Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
While Spain was locked in a struggle between the Christian and Moorish kingdoms, Rodrigo Díaz - known as El Cid - had gained the widespread notoriety and respect from Christians and Moors alike. Facing a great invasion from a powerful Berber leader and exiled by the king he swore loyalty to, the Cid sought to establish and defend a fiefdom for himself. The player is in control of the Spanish and Saracens, the color being Red. Scenarios
1. Brother against Brother
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was a famed soldier who acquired his nickname "El Cid" from Moor and Christian alike, with the name a Spanish variation of the Arabic "al-sayyid" (the lord). He once served under King Ferdinand, and when said king died he left his realms to his sons: León to Alfonso and Castile to Sancho. With those two ultimately going into war over Alfonso's plot for supremacy of all of Christian Spain, The Cid served under Sancho. It was at Golpejera where after demonstrating his worth to the king, he rode out with the Castilians in order to defeat León and pacify Alfonso's ambitions. With the latter king defeated, the two discussed matters over dinner, then Sancho got assassinated, solidifying Alfonso's hold on the land. The Cid now serves under a different king – one distrustful of The Cid's popularity among the common people – and made him swear an oath on holy relics that he had nothing to do with Sancho's death.2. The Enemy of my Enemy
Alfonso sent The Cid to battle against the Moors, in the city of Toledo under Moorish control for so long that the two Abrahamic religions lived side by side with little issue. As an assassination of city leaders happened around the time, Alfonso sought to take advantage of the situation in order to pacify the subsequent unrest among Moorish and Spanish rebels. While some would suspect that The Cid was being put in harm's way by the king, he sought advice from a local imam as to how to stop the rebellion.3. The Exile of The Cid
Even while The Cid faithfully carried out his task and brought Toledo under Christian domain, Alfonso accused him of seeking personal glory over the crown and had him banished from Castile with only his horse Bavieca. But wherever he went, people had joined in his cause, and eventually he found himself a new lord to serve under. He joined in with the Moorish leader Motamid as he sought to fight off the Barcelonan lord Count Berenguer. Even while The Cid was still banished, and subjected to great hospitality in Zaragoza, he was still a faithful servant of Castile and talked Motamid into making a treaty to bring the city to Castilian hands. The Cid wasn't openly hostile to Alfonso, but had become enemies with the various Spanish lords uninterested in making treaties with the Moors.4. Black Guards
Alfonso once again grew suspicious of the clout The Cid gathered as he mustered a large force of Christians and Moors, forcing The Cid's hand by sending his personal army to invade Zaragoza. The Cid couldn't risk facing the wrath of the king he served under, forcing Motamid to seek reinforcements from the south. Berber leader Yusuf crossed the Strait of Gibraltar with thousands of men in the Black Guard, seeking to crush Alfonso's army.5. King of Valencia
Even while he assisted Alfonso and forced the Berbers back into Africa, The Cid still wasn't received well by King Alfonso, who had him exiled once again for not aiding the forces sooner. This time he was alone, wandering the unforgiving environs of Castile for quite some time until he saw more men, Christian and Moor alike, who sought to accompany him south and claim a fiefdom in Valencia. Even after he would conquer it, he would have to face his old foe Count Berengeur, who sought control of Southern Spain for himself.6. Reconquista
The peace The Cid had acquired after protecting Valencia was short lived, as Berbers under Yusuf had returned to Spain with a vengeance and laid siege to the city. And this time there is nobody that would come to The Cid's aid: Aragon was distant, Alfonso was in no hurry and Motamid was forcefully exiled to the Sahara as Yusuf assumed firm control of affairs in Moorish Spain. While Berbers surrounded Valencia, The Cid attempted to muster a counterattack and ambushed an encampment to raid resources. The plan had gone awry after he was struck by an arrow, prompting his men to retreat. He and his wife Jimena knew that he wouldn't live past the night, and Jimena knew that if others find out that their leader died, that it would be a blow to morale. So, she took his corpse and dressed it up atop Bavieca one last time, hoping that the ploy would buy time for the defenders to defeat the siege.This campaign contains examples of:
- Anachronism Stew: El Cid, in the 11th century, enlists the help of Conquistadors... who in the game take the form of a cavalry unit firing arquebus guns from horseback (disputable if even that was done, or if the pistol had to be invented first).
- Arch-Enemy: Rodrigo Diaz has Count Berenguer and later Yusuf.
- Artistic License – History:
- "The Enemy of My Enemy" is loosely based on the conquest of Toledo (1081-85), which El Cid did not participate in as he was in exile at the time (1081-87).
- Ferdinand gave the Kingdom of Galicia to his other son García, but Sancho and Alfonso quickly conquered it together before turning on each other. In fact, Sancho was every bit the cutthroat as Alfonso in real life.
