Is there any way to unlock the true ending without playing on standard difficulty?

[ArkBlitz]

I've been stuck for days and even weeks in some of the maps (I'm currently stuck in Act 5 Side 1, where my best record is capturing just three villages before dying), but from what I read, I require at least 100 stars to unlock the true ending, and reducing the difficulty caps the map to only one or two stars, which I think is insufficient to earn the 100. How many maps do I need to clear in standard difficulty to earn exactly 100 stars and unlock the true ending?

[CarThief]

I suppose the update allows you to play on an easier difficulty and still attain the maximum of 3 stars but no S-ranks, if i remember right? (I definitely had 3 stars with an A-rank i think.) There should be some extra difficulty settings now, some let you earn up to 3 stars, some up to 2, some upto 1, the less stars the easier.

And if all you care about is getting enough stars, then, uh...
-You can get more stars from doing Puzzle Mode maps (if you're terrible with puzzles like me you can always get a guide, they're just not my thing, the finding a needle in a haystack type of solutions). Each map is worth a star.

-(Re)playing campaign missions on the highest difficulty you are able of to attain the most stars works wonders.
-Even just doing missions that seem too cheap on normal difficulty on an easy (or fully customized difficulty) should yield a star and let you unlock something or see the ending, i suppose? (Unless that changed.) It worked wonders for me on the last two missions (the only ones i couldn't do with the standard difficulty, meh). Better to have a star or two then none.

-You can grind Skirmish in normal difficulty to get the 1-star from easy-mode and 2 stars from normal mode for that character (so, about 3 per character). Doing them all can easily give like 30+ stars. Does take a while though.

That's what i did for 151 stars (a requirement for a certain secret), in any case, so hopefully it's more then enough to accuire 100 stars for that true ending. (Hm, or was it 101 stars? Hm, well, it tells you how many you need if you unlock that mission on the map, so...)

[Meneluma]

I don't think you can possibly get 100 stars from the campaign.
You can get up to 99, so you'd have to go do puzzle mode or something.
Normal Arcade isn't too had either, the AI isn't that great at capturing buildings.