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LegendofWesmere

2015-04-23T05:09:00Z

Ericppp: Updated walkthrough according to v1.12

This is a walkthrough of '''Legend of Wesmere''', a campaign that tells the story of ''Kalenz'', the famous elf hero that plays an important role in [[HeirToTheThrone|Heir to the Throne]].

This is a long campaign, organized in 5 chapters, where you play elves. Therefore, it is recommended to take a moment to review their top level units; there are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. Hence, it really pays to level shamans. The only catch, however, is that they are not available during the first chapter of the story (the first three scenarios); you will still have enough opportunity to level them up, but it requires some determined effort.

As a general rule of thumb throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling Arkildur (a loyal fighter that starts with you) into a marshal. The leadership skill will prove invaluable when you depend on level 1 units.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/17/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Anduilas and Arkildur

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader.

The keep directly to the east is one option. If you keep most of his stronghold hexes plugged up with your units or your enemy's, then he will not be able to spend all his gold before you kill the leader, possibly when he dives in the water.

A good alternative is going southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (and warriors on hard.) Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will tend to go for the fighters when given the option. If you don't have a captain yet, level up a fighter as soon as possible, and use his leadership on your archers. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river. If you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked. Instead, send out an archer or two (preferably ''quick'' ones) to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. Also, you can kill Assassins with some of your poisoned units, as long as they have still enough hitpoints. Distribute XP carefully; units heal upon level up; rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives, the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner ''if'' you defended the Ka'lian well. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work. Close in carefully - it will be very hard avoiding casualties, but when the time comes, let them be L1 fighters and not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, because you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

The behaviour of the orcs will depend directly on your ability to hold out the invasion of your fortress. If you manage to repel somewhat successfully their initial attack, the orcs will assume a defensive stance for the second part of the battle (usually triggered when Kalenz arrives). If, on the other hand, the orcs have a more successful start, they then become more aggressive and the battle becomes much more lively on the second part.

A special feature of this particular scenario—something not very common in a campaign—is that you will control two armies simultaneously after Kalenz' arrival. You start by assuming the role of Galtrid, and later Kalenz joins the party, at which time you will switch between your two roles. Note that, although Galtrid's army should not be your main concern, you will get a chance to recall Ka'lian's veterans in the future (see ''Elves' Last Stand''), so it's useful to protect any level 2 or 3 levels you get from Galtrid's team.

''Note for versions older than 1.12:'' Galtrid's army does not show up again, so those units are truly expendable in that case.

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two main ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where Cleodil (an Elvish Shyde) is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of Fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by leveling up.

Alternatively, it is possible to kill the eastern leader with Rangers/Avengers. The AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows you to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed. In general, take your time to experiment and figure out what works best on your strategy against saurians, as you'll be seeing many more of them in the future.

Along with Cleodil, two other units will be freed from the prison. All of them become loyal to your cause, so by the end of this scenario you'll have a small loyal army on your hands. Protect them well.

There's a couple of things worth noting regarding Cleodil. One is that she has a couple of interesting abilities: ''elates Kalenz'' which works basically like leadership but only works on Kalenz, and ''heals Kalenz'' which boosts her healing powers, but only on Kalenz. As you may guess, this means that from now on it's a good idea to keep those two close to each other in the battle field. The other important detail is that she can recruit Shamans and Woses. You may try it out in this scenario, in the small keep to the north. This works out nicely if your strategy for this scenario is to concentrate on the northwestern enemy first. With a little effort, you can free Cleodil relatively quickly, and then her recruits can be very helpful for the rest of the battle.

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try to confront them on favorable terrain and form a defensive line (against Skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, so if you have trouble with this scenario, try recruiting at least 6 Woses. Also, the ''slows'' attribute of Shamans' ranged attacks limits the damage potential and mobility of Skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (but traveling more slowly than usual) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with an Elvish Scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

There is another troll leader to kill, so it is an XP opportunity, like for your shamans. For recruiting, you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who is the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

On this scenario you'll be able to ask Olurf to move to a specific location inside the map (using right-click), which may be useful in case you want his help in some particularly tight spot. This is one of the ways in which you can control the behaviour of your allies (you'll see another in the next scenario). Notice, however, that this command only applies to Olurf himself, and his troops will continue to move freely as they please, often taking experience away from you.

By the end of the scenario, you will end up "hiring" Olurf—paying him 400 gold—but if you've been careful with your finances, you probably won't miss that amount.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives:
** Defeat all of the enemy leaders ''and''
** "Own the field," which means having more than 25 units while the enemy has under 15.
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies. You'll be facing vast numbers of trolls, orcs, and naga. On the upside, you get one more chance to fight with the Ka'lian's army, and can use your veterans from the scenario ''Ka'lian Under Attack''.

For recruitment, spamming Fighters and Archers is essential. Supplement them with Elder Woses or just plain Woses. You'll be facing the poison of Assassins, Slayers, and Water Serpents as well the damage of L2 and L3 Trolls, so recall as many healers as you have, plus a lot of Shamans. Mix some in with your ally's forces, since he has no Shaman line units. Finish your recruitment by recalling whatever L3 units you have.

Now that you have control of your allies, it makes most sense to let him have all the villages. Have your ally recruit a couple of Elf Scouts to keep reflagging villages after you use them for healing or the enemy captures them. It's impossible for you or your ally to have gold carryover from this scenario, so make sure to spend it all here. Recruit as much as you can and be aggresive.

To save Eradion (your elf ally to the west), you likely either need to evacuate him to the Ka'lian or send reinforcements from the Ka'lian to him. If you wish to keep control of the Ka'lian, you'll need to maintain considerable forces there. However, this island fortress is not much of a defense against the droves of Water Serpents and L1, L2 and maybe L3 Naga headed its way. They get 60% defense in water, so your moat is like a fortress for them. Therefore, abandoning the Ka'lian after your initial recruiting is an option to consider. Fortunately, there is good terrain (forest) to the west and north/northeast of the Ka'lian. Note that if you avoid waterfront hexes, the Water Serpents will crawl onto land, where they are much easier to kill.

Good tactics are essential. Don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded. Maintain mostly straight lines early on. Don't get flanked. Try to keep loyals and criticals ''off'' the front line, especially at night versus trolls. If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units.

700 starting gold is sufficient, barely. Try abandoning the Ka'lian, sending your allied troops west to Eradion's keep area, while your main army digs in within the forest northeast of the Ka'lian. Good luck!

Olurf does not show up until the battle is won.

''Note for versions older than 1.12:'' This scenario formerly had AI-controlled allies that you could "instruct" in various ways, not very effectively as it turns out. You don't fight nagas, and Olurf did participate in the battle after showing up around turn 12.

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. If you are having trouble beating this level, just recruit one round, and run north as fast as you can with your criticals. To slow down the saurians, you can divide your recruits and send half left and half right. When you reach the river, sea monsters (Water Serpents and Cuttle Fish) will attack. You may try distracting the monsters by tossing threm some tasty Elvish Scouts. The saurians will catch up as you're crossing the river, but at least a few of the saurians will focus on killing any remaining sea monsters before worrying about your leaders. Make use of the island to get Kalenz across as quickly as possible.

By getting Kalenz quickly across the river, you'll get a hefty early finish bonus, rebuilding your gold reserve. Gold will become very important by the time you reach the ''Human Alliance'' scenario.

If you want to claim some experience as well, a small cadre of Elder Woses and Rangers can lure units one or two at a time to their deaths in the southern woods. They can hide in forest terrain if too many enemy units are in the area. Meanwhile, three Dwarf Guardsmen can serve as a disposable rear guard for your leaders fleeing to the north.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one.

First, if you want Kalenz to get to the signpost, he'll have to climb there over high mountains, so the going will be very slow; watch the turn clock carefully.

Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them.

Third, among your enemies you will find level 4 Yetis (which pack quite a punch) and Gryphons (which move very quickly through any terrain). Keep your Shamans ready to slow Yetis before you attack them with other units.

For recruitment, you can probably get by with one round of raw recruits. However, note that dwarves do well in the mountains, so you may want more than three dwarf recruits. Avoid Ulfserkers and Berzerkers, though, as they are too vulnerable in this scenario, where things tend to jump out of the fog at you.

Heed the dialog; proceed with caution. After the initial battle, you can split your forces, sending a group to each enemy stronghold (northwest and east), while optionally sending a third group with Kalenz directly to the signpost.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Crelanu or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

The drakes, commanded by Aquagar (the foe you must defeat), are at the northwest corner, while a keep of trolls is located at the northeast. Crelanu, the wise mage for whom you came, is by the lake. You can send a quick unit (e.g. an Outrider or Cleodil) towards that keep in the middle of the map to trigger the dialogue with Crelanu.

For recalling, especially useful units include Steelclads, Pathfinders, Marksmen, Rangers, Sorceresses, Thungerguards, and Stalwarts. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential, because a lot of drakes breathe fire. One round of recruiting/recalling should be more than sufficient.

You may try splitting your forces, sending half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

However, it will take some time for the trolls to reach Crelanu, so it's probably better to focus all your power towards Aquagar to finish him as quickly as possible, and then Crelanu won't need any assistance. A quick finish means a big win bonus. You'll need it for the next scenario.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Historically, this scenario has been considered the unofficial finale and it used to be very challenging in versions previous to 1.12. In those older versions, the following scenarios are kind of a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The most challenging aspect of this scenario is that your army has to do three things practically simultaneously: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls. Fortunately, you have a lot of support from your allies, and this time you control 3 different armies.

You should spend all your gold upfront—there is no much point in saving it for later. The human leader gets a steady stream of income plus can recruit some 2nd and 3rd level units, so is a formidable force. However, the trolls are no push over and may be the toughest of your three fronts. It may be no problem holding off the NW front given the water and favorable terrain, and the forces from the SW come is a slow enough stream by the time they reach you, are not much more than an annoyance given the tree line. However, the trolls, with a constant stream of recruits, are a challenge. Strive to use the human army well to either help with trolls or tie up the SW enemy so you can focus on the trolls. (And BTW, for the ''Breaking the Siege'' scenario coming up, you definitely want to focus on getting at least a couple each of Sylphs and Shydes here if you don't already have them.)

''Notes for versions older than 1.12:'' This used to be a significantly harder challenge. Each enemy line received reinforcements every few turns, and their numbers were much larger. You didn't control your allies, which meant keeping the human general alive was quite difficult.

On turn 9, some of the elves from Ka'lian appear. However, they show up a little to the west of the keep where you start this scenario. It is a strange location for them to show up, and by that point of the battle it will probably be surrounded by enemies.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this easy.

When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into a level 2 Elvish Lord (as you might remember him if you have played [[HeirToTheThrone|HttT]]). He will now possess an arcane-magical attack, which proves very useful against many enemies. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will bother you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Sylphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A few of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario. At this point, this campaign becomes a very good example of why keeping your loyal units alive is very much worth it.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. In any case, there is no gold carryover for the next scenario, so you might as well spend all your gold here recruiting.

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones and scouts defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI. Constantly check the turn clock, and be as aggresive as possible during the day.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

You might feel tempted to take this scenario as an opportunity to level up some new recruits from scratch, but this may not be a good idea. After a few turns, one of your elf allies (chosen at random) will turn against you, making the battle unpredictable and risky, for not a lot of gain.

There's just a couple of extra scenarios left in this campaign, and if you feel like leveling up units for the final battle, it's better to do it in the next scenario, where you can recall Cleodil's troops again.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on.

Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep a little to the north from yours. Approximately two thirds of your non-loyal veterans, chosen at random, will go with Landar, while the remaining third will go with Uradredia.

If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily. Moreover, the objective description is not very faithful, since you don't really have to kill all enemy leaders. It suffices to move any of your units adjacent to Landar. This makes this scenario quite easy to beat. If you still have Huraldur (your loyal quick elvish rider) on your side and you have leveled him up, you can take him straight to Landar's keep, and—thanks to the vulnerable design of Landar's keep—place him next to Landar by turn 3, finishing the scenario with a huge gold reward. Alternatively, you may try a similar strategy with a group of new scout recruits or other quick units.

However, you can take the opportunity to level up a few recruits. Particularly, now could be a good time to level up any shamans/woses from Cleodil's old recall list to their maximum. Keep in mind that you need to put Cleodil in the ''Encampment Keep'' tile so you can recall those units.

Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay Crintil's army you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Playing this scenario patiently has a nice side-effect: by killing Landar's strong veterans here, they won't be available to him in the final battle. As a consequence, if you completely wipe up his army now, he'll be stuck with just fresh level-1 and level-2 elves to recruit by then (unless you're playing on ''hard'' difficulty). Also, all of Uradredia's units will become yours, so if you have the chance to save some of his veterans in this scenario, it's worth doing it.

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

A relatively short and simple battle, considering this is the final scenario. Recall/recruit all worthy veterans, and don't worry about gold or grabbing villages. If you've made it this far, surely you have the necessary strategic/tactical skills necessary to deal with Landar's army. Now is the time to try risky ideas; this is the last stop for you and your army, so give them the chance to act heroically on the battle field.

A straightforward strategy involves recalling any remaining veteran troops, then recruiting an army of level 1 elves. Form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

SonOfThe BlackEye

2013-11-09T23:54:26Z

Ericppp: Fixed name of scenario #5

This is a walk-through for the '''Son of the Black–Eye''' campaign. You will play the role of Kapou’e, an Orcish Leader who will command armies of orcs, trolls and saurians during this adventure.

This campaign is regarded by many players as one of the best written among those in the mainline, with a solid and interesting back-story, clever and not overly serious dialogue and a good balance of difficulty throughout the scenarios, providing a pleasant yet challenging pace in the action.

== Campaign Strategy ==

Featuring 18 playable scenarios, this is a relatively long campaign, giving you plenty of opportunity to train a strong army.

You start with just basic orcish units (Orcish Grunts and Archers and Wolf Riders), and will gain the ability to recruit new types of units with time. You won't have healers for the first half of the campaign, so you can only rely on villages for recovering wounded troops (with the exception of trolls). However, using only veterans and relying too much on healing in the middle of battles does not fit particularly well with the general flavor of the campaign. More often than not, you can rely instead on fresh level-1 units and holding strategic locations in the maps you play in.

In case you have never controlled orcs and trolls before (either in multi-player games or any other user-made campaign), it may take you a little while to get used to the way it "feels" playing them. Perhaps the main issue brought up by players who have experience with the [[Northerners|northerner faction]] is their lack of ''consistency'' (the ability of single units to repeatedly deal a certain amount of damage with some "reasonable" certainty). When playing orcs and trolls, many players prefer strategies that involve using many low-level units instead of just a few high-level ones.

This campaign is labelled as "Expert level" in the game, and with good reason. It doesn't necessarily means that it is especially ''difficult''. It is just much more accessible once you have gained some basic mastery of Wesnoth strategy and tactics, and are familiar with the way the game's AI (the enemy's "intelligence", so to speak) works. In a nutshell, enemies will tend to think short-term and go for easy kills whenever possible, putting any number of its own units at risk if necessary to kill its targets. Once you get the hang of it, it is much easier to steer battles to go the way you want them to, at the cost of sacrificing unimportant units (referred to by players as ''fodder'' or ''spam''). Although most of the beginner and intermediate level campaigns can be played with practically no unit losses, trying to do that here would be like trying to drink soup using a fork. It may not be impossible, but you'd just be making it harder on yourself for no good reason.

A few words on the different units you will control:

Kapou’e starts as an '''Orcish Leader''', and his distinctive feature is having the ''leadership'' ability. Given the offensive style of playing suitable for this campaign you will probably level him up quickly whether you intend to or not.

The most basic fighting units will be '''Orcish Archers''' and '''Orcish Grunts'''. Archers do very well against most types of enemies, including the occasional undead or rare monster, thanks to their ''fire'' attack. Grunts are cheap and somewhat strong but unreliable due to the low number of hits of their attacks, and they do not have ranged attacks until they reach L3. Many players prefer to use Grunts almost exclusively as cannon fodder. Still, having a few Warriors and Warlords in your roster is useful because of their strong melee attack and good HP.

'''Wolf Riders''' are very good scout units. They can advance to Direwolf Riders and to Goblin Pillagers. Direwolves are strong and can be used when you need to send scouts on their own to grab distant villages, while Pillagers aren't as strong but are much more versatile and can be used to accompany your main army and slow tough enemies whenever necessary. Having at least two of each type will serve you well in this campaign.

During the first few scenarios you will gain the ability to recruit '''Troll Whelps''' and '''Orcish Assassins'''. Similar to Grunts, Trolls are pretty strong but also a little unreliable. However, their big redeeming quality is their regeneration ability, making them act as if they were always standing on a village. Having a few of them (or more than a few if you prefer) is definitely a good idea.

