"Stand up to Cardinal Lucius and help Marie d'Artois defend her City."
Caught in a Trap is the sixth Chapter in the Campaign. It takes place within a new region, and puts the player in charge of an Island belonging to Marie d'Artois while she recovers from the previous battle. It is the first Chapter where the player comes face-to-face with Cardinal Lucius, the wicked warmonger himself, and the spike in difficulty is immediately noticeable. This Chapter introduces Island Defense and Land Combat using Military Encampments. It is also the first Chapter with clear time constraints, as Cardinal Lucius sends waves of attacks on a constant timer.
The Chapter is designed to be a hectic race against the clock as you try to survive against the increasingly more aggressive Cardinal Lucius. This guide aims to maintain that feeling while also making sure the player is never put at an unfair disadvantage. With some additional preparation, these steps can also be used for harder difficulties. It should be noted that there is no single best strategy for beating this Chapter. Players are encouraged to experiment and try different strategies for themselves.
- Note: The Military Achievement "Man the Battlements!" requires the player to beat this Chapter under Hard starting conditions without losing a single Military encampment. The strategy discussed in this guide should be sufficient for achieving this, though players are obviously not expected to do this on their first try.
Introduction[]
- "Flotsam and burning wrecks lined the Coast. The air was thick with gunpowder and smoke. Guy Forcas's Fleet suffered a crushing blow, but the War was far from over! A mighty Army under Cardinal Lucius's command was already on the march. Marie d'Artois was to pay for her change of heart with her life. Thus decreed Lucius, whose advance party would soon reach Marie's Lands."
Battered and weak, you and Marie d'Artois arrive at her Fortress island, Edenisle, just in time. A little later, an enraged Cardinal Lucius reaches the shore of an Island nearby and swears he will seek revenge on you for thwarting the Crusade. Overwhelmed by the latest battle, Marie d'Artois asks you to defend her City against Cardinal Lucius.
The last bastion 
[]
- Objective: Defend Marie d'Artois's Keep in the Centre of Edenisle.
In Cardinal Lucius you are facing an opponent who does not shy away from conflict. He will not rest until the Keep in the Centre of Edenisle's Island is in ruins.
Once this has fallen, all will be lost...
The Chapter starts with 15 minutes of setup time, which we will use to familiarise ourselves with the controls of Military units and prepare for the upcoming battle. We will also start construction of a Small warship to help us with an upcoming quest.
The first sortie []
- Objective: Create 1 small or large Encampment at the Keep and position it just outside the City.
Use one of the buttons in the Keep menu to create a small or large Encampment. Now position it on a free place just outside the City.
Small Encampments are cheaper to buy, but they are not as robust as large Encampments.
Well-prepared defences are the only stalwarts against the Cardinal's legions. Time is pressing!
It is advised to start with a Small encampment. While Large encampments have high health and attack, they move slowly and take a while to set up. The Small encampment's agility will be ideal for these first few quests. Place the encampment just outside the City Gates behind the Keep. It won't be long before our troops are ready to receive their first orders.
Command []
- Objective: Inspect the Encampment in front of the Gates of Edenisle and familiarise yourself with how it can be deployed.
Inspection complete.
Every Encampment has a certain Influence radius, within which certain Buildings are protected from enemy attacks and takeovers.
Any enemy Units in the Influence radius will automatically be attacked and enemy buildings will be captured.
As you have now taken command of Marie d'Artois's Troops, you should quickly learn all about them.
By activating Military mode ('M' by default) we can see the Influence radius and the Attack range of all Military units. The Influence radius is the solid inner-circle. Enemy units cannot relocate into this Radius, and Trade buildings within this range will be captured if there's no other Military units in range to protect it. The Attack range shows the maximum reach of your units.
Defending the homeland []
- Objective: Move 1 Encampments to the clearing near the Harbour in the South.
Southern location.
Left-click to select an Encampment, activate the button for the Order to move, and enter your target destination. An Army baggage train will immediately set off for the target destination to set up a new Encampment there.
Kardinal Lucius's Armies are approaching from the South. Prepare to defend yourself!
The movement speed of the Army baggage train is determined by the type of Encampment they're transporting. The Small encampment has the fastest movement speed of the three types of Occidental Troops. Still, it will take a while before the camp is in position. We can't waste any time though. Let's continue preparations for the incoming invasion.
Mobilisation []
Location of encampments.
- Objective: Build 2 additional Encampments.
In the Keep menu you can use the relevant buttons to levy the various types of Military unit.
The only defence against Cardinal Lucius's advancing Army is a powerful Army of your own!
