Recap / Age of Empires II – Bari

Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned

In southern Italy lies the coastal city of Bari. For many years, the city has been desired by many: Saracens, Lombards, Normans, Franks, Byzantines... follow the story of the Nautikos family, a Byzantine family who fought in order to conquer and protect Bari across three generations, facing many adversities and opponents.

While the original Forgotten Campaign composed of three scenarios, it was expanded in DE into a five-scenario campaign, and thus expanding the story as well.

The player is in control of the Byzantines, the color being Purple ^note  Blue in Forgotten

Scenarios (HD)

1. Arrival at Bari

Panos Nautikos leads the Byzantine forces in Apulia to help Emperor Luis II to lay siege to the well fortified Emirate of Bari. In order to take the city, he must seek help from the cities of Matera and Orvia, as well as making all necessary preparations to take the city, such as destroying the docks and acquire a sapper to weaken the walls. Furthermore, the Nautikos must prove their worth by defending the newly acquired city from the Lombards of Prince Adelchi.

2. The Rebellion of Melus

Many years after the fall of Bari, Michael Nautikos witnesses the rise of the ambitious and shady general Melus, who has brought many mercenary soldiers to the city. He's soon proven right when Melus starts a coup d'etat and takes control of the city, forcing the loyal Michael to flee and search for help in the surrounding towns of Brindisi and Potenza, escaping the rebels and re-taking Bari from Melus.

3. The Great Siege

Back to the present, Bari is besieged by a humongous Norman army, which doesn't seem inclined to surrender any time soon. Against overwhelming odds, young Andreas Paternanos must do what he can to help Bari and survive the ferocious onslaught.

Scenarios (DE)

1. Arrival at Bari

Panos Nautikos leads the Byzantine forces in Apulia to help Emperor Luis II to lay siege to the well fortified Emirate of Bari. As the Emperor bombards the walls of Bari with trebuchets, he constantly watches his back, afraid of the Saracen camps providing raiders. While the Emperor deals with the siege, Panos must build a camp and support the effort by destroying the docks of Bari and destroying the Saracen camps scattered through the map.

2. The Rebellion of Melus

Many years after the fall of Bari, Michael Nautikos witnesses the rise of the ambitious and shady general Melus, who has brought many mercenary soldiers to the city. He's soon proven right when Melus starts a coup d'etat and takes control of the city, forcing the loyal Michael to flee and search for help in the surrounding towns of Capua and Potenza and build an army strong enough to retake Bari by destroying the four castles protecting the city.

3. Loose Ends

Michael Nautikos managed to lead his troops in a great victory and put Bari back under Byzantine rule, but both Melus and his brother Dattus have escaped. The two brothers went and found allies and mercenaries of all kinds to serve their cause: Lombards, Normans and Apulians answered the call. However, Byzantium has sent the general Basilius Boioannes and the Variag guard to crush the rebellion once and for all.

4. The Best Laid Plans

On the battlefield of Cannes, the mercenary rabble led by Melus was wiped out, along with his Norman allies, but the rebellious General has escaped to the north, begging for help to the Pope, and was soon welcomed in the Holy Roman Empire. There, Melus spread lies and venom in the Imperial court, and even if he died, both the Empire and the Papal States were soon preparing armies to conquer the vulnerable and coveted Apulia. Boioannes however, is determinated to keep Bari and Apulia Byzantine, and has a daring plan: reach the site of the former Roman city of Arka on the Appennine and build a massive stronghold, known as Troy. There, he prepares to fight back the encroaching armies of the Emperor and the Pope, as Dattus forces still hunger for revenge.

5. The Onrushing Tides

Thanks to the expert command of Boioannes, the fortress of Troy stood, and the combined forces of the Pope and the Emperor were forced to withdraw. Dattus's stronghold on the Garigliano was demolished to the ground, and he was subjected to a humiliating execution, but what for? As seen in the present, now Bari is constantly besieged by the rampaging Normans, and the future is bleak. Young Andreas Nautikos is presented with his father's armor and sword, and one last request: survive this day, then flee the city to a better place where to have a normal life and continue the line of the Nautikos.