As for the Assassins, if you have any previous experience playing against orcs (and you probably do if you're reading this walk-through), you should know how annoying Assassins and Slayers can be when you have to fight against them, but this time they'll be on your side. Their poisoning attack and high defense make them tremendously useful to turn the tides in big battles. Since their poisoning attack also benefits from marksmanship, it is a very effective way of dealing with enemies in high-defense terrain (e.g. dwarves on mountains or elves in the forest). Their disadvantage is that they are very weak, so leaving them vulnerable to attacks from even one or two strong enemies means they will probably bite the dust on the next turn.

For the second half of the campaign you gain access to '''Saurians'''. Most importantly, their Augurs, who can advance to Soothsayers and provide +8 heal will be a great addition for your army. On the other hand, the usefulness of Skirmishers for this campaign is debatable. They are normally very useful disrupting enemy lines and holding key positions where other units would have terrible defense (like swamp or sand). However, you get the Saurians at a time in the campaign when winter is about to arrive, and by then you will start fighting on snow-covered maps where the Saurians' movement is very poor. Any real chance of using them will come on the last few scenarios of the campaign, but by then your army will probably already have plenty of good and varied units. This means you won't be really urged to use them, but if you have fun with them, then by all means go ahead.

== Scenarios ==

=== The End Of Peace ===
* Objective: Defeat Alber, the human lieutenant.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e.

It looks tempting to recruit lots of Wolf Riders to match the humans' cavalry mobility, but don't try—they're not quite a match for cavalry and tend to get cut to pieces in detail. Two Wolf Riders for village stealing is enough, recruit mostly Orcish Grunts and Orcish Archers instead. Keep close order, pot the cavalry with Archers, and bodyguard the Archers with the Grunts. Kapou’e can do a second round of recruiting at one of the neutral keeps closer to the battle.

Once you defeat Alber, a Wolf Rider shows up to tell you about a large human army that is about to catch up with you. You are given the choice to either proceed with caution and avoid the fight, or to stubbornly stay and make a stand against impossible odds. If you decide to fight, you'll play the scenario ''The Human Army'', otherwise you skip right into ''Towards Mountains of Haag''.

Playing ''The Human Army'' gives you the possibility of levelling up a few units, but it is a very challenging scenario and it will take a toll on any bonus gold you may have picked up here. It can be a frustrating experience, especially if you're the type of player who doesn't like sacrificing units, but if you'd rather have an early start forming a core army of experienced units instead of playing it safe and saving your gold, you might want to give it a try.

=== The Human Army ===
* Objectives: Resist until your people can leave, then get Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Vrag.

This is a very difficult scenario. The human general recruits level-2 units and he starts with an amount of gold that is, for all intended purposes, infinite. Your goal is to do the best job you can holding the enemy, gaining experience for some of your troops in the process.

On turn 7, one of your units will be sent away on an errand, and then come back on turn 13, telling you that everything is ready to flee the scene. By then, you just need to move Kapou’e to the signpost on the north-eastern corner, and the scenario will end. Be prepared to escape as soon as possible, and try to level up as many units as you can, using fodder units to distract the enemy and protect your most valuable ones if necessary.

It is better to start this scenario with a good gold reserve from the first scenario, and a few units that are about to level up (instead of having L2 units with little experience). One way to play it is to start by recruiting all your good veterans and immediately move to the keep in the middle of the map, meanwhile send one or two wolves to the western villages. The first few loyalists should reach the middle of the map during the night, so that's the time to be as aggressive (but careful with your core units) as possible. When dawn arrives, get ready to retreat north, leaving a few fresh fodder units in the way to delay the human army. Make sure that by turn 13 Kapou’e can get to the signpost in one move. Use that last turn to gain as much additional experience as possible, and then finish the scenario. With a little luck, you should end up this level with a few experienced L2 units.

=== Towards Mountains of Haag ===
* Objective: Move Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Bonus objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 27/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e and one veteran.

This scenario requires you to fight dwarves in a mixture of open terrain, hills and mountains. Around turn 7 a small group of trolls will appear, and one of them will become loyal to your cause by the end of this battle. Players have succeeded by either running or fighting.

''Option 1'', run: Keep Kapou’e and your troops moving and try to brush the dwarves off your flank as you pass, because if they get to mass on you and fight a static battle they will chop you to dog meat. Recruit at most for two rounds and run for the signpost at least until the trolls show up. Then, if the odds are with you, you can linger a bit and harvest some XP. If you fight the dwarves, try and get them onto non-hill/mountain terrain. Again, your Archers are your best offensive tool, but you need to use Grunts and Wolf Riders keep the dwarves off them.

''Option 2'', fight: Run 2-3 Wolf Riders around to nab ALL the villages outside the mountain border. They do not need to engage the enemy. Send a large force of Archers with their Grunt bodyguards to the hills west of your keep. If you have a Crossbowman, he will be especially effective. Grunts must often forgo attacks, for fear of getting too weakened to survive the enemy's turn. Bring in some raw recruit Grunts to handle the risky jobs, sparing your high XP Grunts. When the trolls arrive, they should help clear the path to the king. When he steps off his keep, send someone tough to cover the spot, like Kapou’e, who can then recruit reinforcements if you wish. Keep an eye on the clock, especially on the hardest setting. Even if you kill the Dwarven king, you still have to move Kapou’e to the signpost.

The next scenario is a tough one, but it will be much easier if you finish with lots of extra gold here.

=== The Siege of Barag Gor ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü and a scout (a veteran if you have any wolves).
* Other:
** By freeing the unit in the cage, you will get a loyal Assassin and the ability to recruit more.
** You are now able to recruit Troll Whelps.

This is the first large scale battle in the campaign, involving four elvish leaders coming from each of the corners of the map. A rather large keep is located in the middle, where your three shamans will start the scenario and you will have to keep them safe from harm.

In older versions of BfW this scenario was quite harder (particularly in the highest difficulty levels), making it almost impossible to make a stand in the orcish city to then go attack the leaders because of a tighter time limit. However, it has been rebalanced and these concerns have been addressed to some degree. There are many ways to approach this scenario, but in general you have two choices:

'''Option 1 - Going straight for the enemy leaders'''

If you want to finish this scenario faster (with the gold bonus it implies) you can just resign the keep in the middle, moving the trapped Shamans out of the way as soon as possible; a gap is likely to open up to the SE around turn 2 or 3. You can provide ZOC blocking with your Troll and Wolf Wider.

For taking care of the enemy leaders, players have had success with different strategies.

One option is to go clockwise. Take your troops south to knock out the elves there first, then west, then north. One problem is that it's easy to get pinned in and overwhelmed at the south after taking out its leader. So, consider sending a few Wolves and maybe Troll Whelps counter-clockwise to boost income and distract some of the enemy troops.

Another option is to divide your army in two. Send an assassination squad (heavy on Troll Whelps and/or Wolf Riders, possibly levelled) to take out the south-east leader. Send your leader, your Troll, and escorts north. To maximize your income, the escorts can be a relatively small and cheap squad of level 1's, in which case try using Wolf Rider bait to lure the enemy leader off his keep and also away from your leader, so your leader can sneak in to recruit more there. Then your northern and southern forces can head west to finish off the last two leaders, transferring Wolf Riders to bolster any lagging front.

Even though defending the city will not be your biggest priority, keeping your ally intact will help clog up enemy forces and prevent you from getting surrounded and pinned. You may want to send a small force to assist in the city's defense.

Pay attention to income. The more income you get, the more Troll Whelps you can recruit. Think twice before recalling any level 2 units, except maybe Pillagers. Later in the game, the villages in the middle will be relatively undefended; swoop in with Wolf Riders.

It's also helpful to have gold coming into the scenario. On nightmare, it would be hard to win with much less than 280 gold.

'''Option 2 - Holding the city'''

It can be a little trickier to finish within the time limit (particularly on ''hard'') but it may be less risky to just move your center of operations to the city. Start by recruiting a couple of wolves to capture villages and some veterans and start moving right away into the keep in the middle. You'll need a little luck to quickly put Kapou’e in the second keep tile available, since your ally won't move from his place and during the battle it is very likely that other units occupy the space you want.

When you finally manage to move Kapou’e into place, however, things will start to look much brighter for you. Recruit troll whelps and recall some more of your veterans as long as you can pay their upkeep comfortably, and then patiently form squads to go deal with the elves. You will inevitably reach the turning point where you control most of the map and then it just becomes an exercise on assigning the experience to your units. It's probably better to leave the south-western leader for last, since he is the one with the most favorable terrain on his side so you should take your strongest units, including those who have levelled up during this battle, to finish him off.

=== To the Harbor of Tirigaz ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 36/30/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto (the assassin, if you have him) and the Shamans.
* Other:
** The standard day of time cycle does not apply in this scenario. It will be nighttime practically all the way through instead.

For recruitment, recall from the Archer and Troll lines. Anything else is far less useful. The level 3 Archers and Trolls can take out an undead unit every turn with little damage to themselves. Except for taking down the Liches, level 1 Archers and Troll Whelps can get the job done too; it will be at grave danger to themselves, but you won't shed a tear if a low XP unit dies.

For main strategy, players have used at least two basic approaches with success:

Option 1, south-west first: The north-eastern enemy can be blocked with a couple of veteran units at the river fort; do that while you take villages on the near side of the river with your Shamans and take a recruiting round or two of troops south to deal with the south-western enemy.

Option 2, north-east first: Head north-east and destroy the Lich there as quickly as possible. At the same time a few Archers supported by Kapou’e (who should be at least level 2 by now) should be enough to handle the Ghosts the south-west Lich will send your way (unless you're really unlucky). The south-west Skeletons are slowed down by the swamp, so by the time they reach your forces the Ghosts should be no more, and Archers + Troll Whelps can handle the skeletons. On the Warrior difficulty with some luck and enough Crossbowmen recalled at the start you can can finish this scenario in just 10 turns using this approach.

You may ignore the holy water you see to the east as any unit that reaches it will just drink it and nothing will happen.

=== Black Flag ===
* Objective: Defeat the human generals, Slowhand and Harman.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto.

If you run Kapou’e straight south to the central keep (not stopping to grab villages unless you can end a longest possible move south on one), you'll get to recruit troops in time to meet the first "pirates" on the beach. This will be good as fighting from the water hinders them. Punch out Harmon's (southern) keep first, then roll north. If you can, try to take out the galleons by attacking them directly before they can offload their troops. Goblin Knights or Direwolf Riders are good for this if you happen to have them. This way you can effectively take out four units for the price of one.

Since your keep is small and by the time you can use it the human army is large and with reinforcements on their way, trying to start by recalling your good veterans will be risky and probably not very effective. Instead, you may try starting with level-1 units to be sacrificed. Try using many Orcish Assassins to poison as many enemies as you can on each turn, focusing on the most dangerous loyalists first. Assassins also have high defense, so they will probably serve very well as the only fodder unit you use until the first wave of enemies is mostly dealt with and then you can recall some of your strong veterans to finish up the job.

=== The Desert of Death ===
* Objectives:
*# Reach the oasis.
*# Defeat Ar-Dant, the bandit leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This is a demanding scenario where you need to keep moving without pause in order to finish in time. Take a few moments to explore the map before anything else. Take notice of the castle on the south-eastern corner; that is where you are ultimately going to find the enemy leader you need to defeat. Notice also the small segments of plain dirt, which will speed up your units a little bit during the journey. Finally, notice the few villages along the desert on which you can recover your wounded units, most importantly from poison.

You probably don't need to recruit/recall for more than one turn and you need to get moving as fast as possible. A good team can be composed mostly of Orcish Archers and Crossbowmen. One Goblin Pillager is also good for grabbing distant villages and slowing enemies.

Your first task is to deal with a group of scorpions that roam the desert. There will be about 7 to 10 scorpions in total, depending on the level of difficulty you're playing. Use ranged attacks from your archers and shamans, supported by Kapou’e's leadership and they will not last too long.

Don't take too long recovering your units before you continue moving south, until you find the bandits. They are not a big threat, and you can use Jetto to poison them, and Grüü and the rest of your army to finish them off.

=== The Silent Forest ===
* Objective: Defeat the elves.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/38/36 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This scenario is a forest, you are playing against elves, and it is likely that you're coming into it with very little gold (possibly the minimum of 100). This might make you think this will be a difficult battle, but that really isn't the case due to the weakness of the AI.

Recall strong veterans, including L1 and L2 units about to level up if you have them, and head directly south to deal with the first elvish leader while sending one wolf to grab villages. Once the first enemy leader is history, go east and deal with the second one. By playing carefully, and keeping a safe distance from the forests whenever possible (to avoid fighting on terrain largely favorable to the elves) you should coast to victory without much trouble.

=== Shan Taum the Smug ===
* Objective:
** Survive for 20 turns, or..
** Defeat Shan Taum.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

What makes this battle peculiar is that you will go against other orcs, supported by some ogres. The enemy starts with a good amount of gold, which would normally make for an intense fight with many casualties on your side, but there's a small river that divides the map right down the middle and can be used to your advantage thanks to the short-sightedness of the AI. As you probably have guessed by now, a good strategy is to place your units on the western bank of the river and let the enemy come to you and fight you from the water, which they will do without hesitance.

An army composed mostly of trolls will serve you well, because of their strong hits and their regeneration ability. Recruit/recall about two or three keeps of units (assuming your gold allows it), complementing the trolls with perhaps a few Orcish Warlords who can soak up some damage as well. Use Jetto (and perhaps one extra Assassin) to poison enemies with high HP, preferably during the day where they can't retaliate with full force. Don't forget to support your low level trolls with Kapou’e's leadership.

You can use your shamans to grab villages during the first turns, but be careful not to leave them in the zone of action of enemy wolves. Use your own wolves to protect them, and to grab villages to the north and south after your shamans have done their job.

Shan Taum will eventually run out of fuel, and it will be much easier to simply go and defeat him than to "survive" until the end of turns.

=== Saving Inarix ===
* Objective: Destroy the southern part of the bridge.
* Optional objective: Wait for Inarix's arrival and bring him and at least 4 other saurians to safety before blowing the bridge.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Plonk (a new loyal Slayer).

This scenario consists of a rescue mission. Inarix, a loyal Saurian Ambusher is on his way and arrives on turn 4 with a group of Saurian Augurs and Skirmishers on the SW corner. Your mission is to take him and most of his group to the north, and then blow up the bridge, escaping from the large group of elves, dwarves and bandits fighting you on the south bank of the river. The turn limit is a little tight, so trying to knock out any of the enemy leaders can be a little risky and unnecessary.

Start by recalling a small group of veterans (3 or 4 should be enough) to deal with the first few elves and dwarves on the bridge, and try to get Kapou’e to the southern keep as quickly as possible. By then Inarix has probably showed up already and the real battle begins.

The elvish leader to the east only recruits level-1 units, and they are not much of a threat outside forest tiles. The dwarven leader, however, recruits Bandits, who are very aggressive and dangerous at night. Make sure you dispatch them quickly with ranged attacks and protect your key units at night with good tactical formations, not leaving them open to attacks from more than one bandit at a time if possible.

One conservative strategy is to form two diagonal defense lines: one extending from the central keep to the north-west (for the dwarves) and one extending to the north-east (for the elves). Troll whelps work nicely for this purpose, using a few Archers and Assassins to deal with the bandits. Keep rotating your lines so the trolls can regenerate to limit your losses.

Meanwhile, Inarix should be on his way to the action. Initially, they will only be attacked by a few units, so build a formation with the healers in the middle and run them up in the center of the map, killing the attackers as you go. Try to give the final blows to the Augurs so they level up quickly into Soothsayers (finally, healers!). Use the swamps and water if possible for the high defense or even try to lure your attackers into it. Focus on moving them northwards and do not waste time, though.

By the end of turn 7 the elves and dwarves are getting low on units, but then they will just dig into their gold reserves and start heavily recruiting again. If you are really quick and concentrate on diminishing the elven attackers in turns 1 to 6, you can overrun the elves and kill their leader. That will make the rest of the scenario much easier as you will only be attacked by the dwarves. However, if you do not manage to kill the elven leader, do not worry. Just run Inarix and his group up to the north.

As soon as the saurian group reaches your defense line, start moving all units up north back across the bridge. Use the troll whelps as buffer to keep away the attackers as you do so.

Once all valuable units are past the center of the bridge, blow it up by moving a unit onto the little barrel in the water just east of it. You may sacrifice a saurian skirmisher for blowing up the bridge, but make sure you still have enough saurians left so you gain the ability to recruit them in the future.

As a final recommendation, it will make the next level a little easier if you can level at least one of the Augurs to a Soothsayer.

=== Clash of Armies ===
* Objective: Defend Prestim for 4 days (24 turns).
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or an enemy occupies a village on the north side when the turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Plonk, Inarix and a couple of veterans.

A new large-scale battle but with a very different flavor to previous scenarios. In this opportunity you have to defend your side of the river. The terrain is favorable to your army, but you have to stay on your toes to deal with the different challenges presented.

First of all, the large group of elves, loyalists, dwarves and bandits that will come from the south, trying to knock you out of the bridge. Using strong units (Trolls, Slurbows and Warlords) supported by a Saurian Augur/Soothsayer and rotating the lines should be enough to hold them in this bottleneck. Other than that, you need to keep two groups on the sides of the river bank to handle the additional sources of trouble: a few gryphons coming from the western keep (mostly during the first few turns and then on rare occasion afterwards), small groups of mermen coming every other turn from each side of the map during the first half of the battle, and Galleons crossing the river with groups of three enemies every now and then.