Let's build two more Encampments so we have 2 Large and 1 Small encampment. Instead of placing them in the clearing with the original camp, we can place them a bit more aggressively near the beach. This is where the actual invasion will take place. We will also move our Small military camp to this location for support.
Repair work []
- Objective: Complete the City wall in Edenisle between the City gate and the two Towers.
The old City wall may have seen better days, but the essential parts are still there. The Town's Population will feel much safer once the gaps have been filled in...
Building walls and towers requires large amounts of Stone. Let's make sure we have a steady supply coming in by building 2 Stonemason's huts. It's ideal to use the two Stone deposits that are in range of a Market building for this.
Defence from above []
- Objective: Build 3 Watchtowers or Fortified towers to protect the City.
Building Towers increases the City's defences. Enemy Units in their line of sight are automatically attacked.
As they are positioned on the City wall itself, Towers also reinforce the protective Wall around Marie d'Artois's Keep.
You should do all in your power to protect both yourself and Marie d'Artois against Kardinal Lucius's Troops...
We are given the option between the Watchtower and the Fortified tower. The Fortified tower is a Nobleman building, and can be seen as a direct upgrade to the Watchtower. This also means the Fortified tower is more expensive to build, however, costing Glass and War machines instead of Weapons. Luckily, we are given just enough War machines to build three Fortified towers.
Towers are a great way to protect Market buildings from being captured by enemy troops. Build a Fortified tower next to each of the two Medium market buildings in the South of the Island, and place the third next to the Small market building we used to place the Stonemason's hut. We will see later why this is important.
Important: There's a chance the game will not register every Tower if you place them in quick succession, so take your time to pick a nice spot for them.
Troop supplies []
- Objective: Produce 10t Provisions in the Provision storehouse at Edenisle.
The supply of Provisions enables you to heal your battered Troops. This happens automatically via the Market building, but it can also be set for individual Troops in the Units menu.
In the fight against Kardinal Lucius you will need every Sword you can muster! You should therefore try to avoid losses.
Location of provisions house.
Left-click the Provision house to manually start this quest. Provisions can be created in 3 different sizes, with each size of Provisions requiring different Goods. Since we need to provide 
10t Provisions, we'll create a Medium provisions package. These Provisions will help our Troops stay in battle for longer, so we want to make sure to have them available during the battle.
The first 10 tons of Provisions will quickly deplete once our Troops engage in battle. We can take some steps to ensure we can produce more once the first batch is used up. We're receiving small deliveries of Leather jerkins from Marie's ships. We can reserve these for the production of Provisions by denying our Patricians and Noblemen access to them.
We can also increase our Beer production. Out of the 10 Crop farms on the Island, 2 are used for producing Beer. We're also receiving small amounts of Herbs from Marie's trading ships, but that's not going to be enough. We'll build 2 Monastery gardens and 1 additional Monastery brewery to boost our Beer production. Once we're creating a surplus of these Goods, we can use them for creating Provisions throughout the fight.
The evacuation []
- Objective: Rescue the Inhabitants of Fingal in the Southeast of the region.
Help Theodore!
Kardinal Lucius's Troops are assembling on one of Marie d'Artois's Islands and are threatening the rural Population! Theodore and the other Peasants live in fear that they will be overrun by enemy Knights at any minute!
They are doomed if you don't rescue them!
This quest automatically starts once there is 5 minutes remaining until the first wave of enemies arrives. Alternatively, it can be started manually by selecting the Warehouse of the invaded island in the Southeast of the region. Send your Flagship to the Island to pick up the poor guy. After dropping Theodore off at Edenisle, he mentions that his brothers tried to escape Kardinal Lucius's wrath by Ship as well. Maybe we should look for them...
Important: This quest fails if you have not picked up Theodore before Cardinal Lucius send his first wave of attacks.
The search for Theodore's brothers[]
- Objective: Look for survivors in the reefs North and West of Bushelhill.
Two Peasant Ships left the Island shortly after the invasion, but there has been no word from them since.
Theodore is worried his brothers might have gotten stuck on the nearby reefs.
Escape with difficulties []
- Objective: Deliver the following Goods to the stranded Jacques the Peasant: 10t Tools • 10t Ropes
Not all the Peasant Ships managed to get away. After an attack by Kardinal Lucius, Jacques the Peasant just managed to get his badly damaged Ship to a deserted Island. However, there's no way he can leave without your help.
- Reward: 15t War machines
In terrible distress []
- Objective: Destroy Kardinal Lucius's Ships to save Yves the Peasant and his People.
A few of Kardinal Lucius's Spy ships have spotted one of the Peasant ships leaving Fingal, and have pursued it to a small Island.
Yves the Peasant and his People need your help urgently!
