant Space Flea From No Where: Due to a bug, all the The Forgotten scenarios sometimes have Persian, Slavs, Byzantine and even Chinese players spawn on the map in a casual game setting (a Town Center, three villagers and a scout cavalry), though they usually die off on their own.
- The Hero Dies: Alaric dies prior to the events of "A Kingdom of Our Own".
- Karma Houdini: Saurus, only in the The Forgotten campaign.
- Keystone Army: General Arbagost leads a forces of Franks to support the Western Army, but as soon as his scarcely-defended Town Center is destroyed he runs for the Alps and his army crumbles. The same happens to Saurus' army in the last scenario should you locate him in time and kill him.
- Magikarp Power: Athaulf in "The Belly of the Beast" starts with a weakly-defended Feudal Age village which, aside from a Castle, is pretty vulnerable. Protect him long enough and he will unleash a huge army of Champions, Siege Rams and Elite Huskarls on the enemies, pretty much winning the game for you.
- Multi-Mook Melee: The The Forgotten version often features truly gigantic battles against droves and droves of enemy soldiers pouring out to fight you.
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Out of Order: Downplayed, though in the The Forgotten version the location of the third and first scenarios were apparently swapped, as Ravenna is to the northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea. - Pet the Dog: In "The Sack of Rome", Athaulf rescues Galla Placidia and leave her unharmed, while Alaric orders to leave all churches alone and intact.
- Pun: The first scenario's name in the The Forgotten version is a pun on the idiom "All Roads Led to Rome", while Definitive Edition has "Razing Hellas", a pun on "Raising Hell" too.
- The Siege: The campaign ends with the Sack of Rome and has you controlling certain specific parts of the siege. Simplified in Definitive Edition, where you have to destroy the 12 Roman castles scattered across the city and you can send a messanger to your allies to weaken the Romans.
- Take That!: Downplayed, but in "Razing Hellas", the first city you take on is Sparta... which is the least-defended and bound to be crushed soon enough, as lampshaded by one of the soldiers upon victory. Justified, as Sparta's power had declined considerably.
- Timed Mission: The achievement "Rome Was Destroyed in One Day" requires you to destroy all the Roman castles in about 30 minutes.
- Too Dumb to Live: Saurus in the Definitive Edition version of the campaign: after witnessing the destruction of Aquilea and Cremona at the hands of the invading armies of Alaric and Athaulf, he still decides to lay an ambush on them as their envoy travels to Ravenna to have an agreement with the Emperor: not only he's annihilated, but Alaric's so pissed he decides to destroy Rome as a retaliation.
- Unique Enemy: The campaign features Legionnaires and Centurions as unique soldiers in possession of the Romans. In the The Forgotten version they were a re-skinned Longswordman from 1 and a Cataphract.
- Zerg Rush: You play as the Goths, and you're often encouraged to amass humongous amounts of easily-spawning infantry and siege weapons to destroy your enemies. This is played straight by your ally Athaulf in "The Belly of the Beast" and against you by Saurus in "A Kingdom of Our Own".