When planning a strategy, it is usually said that there is more than one way to do it, and that is very true for this scenario. Players have had success with it using different strategies; the general gist of it is probably the same, but the details come down to your particular style of playing and the units you like to use the most.

In general, as mentioned above, try to use veterans to hold the center, and form two groups to cover the sides, mixing fresh and experienced units there. Kapou’e can stay in his keep, recruiting/recalling units during the battle as you see fit; the circumstances will tell you whenever extra reinforcements are required on a particular spot. You will be able to see Galleons and Gryphons from the distance, giving you some time to prepare, and the mermen show up in a pattern that is easy to follow.

You don't need to be careful about your gold in this scenario so feel free to spend all you have here. The next scenario can be handled comfortably with the minimum gold you receive, plus you will get a nice surprise after the Great Horde joins you.

When mermen are about to attack you, avoid occupying the castle tiles, which lets the mermen fight from the water. Instead, lure them into the sand, where they are much more vulnerable. This will make the fighting go faster and avoids a situation where mermen and other enemies pile up on you. Saurians fight nicely from the sand, and using Assassins/Slayers to poison units will make things go even smoother. When you see that the Galleons are about to disembark, ''then'' it is a good idea to occupy those castle tiles, forcing the enemy to drop their units on sand or water.

Using spam units is almost a necessity to keep control of the beaches. Grunts, Assassins, Whelps and Skirmishers are all good options. After turn 12, no more mermen will appear, and the battle will be easier to handle, with only the occasional Gryphon and the Galleons to distract you. If you manage to destroy the Galleons (which have extra hitpoints for this scenario), you will make the second half of the battle even more comfortable for yourself.

''Note'': On versions of BfW previous to 1.9, this scenario played differently. Although many details were similar to its current form, it involved protecting Towers (special units), it didn't include Galleons and it had other balancing issues. The following advice was written for those older versions.

Here is a short strategy which works on minimum starting gold (200) and medium difficulty:

Recall all troll warriors you have, plus some orcish warlords, slurbows, and one saurian healer. Position 4 troll warriors together with Inarix and maybe one of the loyal assassins at the very east, one hex away from the beach. This group fends of the initial mermen onslaught and some gryphons. After the first couple of waves have been beaten, this becomes a very relaxing task well-suited for levelling Inarix.

On the bridgehead put the healer in the middle hex and circle your leader, the orcish warlords, slurbows and remaining trolls. After about turn 8 or 9 the gryphons are done with except for an occasional single gryphon recruit. Once you have the money recall the other saurian healers and use the outer hexes of the bridgehead to level them to soothsayers.

=== Giving Some Back ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 28/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.
* Other:
** Having the Great Horde on your side gives you a very useful bonus. From now on, the upkeep cost of all your non-loyal units is reduced by one.

This is a somewhat easy scenario, if you keep your critical and loyal troops out of harm's way. Early on, your orcish allies do much of the job for you, and you'll be especially thankful to them during the day. With a keep full of veteran recruits you should easily able to finish off in half the turns, though you can instead use mostly level 1's and win at a slower pace. For the slower strategy, recruit or recall a couple of quick Wolf Riders and send then along the western edge and into the treasure trove of enemy villages.

Once the north enemy is defeated, the southern enemy receives another 400 gold and recruits a second wave. If you are very quick, you might be able to kill the south leader first, so this does not happen. If you are less quick, you might catch the second wave in water. If you are slow, you may fight them on open ground and fortress hexes, where they may prove a challenge.

Watch out for the shock troopers, they can cause severe damage even to your trolls. You can use this scenario to level some troops e.g. archers and saurians.

=== The Dwarvish Stand ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 35/30/27 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is a relatively easy scenario. Recruit Wolf Riders and other types with lots of mobility, because just mushing through the snow to get to the enemy units will take a while. Do not bother with any Saurian fighters, who are terrible moving through ice/snow. It may be worthwhile to recall just a Soothsayer or two. You know all those Troll Whelps you've been spamming? Now is the time to recall your half-levelled Whelps who are quick and preferably fearless, but steer them away from plain snow and ice as much as possible. Quick assassins and archers are also helpful.

Let your allies get in front of you and screen your troops. Let them fight the entrenched units and rush out onto poor defensive ground. Considering that your allies will do much of the work for you (like in the previous scenario), you don't need to make plans for a very big fight, so don't over-recruit.

Simple alternative strategy for this easy scenario (min starting gold 300, medium difficulty):

Recall only one keep of: 1 direwolf rider, 5 troll warriors (preferably with the quick ability). Send one troll warrior together with the assassin and the rider around the south supporting your ally and taking some villages. Send all other troll warriors together with your leader through the hills to the north and then west.

Focus on fighting off the Gryphons first, which is not overly difficult. Then position your main force at the edge of the hills south-west of the ice river in the north and lure the dwarves into the river (fighting them in the hills is quite a pain). Once the main wave of dwarves is dealt with, press on towards the dwarven leader and kill him.

By this time the humans should be running low on units as well. Move some spare units in to kill their leader. Inarix is pretty much useless here so he can stay in one of the villages near the keep. You should be finished around turn 15 already and get a fair amount of money out of it.

=== Back Home ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Jetto, Inarix and one orcish veteran.

You finally catch up with the elves and humans you've been following, and it is decided that you will surround them from all four corners of the map. Your forces are divided and you start on your own, without your veteran trolls for the first few turns, and this initial period will probably be the most challenging of all.

It is vital to quickly gain control of the two castle tiles between your keep and the closest human general, as well as the small patches of flat dirt, giving you the advantage to quickly thin out the human troops before reinforcements from the other castles arrive from the north.

Your orc allies will get in position (on the SE and NE corners) on turns 4 and 5, while Grüü shows up with your veteran trolls on turn 7 on the NW, ready to take control of the rest of the map. Play patiently and be careful not to leave your key units too exposed on the snow/ice. Even if your allies are doing a good job, don't underestimate the damage you may receive if the enemies happen to focus on one of your vital units. Support your orcish troops with Soothsayers.

Keep in mind that your orcish allies must stay alive, which can be tricky since they tend to be very aggressive by default. Perhaps the best setting for your allies (right click) is to be "defensive" with no objective. This will help curb the aggressiveness of the leaders.

Use Pillagers to grab villages from very early on and occasionally support your army and your allies. Pay attention to gold, as you'll need extra for the next scenario.

=== Civil War ===
* Objectives:
** Defeat all rebel leaders.
** Move Kapou’e to the signpost at the west.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is regarded as one of the hardest scenarios in the campaign, but don't despair, the end is near. This battle requires patience and a lot of attention to recruitment, strategy and tactics. Any distraction can be costly.

It is good to start this scenario with as much gold as possible. You need to match the damage coming at you from four different leaders all by yourself. In general, a sensible approach is to divide your army into two, sending a group of mostly trolls to the south, and a mixed group to the west. The group to the south will fight on mountains, so it will be generally safer, and you should send your vital units like Grüü, Jetto and Inarix there. The west needs the most attention, and a larger group. There will be no way to avoid fighting from vulnerable positions, so casualties are to be expected. This will be an intense test of your abilities, but you should be ready for it by now after all the battles you've gone through.

It is recommended to recruit mostly level ones initially, to preserve your income. First, recruit a bunch of Wolf Riders for village snatching. You can mostly spam Troll Whelps (or Grunts if your prefer) and Assassins. On ice, level 2 Troll Warriors will die like flies, so better send them to the southern mountains. Troll Rocklobbers are great versus opponents on ice, so send them west, but keep them safe. You will also need at least one Soothsayer on the western front; bend over backwards to keep him safe. You should also recall 1-2 Pillagers for each front, for slowing enemy leaders. When you are almost done with recruiting, you may notice another front developing, with enemy troops closing towards your keep. For them, 3 Grunts, 2 Whelps, 1 Archer, and 1 Assassin might be enough to handle them with the support of your leader and that patch of good terrain next to your keep. When you are down to 100-140 gold, go crazy, recalling possibly only level 3's, mostly Great Trolls (one of which could help in that new front next to your keep.)

After each of the two groups takes out its respective target leader, they each then have one more leader farther west to kill. Watch the clock, as you may need to send Kapou’e running for the signpost.

Poisoning and healing (mostly of the troll regeneration variety) are the keys to success. There is no great place to make a line to the west, but do your best and take the 3 snow-hill hexes next to the road. In the battle to the south, try to keep at least some of the enemy from getting into the mountains, so Grüü can swat them dead on snow while he sits in the mountains. Be careful with Inarix, as just a couple of Orc Warriors can take him out.

=== The Coward ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/32/28 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix (or additional veterans if you have lost Jetto or Inarix).

This is another fight against orcs and ogres in mostly open terrain. This map is no longer fully covered in snow/ice, but the circumstances are still similar to the previous battle.

You start without a keep and two weak enemies with castles nearby. Your first task is to defeat at least one of them to take their fort. The problem is that the scenario starts during the day, and the defense of castle tiles will make it tricky to kill any of them on the first turn. Unless you're very lucky (or unlucky), the usual outcome will be killing just one of them. Don't attack with Kapou’e at first, so that if you manage to kill one of the leaders quickly, you can take his keep and start recruiting right away.

After you secure a keep, you must start recruiting frantically. Favoring Trolls and Assassins is a good idea. You'll want at least two Soothsayers and maybe a couple Augers. A reserve of a Direwolf Rider and Pillager will help plug any hole. Lots of scenery—and lots of villages—in this one. Use two or three Wolf Riders just to run around grabbing villages; it will pay off.

Once you dispatch the second weak leader, you need to scramble into a vertical straight line formation to meet the advancing horde from the West. Don't allow the enemy to flank your line. A Great Troll near each end helps with that, as does securing the ends of your line with snowy and swampy land. Keep a tight formation at all times and don't get over-confident because of the slightly more favorable terrain compared to the snow of previous scenarios.

Once again, poisoning and healing are key. Try not to put two weak units adjacent to each other on the line. Run Kapou’e up and down the behind the line, lending his support to the attacks of the Whelps and other level 1 and 2 troops.

=== The Human Attack ===
* Objective: Hold off the humans for 30 turns.
* Bonus objective: Defeat Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

You get your allies back, making this battle a breeze in comparison to recent experiences. Let them soak up the casualties; use them to screen your flanks and your movements. Thanks to their help, you don't need spam units for this scenario, and instead you can use it to give more experience to your veterans, especially any L2 units you still want to level up for the final battle that is coming next.

The human army seems impressive and they are very powerful during the day. Moreover, they always get reinforcements at dawn (turns 7, 13, 19). However, applying your knowledge of strategy and tactics here will show that this battle is not so tough. A static defense on the city wall will work, and since the humans will take some time reaching you, you can easily arrange for your participation to occur during the night, where your army will be devastating.

It is very likely that passively holding your fort will not be necessary. Instead, you can punch down the middle; that has the advantage that you may be able to take out Earl Lanbec'h before some of his reinforcements arrive—players have successfully finished this scenario before turn 13.

A couple Direwolves and a Pillager may be able to trap him for a very early finish, though at no small risk to themselves. Feel free to spend a lot of money. The early finish bonus is massive.

=== Northern Alliance ===
* Objective: Kill Shan Taum and Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or Howgarth III die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Inarix and one veteran.

You receive an extra ally, so in the end you are a team of four leaders against two. The starting set up involves a small ambush. Start by moving Kapou’e quickly to your keep and leaving Grüü and your other veteran to deal with the group of orcs along with your allies' gryphons.

Shan Taum is far weaker than Lanbec'h. The benefit of taking him out quickly is that your ally will then concentrate his forces on Lanbec'h; if both enemies are present, Howgarth's forces oscillate a little in between the two.

You should start this level with '''a lot''' of gold. Keep recruiting every turn until you run out. With the Great Horde low upkeep this will take a while. Keep doing it. Leave the last reserves of gold for recruiting your strong veterans. Using Orcish Assassins early on will level the playing field nicely with poisoning.

Hold the wall until you reach a certain (im)balance and then push south. Lanbec'h gets reinforcements in the afternoon but they are nothing like as formidable as the previous scenario. All you have to do is kill Lanbec'h, not all the enemy units. So, if you get a chance, pick him off.

If you are willing to put up with the tedium of recruiting tons of units, your victory should be inevitable.

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Sceptre of Fire

2013-11-07T15:16:12Z

Ericppp: Clarify the escape route a little bit /* The Dragon */

==Campaign Strategy==

You fight this campaign almost entirely with the four classic dwarven units: fighter, thunderer, scout and guardsman. Healers are entirely missing, and villages become a key resource for army regeneration. Given the circumstances, your levelling strategy should lean strongly to the offensive.

In the many scenarios, the village distribution is strongly biased against you, and conquering a village cluster is the key to victory. Your main opponents are trolls, other dwarves and elves, and you are mostly fighting in caverns and mountains.

In this campaign, Dwarvish Fighters can advance to Runesmiths as well as Steelclads. Runemasters are useful overall and absolutely essential for forcing the caves of the Shorbear clan, and you should consider training at least one or two of them in addition to the two that join you. Dwarvish Lords are critical for the rearguard action against Berserkers in "The Dragon", and it is wise to have at least three of them in your army.

The guardsman line is only useful early on, since their pierce attack is useless against trolls and too weak for storming the Shorbear caves or discouraging berserkers in "The Dragon". However, having a few of them on your recall list will be useful for the final scenario. Thunderers do their share as your ranged unit, and scouts as screening forces, but make sure to keep a strong emphasis on the fighter line. Once Thursagan joins you, make it a priority to level him up all the way up to a Dwarvish Arcanister; he's the only unit able to do it, and by doing so he will become a truly frightening unit for your enemies.

==Scenarios==

=== A Bargain Is Struck ===
* Objectives:
** Move the caravans and Alanin to the dwarvish castle, or..
** Defeat the elvish leader.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Haldric II, Alanin or one of the caravans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Rugnur and Alanin.
* Other: It is probably easier and quicker to defeat the elvish leader.

After a short dialogue, you have to get four caravans (five on ''hard'') to your keep in the north. This is a straightforward mission. Merely move the caravans towards your keep. Recruit two or three units for Rugnur and send them south at all speed (scouts work well here, provided you are playing on 1.7.x). Use Alanin to guard the caravans as well as you can, until they get out of reach of the elves. Normally, your human allies wipe out the elven attack before your troops can get stuck in, but if you can get some experience, all the better for the next mission. However, unless you want to try a very unusual strategy, you probably won't have the chance to provide much experience to many units. As mentioned, two or three recruits is probably enough, so you can focus your experience on Rugnur and Alanin.

Because the humans are so effective against the elves, you may be able to simply ignore the caravans and go kill the elvish leader. Remember elves are tough to hit in forest, so concentrate on picking off the ones who venture into the grassland and let the humans take their licks against the dug-in elves.

[Thrash: In 1.8.4 on hard the above seems to be terribly out of date. The elves kick the human's butt and the objective becomes for the dwarves to kill the elven leader before the elves cause a loss.]

Don't waste time moving your dwarves to the elvish keep. Glildur receives a significant amout of gold around turn 10, allowing him to recruit wave after wave of new elves to fight you, and it can get unmanageable if you let him recruit with impunity by then.

=== Closing The Gates ===
* Objectives: Close the gates by having units standing on all six glyphs simultaneously.
* Lose if: Rugnur or Baglur die or time runs out.
* Turns: 15.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, 4 Guardsmen (5 on ''easy'').
* Other
** If there are any elves in the caves after you shut the gates, you must kill them.
** Any units outside the caves when the gates close will die; pull your units back.

This involves hunting down some trolls and stalling the elves. Firstly, recall and recruit a substantial amount of thunderers and fighters. Move all your guardsmen down towards the three towers, those two glyphs can be easily covered near the end. Move a couple of thunderers down that way as well.

You have to activate six glyphs and, as you can notice, two of them are near the main entrance and easy to activate. You will find the other four going through the two main passages inside the cave—one directly south of your keep and one to the west. Send teams composed of about 3 or 4 dwarves (mixing fighters, thunderers and perhaps scouts if you like using them) down each passage, and focus the rest of your force on the entrance, resisting the elves. The terrain will be very advantageous to your army so the challenge should not be too complicated.

Once the trolls are dead, place dwarves on each of those fours glyphs. You will notice that there are a couple of small additional entrances to the cave at the end of each passage. Don't worry, turning "on" the glyphs closest to those openings will seal them. You might even shut one or two trolls outside this way.

Once those four glyphs are done you're ready to finish your mission. However, you might as well defend the gate until turn 14 or so, picking up as much experience as possible (try to get Rugnor at least to level 2). Then, pull all your troops back behind the gate (any left outside will automatically die, and those trapped in the door will be squished) and place soldiers on the two remaining glyphs.