The Peasant ship is locked down by two Small warships. It would be foolish to take them on by ourselves. If we take them on one at a time, we only need to build one additional Small warship. Once the construction is completed, make sure to take Kardinal Lucius's ships on one at a time by approaching from the side. Once the first one is defeated, use your undamaged Ship to attack first. This way the damage will be divided between the Ships, keeping both alive for later.
The baptism of fire []
- Objective: Destroy Kardinal Lucius's vanguard at the Harbour of Edenisle.
Deploy your Troops near the enemy. Right-click on Kardinal Lucius's Encampment to launch an attack.
You must now demonstrate that you can lead Marie d'Artois's Troops victoriously into battle!
Once the first 15 minutes are up, Kardinal Lucius finishes his invasion of Fingal and renames the Island to Bushelhill. He will then send the first three Transport ships to invade our Island, along with three Large warships. While the Large warships don't attack until they've reached their positions near our Island, there is no reason to destroy the Transport ships, since the same Troops will deploy each time; One Bridgehead and two Small encampments. We can take this moment to check out Bushelhill's Harbour, however. It's actually a pretty cool transformation.
The first Transport ship will be used to create a Castle, from which the other Units can enter the Island. Similar to Ship Combat, the best strategy is to manually target all your Troops to a single Enemy, before dealing with the second one. Once the two Encampments have been dealt with, make sure to move the Encampments out of the Castle's range. The Castle is invincible, and deals a lot of damage, so we'll want to stay away from it.
Note: The timer for the next wave of attacks does not start until the two encampments have been defeated.
Fisherman's huts []
- Objective: Build 3 Fisherman's huts.
Lucius will paralyse our Food supply to demoralise us... Relocate the Fisherman's huts to the Beach in the North... it is safer there!
After the first attack has been successfully pushed back, it is time to repair the damage that was done. Build a new Market building North of the City gates and place three new Fisherman's huts to ensure your people don't have to go hungry. We might also notice a quest arrow hovering above the Market building next to the Keep. Let's see what that's all about.
Noble privileges []
- Objective: Provide permanent accommodation in the Town for 333 Noblemen.
You cannot even think of financing the War without levying Taxes from the Noble folk! Keep the Economy running at all costs.
The Noblemen in the City are ignoring reports of the impending War and want to continue their carefree existence.
The Noblemen want not only the Keep to remain standing, but also the inner-city. Let's make sure the fighting stays far away from them by adding a second row of City walls around our town. Start by adding a Gatehouse next to the Market building at the city limits and expand the Wall from there. We can also add Towers to further increase our Defences. This will ensure we have a safe area to retreat to.
Iron rations []
- Objective: Secure supplies of Military equipment for your Army. Build 2 War machines workshops.
Weapons and War machines are required to create Encampments and Trebuchets. Ensure you have enough supplies and that you are producing adequate quantities of Iron.
You should not ignore the penetrating power of heavy War equipment in your fight against Kardinal Lucius.
This is the only way of defeating your adversary.
Wars are fought with Iron and Gold. We can build a new Iron production chain around the Ore deposit East of the City. This Iron will allow us to run both of our Weapon smithies at full productivity, while also keeping our Tools production going. We can place the requested War machines workshops nearby. War machines workshops require Wood and Ropes to produce War machines. With the surplus we've been building up since the start of the Chapter, we should be able to run our War machines workshops for quite some time. We cannot afford to fall behind in this race against Cardinal Lucius.
Once we start producing War machines, we can start placing Trebuchet positions behind our new City wall. Trebuchet positions have access to Ranged combat, allowing them to damage opponents without retaliation, and from behind the safety of the City walls. This will be perfect for keeping Cardinal Lucius at bay.
Divine visions []
- Objective: Build a new Warehouse on the Beach in the North of Edenisle.
Without a Warehouse, Ships cannot moor at your Island to trade Goods.
Kardinal Lucius's attack on Marie d'Artois's Harbour is blocking the delivery of Goods from the surrounding Islands!
Follow Marie d'Artois's divine vision to restore supplies to the Island!
A shiny new Warehouse!
Kardinal Lucius will send his Warships to destroy your Warehouse as soon as the first Encampments of the second wave land on your Island. Once he does, you will lose access to 25 tons of Storage capacity, as well as the Small shipyard. After the Warships destroy the Warehouse, Marie has a vision showing her where the new one should be built. Follow her instructions and place the new Warehouse North of the city, near the Fisherman's huts we placed earlier. We can expand our Harbour with a Pier to deal with the large number of Trading ships delivering Goods to us. We'll also upgrade our Warehouse once to regain some of the Storage capacity we lost.
Important: Make sure to build the new Warehouse as soon as the old one is destroyed, as our City cannot function without the supplies delivered by Marie's ships. Don't wait until you've defeated Lucius's Troops.
