The first Player/Team who discovers the solution on how to defeat the Tapir Witches will win two game prizes.
After that everybody else will have another chance to win 1 of the 10 remaining prizes.
This will be my final contest hosting for AOE3.
This scenario requires both TWC and TAD.
For more information read on.
The Story (Fictional)
Legend has it about a strange land in the new world where Gold and other resources fall from the sky.
Many armies went on a quest to find this strange rich land but none of them has returned.
It is believed that the Tapir Witches rule this land and that no one can challenge them and survive.
The Tapir Witches control armies of wild animals consisted of lions, grizzly bears, and cougars.
It is believed that these animals used to be human once before they were turned into animals by the Tapir Witches powerful spells.
Those who were unlucky were turned into
Will you be brave enough to face the Tapir Witches?
Will you be able to discover the secret on how to defeat them?
Finally you made it to this strange land with your ally but you are not alone.
Your enemies made it to this land too.
You will have to defeat them in battle before you face the Tapir Witches.
The ground color in this land is mostly Red, probably from so many battles that were fought here.
The land has few resources that are scattered around but luckily several drop sites can be found where you can collect gold and other resources.
These resources fall out of the sky right into the drop sites, but no one knows why.
You will have to fight for the control of these drop sites in order to gain economical superiority.
Many Sacred Cows can also be found around the map along with Yaks and Water Buffalos.
Unfortunately these animals are very hard to kill (due to huge HP).
Even if you manage to kill one of them it will come back to life almost immediately.
These Sacred Cows used to be powerful mercenaries before the Tapir Witches turned them into Immortal Cows.
Luckily you have allied with a powerful Ninja who used to be a Wizard once (but that is another story) and he showed you to the magical “Fire Circle”.
The
But that is not all, the Fire Circle can break the
You and you ally have your own Fire Circles and it is crucial that you capture as many Sacred Cows as you can and send them inside the Fire Circle.
Once they arrive to the Fire Circle they will turn back to their original mortal Human Mercenary form and swear legions to you till death.
Unfortunately, your enemies have their own Fire Circles and they will try to use it to recruit as many mercenaries as possible.
Your first objective is to fight your enemies and annihilate them.
They are very strong with huge HP and it is impossible to kill them with conventional methods.
However, there a secret magical way to inflict huge damage upon the Tapir Witches.
If you don’t the Tapir Witches will turn your entire army into Cows and then blow up your entire base!
New Features
1.
These powerful mercenaries will then join your army and fight for you.
These powerful mercenaries include: General Custer, Alain, Shogun (that can train stealth warriors), Daiymo (that can train Japanese warriors), Mameluke, Elmeti, Grand Cannon, Heavy Cannon, Black Riders, Swiss Pikemen, and more….
2.
3.
Your Ninja is also super fast and you can use him to raid enemy villagers that collect resources at remote drop sites.
You can even Teleport your armies to you Ninja (see next feature).
4.
You can even teleport buildings from the Teleport Court.
5.
6.
You have to discover the secret magical way to defeat them before they turn your entire army into Cows.
There is a 10 minute time limit to defeat the Tapir Witches before the Flying Siege Tapir Witches show up and blow up all the bases.
The Challenge
The Tapir Witches use a spell that turns near by enemies into Cows…….
Discover the Secret Magical way to defeat the Tapir Witches.
The first player that finds the way to the defeat the Tapir Witches, and then defeats them using this magical method will win 2 game prizes of his choice (from the list of prizes).
I will give new hints periodically on how to defeat the Tapir Witches so make sure to come back and visit this thread to see the new hints.
This player has to prove his victory with several screen shots, saved game, and detailed description on how he defeated the Tapir Witches.
Once the secret way to defeat the Tapir Witches is known, the entire community can try to defeat them with the magical method.
Players that defeat the Tapir Witches and provide proofs for doing so will have a chance to win 1 out of the 10 remaining prizes
Players will have two weeks to provide such proof before the drawing takes place.
EDIT:
Congratulations to KevtheGreat who discovered how to defeat the Tapir Witches.