=== Searching for the Runecrafter ===
* Objectives:
*# Reach Thursagan with a non-gryphon unit.
*# Bring Thursagan back to the caves.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Alanin, Krawg, Thursagan or Baglur die or time runs out.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, Alanin.

Once you move a unit a little far from the cave, a loyal gryphon named Krawg will show up, along with a friendly Gryphon Rider. Thursagan is hiding in a village placed at random inside the map. You have to go find him and bring him back to the signpost in your keep. He won't follow a Gryphon, so you have to send a dwarf (or Alanin).

The monsters you'll face are Wolves, Ogres, Trolls and Woses. Maintain a defensive position in your mountain stronghold while your Gryphons scout the map to locate Thursagan's village, then send someone else to bring him back.

The Trolls, Woses and Ogres hit hard, so concentrate on killing them quickly when they reach you. Don't let the wolves flank you and get inside your perimeter.

It will be useful to recall/recruit scouts, who are good against woses, along with thunderers and fighters. Try not to over-recruit; this map won't have any other villages other than the ones close to your keep, and Thursagan's home.

=== Gathering Materials ===
* Objective: Mine one gold deposit and two coal deposits (see below).
* Lose if: Rugnur or Thursagan die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/37/34 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, Thursagan and two loyal Runesmiths.
* Other
** To mine you must recruit a Dwarvish Miner, move him to the deposit and move him back to the keep.
** The map is randomized so your map may play slightly differently.

The coal deposits are near the northwest troll and the southeast troll. The gold deposit is towards the middle. (The map layout is randomized, but the minerals are always in these areas). In order to mine, you must recruit a Dwarvish Miner, move him to the deposit and move him back to the keep. The mining can be done with just one Miner, but make it a priority to grab the deposits as quickly as you can. The speed of the miners will be of great help to keep them safe from harm, but still be careful and protect them whenever necessary.

The gold reserve may be the easiest one to snatch first, and maybe the northwest coal could also be grabbed quickly before you kill the enemies up there. A sensible strategy is to recruit about 2 keepfuls of units and get to the crossroad area quickly. The goblins are numerous but weak. The trick here is to hold the northeast against Troll Whelps and Ogres, the southeast against more Whelps and Rocklobbers and still have enough units to kill all the goblins.

The AI tends to avoid attacking your Runesmiths/Thursagan when they are on good defensive ground. You can use this to your advantage when clogging up passageways.

Remember to move your Miner to and from the deposits as quickly as possible. In general, the order of things to do besides that is:

* Get your troops into the middle clearing and dig in.
* Kill the goblins and their leader.
* Kill the last of the wave from the northeast and reinforce the southeast.
* Move some of your forces to finish the northeast leader and the rest to reinforce the southeast.
* Push to the southeast (there are villages down here) and get the last leader.

The easiest order to get the deposits is probably gold, northwest coal, southeast coal.

'''Alternative Strategy'''

In 1.8.2 on the Steelclad (Challenging) difficulty the ogres and goblins fight each other, so you can let them weaken each other while you go south and slaughter the trolls there. Once you've dealt with the south trolls you can use the villages there to heal your troops before going north to finish the survivors (most likely the ogres, as the goblins are too weak). If you choose this strategy be careful not to spend too much time waiting for the fighting in the north to end.

[Thrash: In my experience the enemies seemed to prefer fighting each other instead of the player's units. If you just hang back a turn or two, they will starting fighting and then you can pick off weak units for XP and wade in after a couple turns when they've weakened each other. Also, recruiting 3 miners makes things much easier in turns of time (I wouldn't be surprised if it was impossible with one miner on hard).]

=== Hills of the Shorbear Clan ===
* Objectives: Defeat the dwarf leader and have all heroes in the cave while no enemies are in it.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Alanin, Krawg, Thursagan or Durstorn die or time runs out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Alanin, Baglur, Krawg, Thursagan, Durstorn, two new loyal units—a Thunderguard and a Steelclad.

Since Durstorn started a fight, you have to kick the dwarves out of their cave. The problem is that some elves show up and start fighting you too. So you have to take over the cave '''and''' kick everyone else out.

You can use Krawg and another Gryphon to go around the map and flag lots of villages. You'll get lots of gold and can use that to recruit a couple of fresh units if you need after you capture the Shorbears' keep.

The scenario is pretty straightforward. When fighting the dwarves use the terrain to your advantage. A dwarf on a mountain tile is only hit 30% of the time... unless you are attacking with a Runesmith/Runemaster. Their magical attacks (70% chance to hit) can make all the difference. Once you are in the cave and fighting off the elves, seal up the exits when you can. Now all you need to do is wipe out any stragglers and you are done.

=== Towards the Caves ===
* Objectives:
** Move Rugnur to the north-east cave entrance.
** Move Alanin to the southern border east of the river.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Alanin, Krawg or Thursagan die or time runs out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, Krawg, Thursagan and Alanin.

It is important to realize that the two objectives do not need to be accomplished simultaneously; once Alanin touches the southern border, east of the river, he disappears and his part is done. So, you can just send him straight south from turn 1. Have him go along the western edge of the river and cross over when he is at the bottom. The southeastern elves really don't like Alanin, so be careful not to attract too much attention. (Note that you can use that to your advantage to slow the advance of those elves).

This scenario is an exercise in holding a defensible position. The problem is that position has six entrances and you are up against a bunch of level 2 attackers. Recruit 2 or 3 keeps full of soldiers, sneak Alanin and Rugnur out (maybe with a few units, perhaps Gryphons, for cover and village flagging), and dig in. Rotate your units and try not to lose too many. Since most of the attackers are level 2, you can level some units with a couple of kills. Stay on good defensive ground and don't try anything crazy. It is also possible to win by killing all the leaders, but good luck with that.

[Thrash: I found just running for it worked for me. Alanin is able to make it to the southern edge before any elves can reach him by running down the west bank and crossing over. For Rugnur I recruited 6 sacrificial scouts and used them to screen the northern elves and Rugnur was able to make the cave with the elves on his heels.]

[Sojourner: With WN 10.0, running Alanin south down the west side of the river worked like a charm. I ran Thurgasin into the NW caves to keep him safe. The tricky part was getting Rugnur to the NE cave. Since even a single hex makes the differance, I could only recruit one keep load and then Rugnur had to start running on turn-1. Level 1 scouts as a screen didn't work because the Elvish archers slaughtered them. I used a full keep of Level 1 griffins (all ultimately sacrificed) as a screen, and had Rugnur go through the 5-hex of mountains to the East (32/10). But it was very close because I had to use Krawg at the last to help screen, yet not allow him to get zone-locked and killed. Possible, but tricky.]

=== Outriding the Outriders ===
* Objectives: Reach the outpost in the south.
* Lose if: Alanin dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Alanin.

Your mission is to run south as quickly as possible. The elvish outriders would easily catch up with you and defeat you, if it were not for the huge help you receive from villagers. Every time you capture a village, two (or three for the first village you capture) new loyalists will come out to help you against the elves. You will have them just for this scenario, so you don't have to worry too much about saving them or leveling them up. If you level a Spearman, the best choice is probably Javelineer. Pikeman and Javelineer have pierce attacks (which are best against the Outriders) but the Javelineer has the ranged attack too.

The main goal is to slow the elves down (which you can of course do by killing them). If a unit has 2 or 3 HP, don't attack with it. Make one of the Outriders waste his turn by killing it. Try and use your units ZOC and the terrain to slow the elves down. The Outriders are slow on ice, hills and mountains. If you have the option of falling back (or moving up) and combining two villages worth of defenders, that's probably a good idea.

There are two villages you can reach with your first move. Go to the southernmost one. This sums up the whole ''modus operandi'' for Alanin: move as far south as you can every turn. Deviate slightly to capture villages, but not too much. You will need most of every turn's moves to get to the outpost in time.

=== The Dragon ===
* Objectives: Get Rugnur, Thursagan and Krawg to the end of the tunnel; then move Thursagan to the forge and defend him for 9 turns
* Lose if: Rugnur, Thursagan or Krawg die
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Thursagan, Krawg, and Baglur.

Strong dwarves and elves will come from the west in great numbers. As the dialogue suggests, trying to make a stand in your initial keep would be practically impossible, and your only choice is to recruit as much as you can in the first turn, and flee by going east and then south as quickly as possible, through the zigzag path.

You have to cover a lot of terrain, but the path is easy to follow, and at its end you will reach a small section where you will find the forge where the Sceptre can be built. That is a good place to finally make your stand. Until then, your job is to move quickly, dealing with bats coming from the cave, and dealing with the dwarves from behind. The elves move much more slowly so you'll probably deal with them later on.

Regarding the bats, they would normally be just a small annoyance, except that in this case there are lots of them, so they are challenging in their own right. The best way to kill them is with Scouts' ranged attack or Runesmiths' magical attack. They are level 0 (unless you're playing on ''hard'', where you'll find some level ones) and so don't exert a zone of control. Khrakrahs the dragon might come out but there is no special advantage in killing it. Just move past it and let the elvish army deal with it.

As for the dwarves coming from behind, the biggest challenge is that there are many berserkers among them, and there's a good chance a few of them are quick, so they'll catch up with you in no time. Try to leave Dwarvish Lords and Runemasters with good HP on the rear of your army to deal with them.

Once you finally reach the forge, you may choose to move Thursagan into it quickly, in which case he disappears and the rest of your mission is to survive for 9 more turns, or you can play it patiently and milk as much as experience as you can. In this case, don't move Thursagan into the forge yet, and make sure to advance him up to level 4 if you haven't done so already.

''Note'': Apparently this scenario played very differently in versions previous to 1.10.x, and the suggestions given by this walkthrough mentioned that the elves don't follow you. This no longer applies, and the following comments left here in the past by other players reflect that.

[Thash: Contrary to what this says, the elves and the dwarves did come after me in a big way after a few turns, but I was able to pick a good spot in the tunnel and hold them off by just plugging the tunnel - not attacking - and rotating wounded units through. Also be care of which units you send SW from starting point, beserkers can come running out of darkness and kill Krawg easily.]

[Sojourner: With WN 10.0 the elves and dwarves attacked immediately and relentlessly with level 2 and 3 units. I suggest running flat out until you're past the wide spot where you first see the dragon and then start delaying tactics while you race Thursagan to the forge. The best place to delay are the narrow two-hex choke points on the final SW run towards the forge. Make your main stand there. Expect to lose/sacrifice a fair number of units.]

=== Caverns of Flame ===
* Objectives: Move onto the glyph that makes the volcano erupt; then kill all the elves
* Lose if: Rugnur, Thursagan or Krawg die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: All of your available units, including your entire recall list.

You start with your entire army and won't have any real chance to recruit any new units. What you start with is all you get. The cave is populated by Trolls and a few Orcish Warriors guarding the glyph. Your job is to get onto the glyph and then kill all the elves.

After a turn or two a bunch of dwarves and elves appear at the mouth of the cave (so get your units moving). Just like in the last scenario the elves move very slowly so you'll fight the dwarves separately from the elves. Keep your force together. You face a lot of strong enemies and will need to rotate all your troops to prevent too much attrition. Take advantage of the fact that you are fighting so many level 2 and 3 units to level any of your troops that still can improve.

One way to play this scenario is to move everyone to the westernmost cavern. It has a good bottleneck to hold the dwarves at and plenty of villages to heal. Once you are dug in, send Rugnur, Thursagan (who is an absolute badass now that he has the Sceptre of Fire) and a few other units south to the glyph. Kill the orc guards and step on the glyph. Once you do that you are instructed to kill all the elves before they escape. Luckily for you, stepping on the glyph also unleashes the Troll Warriors '''behind''' the elves. The elves have no chance. The trolls will quickly slaughter them. You can help if you want, but the end is inevitable. Make sure Thursagan and Rugnur don't fall in lava.

To keep Krawg out of trouble you can move him onto one of the lava squares. There are several which are only accessible/attackable by flying units. There are no flying enemies so Krawg will be safe.

Don't worry about the Troll Warriors. They cannot get out until you step on the glyph. By that time it probably doesn't matter.

'''Alternative Strategy'''

A much more direct approach is to simply ignore the trolls coming from the internal caves. Use a few units to slow them down (guardsmen are very effective) and move your heavy hitters south directly into the glyph chamber. Kill the guards as quickly as possible and take defensive positions around the glyph while watching the elves and trolls fight each other. When you're ready, step on the glyph and unleash the Troll Warriors on the elves. Then it's only a matter of surviving until the elves are slaughtered. You might suffer some losses, but as long as the heroes survive it doesn't matter. If the elves don't get entirely wiped out in a few turns, the cave will end up entirely covered in lava, killing everyone. Either way, you win and proceed to the campaign's Epilogue.

-shadowblack

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Northern Rebirth

2013-10-02T09:42:21Z

Ericppp: Updates based on 1.10.x

===Breaking the Chains===
* Objective: Defeat the orc leaders.
* Lose if: Tallin dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 51/41/31/26 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin and Zlex, a loyal peasant.

All you can recruit in this scenario are level 0 Peasants and Woodsmen, so it calls for unusual tactics. Initially you can't overpower the orcs by brute force. Fortunately though, the orcs are fighting amongst themselves, so guerilla tactics will work. Keep your head down, and let the orcs weaken each other while you slip around the edges and grab as many villages as you can - even if you have to sacrifice a few units. Once the orcs are done fighting (one side will be mostly out of units), march your Woodsmen in a line and finish them off.

The next scenario can be ''expensive'', so try to finish as early as you can. Don't worry too much about levelling troops (except for Tallin and Zlex), because you'll get better troops next scenario anyway. When you do level units, keep in mind that you'll mostly be fighting skeletons for the next four scenarios; Bowmen will be okay late-game but not so good in the near future.

Also, beware of the tunnel entrance to the north-east. When you move there you will unleash a squad of trolls. Sometimes they attack the orcs (good for you) but other times they attack you. Since they are resistant to your pierce attacks, they can give you a bit of trouble should the latter happen.

===Infested Caves===
* Objectives:
** Find the dwarves and move Tallin to their castle; or..
** Clear the caves by defeating all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Tallin or Hamel dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 60/55/50/45 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin and a supporter (typically Zlex, unless you lose him).
* Other: Find Camerin the Arch Mage in the northernmost village.

This will be a long write-up, because this is a difficult scenario that stumps many players.

First, here is the big picture. If you play just a few turns into this scenario, you will readily notice the green and blue Troll Whelps, the orange and white Skeletons, and you'll probably soon see the brown level 2 trolls coming from the far side of the large chamber. All of these have a cache of villages behind some sort of choke-point, which means that they won't run out of money and fresh recruits. Once you make it past the brown trolls, you'll come across another castle of skeletons, then finally, the home of the dwarves. Trolls, skeletons, and dwarves will all fight the others, given the chance. Depending on much randomness and the difficulty level, the dwarves may kill their adjacent undead leader and show up in the main hall as early as turn 15, or they may be stalemated by the skeletons until the end of time.

Now, let's have a look at the troops at your disposal:

*Footpads' don't have many HP, but also tend to take little damage due to their dodge rating. They're also quite fast. However, their damage output is (barely) sufficient against skeletons and totally inadequate against trolls—they won't get pushed back, but won't push forward either. Still, footpads should make up the bulk of your army: As you lack healers, your troops need to run back back to a village when they get beat up. Footpads run faster and take less damage than your other units.
*Thugs, with their powerful impact attack, will do more damage than anyone else. However, being melee-only means they get beat up in the process, not to mention shot to pieces by the Skeleton Archers. Pulling them back for healing takes a lot of time. Having a thug in the right place at the right time can make quite a difference... but you don't need them to finish this level and probably won't ever recall them later.
*Poachers are virtually useless against skeletons, but the best ranged attackers against trolls. Later (much later) you will need a few good archers, and now is the time to train them. Something like four or six will probably be enough, though.

Next, let's examine your opponents. The area in the east around the brown trolls is the key to winning this scenario. But let's start with the minor opponents, the four teams of level-1 trolls and skeletons closest to your initial keep. Sealing them at their choke-points is easy. Generally, you should immediately send off some footpads towards each of the four, occupy a favorable line of defense, then reinforce them over the next couple of turns. If and when you defeat any of the four, you'll discover a secret passage to their neighbour. Meanwhile, additional troops should assemble in the main hall for the fight against the brown trolls. All told, you will need like 40 men and could use many more—if you don't have at least 500 gold to begin with, revert and replay the previous level, shooting for more like 800 gold.

There are six opponents in all:

1) The blue trolls (north). There's village on a small patch of meadows where you'll discover a level-3 mage who will join you. Get there quickly or you won't make it until much much later. If you want to stalemate the blue trolls, put a Footpad on the mushroom patch and another unit on the cave hex. There are other possible stalemate lines if you need to fall back. You can kill this leader by an assault up this tunnel, but it will take some time unless you get lucky.