- While Yusuf and his Berbers were indeed a threat, the Black Guard wouldn't be a thing for close to another six centuries.
- The fight and subsequent capture of Count Berengeur occured before El Cid's siege of Valencia.
- El Cid's death from his wounds was actually more a product of Hollywood than what actually happened. He died of natural causes.note
- Both El Cid and Alfonso had their personality exaggerated to emphasize their conflict. In real life, King Alfonso was not the evil man depicted, and had played a prominent role in defeating the Moors and reuniting Spain. While El Cid is an experience general, he too has his own ambition to consider, and his both exiles by Alfonso is actually more justified than simply jealousy (the first exile was due to El Cid's invading Moorish Kingdom without permission, and the second one may be a piece of a larger puzzle for Cid to claim Valencia as his own without resistance).
- Bittersweet Ending: The campaign ends with Valencia becoming a powerful kingdom led by Jimena... and with the death of El Cid.
- Butt-Monkey: King Sancho's peasants in the first scenario will send angry messages at you if your soldiers trample their fields, to the point of downright declaring war on you. However, sending El Cid will cause them to calm down and surrender.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: King Alfonso has his brother Sancho assassinated, exiles El Cid out of jealousy, calls El Cid back to help with dealing with the Black Guards... and exiles him again.
- Cosmetic Award:
- The HD Edition has "El Cid Campaign Completed":
"Throughout his conquests, El Cid was far more than a master at arms and noble, but was someone who could lead and unite the people. Even beyond his death, the legacy of his leadership was still more powerful than lesser rulers. Take his lessons with you on your own conquests."- Definitive Edition has "El Campeador"note , for completing the campaign, replacing the HD achievement.
- DE has another achievement for this campaign: "The Missionary"note .
- El Cid Ploy: "Reconquista" has the player carrying out the namesake ploy; El Cid's corpse is strapped to a horse, and the player must keep him alive until all enemies are defeated to ensure the ruse is successful. The body is its own faction in the scenario (colored the same as the player), and doesn't move at all. Any enemy contact with the body would arouse suspicion as to why their leader won't fight back, and the forces will lose their will to fight when finding out The Cid was dead.
- Failure Is the Only Option: "The King of Valencia" features El Cid defending a small friendly town of Denia from Count Berenguer's massive army. The player is intended to forfeit the town and retreat further towards Valencia. You can Take a Third Option if you are good at kiting and have Count Berenguer's army destroy itself (by having the onagers damage their knights, and then El Cid can destroy the siege weapons alone) and save Denia, but either way you have to leave the town as there is no gold or stone in the area.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: You spend the first two scenarios playing as the Spanish, only to be suddenly put in charge of a Saracen army in the third and fourth scenario. You return using the Spanish in the final two.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: King Sancho is bearded and King Alfonso clean-shaven. In the cutscenes, it's the opposite.
- The Hero Dies: The prologue to "Reconquista" talks about the death of El Cid and its potential impact in the Spanish armies.
- Hero Must Survive: Taken to its Logical Extreme with El Cid in "Reconquista". As this is a dead man in a horse, any enemy contact with him will raise suspicions, and its death will trigger a Non-Standard Game Over.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: King Alfonso due to Historical Villain Upgrade.
- Mercy Rewarded: The Black Guards, despite being enemies with El Cid, reward him with religious technologies if El Cid spares their mosque. Since the mosque is a useless decorative building, there is no reason not to spare it.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Tower of Agony in "Reconquista" has 47 Attack and 16 Range which allows it to wreck any naval unit with frightening efficiency. It's almost the sole reason why you need to have Cannon Galleons in the first place.
- Narrator All Along: The campaign is narrated by his widow Jimena.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: The actress playing Jimena Díaz makes a good Castilian accent (specially considering that she's speaking in English the whole time), but she outs herself as Latin American when she says proper names (e.g. "Golpejera").
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Motamid is friendly towards Rodrigo and even helps him both with the revolt of Toledo and by taking him in when he's exiled.
- Scripted Event: The Tournament in "Brother Against Brother".
- Slave Mooks: The Black Guards.
- The Siege: "Reconquista" has your forces fending off one.
- Take a Third Option: "King of Valencia" involves El Cid reaching the peaceful town of Denia... which is quickly put into siege by Count Berenguer of Barcelona with a sizable army. Your tiny army of El Cid, some Spearmen and Skirmishers cannot defeat several Knights, Battering Rams and Onagers, so you have to flee the town (where some Pikemen flank you). However, El Cid can kite the Knights for them to suffer from Friendly Fire damage from the Onagers, allowing you to save the town once the Knights are dead and the siege weapons become defenseless. Either way, the lack of gold or stone near the town forces you to reach Valencia anyways.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Many of the events have stemmed from Alfonso's distrust of The Cid, in spite of the latter's great loyalty.
