The initial battle on the scenario 4 of Ismail seems undoable

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

From how I’ve tried many times, the initial battle on Ismail 4 seems not possible.

Many people already said that the battle is not that hard, but compared how I felt, I think the scenario may have unintentionally changed a bit…? Because sometimes a game update unknowingly affects campaign A.I.s.

I’ve tried both direct breakthrough and defeating them little by little, but neither of them helped me.

Even killing Shaybani Khan early doesn’t help a lot, because there’re too many enemy units. Even after killing him, the remaining enemy units still overwhelm me by outnumbering.

I don’t think the Ismail campaign itself is hard, but this part on the scenario 4 looks somehow unfair though it would’ve been fine before or during tests.

2

I have not played the map but hopefully I can help you.

My general strategy for single player campaigns is using the pause button to help me micro better. Try wall yourself in, and establish a defensive position. Try use monk mechanics to convert new units and heal units. Try secure an enemy market so you can use it for trade, with an influx of gold from 10 trade cards you should be able to produce more gold intensive units and be able to overpower your enemy.

In certain scenarios enemies start off very weak, try rush them and weaken them.

3

It is doable if you micro properly and understand the basics of hill advantage, cavalry tanking and kiting.

It’s a bit at the limit (on Hard difficulty), but I had to retry it only once before succeeding.

4

How I did it:

  1. Never go for reckless charges, i. e., let shock cavalry shock and Cav Archers fire at will. You will surely beat the first enemy bands but your troops will come out battered in a way every upcoming fight will be harder until you eventually be defeated by sheer numbers.

  2. Lure enemies out with your cavalry and shoot them with Cav Archers. Keep an eye on low HP enemies to finish them off first so you take less damage. Do the same with your own low HP units: take them off the fray so enemies have to pursue them while being hit by your units.

  3. Your priority is to defend Cav Archers, because they can hit without being hit so they can survive longer. Every time enemies go for your CAs, retreat and lure them back to your melee cav.

  4. Hit the nearer bands inside the city to lure them out then retreat behind the palisades. The time they lose circling the wall to get at you favours CAs fire.

  5. When entering the city to face the innermost bands, be careful not to engage with multiple enemy parties. They will leave patrol once you start attacking a group and the situation might snowball real quickly.

  6. Always use the area between your starting point and the city for running away and outmaneuvering pursuing enemies. In fact, most battles should take place there. After you have the numbers to simply outmuscle the remaining raiders, then you can go inside and battle a little bit carelessly - providing you did not lose many units.