2) The green trolls (south). There are two excellent stalemate lines here. In the 2-hex wide area, the village close to your keep and one adjacent hex behind are great for quick Footpads, which can dart off to another village to heal if necessary. The other stalemate line is in the 3-hex wide area, where there is a village and a mushroom patch opposite. Putting a third unit in the middle and behind for a U-shaped line allows you to get three attacks on one, whereas the enemy can only muster two attacks on one. If you want to kill the green troll leader instead of just stalemating him, you'll need to be more aggressive, moving as far forward as quickly as possible. With your troops closing in on his keep, the leader will occasionally take part in the fight—eventually this will be his downfall.

3) The orange skeletons (east then south) can be totally contained with a couple of Footpads initially. The trolls will come to help. On harder difficulty levels, you may want to widen the containment area so that a few orange skeletons enter the main chamber; this will attract more trolls to bash on the skeletons, which means less trolls bashing on your troops.

4) The white skeletons' exit (east then north) is extremely easy to guard—just see to it that you get there in time. But hey: there's a second hole further down the hall, pretty close to the brown trolls. For now, that's in your favor. After the brown trolls have been defeated, you can loosen your grip on the first gap—his skeletons will prefer that outlet and leave the second corridor unguarded. You can then march a whole army up there and occupy about ten white villages. Deprived of his income, destroying the white leader will be standard procedure.

5) The brown trolls (east). Occupy the castle ruins and rugged terrain in the center of the large cave, but not before most of the trolls have moved off to fight the orange and white skeletons. You may try to lure out the troll leader and pin him down, or just rush in and occupy his castle. Just make sure that he can't recruit any more. Killing him may take several turns and will certainly cost you some units, but as long as you keep him from recruiting, things will work out. Also remember that there's another set of skeletons behind the trolls. On the harder difficulty levels, the undead will be ready to burst out of the south-east tunnel by turn 13; you will want to arrive before, so that you can contain them.

6) The final skeletons (south-east) you'll find past the trolls are in a battle with the dwarves. On the easier difficulty levels, it's is even possible they no longer exist, as they may have succumbed to the dwarves. On the harder difficulty levels, these skeletons have probably stalemated the dwarves and have turned their attention to an assault on the trolls and you. Once these undead are gone, the dwarves will pour out and "help" you with the remaining opponents, stealing kills and standing in the way. You should maybe fill up the corridor just south of the brown trolls' fortress with units of your own, just to keep the dwarves away. Peasants will do. Also don't forget to seize the dwarven villages - there's quite a few.

Finally, here are strategies players have used with success...

* "Total victory" strategy — Technically speaking, it would suffice to win if you somehow manage to move Tallin into the dwarves' home without killing any enemy leaders. However, this requires that you somehow get past the brown trolls; if you can do that, you can just as well rub them out. On the easier difficulty levels, killing all the other enemy leaders on top of the brown troll leader isn't difficult but takes some patience. On easy, you've got 60 turns, and even if you need 40 in order to clear the map, you're still in for a <i>huge</i> early finish bonus, which you'll really need later on. Advance with all haste on the blue trolls, green trolls, brown trolls, and/or white skeletons (using the eastern entrance or the secret passage from the blue trolls); use their villages to build a massive army for the rest.

* "Migration" strategy (as per [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?p=476131#p476131 HomerJ's forum post]) — On the harder difficulty levels, a total victory might not be possible and even just getting Tallin to the dwarves will require a carefully choreographed ballet, playing off the trolls against the skeletons. First things first: rescue the Arch Mage and send him to join your main army. Using Footpads, set up containment lines against the blue trolls, green trolls, white skeletons, and orange skeletons. In the main chamber, the trolls there will be more interested in fighting the skeletons than your troops, if you keep them healthy and on good terrain. Around turn 8, after most of the brown trolls have joined your Footpads against the skeletons, move the bulk of your army into the main chamber. Fan your Footpads out, grabbing fortress hexes and other good terrain, creating a pocket for your more vulnerable units inside. By turn 12, you need to be in the brown trolls' keep so that you can block the undead that are about to burst out of the south-east passage. Meanwhile, you should "release the hounds" - remove the stalemate lines against Troll Whelps in the west, allowing them to pour into the main chamber. This will entertain the orange and white skeletons for quite some time, preventing the skeletons from endangering your new home in the east. The brown trolls have a cache of villages just north-east of their keep, so grab those, start generating income again, and recruit units as needed. Set up a defensive line along the western edge of your new keep, while advancing through the south-east tunnel and killing the undead leader there. Raid the dwarven villages for income and wait until the last turn to move Tallin to a dwarven castle hex.

===To The Mines===
* Objectives:
** Go to the mines (with Tallin); or..
** Defeat the wolves.
* Lose if: Tallin or Hamel dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/36/30/24 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Hamel, Camerin and a supporter.

This is designed to be more of a breather scenario, letting you get a bit of fresh air and level a few units before you plunge back into the caves. However, stay on your guard because if you get sloppy, you could experience a lot of grief.

The basic strategy is to recruit lots of dwarves and sweep north in a line. You'll lose a few but level up more, which will be your most reliable heavy infantry in later scenarios. Beware Wolf Riders nipping around your flanks and don't leave any units isolated. Recalling Poachers/Trappers will make quicker work of the Wolf Riders but the experience may be appreciated more if it is doled out to dwarves.

Alternatively, recruit a keep full of level 0 "targets" and make a point of leaving one or two of them isolated (but with support troops nearby). The AI loves to attack these "soft" targets, leaving his units vulnerable to your full counterattack. With a bit of luck, you can even lure out the enemy leader for an easy (and early) finish.

===Clearing The Mines===
* Objective: Clear the mines by defeating all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Tallin or Hamel dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 85/75/65/55 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Hamel, Camerin, a supporter and a couple of veteran dwarves.
* Other: LOTS of ghouls show up on turn 21.

This is a large scenario, and a tough one, but it's very important to do well here. There are two key secrets which will dictate your strategy.

The first secret: this is the last scenario on which you can recruit dwarfs. Dwarfs are probably the best units in your army, *especially* against skeletons; you want to recruit lots of them now, so that you can recall them later and level them into Dwarven Lords. Recruit, recruit, recruit, until you run out of gold. You should have a continuous stream of of dwarfs going both north and east.

I didn't recruit any of the Dwarvish Thunderers—they're not much good against skeletons, and I don't like the element of randomness where half the time they deal no damage. You might feel differently.

When fighting the guard skeletons, try to lure them off their platforms before attacking. They'll cheerfully leave their posts to attack your low-level units, especially if they think there's a chance to kill something.

The second secret: see all that water on the level? On turn 21, most of that water turns into swamp, and every swamp hex will have a Ghoul on it. You need to have most of the Death Knights dead before this happens, so don't dawdle.

There are two ways to deal with the Ghouls. The first option is to kill the Lich before turn 22. This is tricky, but very doable. The Lich is very frisky about leaving his keep to attack you; lure him away and hit him with whatever Dwarven Lords you have.

The second option is to farm the Ghouls for experience. You've got lots and lots of dwarves, right? Why not have fun with them? Surround the water with dwarfs on all sides, and wait for turn 21. You'll lose a few dwarfs, but you'll gain a lot of experience, too. Be careful of the Lich, who will attack when you get close. You don't want to kill him until most of the Ghouls are dead, so it's best to just put up with him (and try not to move any high-level units where he can get at them).

Comment (Nightmare): Finishing before turn 21 or even surrounding all the water by that time looks very much impossible, however even if you only took out the two leaders on the western edge of the map until turn 21 it is very well possible to kill all those Ghouls and still receive a handy gold bonus. Ghouls are scared of levelled thugs and dwarf fighters, which makes "controlling" them pretty easy.

===The Pursuit===
* Objectives: Find Malifor and destroy him.
* Lose if: Tallin dies.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, a supporter and a veteran dwarf.
* Other:
** Get the Rod of Justice in the northern chamber.
** Raid the treasury.
** You'll find many loyal units in this scenario, including an Elvish Druid, two White Mages, a Drake Burner, a group of 3 Dwarves and a Wraith.

This level opens with an 8-way junction of passages (one of which is where you enter). Don't get involved in fights in all 7 passages at once; you can only use Camerin in one place at a time, and initially you have a serious problem with healing (namely, you don't have any means to heal units, so they just have to go and stand in the entrance passage and regain 2hp per turn).

If you have luck with the initial guards, by turn 2 you should have Tallin on the camp, recruiting/recalling bandits and dwarves. This scenario doesn't have a time limit, and although it has many enemy leaders, most of them won't be actively recruiting until you get close to them so you won't be too pressured to rush your actions. At the same time, don't waste time. The faster you finish this long scenario, the more money (from treasure chests you find here) you'll get to keep.

Only two Death Knights (located directly east and west from the keep) will start sending some skeletons to you from the very start. On the easiest difficulty level they will recruit only L1 skeletons, but on higher difficulties they will include L2 units as well. The bad news is it's difficult to get to these guys (it's almost impossible on the highest difficulty levels), because the path is full of bottlenecks, and they can recruit new units frequently. The good news is there's not really any need to kill these guys—put some dwarfs or thugs in the bottleneck and kill the skeletons as they come out. Fairly quickly you'll need to heal your defenders, which is why it is important to rescue the healers (see below) quickly. On the easiest difficulty, you can probably defeat these two leaders without much work; they have some Revenants as guards, but the one to the west has less of them, so it will probably be quicker to get rid of him first. If you defeat the one to the east, you'll be rewarded with six bottles of holy water stored in a couple of chambers behind doors.

Occasionally some single units will come from the north-east and north-west because there are more enemy leaders up there and, although they don't start with any money to recruit, they have some incoming base gold per turn and so every now and then they will gather enough to recruit one unit and send it your way.

As for the rest of the leaders (and surprises) of this scenario, you can approach them more or less sequentially and patiently. In general, when you see some enemy shout some type of exclamation, it means one or two leaders will start recruiting the next turn, so you will be basically committed to clear the path you're exploring.

You should probably start by handling the leader to the south-west. There, you will find the first group of loyal units who will join you. The druid you get is pretty awesome, but the real prize here is the two invincible white mages. Whenever one white mage gets killed, the other one resurrects it, with apparently no penalty! Well, any experience they may have gained is lost and they start from scratch again, but if a white mage reaches level 3, it will stay level 3 forever.

Your first order of business is to send the female white mage (with the "quick" attribute) down the south-east tunnel, the one with the "water monsters" warning. Send her an escort—three or four units, any type as long as they all have 6+ movement. She'll eventually win the scenario for you.

Now that you've got your base under control, it's time to focus on profit. Remember that long tunnel behind Krash? Send a footpad down that tunnel; he'll eventually find three loyal dwarfs. (He'll also find a back-door into the Treasury, but it's probably not worth your time to send an army down that way to take advantage of it.) In the meantime, grab some healthy units and hit the Treasury from the front. When you get close, you'll trigger two Death Knights to summon units at you. Retreat out of the tunnel and kill them as they chase you into your main room, then head back in once they run out of gold.

You don't ever want to attack the guards on their platforms; instead, put an expendable unit (newly recruited Thug or Footpad) where they can reach it, and they'll leave their platform every time. Repeat until done. Your goal in the Treasury is the chest in the far north, which has 10K gold. Try not to spend too much of it. The rest of the chests have less gold, but still worth getting.

Finish the Treasury? Both the north and north-east tunnels eventually lead to the final boss, but more importantly, there's other benefits to going up the two tunnels: loads of XP and the almighty Rod of Justice.

The north tunnel leads to the Rod of Justice. The tunnel is almost entirely unguarded at first, and after a while opens into a large, open chamber. Take Tallin and the druid with a hardened force with you, because going into the chamber has two effects: your retreat is cut off by a cave-in, and you're attacked by a mass of ''very'' dangerous level 3 spiders. This is where the druid comes in: spiders have poison, and the druid can cure. Luckily, there's a choke-point that you can fall back to and wear down the spiders' numbers before having to assault the chamber in force. The reward for killing the spiders? The Rod of Justice. When you've secured the chamber, send Tallin to go grab it. It gives him stat boosts and an incredibly powerful ranged attack.

The north-east tunnel doesn't have any big rewards like the Rod of Justice, but there are two Death Knights and loads of skeletons, making it good for experience. It's also nice and narrow, so while the going is slow, you don't have to worry about being overwhelmed.

As you've been doing all this, your white mage has been running down that long south-east tunnel. At one point her escort has to deal with some tentacles. At that point, send a footpad down a south tunnel, where you'll find a friendly Wraith. Later she passes a pool which contains a sea monster. If you don't go in the room, it won't attack. Eventually she reaches a keep guarded by three nagas. When you're ready to take out the boss, grab your other white mage (the male one, with movement 5) and send him off to get killed somewhere. He'll teleport next to the female mage. It no longer matters if your white mages die, because they'll just respawn in the same place. Kill the nagas and open the secret door; the lich has a bunch of guards, but your white mages are invincible, and eventually (probably around turn 55-60) they'll finish the scenario for you.

===Old Friend===
* Objectives:
** Defeat Rakshas (almost impossible); or..
** Resist until the end of turns.
* Lose if: Tallin dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 18/18/18/18 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare)
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Krash, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia and a supporter.

This is meant to be an easy mission if your objective is to simply survive and hoard gold. You don't have to defeat the Orcs to win this one, so you can just lurk just inside the two-hex-wide aperture of the cave only two orcs at a time will be able to get at you; it's not hard to fend them off until time runs out. Spend as little gold as possible and level up some troops.

If you are using this approach, it's worth recalling one dwarvish steelclad and run him round to the east-most village in the northern mountains—this one has impassable mountains on 2 adjacent tiles, so it can be attacked from only one tile, so a steelclad can easily hold out here and gain some XP doing so.

Alternatively, you can go ahead and sally. It is supposed to be impossible to actually defeat them entirely, but if you stick to defensive terrain and keep recycling fresh units to the front, you should soon pile up stacks of orcish corpses as well as experience, which always comes in handy. It may even be possible to beat the nearer two orcs on the easiest difficulty, but it is not advisable. When you move far enough from your keep towards the south-west, Rakshas triggers the appearance of Goblin Knights on all the mountain tiles in the centre of the map, and all enemy leaders receive a huge gold injection. You may get away with defeating Poul (the enemy leader on the south-east), but getting too close to Drung is more likely trigger the Goblin Knight trap.

[Adeptus] Block the corridor with 2 units at 1XP to increase level. The I.A. won't attack unless it has non-zero probability to kill the unit with one single attack. Skip turn 18 times (and cry for all that XP you did not gain).

===Settling Disputes===
* Objectives: Capture the liches and save Stalrag.
* Lose if: Tallin or Stalrag dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 30/25/20/15 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Krash, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia and a supporter

Your two White Mages and Camerin will be teleported into the middle of a battle between some ogres, trolls and a Lich and some dwarves. Your first job is to kill the Lich and not let the dwarf leader die. This is straightforward but Stalrag, the dwarvish leader, is quite cavalier with his life. You need to kill the Lich and then help the Ulfserkers to the south with the ogre and troll. Otherwise Stalrag will run to the village and likely be killed by the troll.

You have 100 gold, so recruit 5 good units. Your Poachers/Trappers can be used since you'll be fighting trolls and ogres with a few mages and gryphons thrown in. Assault in two places: down the east side of the map with your three mages (and any leftover dwarves) and across the river ford in the middle. Your White Mages are still immortal so you can be quite aggressive. For the river ford, you'll get across at night so be defensive (the level 2 Ogres are hard hitters) until day. (Of course, using the Rod of Justice on melee-only opponents is something that you should do all the time...) The initial wave will probably be blunted by then, too. Then sweep down and subdue the Lich.

===Elvish Princess===
* Objectives:
** Survive until the end of turns; or..
** Rescue the princess (special bonus).
* Lose if: Tallin, Ro'Arthian or Ro'Sothian dies.
* Turns: 24/21/18/15 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Krash, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia, Stalrag and a supporter.

In this one it may be best to go straight at Bitterhold with a small group of hardened veterans—you need to be in there fast, especially on high difficulty levels where the turn limit is tight. Camerin and the Rod of Justice will be particularly helpful here. Your objective, getting a unit onto the cage at the center of the castle, may be best accomplished with a flyer (a Gryphon recruited specifically for this purpose can be useful) once you've chewed a few holes in the inner ring of defenders.

Either way, you also have to send a segment of your army to the south-east, to handle the enemy leader. Abhai (the Spectre) and another fast unit (Zlex if you gave him the rod) can usually pin down the Blue Orc leader to the East and kill him early. This is useful as it prevents him harrying your flank, and with a little support from your main force, gives you a second attack point, which helps clear the defenders quickly.

You should be making an effort to keep your loyal units alive, but just in case, if you plan to rescue Eryssa (the kidnapped Elvish Sorceress) you should still have Elenia with you, otherwise she (Eryssa) won't stay with you, and the story for the rest of the campaign accommodates to this. If you don't rescue her, you just skip the next scenario (''Introductions'').

===Introductions===
* Objective: Move Tallin to the northern signpost.
* Lose if: Tallin, Ro'Arthian or Ro'Sothian dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/21/18/15 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Krash, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia, Stalrag, Eryssa and a supporter.