That was fast, lol.
Sound like he was working on it all day.
Here is what you need to know on how to defeat the Tapir Witches:
There are 15 Supply Drop locations in this scenario.
If you take a look at them you will see that they look just like the Fire Circle at your base but without the fire.
These supply drops are in fact deactivated Fire Circles.
Once the Tapir Witches show up they deactivate the supply drops.
That allows your Super Ninja with the help of your Flag Bearer and a Priest to Activate the dormant Fire Circles by moving these 3 units inside each supply drop.
Every time you activate a Fire Circle 20,000 HP damage is inflicted upon the Tapir Witches.
Not only that, their Max HP also goes down by 20,000.
In addition to that you can move Cows inside any of these activated Fire Circles and the cows will become military units once again.
You can the use them to keep fighting the Tapir Witches.
Once you activate 10 ore more Fire Circles, and you inflict 5% (around 10K) damage on any Tapir Witch with your military units, then the Tapir Witches will run away from you (and be defated).
You must do all that within 10 minutes before the timer runs out.
Use the method above to defeat the Tapir Witches on “Moderate” or “Hard” difficulty and send me screen shots (via email) that prove that you have defeated them using this method.
My email address is:
You can also play this scenario online if you wish against human or computer players.
I have 12 RTS game prizes to give away to players who send me the proof of victory.
The winners will be decided via drawing.
The due date to send these screen shots is: August 23th 2008.
Good luck to everyone.
The Prizes
See “The Challenge” above how you can win one or two of these prizes.
I will be giving away these 14 RTS game prizes for this event:
3 Universe at War
1 Company of Heroes Gold Edition
1 Command and Conquer 3
2 Star Wars: Empire at War
1 Lord of the Rings: The Middle Earth II
1 Rise of Legends
1 Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War
2 Spellforce 2
1 Rush for Berlin
1 Rome: Total War
2 game prizes will be given to the player/team that first defeats the Tapir Witches using the special secret way.
10 more games will be given (via drawing) to players who defeat the Tapir Witches (using the special secret way) after the secret is revealed.
Game Play
The main game play is described above in the “New Features” section.
For more information about the game play read the “Story” section.
This is a 2V2/FFA scenario where any combination of teams can be set up.
However, random teams are not supported.
Computer players are also supported.
In fact the computer players are so good at capturing the cows and converting them into mercenaries that even Moderate level can be challenging.
Players start with a fortified base with Fort walls and 4 towers.
Each player gets his own Fire Circle next to his town center.
The Fire Circle heals units very fast so it is important to use it often.
Each player gets constant resources from his home city (every 30 seconds).
However, if you lose your town center (and you don’t have any other town centers) then your home city will stop shipping you resources (until you build a new town center).
If your starting town center is destroyed then the Fire Circle will be deactivated and it will NOT heal army units any more.
There are some resources scattered around the map but not many, so you may not want to train too many villagers.
You CANNOT build resource collection buildings such as Mills, Farms, plantations, Banks, and so on.
You will have to rely mainly on crate collection from the various resource drop sites.
Crates fall from the sky every 90 seconds.
There are many Sacred Cows and some Yaks, and Water Buffalos scattered around the map.
These animals have huge HP and they are also Immortals (you can’t kill them).
Capture as many as you can and send them to your Fire Circle.
The Fire Circle will break the “Immortal Cow spell” and the animals will return back to their original human form.
These powerful mercenaries will then join your forces.
New Sacred Cows, Yaks, and Water Buffalos will constantly appear in the area.
If you lose your starting Town Center then the Fire Circle will be deactivated and it will NOT break the spell “Immortal Cow spell” any more.
Your Super Ninja unit is very powerful and it has special abilities.
He has 5000 HP and once he is wounded (50% damage) he Teleports himself automatically to the Fire Circle where he can get healed very fast.
Your Ninja is also super fast and you can use him to raid enemy villagers that collect resources at remote drop sites.
Your Ninja will not be able to teleport himself to safety if the Fire Circle is deactivated.
