Recap pages are Spoilers Off by default, so in all these pages all spoilers are unmarked. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned
The once powerful and respected Ghana Empire has fallen, and the king of the Sosso, Sumanguru, is now ready to take over their domain and forge a powerful empire. Rumored to be a powerful sorcerer, Old Ghana and the Mandinkan Kingdom are about to be conquered by his ruthless armies and dreaded reputation, but there's still hope. The young and crippled Mali Prince Sundjata, rumored to have been chosen by the Heaven, dares to defy Sumanguru's forces and sorcery and takes arm to resist the tyrant. Will he be able to forge the greatest empire ever seen in Western Africa?The player is in control of the Malians, the color being Purple.
Scenarios
1. Hunted
Because of a jealous wife, Sundjata and his mother were exiled by the court and into the distant land of Mema. Upon returning, Sundjata learns that the Sosso have arrived, and are pillaging the city. With the help of a few loyal troops scattered in the nearby savannah, the young Prince must escape the doomed city of Niani, find help and break through the fortified Sosso camp to escape.2. The Sting of the Scorpion
Having successfully escaped the Sosso, Sundjata plans to oppose this sorcerous tyrant, but his forces are few and ignored. Taking advantage of this, Sundjata plans to show his power to the local tribes in order to form an alliance with them. Claiming to have a powerful artifact capable of neutralizing Sumanguru's dark magic in the form of his old baobab crutch, the Prince set out to show his superiority to the various clans and make them submit to his rule.3. Djeriba Gold
The Mandinkan have gathered a large force and allied tribes, but Sumanguru's power is still way out of their league. Tales of an unsatisfied Arab merchant from the north tells of the extremely bountiful riches of the capital city of Djenne, especially its mines of gold and salt, the blood of Sumanguru's mighty domain. Soon, Sundjata concots a daring plan and prepares to strike at the blood of Sumanguru's kingdom by ransacking the gold and salt mines around Djenne and disrupting the markets. In this way, Sumanguru's allies will lose their income of riches and the foreign merchants of Arabia will lend a hand to the Mandinkan Prince.4. Blood on the River Bank
Furious for the loss of Djenne and the damage caused by the Mandinkan, Sumanguru himself has decided to take matters in his own hands. Sundjata and his Malian troops prepare to face the Sosso on the sandy banks of the Niger river, surrounded by enemies and lacking lumber. As Sumanguru's balophon sounds, the soldiers prepare to fight.5. The Lion's Den
Against all odds, the Malian have triumphed. Defeated and abandoned by his allies, Sumanguru has fled in the far city of Koumbi Saleh, a well-defended stronghold from which he plans to keep opposing the Malian forces and doing battle against Sundjata time and time again... but the Mandinkin Prince won't have any of it, as he quickly sends his own army after the tyrant. Sundjata knows that his newly-forged empire won't last long if Sumanguru's left alive, so he prepares to settle his score once and for all.This Campaign contains examples of:
- Achilles' Heel: In the fourth scenario, Sumanguru can produce troops nearly non-stop, but he has no way to rebuild his buildings. Similarly, one of the few saving graces of the last scenario is that he won't hire additional troops, which is a life saver, given his humongous army of elite troops.
- Animal Motifs: Lions for both Sumanguru and Sundjata.
- Anachronism Stew: Malian troops have access to gunpowder units, though the first records of cannons in African warfare date to 1260 AD, around 25 years after the battle of Koumbi Saleh.
- Bad Boss: Implied with Sumanguru, best seen in the fourth scenario where both his allies can be persuaded to join you:
- Fakoli are Only in It for the Money and fear Sumanguru, so they will ask you for a 1000 gold tribute and to buid a Castle in their domain. If you comply, they will side against Sumanguru.
- Mema has his daughter kept hostage in a small outpost. If you manage to release her and bring her back safe to her father, Mema will ally with you and provide you with a nearly infinite supply of Gbeto.
- Been There, Shaped History: Downplayed, but the Djeli narrator claimed to have recovered Sumanguru's balophon from the battlefield.
- Call-Back: The final scenario is an updated take on the "Pyrrhus of Epirus" scenario from Age of Empires: Rise of Rome. It also includes expies of the Mirror Towers in the form of Naval Fortresses.
- Climax Boss: The battle of the Niger River is meant to be this, the moment where Sumanguru is finally defeated for the first time and Sundjata can make his domain strong and powerful.
- Cosmetic Award:
- The HD Edition has "Sundjata Campaign Completed". DE replaced the achievement with "King of Africa".
- DE has two more for the campaign: "With the Help of My Sisters"note and "Roar like a Lion"note .
- Damsel in Distress: The Mema Princess in the fourth scenario is held prisoner in one of Sumanguru's camps. If you manage to release her and take her alive to the Mema camp, they will switch side out of gratitude.
- Final Boss: Sumanguru himself and his humongous army are faced one last time in his extremely-well fortified city of Koumbi Saleh, in a scenario which is considered among the hardest ever devised.
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Good Bad Bugs: An infamous bug in Blood on the River Bank has the Mema producing one Gbeto per second once they're allied, which allows you to Zerg Rush the enemy to death under a stream of never-ending, knife-throwing Fragile Speedster units. - Guile Hero: While Sundjata is The Good King, he's aware that he cannot defeat Sumanguru on his own, and resorts to strategies aimed at weakening the Sosso's power and damaging their economy. Under such distress, Sumanguru's allies begin to falter and pull back.
- Not Worth Killing: Sumanguru decides to let Sundjata live for the time being, as he deems the crippled Mandinkin prince unworthy of his time. This comes back to bite him in the ass when Sundjata does grow strong and influential enough to turn the table on him.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Sumanguru claims to be able to use sorcery to control the outcome of his battles and said to be invulnerable to conventional weapons. Probably not the case since his balophon fails him during the battle of the Niger and he can be killed the usual way in The Lion's Den.