This is a small level with just a bunch of trolls. Nothing too complicated. Standard dungeon-crawling tactics should work fine in this one—minimize your exposed front, and cycle wounded units back to the healers before they get killed. The destination signpost is in the north-west corner. Try and level any non-max-level units you still have. Send your wraith up the right-hand passage and he can attack/distract some of the trolls. There is nothing interesting in any of the side passages.

===Stolen Gold===
* Objectives:
** Defeat the enemy leaders; or..
** Resist until time runs out.
* Lose if: Tallin, Ro'Arthian or Ro'Sothian dies.
* Turns: 36/36/36/36 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Krash, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia, Stalrag, Eryssa and a supporter.

You'll have two problems in this scenario. One is lots and lots and lots of trolls. The other is that Krash is going to fly off and recruit level-one drakes to help you, but if they get swarmed by all the level-two trolls they're not going to live long. Krash's camp will materialize in the mountains near the map-edge west of your camp; the house at edge of board will be one hex NW of his tent square. Don't do anything in the beginning with Krash except grab villages. He leaves on turn 2, only to return on turn 7.

The first thing you could do is kill the north-west troll. Move the Sorceress, the Ancient Lich and the Spectre towards the Blue troll on your first turn. Recall a castle of level 3s or high XP level 2s, mostly Dwarf Lords and Dragonguards, though the occasional Fugitive or Huntsman can be useful. Then move rod-bearer (Tallin or Zlex) towards the blue leader as well. The Blue leader will take the village to the SE of his camp on turn 1. With the rod bearers high movement and the power of the Lich, it's possible to ZoC him on turn 2 and kill him (it helps to use the Sorceress, she needs the XP). Then, mopping up the blue trolls is not much of a problem with the units available - apart from the sorceress, they can usually kill between one and 2 trolls per turn. Recruit a couple more troops on the Blue base if you've still got the money and attend to the rest.

I like to send the two White Mages on their own to the south. Since they are immortal they can stall the two southern trolls for (hopefully) enough time for you to kill the north-east troll. The drawback is that you go from 3 healers to just 1. If you do this, make sure to keep them in the middle of the map. Sometimes they regenerate off to the side. If this happens the trolls will just bypass them and attack your main force before you are ready.

Using your first turn recalls, establish a defensive line on the line of hills in the middle of the map at the top, putting the Shyde in the forest. Wait out the Green trolls' charge, then counterattack, bringing the Spectre and possibly the Sorceress round to help. The green troll should be on the way out around the time Krash arrives. One of the White Mages provides healing up here (if you aren't sending them on a kamikaze mission to the south).

The Lich and 2 or 3 other dwarves (healthy/resilient if possible) should hold the edge of the hills on the west side of the map, keeping them clear for Krash's arrival. They shouldn't kill any Whelps that oppose them, but take out Rocklobbers and Grunts for as little return damage as possible. Use ranged attacks in preference to melee, apart from if the Lich needs some health back. Tallin should take and hold the village in the middle when he's finished with the Blue trolls, and provide leadership. The second White Mage stays near the base, and will resurrect there when killed, providing a wonderful distraction to up to 8 trolls per turn. Krash's arrival should happen around the time that the troops from the Green troll attack are freed up - sweep all of the remaining trolls southwards. Krash and company should kill the Black leader, and the Elves and Spectre will take care of Purple around the time the Brown Elf team arrives. Good for a huge gold bonus, but requires a very aggressive start and risks losing a couple of high level units.

'''Alternate strategy:''' Recall nine or ten veterans and linger up around where his camp
will appear. Hold off the troll swarm until the drakes show up, then bust out of the encirclement and clean up.

The Spectre can be extremely effective against the trolls; place him in the village on the northern tip of the eastern island, and he should be able to safely defend against one to three trolls each turn. The Elvish Shyde and Sorceress, as well as the two liches, can be put to
better use if you move them into the forest on the eastern island in the beginning of the scenario. Stay within the forest and lure in trolls one or two at a time to level up the Sorceress and create a distraction. Once the troll leaders in the NE and SE have finished recruiting and their forces have moved over to attack in the west, the liches and the shyde can jump in and kill the leaders, and seize as many villages as possible.

After Krash's camp is set up, you will be controlling both Tallin's and Krash's troops. Krash's team will take its turn after all the trolls, and before Tallin. The trolls will probably be still swarming in front of Tallin's defense, but you can create opportunities for the drakes to level
up by withdrawing one of Tallin's units and defeating the two trolls next to that opening, so that the trolls will be zone-locked and unable to get into the opening. The drakes will have the advantage that after they attack they can be healed by Tallin's healers, before the trolls retaliate.

Although you will be in deep negative gold during this one, don't succumb to the temptation to give all the villages to Krash. He can make use of them immediately, but that isn't important, as he starts with enough gold to recruit enough drakes for what you need. You will get a big early finish bonus, so seize villages with your forces in the east, and with your main force once you break out. It's essential to get more than 140 gold going into the next level. (Krash won't go negative, so he'll end up with 400-500 gold with the early finish bonus anyway.)

===Eastern Flank===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Tallin, Ro'Arthian or Ro'Sothian dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 56/53/50/47 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia, Stalrag, Eryssa, a Gryphon, a supporter and Krash (as a team leader).

'''Strategy 1:''' The only good thing about drakes in mountains is that you can rush them away to heal once they get trashed. They have a much lower defense on mountains relative to non-drake units. So it's better for Tallin to recall L2 and L3 dwarves (maybe one L1 dwarf), and spread these along the line in the mountains - you probably can't get enough to avoid having quite a number of drakes here, but it limits the number of drakes that the enemy can trash per turn; and the limited mobility in the mountains means they can't always attack the drakes with the units that they want.

Use drakes first to finish off weakened enemies, and drake burners to soften up the higher level enemy melee units (try to avoid having many L1 drake units in the line at night, when they are extremely vulnerable). Tallin's higher level units are better used for attacks on fresh enemy units. Don't extend your drake line to the map edge any faster than needed - the AI won't deliberately try to outflank, he'll just try to wrap around the last unit in line. You want to minimise the number of drakes he can maul each turn. Get the two human healers up into the mountains, and wounded drakes should congregate behind the lines around these. The two liches are good front-line units here, as the high defense means the enemy melee troops can't batter them too much (their drain attacks tend to compensate for any health loss), and their magic attacks are perhaps the most potent on this terrain.

Meanwhile, the east side of your line starts in the village just E of the mountains, where Tallin should be - the enemy are generally afraid to attack him due to the Rod. The line east of here consists of the spectre, the shyde & sorceress, and a mix of drakes and any high-level human units in your auto-recall. (The drakes have only a 10% difference in defense on these terrains, and have better mobility over the river.) Use the shyde and sorceress to entangle the best enemy melee units each turn, and drakes to soften up and kill them.

You hold this line for 2 days, wearing through the enemy. Once they run low on units, the drakes become valuable for encircling isolated units, rolling up the flanks, and darting behind their lines to seize villages. Push south through the mountains, and use the wizards to blast the orc leaders.

'''Strategy 2:''' I use the same technique as Strategy 1 in the mountains, but a radically different strategy otherwise. I recalled all my veterans, sent the dwarves north, and almost everyone else directly west. I recruited as many Gryphons as I could with my money, and sent them, as well as Abhai, south to take the island. I also made sure to move Tallin and Krash near to the front lines. The sheer number of high-level units attacking the main front was too much for the orcs, and by turn 11 the dwarf/drake force had defeated the northern flank. I moved Krash into one of the leader castle squares in the fortress, and recruited a Drake Burner in every free square in the fortress. (If you still somehow have positive gold with Tallin, you can use a similar technique with him) By turn 12, the orcs' main front had also collapsed due to the Drake Burners, and I defeated the last orc leader on turn 16.

The gryphons in the south basically were slaughtered by turn 10. I only had two remaining with low health; I retreated these in case they would be useful for recall (20 gold vs. recruiting 40 gold). By then, however, the island was free from orcs and there was only a small band (~5-6) of one Orcish Warrior and several Wolf Riders left. Abhai easily slaughtered most of them in the water, and the healed surviving Gryphons killed the rest by turn 14.

The only problem with this strategy is that it puts you in deep negative gold, but the early finish bonus more than makes up for that.

'''Strategy 3:''' I managed to win this scenario (on Easy) only by sending the White mages / Mages of Light to the mountains to the west of Krash, along with every dwarf lord I could recall, while the elves, Abhai, and Camerin went south of the river. I put the liches on the mountain-peninsula so that they could attack many units. Krash recruited Burners and Clashers, with the occasional Fighter, and they planted themselves in the forest and grassland west of Tallin's keep. They died easily but did not fail completely, they held the line west and I did manage to level several drakes (of each line) up to at least Level 2. This is the only way I could win without getting veterans slaughtered, and even when they weren't slaughtered, the orcs were bold enough to walk up to Tallin's keep, attack him, and steal the villages. My "advisor" was a Huntsman, who died easily, so I just kept him back. The drakes that needed healing in the field or forest took advantages of nearby villages (there were some on an island south of Tallin's keep, some in the mountains, and some in the forest). The dwarves in the mountains went into nearby villages or the White Mages if they needed healing. Abhai as a Spectre did well in the far south against Wolf Riders, and the elves and the Great Mage did well in the forest on the edge of the island against the occasional Assassin or Wolf Rider. Later, I sent a drake or two that way. Once the front line of the orcs was eliminated, Krash and Tallin moved forward with all the troops, and sat in the keeps. Because of the unique way that the castle is designed, the orcs recruited units right next to my units, while I recruited units right next to theirs. I lost a good drake or two but otherwise did not suffer many problems.

Comment (Nightmare): I would recommend taking up a very forward position (which leaves you with only one flat hex to defend and a shorter way to the castle when you decide to push through). As the distance to the keep, where Tallin is busy recruiting, becomes quite large, I would recommend giving the rod to Zlex (Royal Guard by now) in Pursuit. That way it will see more action and he even can receive leadership by Tallin later. If you treat your drakes well, i.e. always retreat at dusk, they can do a lot of work, gain experience and most of all kill scores of bathing assassins. Instead of wasting gold and blood on recruiting many L1 in the enemy castle, recalling some resilient units (i.e. dwarf lords + a few shielding L1) to prevent any further recruiting (instead of attempting to directly kill the leaders with them) is much more efficient.

===Get the Gold===
* Objectives: Defeat the orcs.
* Lose if: Tallin, Ro'Arthian or Ro'Sothian dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia, Stalrag, a supporter, Krash (as team leader) and Eryssa (as team leader).
* Other: Save Sisal if at all possible. If you do, you get your gold from "The Pursuit" back.

The primary challenge in this scenario is trying to save Sisal, and though it is not stated that Sisal's survival is essential, you do not get back the gold that you earned in "The Pursuit" if she dies. You really, really want that gold. Setting her side's behavior (with right-click) to "defensive" is usually enough to make her stall the orcs successfully until you can either get quick reinforcements to her, or defeat the enemy leader.

The enemy is pretty strong so recruit with the drakes, elves and Tallin's crew. Level what units you can and focus on killing enemy units. Other than keeping Sisal alive this is a simple assault against strong enemies.

''Note'': In versions previous to 1.10.x, this scenario was slightly different and keeping Sisal alive was much more challenging because you couldn't give here commands, and she had a high propensity to jump into the water and get killed. The following paragraphs apply to those older versions.

The AI controlling Sisal may behave strangely and she jumps into the river to be slaughtered easily. If you are desperate, an option is using the [[CommandMode|droid command]] to change Sisal to a human controller - that way, you control her and prevent her from dying within 3 turns.

'''Alternative Strategy:''' On turn one, mass produce gliders with the drakes and gryphons with the humans. Send the gryphons along the eastern edge of the map, and send the gliders immediately due south. The gryphons will need to punch a small hole to proceed (when forces try and stop them in the mountains), but they're then easily able to wrap around to the south-east of the enemy's forces. Send the gliders to the south-west of the enemy's forces on turn three.

Throw in a few scouts from the elvish army for good measure, and you can effectively, quickly create a wall of units to shield Sisal—at which point she returns to her keep.

This strategy also causes the AI to heavily attack your southern units, giving you a weak enemy line in the north you can quickly punch through with your massive army. I was able to defeat their leader on turn six without a problem.

===Showdown===
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Tallin, Ro'Arthian, Ro'Sothian or Hamel dies or turns run out.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Tallin, Camerin, Abhai, Father Morvin, Sister Thera, Elenia, Stalrag, a supporter, Krash (as team leader) and Eryssa (as team leader).
* Other: If you have recovered your gold on the previous scenario, it gets split into three equal parts, and assigned to your three leaders (Tallin, Krash and Eryssa).

Pull out all the stops, because this is it. The wall is defended by level 3 orcs (Warlords and Slurbows). You'll want to draw them off the walls before engaging them, they're dangerous enough as it is without the fortification bonus; hanging a unit or two just within their engagement range will do it. Because there are so many orcs, you need to be especially careful about neither leaving units isolated nor presenting unanchored flanks for them to swarm around (the drakes, in particular, should fort up in the northern camp until they've thinned out their attackers considerably). Get to the edge of the moat and then cycle in fresh units and expand along the edge of the moat. The enemy will probably swarm towards Tallin's units. Don't try and breakthrough. Just be content to kill the units that enter the moat.

Recruit lots of druids with the elves and send them to help out Tallin and the drakes. Other than that the same strategy applies: kill the units in the moat. If there is an opening, move in.

Same thing with the drakes. If you level a Burner, turn it into a Flare. Since you have lots of level 1's the leadership will be useful.

Hamel will tear up the western edge of the fort pretty well. Aid him with elves if you can and then follow his lead to attack from within the castle walls.

Recruit, recruit, recruit, especially with the drakes. Take out the level 3 wall defenders, wear down the attackers in the moat and punch through where you can. Somewhat tedious but inevitable with your massive gold reserves.

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

SonOfThe BlackEye

2013-09-27T03:24:12Z

Ericppp: /* Northern Alliance */

This is a walk-through for the '''Son of the Black–Eye''' campaign. You will play the role of Kapou’e, an Orcish Leader who will command armies of orcs, trolls and saurians during this adventure.

This campaign is regarded by many players as one of the best written among those in the mainline, with a solid and interesting back-story, clever and not overly serious dialogue and a good balance of difficulty throughout the scenarios, providing a pleasant yet challenging pace in the action.

== Campaign Strategy ==

Featuring 18 playable scenarios, this is a relatively long campaign, giving you plenty of opportunity to train a strong army.

You start with just basic orcish units (Orcish Grunts and Archers and Wolf Riders), and will gain the ability to recruit new types of units with time. You won't have healers for the first half of the campaign, so you can only rely on villages for recovering wounded troops (with the exception of trolls). However, using only veterans and relying too much on healing in the middle of battles does not fit particularly well with the general flavor of the campaign. More often than not, you can rely instead on fresh level-1 units and holding strategic locations in the maps you play in.

In case you have never controlled orcs and trolls before (either in multi-player games or any other user-made campaign), it may take you a little while to get used to the way it "feels" playing them. Perhaps the main issue brought up by players who have experience with the [[Northerners|northerner faction]] is their lack of ''consistency'' (the ability of single units to repeatedly deal a certain amount of damage with some "reasonable" certainty). When playing orcs and trolls, many players prefer strategies that involve using many low-level units instead of just a few high-level ones.

This campaign is labelled as "Expert level" in the game, and with good reason. It doesn't necessarily means that it is especially ''difficult''. It is just much more accessible once you have gained some basic mastery of Wesnoth strategy and tactics, and are familiar with the way the game's AI (the enemy's "intelligence", so to speak) works. In a nutshell, enemies will tend to think short-term and go for easy kills whenever possible, putting any number of its own units at risk if necessary to kill its targets. Once you get the hang of it, it is much easier to steer battles to go the way you want them to, at the cost of sacrificing unimportant units (referred to by players as ''fodder'' or ''spam''). Although most of the beginner and intermediate level campaigns can be played with practically no unit losses, trying to do that here would be like trying to drink soup using a fork. It may not be impossible, but you'd just be making it harder on yourself for no good reason.

A few words on the different units you will control:

Kapou’e starts as an '''Orcish Leader''', and his distinctive feature is having the ''leadership'' ability. Given the offensive style of playing suitable for this campaign you will probably level him up quickly whether you intend to or not.

The most basic fighting units will be '''Orcish Archers''' and '''Orcish Grunts'''. Archers do very well against most types of enemies, including the occasional undead or rare monster, thanks to their ''fire'' attack. Grunts are cheap and somewhat strong but unreliable due to the low number of hits of their attacks, and they do not have ranged attacks until they reach L3. Many players prefer to use Grunts almost exclusively as cannon fodder. Still, having a few Warriors and Warlords in your roster is useful because of their strong melee attack and good HP.

'''Wolf Riders''' are very good scout units. They can advance to Direwolf Riders and to Goblin Pillagers. Direwolves are strong and can be used when you need to send scouts on their own to grab distant villages, while Pillagers aren't as strong but are much more versatile and can be used to accompany your main army and slow tough enemies whenever necessary. Having at least two of each type will serve you well in this campaign.