The Cardinal's madness[]
- Objective: Survive against Kardinal Lucius's growing army.
Kardinal Lucius will stop at nothing to make Marie d'Artois pay for her sins.
We won't be able to keep up the fight like this for long.
Once the second wave of Troops arrives, the onslaught does not stop anymore. If we want to get out of this with all our Troops still alive, we'll have to start backing off. Note that Encampments cannot relocate while they're under siege. To get around this, we'll use Fortified towers to draw the enemy's aggression. Our Encampments can give Assistance to the Tower to indirectly damage and hold up Lucius's camps, while still keeping the option to relocate once the Tower falls. Keep an eye on the health of your Troops, as they will still take damage while giving Assistance, and place damaged camps behind the safety of the City walls.
Replacing what was lost[]
- Objective: Replace the destroyed Manufactories.
Marie d'Artois's city depends on the supply of the Cider farms and Hemp plantations outside the City. We must replace these if we want our people to stay content.
The valley in the Northwest of Marie d'Artois's Island is secluded enough to be safe from Kardinal Lucius's attacks.
This is the best place to rebuild the basic supply chains destroyed by enemy attacks.
Hemp and Cider, reborn!
Kardinal Lucius's Troops will actively seek out and destroy the Market buildings outside of the City. Once they are captured or destroyed, Marie will ask us to build new farms in the clearing in front of Barnabas's Castle.
Cider farms []
- Objective: Build 3 Cider farms
Hemp plantations []
- Objective: Build 3 Hemp plantations
The eye of the enemy []
- Objective: Find the 3 Spies.
Spiteful spies.
Kardinal Lucius will stop at nothing to implement his War strategy. His Spies are already exploring Marie d'Artois's City, on the lookout for any weak spots in the defences.
They must not under any circumstances be allowed to return to their master!
As the battle progresses, Marie will warn us about Spies in the inner-city. We are given plenty of time to find them, so make sure your Troops have the upperhand before moving the inner-city to look for them.
Meeting the Robber baron[]
- Objective: Create a road connection to the Robber baron castle.
As soon as news of the war reaches Barnabas, the Robber baron, he is eager to join in the fight to protect the City of his dear Marie.
Create a Road connection to the Gates of his castle to gain access to Robber baron camps.
Barnabas's men are the most experienced soldiers you'll find on the Island.
The Robber baron camps take the same amount of Military budget as Small encampments. Comparatively, they have slightly more health but deal less damage. We can use them to support our outer-city.
In the grip of Barnabas []
- Objective: Hand over the Spies to Barnabas.
Marie's former instructor Barnabas has many ways of guaranteeing that Kardinal Lucius's captured Spies will talk...
After you find the 3 Spies, Barnabas will ask you to hand them over to him. Give them to him and he will show you the locations of two Oriental Miner positions. Take them out using a combination of Towers and Robber baron camps, before they can damage our defenses.
Note: Around this time your stone deposits might dry up, which the game will notify you about. Click on a Stone quarry and use the replenish button to refill stone in the quarry. You can also hold 'Shift' while clicking to replenish all stone quarries on the island.
A glimmer of hope []
- Objective: Use an Expedition ship to send Al Zahir a Distress call.
Socket and activate the message from Marie d'Artois's Warehouse in one of your Ships to send it to Al Zahir.Al Zahir may still be able to turn the tide if he is informed in good time.
Time is of the essence!
Faced with the inevitable defeat against the madness-driven Cardinal, Marie d'Artois has written a message for Al Zahir requesting assistance. Transfer the Item from your Warehouse to a Ship and Left-click it to activate it. Send out the Distress call as soon as you can, because the Grand vizier still has a long ways to go before reaching you!
At the last second []
- Objective: Board Al Zahir's Ship.
Al Zahir's Ship is now anchored in the Northern Harbour and is just waiting for you to board.
Don't leave it too long, because if you are captured by Cardinal Lucius, his rage will be terrible indeed...
If we've completed all quests (I hope you found all of Theodore's brothers), we can immediately board Al Zahir's Ships to end the Chapter. Alternatively, you can continue to defend and see how long you can survive against the Cardinal's fury. Just make sure to keep enough Noblemen around to complete the "Noble privileges" quest.
Ending in-game cutscene[]
Marie d'Artois is pleased to have escaped alive, and suggests that you report back to the Emperor immediately! Heinrich van Bergen and the remaining Inhabitants of the Town have been evacuated on Al Zahir's Ships. Kardinal Lucius sends his next wave of henchmen towards you. A furious Kardinal Lucius threatens you with revenge.
Other images[]
First wave
Relocate the encampments
Tower location