You can Teleport your armies periodically (every 60 seconds) from your “Teleport Court” to your Ninja. Use this ability to attack enemy villagers at remote drop sites, or to conduct surprise attacks from unexpected locations.
You can even teleport buildings from the Teleport Court.
There are two Churches that can be captured with 5 army units or more.
You receive free Priests and/or Boneguards from these Churches after you captured them.
At first they are guarded by Boneguards, so you will have to kill them before you can capture them.
Players can capture each other’s churches.
Once you capture a church you will receive free priests and later on (once you have 5 priests) you will receive free Boneguards (every 2 minutes).
After you defeat your opponents the Tapir Witches will appear with their armies of wild animals.
The Tapir Witches will turn your army units into Normal Cows once they are within their line of site.
You can shoot at the Tapir Witches from far range but it is impossible to kill them using this conventional method because they have 400,000 HP each.
Your objective is then to Discover the Secret Magical way to Defeat the Tapir Witches.
You have 10 minutes to defeat them.
After 10 minutes Flying Siege Tapir Witches reinforcement will arrive and they will blow up everyone’s buildings.
Normal cows (previously your army) have huge HP but they are NOT immortal.
If you send normal Cows to your Fire Circle (near your TC) they will then turn into Longbows since their original identity has been lost.
Sacred Cows will still be converted to Mercenary units.
Once the Tapir Witches appear, resources will NOT fall from the sky any more.
Every player gets a Flag Bearer that can be used as a way point for rescued mercenary units. All army units from inside the Fire Circle will follow the Flag Bearer automatically.
Explorers are automatically ransomed for the price of 100 gold (I added this feature because the normal random feature doesn’t work for European explorers in custom scenarios).
You CANNOT accumulate more than 11,000 of each resource.
You can locate your Ninja and your Flag Bearer if you can’t find them.
See “Tips” for how to do that.
Once the Explorer has 95% damage he will be ransomed for you automatically for the price of 100 gold.
Your Explorer will reappear inside the Fire Circle where he can heal fast.
Walls are more expensive (50 extra wood per wall connector) so players can’t spam walls.
For additional game play information see the “Tips” section.
Gameplay Setup
This scenario can be set as 2V2 or FFA.
Teams have to be set on ESO (random teams won’t work).
Any team combination is possible for players 1 through 4.
Possible teams are:
P1 & P2 vs P3 & P4
P1 & P3 vs P2 & P4 (each player is surrounded by two enemies)
P1 & P4 vs P2 & P3
Player 5 has to be a computer player (assigned for the Tapir Witches and their armies of wild animals).
Computer players are supported and they play good even on Moderate.
This means that you can play the scenarios as 1V1 with computer allies, or you can play it with a friend against two computer opponents.
You can also play it online like a single player scenario with 3 computer players.
All 14 civs (with 120 HC decks) are supported for all 4 players.
Tips
When you capture Sacred Cows, Yaks, and Water Buffalos just send them to your base (via the mini map).
These animals are attracted to the Fire Circle (they know it’s good for them) so they will move on their own to the Fire Circle once they are inside your base (I have added this feature to minimize micro).
Use your Flag Bearer as a way point for your mercenary units.
Army units from inside the Fire Circle move automatically to your Flag Bearer.
This means that once a mercenary unit emerged inside the fire circle it will automatically move towards your Flag Bearer.
The Flag Bearer is very fast and invulnerable but he doesn’t have any line of site (so you cannot use him for spying).
You can capture Sacred Cows, Yaks, and Water Buffalos with your buildings too.
So build buildings all around the map to capture as many animals as possible.
Use your advanced air balloon to spy on your enemies and to capture Sacred Cows, Yaks, and Water Buffalos.
Use your Teleport Court to teleport army units, villagers, and even buildings to your Ninja behind enemy lines and attack enemy villagers at remote drop sites.
You can then prevent your enemy from collecting resources and you can even collect his resources with your own villagers.
Don’t let your Ninja be surrounded by many enemy units.
He may not be able to teleport himself to safety on time.