During the first few scenarios you will gain the ability to recruit '''Troll Whelps''' and '''Orcish Assassins'''. Similar to Grunts, Trolls are pretty strong but also a little unreliable. However, their big redeeming quality is their regeneration ability, making them act as if they were always standing on a village. Having a few of them (or more than a few if you prefer) is definitely a good idea.

As for the Assassins, if you have any previous experience playing against orcs (and you probably do if you're reading this walk-through), you should know how annoying Assassins and Slayers can be when you have to fight against them, but this time they'll be on your side. Their poisoning attack and high defense make them tremendously useful to turn the tides in big battles. Since their poisoning attack also benefits from marksmanship, it is a very effective way of dealing with enemies in high-defense terrain (e.g. dwarves on mountains or elves in the forest). Their disadvantage is that they are very weak, so leaving them vulnerable to attacks from even one or two strong enemies means they will probably bite the dust on the next turn.

For the second half of the campaign you gain access to '''Saurians'''. Most importantly, their Augurs, who can advance to Soothsayers and provide +8 heal will be a great addition for your army. On the other hand, the usefulness of Skirmishers for this campaign is debatable. They are normally very useful disrupting enemy lines and holding key positions where other units would have terrible defense (like swamp or sand). However, you get the Saurians at a time in the campaign when winter is about to arrive, and by then you will start fighting on snow-covered maps where the Saurians' movement is very poor. Any real chance of using them will come on the last few scenarios of the campaign, but by then your army will probably already have plenty of good and varied units. This means you won't be really urged to use them, but if you have fun with them, then by all means go ahead.

== Scenarios ==

=== The End Of Peace ===
* Objective: Defeat Alber, the human lieutenant.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e.

It looks tempting to recruit lots of Wolf Riders to match the humans' cavalry mobility, but don't try—they're not quite a match for cavalry and tend to get cut to pieces in detail. Two Wolf Riders for village stealing is enough, recruit mostly Orcish Grunts and Orcish Archers instead. Keep close order, pot the cavalry with Archers, and bodyguard the Archers with the Grunts. Kapou’e can do a second round of recruiting at one of the neutral keeps closer to the battle.

Once you defeat Alber, a Wolf Rider shows up to tell you about a large human army that is about to catch up with you. You are given the choice to either proceed with caution and avoid the fight, or to stubbornly stay and make a stand against impossible odds. If you decide to fight, you'll play the scenario ''The Human Army'', otherwise you skip right into ''Towards Mountains of Haag''.

Playing ''The Human Army'' gives you the possibility of levelling up a few units, but it is a very challenging scenario and it will take a toll on any bonus gold you may have picked up here. It can be a frustrating experience, especially if you're the type of player who doesn't like sacrificing units, but if you'd rather have an early start forming a core army of experienced units instead of playing it safe and saving your gold, you might want to give it a try.

=== The Human Army ===
* Objectives: Resist until your people can leave, then get Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Vrag.

This is a very difficult scenario. The human general recruits level-2 units and he starts with an amount of gold that is, for all intended purposes, infinite. Your goal is to do the best job you can holding the enemy, gaining experience for some of your troops in the process.

On turn 7, one of your units will be sent away on an errand, and then come back on turn 13, telling you that everything is ready to flee the scene. By then, you just need to move Kapou’e to the signpost on the north-eastern corner, and the scenario will end. Be prepared to escape as soon as possible, and try to level up as many units as you can, using fodder units to distract the enemy and protect your most valuable ones if necessary.

It is better to start this scenario with a good gold reserve from the first scenario, and a few units that are about to level up (instead of having L2 units with little experience). One way to play it is to start by recruiting all your good veterans and immediately move to the keep in the middle of the map, meanwhile send one or two wolves to the western villages. The first few loyalists should reach the middle of the map during the night, so that's the time to be as aggressive (but careful with your core units) as possible. When dawn arrives, get ready to retreat north, leaving a few fresh fodder units in the way to delay the human army. Make sure that by turn 13 Kapou’e can get to the signpost in one move. Use that last turn to gain as much additional experience as possible, and then finish the scenario. With a little luck, you should end up this level with a few experienced L2 units.

=== Towards Mountains of Haag ===
* Objective: Move Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Bonus objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 27/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e and one veteran.

This scenario requires you to fight dwarves in a mixture of open terrain, hills and mountains. Around turn 7 a small group of trolls will appear, and one of them will become loyal to your cause by the end of this battle. Players have succeeded by either running or fighting.

''Option 1'', run: Keep Kapou’e and your troops moving and try to brush the dwarves off your flank as you pass, because if they get to mass on you and fight a static battle they will chop you to dog meat. Recruit at most for two rounds and run for the signpost at least until the trolls show up. Then, if the odds are with you, you can linger a bit and harvest some XP. If you fight the dwarves, try and get them onto non-hill/mountain terrain. Again, your Archers are your best offensive tool, but you need to use Grunts and Wolf Riders keep the dwarves off them.

''Option 2'', fight: Run 2-3 Wolf Riders around to nab ALL the villages outside the mountain border. They do not need to engage the enemy. Send a large force of Archers with their Grunt bodyguards to the hills west of your keep. If you have a Crossbowman, he will be especially effective. Grunts must often forgo attacks, for fear of getting too weakened to survive the enemy's turn. Bring in some raw recruit Grunts to handle the risky jobs, sparing your high XP Grunts. When the trolls arrive, they should help clear the path to the king. When he steps off his keep, send someone tough to cover the spot, like Kapou’e, who can then recruit reinforcements if you wish. Keep an eye on the clock, especially on the hardest setting. Even if you kill the Dwarven king, you still have to move Kapou’e to the signpost.

The next scenario is a tough one, but it will be much easier if you finish with lots of extra gold here.

=== The Siege of Barag Gor ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü and a scout (a veteran if you have any wolves).
* Other:
** By freeing the unit in the cage, you will get a loyal Assassin and the ability to recruit more.
** You are now able to recruit Troll Whelps.

This is the first large scale battle in the campaign, involving four elvish leaders coming from each of the corners of the map. A rather large keep is located in the middle, where your three shamans will start the scenario and you will have to keep them safe from harm.

In older versions of BfW this scenario was quite harder (particularly in the highest difficulty levels), making it almost impossible to make a stand in the orcish city to then go attack the leaders because of a tighter time limit. However, it has been rebalanced and these concerns have been addressed to some degree. There are many ways to approach this scenario, but in general you have two choices:

'''Option 1 - Going straight for the enemy leaders'''

If you want to finish this scenario faster (with the gold bonus it implies) you can just resign the keep in the middle, moving the trapped Shamans out of the way as soon as possible; a gap is likely to open up to the SE around turn 2 or 3. You can provide ZOC blocking with your Troll and Wolf Wider.

For taking care of the enemy leaders, players have had success with different strategies.

One option is to go clockwise. Take your troops south to knock out the elves there first, then west, then north. One problem is that it's easy to get pinned in and overwhelmed at the south after taking out its leader. So, consider sending a few Wolves and maybe Troll Whelps counter-clockwise to boost income and distract some of the enemy troops.

Another option is to divide your army in two. Send an assassination squad (heavy on Troll Whelps and/or Wolf Riders, possibly levelled) to take out the south-east leader. Send your leader, your Troll, and escorts north. To maximize your income, the escorts can be a relatively small and cheap squad of level 1's, in which case try using Wolf Rider bait to lure the enemy leader off his keep and also away from your leader, so your leader can sneak in to recruit more there. Then your northern and southern forces can head west to finish off the last two leaders, transferring Wolf Riders to bolster any lagging front.

Even though defending the city will not be your biggest priority, keeping your ally intact will help clog up enemy forces and prevent you from getting surrounded and pinned. You may want to send a small force to assist in the city's defense.

Pay attention to income. The more income you get, the more Troll Whelps you can recruit. Think twice before recalling any level 2 units, except maybe Pillagers. Later in the game, the villages in the middle will be relatively undefended; swoop in with Wolf Riders.

It's also helpful to have gold coming into the scenario. On nightmare, it would be hard to win with much less than 280 gold.

'''Option 2 - Holding the city'''

It can be a little trickier to finish within the time limit (particularly on ''hard'') but it may be less risky to just move your center of operations to the city. Start by recruiting a couple of wolves to capture villages and some veterans and start moving right away into the keep in the middle. You'll need a little luck to quickly put Kapou’e in the second keep tile available, since your ally won't move from his place and during the battle it is very likely that other units occupy the space you want.

When you finally manage to move Kapou’e into place, however, things will start to look much brighter for you. Recruit troll whelps and recall some more of your veterans as long as you can pay their upkeep comfortably, and then patiently form squads to go deal with the elves. You will inevitably reach the turning point where you control most of the map and then it just becomes an exercise on assigning the experience to your units. It's probably better to leave the south-western leader for last, since he is the one with the most favorable terrain on his side so you should take your strongest units, including those who have levelled up during this battle, to finish him off.

=== Towards Harbor of Tirigaz ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 36/30/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto (the assassin, if you have him) and the Shamans.
* Other:
** The standard day of time cycle does not apply in this scenario. It will be nighttime practically all the way through instead.

For recruitment, recall from the Archer and Troll lines. Anything else is far less useful. The level 3 Archers and Trolls can take out an undead unit every turn with little damage to themselves. Except for taking down the Liches, level 1 Archers and Troll Whelps can get the job done too; it will be at grave danger to themselves, but you won't shed a tear if a low XP unit dies.

For main strategy, players have used at least two basic approaches with success:

Option 1, south-west first: The north-eastern enemy can be blocked with a couple of veteran units at the river fort; do that while you take villages on the near side of the river with your Shamans and take a recruiting round or two of troops south to deal with the south-western enemy.

Option 2, north-east first: Head north-east and destroy the Lich there as quickly as possible. At the same time a few Archers supported by Kapou’e (who should be at least level 2 by now) should be enough to handle the Ghosts the south-west Lich will send your way (unless you're really unlucky). The south-west Skeletons are slowed down by the swamp, so by the time they reach your forces the Ghosts should be no more, and Archers + Troll Whelps can handle the skeletons. On the Warrior difficulty with some luck and enough Crossbowmen recalled at the start you can can finish this scenario in just 10 turns using this approach.

You may ignore the holy water you see to the east as any unit that reaches it will just drink it and nothing will happen.

=== Black Flag ===
* Objective: Defeat the human generals, Slowhand and Harman.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto.

If you run Kapou’e straight south to the central keep (not stopping to grab villages unless you can end a longest possible move south on one), you'll get to recruit troops in time to meet the first "pirates" on the beach. This will be good as fighting from the water hinders them. Punch out Harmon's (southern) keep first, then roll north. If you can, try to take out the galleons by attacking them directly before they can offload their troops. Goblin Knights or Direwolf Riders are good for this if you happen to have them. This way you can effectively take out four units for the price of one.

Since your keep is small and by the time you can use it the human army is large and with reinforcements on their way, trying to start by recalling your good veterans will be risky and probably not very effective. Instead, you may try starting with level-1 units to be sacrificed. Try using many Orcish Assassins to poison as many enemies as you can on each turn, focusing on the most dangerous loyalists first. Assassins also have high defense, so they will probably serve very well as the only fodder unit you use until the first wave of enemies is mostly dealt with and then you can recall some of your strong veterans to finish up the job.

=== The Desert of Death ===
* Objectives:
*# Reach the oasis.
*# Defeat Ar-Dant, the bandit leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This is a demanding scenario where you need to keep moving without pause in order to finish in time. Take a few moments to explore the map before anything else. Take notice of the castle on the south-eastern corner; that is where you are ultimately going to find the enemy leader you need to defeat. Notice also the small segments of plain dirt, which will speed up your units a little bit during the journey. Finally, notice the few villages along the desert on which you can recover your wounded units, most importantly from poison.

You probably don't need to recruit/recall for more than one turn and you need to get moving as fast as possible. A good team can be composed mostly of Orcish Archers and Crossbowmen. One Goblin Pillager is also good for grabbing distant villages and slowing enemies.

Your first task is to deal with a group of scorpions that roam the desert. There will be about 7 to 10 scorpions in total, depending on the level of difficulty you're playing. Use ranged attacks from your archers and shamans, supported by Kapou’e's leadership and they will not last too long.

Don't take too long recovering your units before you continue moving south, until you find the bandits. They are not a big threat, and you can use Jetto to poison them, and Grüü and the rest of your army to finish them off.

=== The Silent Forest ===
* Objective: Defeat the elves.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/38/36 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This scenario is a forest, you are playing against elves, and it is likely that you're coming into it with very little gold (possibly the minimum of 100). This might make you think this will be a difficult battle, but that really isn't the case due to the weakness of the AI.

Recall strong veterans, including L1 and L2 units about to level up if you have them, and head directly south to deal with the first elvish leader while sending one wolf to grab villages. Once the first enemy leader is history, go east and deal with the second one. By playing carefully, and keeping a safe distance from the forests whenever possible (to avoid fighting on terrain largely favorable to the elves) you should coast to victory without much trouble.

=== Shan Taum the Smug ===
* Objective:
** Survive for 20 turns, or..
** Defeat Shan Taum.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

What makes this battle peculiar is that you will go against other orcs, supported by some ogres. The enemy starts with a good amount of gold, which would normally make for an intense fight with many casualties on your side, but there's a small river that divides the map right down the middle and can be used to your advantage thanks to the short-sightedness of the AI. As you probably have guessed by now, a good strategy is to place your units on the western bank of the river and let the enemy come to you and fight you from the water, which they will do without hesitance.

An army composed mostly of trolls will serve you well, because of their strong hits and their regeneration ability. Recruit/recall about two or three keeps of units (assuming your gold allows it), complementing the trolls with perhaps a few Orcish Warlords who can soak up some damage as well. Use Jetto (and perhaps one extra Assassin) to poison enemies with high HP, preferably during the day where they can't retaliate with full force. Don't forget to support your low level trolls with Kapou’e's leadership.

You can use your shamans to grab villages during the first turns, but be careful not to leave them in the zone of action of enemy wolves. Use your own wolves to protect them, and to grab villages to the north and south after your shamans have done their job.

Shan Taum will eventually run out of fuel, and it will be much easier to simply go and defeat him than to "survive" until the end of turns.

=== Saving Inarix ===
* Objective: Destroy the southern part of the bridge.
* Optional objective: Wait for Inarix's arrival and bring him and at least 4 other saurians to safety before blowing the bridge.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Plonk (a new loyal Slayer).

This scenario consists of a rescue mission. Inarix, a loyal Saurian Ambusher is on his way and arrives on turn 4 with a group of Saurian Augurs and Skirmishers on the SW corner. Your mission is to take him and most of his group to the north, and then blow up the bridge, escaping from the large group of elves, dwarves and bandits fighting you on the south bank of the river. The turn limit is a little tight, so trying to knock out any of the enemy leaders can be a little risky and unnecessary.

Start by recalling a small group of veterans (3 or 4 should be enough) to deal with the first few elves and dwarves on the bridge, and try to get Kapou’e to the southern keep as quickly as possible. By then Inarix has probably showed up already and the real battle begins.

The elvish leader to the east only recruits level-1 units, and they are not much of a threat outside forest tiles. The dwarven leader, however, recruits Bandits, who are very aggressive and dangerous at night. Make sure you dispatch them quickly with ranged attacks and protect your key units at night with good tactical formations, not leaving them open to attacks from more than one bandit at a time if possible.

One conservative strategy is to form two diagonal defense lines: one extending from the central keep to the north-west (for the dwarves) and one extending to the north-east (for the elves). Troll whelps work nicely for this purpose, using a few Archers and Assassins to deal with the bandits. Keep rotating your lines so the trolls can regenerate to limit your losses.

Meanwhile, Inarix should be on his way to the action. Initially, they will only be attacked by a few units, so build a formation with the healers in the middle and run them up in the center of the map, killing the attackers as you go. Try to give the final blows to the Augurs so they level up quickly into Soothsayers (finally, healers!). Use the swamps and water if possible for the high defense or even try to lure your attackers into it. Focus on moving them northwards and do not waste time, though.

By the end of turn 7 the elves and dwarves are getting low on units, but then they will just dig into their gold reserves and start heavily recruiting again. If you are really quick and concentrate on diminishing the elven attackers in turns 1 to 6, you can overrun the elves and kill their leader. That will make the rest of the scenario much easier as you will only be attacked by the dwarves. However, if you do not manage to kill the elven leader, do not worry. Just run Inarix and his group up to the north.

As soon as the saurian group reaches your defense line, start moving all units up north back across the bridge. Use the troll whelps as buffer to keep away the attackers as you do so.

Once all valuable units are past the center of the bridge, blow it up by moving a unit onto the little barrel in the water just east of it. You may sacrifice a saurian skirmisher for blowing up the bridge, but make sure you still have enough saurians left so you gain the ability to recruit them in the future.

As a final recommendation, it will make the next level a little easier if you can level at least one of the Augurs to a Soothsayer.

