How to play Knalgans

General Knalgan strategies

The Knalgans have perhaps the greatest tactical flexibility of any faction. Because of this, there is no one way to play the Knalgans. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your personality. You can use dwarves for power and defense and outlaws for movement and low prices.

However, there is a general strategy. A good first turn recruit against random would consist of:

• 1 Gryphon Rider: Possibly the best scout in the game, this is tempered by its high cost. Use it as a lookout for enemy advances and pick off weak or wounded units that are retreating behind enemy lines.
  
• 2 Dwarvish Fighters: They can take more hits than most units, making them great defenders.
  1 Dwarvish Thunderer: Although powerful, it can just as easily do no damage at all, making this a tricky unit to know how to use. Fortunately, it is almost as durable as the fighter.

1 Footpad: A staple unit of the Knalgans, but not one you should overrecruit. It has excellent defense where your dwarves might be very vulnerable and you might not want to risk your more costly riders. Use it for it's great ZoC abilities even if its offense isn't high-powered.

1 Poacher: Also a very useful unit for the Knalgans, this unit provides a reliable ranged attack to counterbalance the power of the thunderer, plus it fills many useful hexes (notably forests and swamps) well.

Keep in mind that that the dwarves should stay in mountains, hills, and other high-defense terrain and the outlaws should stay in any non-grassland terrain, if possible. Keep in mind that since your footpads and thieves have 60d on grassland, and your enemy will often have 40 or even 30, it can often be to your benefit if the enemy chooses to attack them on open ground.

Knalgans versus Undead

If you know you're playing against Undead, the smartest thing to do is to recruit a Dwarvish Ulfserker. He will automatically kill any Dark Adept that he attacks. He is also good for taking on Ghosts during day, or even Ghouls and Skeleton Archers. Here are the units you will want to recruit to counter Undead units:

Dwarvish Ulfserker: counters Dark Adepts, and most other undead units in daytime. Don't recruit many unless the opponent has no Skeletons. Skeletons can kill an Ulfserker even in day. Ulfs are also expensive, so you don't want to trade them 1-for-1 with Undead units unless you get a Ghost. Be mindful of what can counterattack them on your opponent's next turn. Rating: A

Dwarvish Fighter: counters Skeletons, Skeleton Archers, and is a generally high HP unit that can soak up nighttime damage for your front line. (Dwarvish Fighters are probably the best all-around L1 heavy infantry in the game.) Rating: A+

Dwarvish Guardsman: Do not recruit this unit if you are fighting Undead. His Pierce damage is less useful than even Blade against Undead. His low damage also makes him a bad unit to counter-attack with. Rating: D

Dwarvish Thunderer: This is a good unit to have in your front line in mountains. His high defense and good resistances should keep him alive from nighttime Skele attacks, and his 18-1 ranged will make it very risky for Dark Adepts to come after you. Thunderers are also good to attack Ghosts, as 2 ranged hits will kill a Ghost - this even works at night. Rating: B+

Thief: Do not recruit this unit when fighting against Undead. Rating: F

Poacher: A utility unit versus Undead. It's good for finishing Ghosts and killing Walking Corpses. It can also be used to pick at Skeletons and Ghouls. Money is spent better on other units, but don't forget that he may be useful. Rating: C

Footpad: This weak character is really only useful versus Undead as a cheap scout. His Impact damage is good against Skeletons and Skeleton Archers, and he has the added bonuses of being Chaotic (which deals more damage when Undead try to advance at night), and being hard to hit. His best feature is his ranged attack versus Skeletons at night, and that's only 6-2. Recruiting 1 on your first turn to grab villages is likely the only use you'll get from this guy, unless you need a unit to occupy forest hexes (which dwarves do very poorly at 30% defense). Rating: B

Gryphon: Probably not the best expenditure of gold versus Undead, but they do serve many purposes that can justify their cost: they give extended view of battle, allowing you to know what is coming and to counter appropriately; they are good for getting behind enemy lines to finish hurt Dark adepts; They serve as good ZOC units for plains and forest hexes. Unlike the Footpad they do not have negative resistance to Blade and Pierce - the weapons of skeletons. Rating: B-

Generally you'll want a good dose of Dwarvish Fighters, a few Thunderers, a Gryphon for vision/utility, an ulf or two, and maybe a Poacher or Footpad. Dwarves are really what you want to use, for their high HP and decent resists. This helps them survive the nighttime onslaught, and their neutrality will give them good damage in defense and also the ability to press the attack in daytime. Don't be afraid to send an Ulfserker at a ghost in daytime -- make sure to check the CTK, but it should be good if your Ulfserker is at high hp: bonus if you can get great terrain. Defeat for the Ghost will be nearly certain if the Ulfserker is Strong.

Knalgans versus Rebels

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Poacher: Again, these guys you'll want to recruit a few of. When the Northies come after you at night, you can make a strong counter-attack with their 5-4 ranged.

Footpad: This guy can be a utility unit against Northerners, but the money is better spent elsewhere. Footpads can harass Grunts and Wolfs, take forest hexes, and block Assassins from poisoning your Dwarves. Not the best buy, but you may be able to get your money's worth.

Gryphon: Again, it's usually good to have one of these guys to scout, plug up grassland, and be a defensive damage dealer. He's also good for trapping/killing Assassins and being a target for their poison.

The biggest thing you need to worry about will be Poison. If you get a good foothold on mountains and hills, Poison will be the weapon of choice to knock you off your perch. Be ready to fill in with a replacement unit, and try to kill assassins before any other units. Melee strikes will have to get through your resistance - poison does not. You also don't deal any damage back when poison hits you.

Recruit a Dwarvish Fighter and a mix of other good units. Stay on towns or mountains for the first assault to minimize the effect any poison will have and reduce the chance of it hitting. Let your opponent attack you, and then counter-attack with your Poachers and Thunderers if you have them - even Guardsmens' ranged attacks will add up. Send Ulfserkers against Assassins whenever you get a decent chance, as the Poison will hurt more than their melee attacks.

Allow your opponent to attack you from forest hexes if they are next to mountains that you occupy. Your 70% defense will outdo his 50% defense, and his confidence will be higher to attack since he won't be on grass. Even if an Assassin uses that hex, if an Ulfserker is within reach, he should be able to take him out from on top the mountain.

To kill Trolls, you will want to focus exclusively on them until they die. Thus it is best to ignore them and kill others than to only do a minimal amount of damage to Trolls each turn. Their regeneration will give them essentially limitless HP if you do this. Kill his friends and then focus on him. If there are several, take them out one at a time. Try to avoid water battles with Nagas, unless there is only one. You won't want any Gryphons you get to be zone-locked, especially where you cannot help them, so be cautious with water battles.

To sum up, kill poisoners fast, get units that deal good melee damage in defense, and get good counter-attacking ranged units