Mission 2 - Before the Snow

Before the Snow

Story mission
Mission	2
Chapter	1: The Age of Iron
Played	2nd
Map	Forest, Small
In the demo	Yes
Estimated time	25-40 min (estimate)
Starting resources	1,200 Wood, 550 Food, 200 Stone, 200 Gold
Teaches	Expanding a base, walls and gates, training a small force, defending a wall
Objectives
Story spoilers: Mission 2 Build two Houses. Build a Woodcutters Camp. Gather 100 Food. Build six spans of wooden wall. Place a wooden gate. Train three Spearmen. Train two more Swordsmen. Hold the wall.
Campaign
Previous	Mission 1 - The Muster
Next	Mission 3 - The Quiet Stone

Before the Snow is the second mission of the Story campaign, in Chapter 1, The Age of Iron. It continues in the same village as The Muster: you grow it, lay in food for the winter, raise its first wall and gate, and train a few soldiers to stand behind it. It is the first mission with an enemy soldier in it.

Overview

• The village starts as Mission 1 ended: the Town Hall and its villagers, the Infantry Training Grounds and its first Swordsman. This starting layout is the same for every player, whatever they built in Mission 1.
• The starting resources cover every building and unit the mission asks for.
• Mage buildings and units are still hidden, as are siege engines, ships, stone defences and the Stronghold.
• The mission is part of the demo.

Story

Story spoilers: Mission 2

This box is closed until you open it.

Ashmere's foothold has held through the autumn. Winter is near, and Corvane is nearer. Hale wants the village ready for both: more houses, a woodcutters camp on the forest side, food laid in for the cold, and a timber wall with a gate across the south-west road, the road an attacker will use.

Once a handful of soldiers stand behind the wall, a single Corvane soldier comes up the road toward the gate. He falls, and the village stands. Hale will not count it as a win. The attack was a scouting test, and Corvane now knows how strong the village has grown.

"A wall is not for stopping an army; it is for choosing where the fight happens." (Commander Hale)

Objectives

Story spoilers: Mission 2

This box is closed until you open it.

1. Expand. Open the Economy tab and build two Houses near the hall. Place a Woodcutters Camp by the forest: villagers carry wood to the nearest camp.
2. Stores. Send villagers to the bushes and gather 100 Food.
3. Walls. Open the Defensive tab and drag six spans of wooden wall on the south-west approach, at the marker. Then place a wooden gate in the wall line.
4. Train. At the Infantry Training Grounds, train three Spearmen and two more Swordsmen (three Swordsmen in all). A checkpoint is saved as this step begins.
5. Hold the wall. A checkpoint is saved as this step begins. About 15 seconds later, one Corvane Swordsman marches on the gate. Keep your soldiers behind the wall and defeat him. The mission is complete once no enemy soldier is left near the village.

Characters met

Story spoilers: Mission 2

This box is closed until you open it.

• Commander Aldric Hale.
• A lone Corvane soldier, sent to test the wall.

Notes

Story spoilers: Mission 2

This box is closed until you open it.

• When you start training, Hale gives advice on which soldier beats which. It is battlefield advice: the game does not apply damage bonuses between unit types yet. See Damage types.
• Corvane's army is held back: in this mission it may attack walls and gates, but not your other buildings, your units or your Town Hall.
• The dormant Pillar from Mission 1 still stands on the map, unremarked.
• The Mystic Calling is still locked.

Campaign

← Previous: Mission 1 - The Muster · Next: Mission 3 - The Quiet Stone →