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This Campaign contains examples of:

• Adaptation Distillation: Since they went from three to five scenarios, most events from the Forgotten Campaign are cut out, such as the Lombard siege of Bari in mission 1 or the first sidequest in the second scenario.
• Adaptation Expansion: In DE, the scenarios went from three to five, giving enough space to narrate more events and battles, such as Melus' rebellion and the battles fought by Boioannes to protect Bari and Apulia.
• Ascended Extra: Dattus was just a renamed Belisarius hero and a boss to be defeated in Forgotten. He's mentioned and leads enemy forces in DE alongside his brother and keeps on fighting even after his brother's death.
• Big Bad: In DE, Melus ultimately ascends to this spot, facing the player directly in the second and third scenarios, while his scheming gets the Empire and Normans to attack Bari.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Dattus, Melus' brother and successor seems like a dangerous and tenacious opponent... who can be easily dealt with in record time, making him an Anticlimax Boss.
• Book Ends: The campaign begins with the siege of Bari and ends with the siege of Bari, only this time you're on the defender's side, while in the first scenario you're contributing to the siege itself.
• Cosmetic Award:
  • The HD Edition has "Bari Campaign Completed":
  "The Nautikos family valued its home greatly, and its family history and heritage instilled a drive in its heirs to bring glory to their house. Their exploits, though somewhat forgotten, are a source of pride to their descendants. That pride is a fine attribute, but it is best tempered with prudence and ethic. Take that advice on your future conquests."
  • DE replaced the achievement with "A Tale of One City".
• Cruel and Unusual Death: After being captured, Dattus has the gall to demand an honorable death: he's then put in a sack with a monkey, a rooster and an adder and tossed into the ocean.
• Downer Ending: In HD, Andreas loses all hope to defend Bari and quietly runs away on a ship to ports unknown. Downplayed in DE, where he's explicitly asked to leave the city by his father, but the scenario ends with the destruction of the Norman docks, with Andreas' evacuation taking place offscreen.
• Easy Level Trick: Two of them:
  • In HD The Rebellion of Melus, Melus won't actually start building a giant army until you trigger a certain event and join forces with the allied villages by taking a relic to Capua, for examples, but since you got a monk for free it's possible (if tedious) to build a force to attack Melus while he's unproductive.
  • In The Best Laid Plans, you can force Dattus to resign if you can destroy his Fortified Tower, located on a swampy patch of land in the middle of a bay, surrounded by Dattus' own base, and thus sounds like impregnable... unless you build a Dock in Capua and find out that you're allowed to create Elite Bombard Galleons (Dromons post Return of Rome). Once you have at least one, Dattus is out of the game.
• Kick the Dog: In The Onrushing Tide a bonus objective involves torching a Norman monastery to the ground for loot. Once you're done, a soldier actually express displeasure for doing so, but justifies it as hard times.
• Oh, Crap!: In the last scenario of DE, the Normans will express alarm if you target their siege weapons or naval workshops.
• The Siege:
  • Arrival at Bari: you have to help take Bari, either directly or indirectly.
  • The Rebellion of Melus: you have to escape Bari and take back the city to defeat Melus. In DE, you're also encouraged to take back the other city you didn't save so that you can count on an ally and remove a threat.
  • The Great Siege: a series of sidequests across a besieged city, which are ultimately All for Nothing as Andreas quit the whole thing to save his skin.
  • The Best Laid Plans: after building a stronghold in the Appennine, the Byzantine must Hold the Line against three different enemies (four, if Capua is conquered) for an hour, though they can take measures to help against the enemy. However, if the castle is destroyed, you can still win by simply steam-rolling and defeating all your opponents.
  • Onrushing Tide has the siege of Bari as background, having you sabotaging the Norman camps and holding out as much as possible. The scenario ends when the Normans are forced to fall back, allowing Stephanos to send ships requesting for reinforcements to Byzantium.
• Smug Snake: General Melus in DE will make patronizing threats once you secure yourself a base, and even more in the following scenario. He even spends his last years of exile scheming amongst the Papal and Imperial courts in order to have them attack Bari.
• Rousing Speech: In DE, Stephanos Paternanos will give out these during the siege of Bari to encourage the defenders.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the original, after finding out that Matera is allied with the Arabs you have to destroy it brick by brick, leaving only houses and walls. In DE you only have to destroy their castle to make them surrender.
• Strange Bedfellows: The Norman Mercenaries are enemies in the third scenario, but in the following one you can buy them off so that they'll launch sporadic attacks against Dattus and the Papal forces, with their leader lampshading the irony. Justified since, after all, it's mercenaries we're talking about.
• Villainous Legacy: In "The Rebellion of Melus", Melus sent out a call to barbarians across Europe and the Middle East and to help him rebel against the Byzantine Empire. After Bari is retaken and Melus fled and was killed soon afterwards, the barbarians remained and are now besieging Bari.

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