The Ninja and the Teleport ability are best used for guerrilla attacks.
If you use your Ninja in large battles you may then lose him.
If you lose your Town Center then your Fire Circle will be deactivated.
That is equivalent to a loss.
You must NOT lose your original TC.
That is why you have Fort Walls and Towers at your base.
Your Ninja will also lose his automatic Teleport ability to your Fire Circle if the fire circle is not there any more.
What can you do if you don’t know where your Ninja is?
Easy – select your TC and one of your towers and the camera will take you to your Ninja and the Ninja will also be selected for you.
What can you do if you don’t know where your Flag Bearer is?
Easy – select two of your towers and the camera will take you to your Flag Bearer and the Flag Bearer will also be selected for you.
Every 50 seconds you will see flashes on the mini map showing the locations of the Cows and Yaks.
This should help you decide which ones to capture first.
Natives in the area are cheaper, and more powerful due to some native techs that have been activated for all players.
You get free natives once you build a TP (one time only per TP).
Advanced TP is also activated but the price is still 250 wood.
The number of natives that can be trained is double than normal number.
This means that natives are important to train if you have enough resources.
Walls are expensive (50 extra wood for every wall connector) so do not spam walls.
Build a few of them wisely at strategic locations.
The Rules
The first player/team that defeats the Tapir Witches using the special Magical way will win 2 game prizes of his/their choice (from the list of prizes).
This player/team has to prove his victory with several screen shots, and detailed description on how he defeated the Tapir Witches.
Once you find the secret way to defeat the Tapir Witches take screen shots that show your method.
You then need to send me your screen shots, and saved game with description on how you did it to MosheLeviM@yahoo.com.
Once the secret way to defeat the Tapir Witches is known, the entire community can try to defeat them with the magical method.
Players that defeat the Tapir Witches and provide proofs for doing so (see above) will have a chance to win 1 out of the 10 remaining prizes
Players will have two weeks to provide such proof before the drawing takes place.
You can play the scenario in single player against Moderate or Hard AI.
You can also play this scenario Online against Human or Computer players (any combination works).
If you choose to play against a computer player then you have to set it on "Moderate" or "Hard" AI.
Cheats are NOT allowed.
I therefore I added special triggers to disable cheat codes.
Opening the scenario and looking at the triggers is NOT allowed.
It is NOT allowed to modify the scenario in any way.
Scenario Designers,
I do not want to exclude any of you from the contest so please DO NOT look at the scenario’s triggers.
In any case, this scenario has 1300+ triggers and 12,000+ effects and you will not have any fun looking for hours for the hidden victory triggers.
Multiplayer Out of Sync (OOS) Warning
This scenario allows the host to play Cinematic with Instructions.
However, playing the Cinematic in Multiplayer may cause Out of Sync (OOS) error.
I spent over 50 hours to find a solution to this problem but had no success.
This OOS error is due to Editor Bug that messes some of the triggers after Cinematic.
It is therefore recommended that you play the cinematic only in Single player mode or when you play the scenario on ESO by yourself.
The default for this scenario is “No Cinematic”.
The host has only a few seconds to move his explorer inside the Fire Circle to invoke the Cinematic.
Special thanks to Random22 and Pftq for their great “Advanced Trigger Effects”.
I used their custom triggers to add new features to this scenario.
I want to thank pftq for the second time for trying to help me solve the Out of Sync (OOS) errors that occur when the player chooses to play the cinematic.
Thank you,
Moshe Levi
My AOE3 Scenarios:
Strategic Objectives: Death Valley / Strategic Objectives: Russo-Turkish Wars
The Tapir Witch Chronicles: Immortal Cows – Single Player / Multiplayer
“Annihilation” 2V2 (Supremacy) Multiplayer / Tribe Wars (2V2/FFA) Multiplayer
Strategic Objectives: Islands / Forest Domination II Multiplayer / Geronimo’s Revenge
More Scenarios / http://www.moshelevi.com
[This message has been edited by MosheLevi (edited 08-10-2008 @ 09:51 AM).]