NWP: ZOC

Link to images. Refer to this to see a visual representation of ZoC: https://picasaweb.google.com/dndsarom/Mar102011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKmgu7fxxeSjfw#

WSNPP: NWP #2 – ZOC

Hello folks once again welcome to WSNPP, NWP #2. In this guide we’re going to take a look at Zone Of Control or more commonly known as, ZOC. Zone of Control is the area or hexes in which your enemy cannot take with their units.

There are several situations that you can utilise ZOC for, such as holding a choke point, holding a fort or just making an impassable wall whilst you recruit a bigger army.

Applying ZOC in games isn’t hard at all and it can mean between life and death is almost every game. Two common ways of applying it is having 2 units one space apart or 2 units 2 spaces apart as shown on the diagram:

KEY: Red – Enemy Blue – Your Units Grey – Where the enemy can go

The two diagrams show us how ZOC is applied in Wesnoth.

Zone of Control also prevents units from escaping, by placing units around the targeted unit. To trap the targeted unit all you need to do is get 2 units on opposite sides of the targeted enemy. That’s the minimum to trap a unit. You can box him by having 6 units or just 2. Personally I believe that the most effective way to trap someone is the ‘Triangle of Death’ which I will explain later.

No matter how much movement a unit has, it will always be restricted by ZOC however units with the skirmisher ability bypass the Zone of Control, making them deadly assassins. Another common error to be aware of is that your unit needs to be at least level 1 for ZOC to be active. Level 0 units do not have ZOC.

Another factor to take into consideration is although initially a unit would be blocked or trapped, they can move 1 space next turn disregarding the ZOC. So it is possible to bypass a wall of units without having to kill them. The same goes for escaping a trap.

Skirmishers bypass the Zone of control and they are effective at breaking a defensive wall with ease. A group of skirmishers can bypass the ZOC and form their own ZOC on the defending unit. The unit will not be able to escape and death is likely to occur afterwards breaking the wall and leaving one huge gap for an army to waltz through.

The most effective trapping method is the ‘Triangle of death’ (refer to the last diagram, it’s the red dot surrounded by three blue ones) where 3 units surround 1 unit in a triangle format. Now the difference between the 2 unit technique and the 3 unit one is that the enemy will always be vulnerable to two attacks if he attempts to move out of the trap: an efficient way to kill leaders. Now yes, with the 2 unit technique, you can move your units to trap the escapee again but in most cases the trapped unit will have reinforcements nearby, forming their own ZOC and preventing your units from advancing.

So now you know about ZOC and how to apply it, of course you could just form a complete wall of units but it’ll be costly. Having a unit surrounded by 6 of your units is most likely a sure kill but once again it is costly and in most cases you’re sending half your army to kill one unit whilst your other few units are getting no support.

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