Dracula’s campaign has plenty of issues. Beside the obvious playing as Turks, Magyars and Slavs, I should also point about about Dracula’s campaign that it’s not 100% historically accurate.
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In Mission 1, the 3 Romanian voivods: didn’t exist, don’t have Romanian names, are supposed to be called boyars not voivods. Jakub, Mircea and Istvan are not real people who helped Vlad the Impaler, they are not even proper Wallachian names, except for Mircea. Voivod, at the time of Dracula, meant ruler of the country. Only Dracula himself was voivod. The others were boyars.
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Mission 1 fix, use real people who actually helped Vlad III instead of generic not even Romanian names: Vintila Florescu (nobleman), Neagoe de la Strehaia (most powerful of his allies, nobleman, ruler of Craiova), Giacu Balaceanu (nobleman), Udriste Manea (nobleman). All of them could be Heroes such as La Hire.
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Mission 1 fix 2, in mission objectives say “boyar” instead of “voivode”: Wallachian Boyars (Romanians): The three boyars control fortified positions in the southern half of the map, Vintila Florescu commanding the east, Neagoe de la Strehaia the center and Giacu Balaceanu the western force. They each give Vlad a quest and grant control of some of their troops upon initiating their quests.
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In Mission 2, at the end of the intro in the 2nd mission it says: “Bogdan II, Dracula’s cousin and the new Voiveod of Moldavia” . This is not correct. Bogdan II was Dracula’s uncle. His son, was Vlad’s cousin, Prince Stephen who helped him take back Wallachia in this 2nd mission. And years later, Stephen III of Moldavia who helped him get back on the throne one last time (insert Fast and Furious one last ride meme).
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Mission 2 fix If a voice editor could be used to change “cousin” into “uncle” it would be great. And maybe have Prince Stephen come with you when you leave Moldavia in game (or possible co-op partner, I’ll get to that later)
Moldavia’s timeline:
→ Bogdan II is ruler.
→ Vlad comes to Moldavia to his uncle, his cousin Prince Stephen joins him and helps him.
→ While Stephen is in Wallachia helping Vlad, is father is killed by his uncle who takes the throne.
→ Vlad the Impaler, now ruler of Wallachia, helps Prince Stephen to take back his throne (not a mission in the game)
→ Prince Stephen becomes Stephen III of Moldavia, and actually rules for 47 years and turns out a pretty good ruler.
→ Years later (after mission 4, before mission 5), Stephen III of Moldavia talks with Matthias Corviuns of Hungary to release Vlad’s release from prison and helps him take his throne. He leaves him 200 bodyguards and leaves for Moldavia. Eager for a new partnership against the Ottomans, as in time Moldavia also became hostile to the Ottomans, with the future looking like both Wallachia and Moldavia will combine their forces against the Ottomans, but Vlad dies in battle one year and a half later.
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In Mission 4 → Not sure why this isn’t mentioned, but it’s worth pointing out that Vlad was waiting for reinforcements from Hungary, as they promised since the beginning of the war (they were supposed to arrive since mission 3 at Giurgiu, he made an Alliance with Hungary before going to war with the Ottomans, and the Hungarians promised support). Instead, not only not sending reinforcements at Giurgiu or Targoviste, but when Vlad was defeated and came to Hungary, King Mathias betrayed and imprisoned Vlad, to be cool with the Ottomans.
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Mission 4 fix Perhaps this should be mentioned in the outro. Basically, King Mathias tricked Vlad to fight a war alone, promising he’ll come with the army in Wallachia but never did, and when he lost, King Mathias imprisoned him to secure good relations with the Ottomans. (Kind of poetic, Vlad hated treachery)
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In Mission 5 → Even the history from the AoE2 wikia says he ruled 3 times, but in-game he dies during his attempt to take back his throne from the last time (Supported by Stephen III of Moldavia, who isn’t anywhere on the map): “was Voivode of Wallachia three times: first in 1448, then in 1456 to 1462, and once more in 1476/77.”
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Mission 5 fix → Fixing the historical inaccuracy at the end saying he died in battle. Actually he won. This can be easily checked by Wikipedia saying he reign 3 times. He died 1 and a half year after that, betrayed by the boyars and given to the Ottomans (which is ironic considering he hated treachery the most). But he didn’t die in that battle as the game says.
EXTRA CONTENT: CO-OP, HEROES & 1 EXTRA MISSION
- In mission 1, player 1 could play with Dracula as Romanian (loyal Wallachian retinue) and player 2 play as Turks (Mustafa Hassan gave him the Turkish troops but didn’t personally lead the army).
- In mission 2, Prince Stephen could be the co-op partner. (real person)
- In missions 3 and 4, Commander Gales could be the co-op partner. (real person)
- In mission 5 Stephen III of Moldavia could be the co-op partner. (real person)
Commander Gales was a nobleman & general who helped Vlad in his campaigns, he failed to attack the Ottoman Camp from the east during the night attack, while Vlad the Impaler attacked from the west; some sources blame Gales for the failure of the night attack and wonder why he didn’t attack, whether it was intentional or miscommunication.
The following characters could be Heroes, it would add to immersion:
- Vintila Florescu, Champion (pro-Dracula boyar from mission 1)
- Neagoe de la Strehaia, Paladin (pro-Dracula boyar from mission 1)
- Giacu Balaceanu, Arbalester (pro-Dracula boyar from mission 1)
- Prince Stephen, Hussar (Dracula’s cousin from missions 2/5, not yet voivod)
- Stephen III of Moldavia, Unique Model Paladin (Dracula’s cousin from missions 2/5, voivod)
- Commander Gales, Knight (general in service of Dracula in missions 3/4)
A POSSIBLE NEW 6TH MISSION BETWEEN MISSIONS 2 & 3 - THE DEBT OF THE DRAGON
Making reference to the fact that Vlad pays his debt to Prince Stephen. → The Invasion of Moldavia to depose Prince Stephen’s uncle (Petru Aron) who just killed Stephen’s father to take the throne.
You invade Moldavia from the south with 2 Romanian armies (in co-op), one led by Dracula another led by Prince Stephan, and have to capture Doljești, Orbic and finally the capital city Suceava. After that Petru Aron flees to Poland an Stephen is crowned king/voivod. Vlad paid his debt and returns home.
In this mission, just like in mission 2, the player 1 is Dracula and player 2 is Prince Stephen.
Oh, and for something more AoE2-styled:
A historical novel about Vlad the Impaler.