=== Clash of Armies ===
* Objective: Defend Prestim for 4 days (24 turns).
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or an enemy occupies a village on the north side when the turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Plonk, Inarix and a couple of veterans.

A new large-scale battle but with a very different flavor to previous scenarios. In this opportunity you have to defend your side of the river. The terrain is favorable to your army, but you have to stay on your toes to deal with the different challenges presented.

First of all, the large group of elves, loyalists, dwarves and bandits that will come from the south, trying to knock you out of the bridge. Using strong units (Trolls, Slurbows and Warlords) supported by a Saurian Augur/Soothsayer and rotating the lines should be enough to hold them in this bottleneck. Other than that, you need to keep two groups on the sides of the river bank to handle the additional sources of trouble: a few gryphons coming from the western keep (mostly during the first few turns and then on rare occasion afterwards), small groups of mermen coming every other turn from each side of the map during the first half of the battle, and Galleons crossing the river with groups of three enemies every now and then.

When planning a strategy, it is usually said that there is more than one way to do it, and that is very true for this scenario. Players have had success with it using different strategies; the general gist of it is probably the same, but the details come down to your particular style of playing and the units you like to use the most.

In general, as mentioned above, try to use veterans to hold the center, and form two groups to cover the sides, mixing fresh and experienced units there. Kapou’e can stay in his keep, recruiting/recalling units during the battle as you see fit; the circumstances will tell you whenever extra reinforcements are required on a particular spot. You will be able to see Galleons and Gryphons from the distance, giving you some time to prepare, and the mermen show up in a pattern that is easy to follow.

You don't need to be careful about your gold in this scenario so feel free to spend all you have here. The next scenario can be handled comfortably with the minimum gold you receive, plus you will get a nice surprise after the Great Horde joins you.

When mermen are about to attack you, avoid occupying the castle tiles, which lets the mermen fight from the water. Instead, lure them into the sand, where they are much more vulnerable. This will make the fighting go faster and avoids a situation where mermen and other enemies pile up on you. Saurians fight nicely from the sand, and using Assassins/Slayers to poison units will make things go even smoother. When you see that the Galleons are about to disembark, ''then'' it is a good idea to occupy those castle tiles, forcing the enemy to drop their units on sand or water.

Using spam units is almost a necessity to keep control of the beaches. Grunts, Assassins, Whelps and Skirmishers are all good options. After turn 12, no more mermen will appear, and the battle will be easier to handle, with only the occasional Gryphon and the Galleons to distract you. If you manage to destroy the Galleons (which have extra hitpoints for this scenario), you will make the second half of the battle even more comfortable for yourself.

''Note'': On versions of BfW previous to 1.9, this scenario played differently. Although many details were similar to its current form, it involved protecting Towers (special units), it didn't include Galleons and it had other balancing issues. The following advice was written for those older versions.

Here is a short strategy which works on minimum starting gold (200) and medium difficulty:

Recall all troll warriors you have, plus some orcish warlords, slurbows, and one saurian healer. Position 4 troll warriors together with Inarix and maybe one of the loyal assassins at the very east, one hex away from the beach. This group fends of the initial mermen onslaught and some gryphons. After the first couple of waves have been beaten, this becomes a very relaxing task well-suited for levelling Inarix.

On the bridgehead put the healer in the middle hex and circle your leader, the orcish warlords, slurbows and remaining trolls. After about turn 8 or 9 the gryphons are done with except for an occasional single gryphon recruit. Once you have the money recall the other saurian healers and use the outer hexes of the bridgehead to level them to soothsayers.

=== Giving Some Back ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 28/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.
* Other:
** Having the Great Horde on your side gives you a very useful bonus. From now on, the upkeep cost of all your non-loyal units is reduced by one.

This is a somewhat easy scenario, if you keep your critical and loyal troops out of harm's way. Early on, your orcish allies do much of the job for you, and you'll be especially thankful to them during the day. With a keep full of veteran recruits you should easily able to finish off in half the turns, though you can instead use mostly level 1's and win at a slower pace. For the slower strategy, recruit or recall a couple of quick Wolf Riders and send then along the western edge and into the treasure trove of enemy villages.

Once the north enemy is defeated, the southern enemy receives another 400 gold and recruits a second wave. If you are very quick, you might be able to kill the south leader first, so this does not happen. If you are less quick, you might catch the second wave in water. If you are slow, you may fight them on open ground and fortress hexes, where they may prove a challenge.

Watch out for the shock troopers, they can cause severe damage even to your trolls. You can use this scenario to level some troops e.g. archers and saurians.

=== The Dwarvish Stand ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 35/30/27 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is a relatively easy scenario. Recruit Wolf Riders and other types with lots of mobility, because just mushing through the snow to get to the enemy units will take a while. Do not bother with any Saurian fighters, who are terrible moving through ice/snow. It may be worthwhile to recall just a Soothsayer or two. You know all those Troll Whelps you've been spamming? Now is the time to recall your half-levelled Whelps who are quick and preferably fearless, but steer them away from plain snow and ice as much as possible. Quick assassins and archers are also helpful.

Let your allies get in front of you and screen your troops. Let them fight the entrenched units and rush out onto poor defensive ground. Considering that your allies will do much of the work for you (like in the previous scenario), you don't need to make plans for a very big fight, so don't over-recruit.

Simple alternative strategy for this easy scenario (min starting gold 300, medium difficulty):

Recall only one keep of: 1 direwolf rider, 5 troll warriors (preferably with the quick ability). Send one troll warrior together with the assassin and the rider around the south supporting your ally and taking some villages. Send all other troll warriors together with your leader through the hills to the north and then west.

Focus on fighting off the Gryphons first, which is not overly difficult. Then position your main force at the edge of the hills south-west of the ice river in the north and lure the dwarves into the river (fighting them in the hills is quite a pain). Once the main wave of dwarves is dealt with, press on towards the dwarven leader and kill him.

By this time the humans should be running low on units as well. Move some spare units in to kill their leader. Inarix is pretty much useless here so he can stay in one of the villages near the keep. You should be finished around turn 15 already and get a fair amount of money out of it.

=== Back Home ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Jetto, Inarix and one orcish veteran.

You finally catch up with the elves and humans you've been following, and it is decided that you will surround them from all four corners of the map. Your forces are divided and you start on your own, without your veteran trolls for the first few turns, and this initial period will probably be the most challenging of all.

It is vital to quickly gain control of the two castle tiles between your keep and the closest human general, as well as the small patches of flat dirt, giving you the advantage to quickly thin out the human troops before reinforcements from the other castles arrive from the north.

Your orc allies will get in position (on the SE and NE corners) on turns 4 and 5, while Grüü shows up with your veteran trolls on turn 7 on the NW, ready to take control of the rest of the map. Play patiently and be careful not to leave your key units too exposed on the snow/ice. Even if your allies are doing a good job, don't underestimate the damage you may receive if the enemies happen to focus on one of your vital units. Support your orcish troops with Soothsayers.

Keep in mind that your orcish allies must stay alive, which can be tricky since they tend to be very aggressive by default. Perhaps the best setting for your allies (right click) is to be "defensive" with no objective. This will help curb the aggressiveness of the leaders.

Use Pillagers to grab villages from very early on and occasionally support your army and your allies. Pay attention to gold, as you'll need extra for the next scenario.

=== Civil War ===
* Objectives:
** Defeat all rebel leaders.
** Move Kapou’e to the signpost at the west.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is regarded as one of the hardest scenarios in the campaign, but don't despair, the end is near. This battle requires patience and a lot of attention to recruitment, strategy and tactics. Any distraction can be costly.

It is good to start this scenario with as much gold as possible. You need to match the damage coming at you from four different leaders all by yourself. In general, a sensible approach is to divide your army into two, sending a group of mostly trolls to the south, and a mixed group to the west. The group to the south will fight on mountains, so it will be generally safer, and you should send your vital units like Grüü, Jetto and Inarix there. The west needs the most attention, and a larger group. There will be no way to avoid fighting from vulnerable positions, so casualties are to be expected. This will be an intense test of your abilities, but you should be ready for it by now after all the battles you've gone through.

It is recommended to recruit mostly level ones initially, to preserve your income. First, recruit a bunch of Wolf Riders for village snatching. You can mostly spam Troll Whelps (or Grunts if your prefer) and Assassins. On ice, level 2 Troll Warriors will die like flies, so better send them to the southern mountains. Troll Rocklobbers are great versus opponents on ice, so send them west, but keep them safe. You will also need at least one Soothsayer on the western front; bend over backwards to keep him safe. You should also recall 1-2 Pillagers for each front, for slowing enemy leaders. When you are almost done with recruiting, you may notice another front developing, with enemy troops closing towards your keep. For them, 3 Grunts, 2 Whelps, 1 Archer, and 1 Assassin might be enough to handle them with the support of your leader and that patch of good terrain next to your keep. When you are down to 100-140 gold, go crazy, recalling possibly only level 3's, mostly Great Trolls (one of which could help in that new front next to your keep.)

After each of the two groups takes out its respective target leader, they each then have one more leader farther west to kill. Watch the clock, as you may need to send Kapou’e running for the signpost.

Poisoning and healing (mostly of the troll regeneration variety) are the keys to success. There is no great place to make a line to the west, but do your best and take the 3 snow-hill hexes next to the road. In the battle to the south, try to keep at least some of the enemy from getting into the mountains, so Grüü can swat them dead on snow while he sits in the mountains. Be careful with Inarix, as just a couple of Orc Warriors can take him out.

=== The Coward ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/32/28 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix (or additional veterans if you have lost Jetto or Inarix).

This is another fight against orcs and ogres in mostly open terrain. This map is no longer fully covered in snow/ice, but the circumstances are still similar to the previous battle.

You start without a keep and two weak enemies with castles nearby. Your first task is to defeat at least one of them to take their fort. The problem is that the scenario starts during the day, and the defense of castle tiles will make it tricky to kill any of them on the first turn. Unless you're very lucky (or unlucky), the usual outcome will be killing just one of them. Don't attack with Kapou’e at first, so that if you manage to kill one of the leaders quickly, you can take his keep and start recruiting right away.

After you secure a keep, you must start recruiting frantically. Favoring Trolls and Assassins is a good idea. You'll want at least two Soothsayers and maybe a couple Augers. A reserve of a Direwolf Rider and Pillager will help plug any hole. Lots of scenery—and lots of villages—in this one. Use two or three Wolf Riders just to run around grabbing villages; it will pay off.

Once you dispatch the second weak leader, you need to scramble into a vertical straight line formation to meet the advancing horde from the West. Don't allow the enemy to flank your line. A Great Troll near each end helps with that, as does securing the ends of your line with snowy and swampy land. Keep a tight formation at all times and don't get over-confident because of the slightly more favorable terrain compared to the snow of previous scenarios.

Once again, poisoning and healing are key. Try not to put two weak units adjacent to each other on the line. Run Kapou’e up and down the behind the line, lending his support to the attacks of the Whelps and other level 1 and 2 troops.

=== The Human Attack ===
* Objective: Hold off the humans for 30 turns.
* Bonus objective: Defeat Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

You get your allies back, making this battle a breeze in comparison to recent experiences. Let them soak up the casualties; use them to screen your flanks and your movements. Thanks to their help, you don't need spam units for this scenario, and instead you can use it to give more experience to your veterans, especially any L2 units you still want to level up for the final battle that is coming next.

The human army seems impressive and they are very powerful during the day. Moreover, they always get reinforcements at dawn (turns 7, 13, 19). However, applying your knowledge of strategy and tactics here will show that this battle is not so tough. A static defense on the city wall will work, and since the humans will take some time reaching you, you can easily arrange for your participation to occur during the night, where your army will be devastating.

It is very likely that passively holding your fort will not be necessary. Instead, you can punch down the middle; that has the advantage that you may be able to take out Earl Lanbec'h before some of his reinforcements arrive—players have successfully finished this scenario before turn 13.

A couple Direwolves and a Pillager may be able to trap him for a very early finish, though at no small risk to themselves. Feel free to spend a lot of money. The early finish bonus is massive.

=== Northern Alliance ===
* Objective: Kill Shan Taum and Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or Howgarth III die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Inarix and one veteran.

You receive an extra ally, so in the end you are a team of four leaders against two. The starting set up involves a small ambush. Start by moving Kapou’e quickly to your keep and leaving Grüü and your other veteran to deal with the group of orcs along with your allies' gryphons.

Shan Taum is far weaker than Lanbec'h. The benefit of taking him out quickly is that your ally will then concentrate his forces on Lanbec'h; if both enemies are present, Howgarth's forces oscillate a little in between the two.

You should start this level with '''a lot''' of gold. Keep recruiting every turn until you run out. With the Great Horde low upkeep this will take a while. Keep doing it. Leave the last reserves of gold for recruiting your strong veterans. Using Orcish Assassins early on will level the playing field nicely with poisoning.

Hold the wall until you reach a certain (im)balance and then push south. Lanbec'h gets reinforcements in the afternoon but they are nothing like as formidable as the previous scenario. All you have to do is kill Lanbec'h, not all the enemy units. So, if you get a chance, pick him off.

If you are willing to put up with the tedium of recruiting tons of units, your victory should be inevitable.

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

SonOfThe BlackEye

2013-09-27T03:07:58Z

Ericppp: Adding a short intro and a general campaign strategy section

This is a walk-through for the '''Son of the Black–Eye''' campaign. You will play the role of Kapou’e, an Orcish Leader who will command armies of orcs, trolls and saurians during this adventure.

This campaign is regarded by many players as one of the best written among those in the mainline, with a solid and interesting back-story, clever and not overly serious dialogue and a good balance of difficulty throughout the scenarios, providing a pleasant yet challenging pace in the action.

== Campaign Strategy ==

Featuring 18 playable scenarios, this is a relatively long campaign, giving you plenty of opportunity to train a strong army.

You start with just basic orcish units (Orcish Grunts and Archers and Wolf Riders), and will gain the ability to recruit new types of units with time. You won't have healers for the first half of the campaign, so you can only rely on villages for recovering wounded troops (with the exception of trolls). However, using only veterans and relying too much on healing in the middle of battles does not fit particularly well with the general flavor of the campaign. More often than not, you can rely instead on fresh level-1 units and holding strategic locations in the maps you play in.

In case you have never controlled orcs and trolls before (either in multi-player games or any other user-made campaign), it may take you a little while to get used to the way it "feels" playing them. Perhaps the main issue brought up by players who have experience with the [[Northerners|northerner faction]] is their lack of ''consistency'' (the ability of single units to repeatedly deal a certain amount of damage with some "reasonable" certainty). When playing orcs and trolls, many players prefer strategies that involve using many low-level units instead of just a few high-level ones.

This campaign is labelled as "Expert level" in the game, and with good reason. It doesn't necessarily means that it is especially ''difficult''. It is just much more accessible once you have gained some basic mastery of Wesnoth strategy and tactics, and are familiar with the way the game's AI (the enemy's "intelligence", so to speak) works. In a nutshell, enemies will tend to think short-term and go for easy kills whenever possible, putting any number of its own units at risk if necessary to kill its targets. Once you get the hang of it, it is much easier to steer battles to go the way you want them to, at the cost of sacrificing unimportant units (referred to by players as ''fodder'' or ''spam''). Although most of the beginner and intermediate level campaigns can be played with practically no unit losses, trying to do that here would be like trying to drink soup using a fork. It may not be impossible, but you'd just be making it harder on yourself for no good reason.

A few words on the different units you will control:

Kapou’e starts as an '''Orcish Leader''', and his distinctive feature is having the ''leadership'' ability. Given the offensive style of playing suitable for this campaign you will probably level him up quickly whether you intend to or not.

The most basic fighting units will be '''Orcish Archers''' and '''Orcish Grunts'''. Archers do very well against most types of enemies, including the occasional undead or rare monster, thanks to their ''fire'' attack. Grunts are cheap and somewhat strong but unreliable due to the low number of hits of their attacks, and they do not have ranged attacks until they reach L3. Many players prefer to use Grunts almost exclusively as cannon fodder. Still, having a few Warriors and Warlords in your roster is useful because of their strong melee attack and good HP.

'''Wolf Riders''' are very good scout units. They can advance to Direwolf Riders and to Goblin Pillagers. Direwolves are strong and can be used when you need to send scouts on their own to grab distant villages, while Pillagers aren't as strong but are much more versatile and can be used to accompany your main army and slow tough enemies whenever necessary. Having at least two of each type will serve you well in this campaign.

During the first few scenarios you will gain the ability to recruit '''Troll Whelps''' and '''Orcish Assassins'''. Similar to Grunts, Trolls are pretty strong but also a little unreliable. However, their big redeeming quality is their regeneration ability, making them act as if they were always standing on a village. Having a few of them (or more than a few if you prefer) is definitely a good idea.

As for the Assassins, if you have any previous experience playing against orcs (and you probably do if you're reading this walk-through), you should know how annoying Assassins and Slayers can be when you have to fight against them, but this time they'll be on your side. Their poisoning attack and high defense make them tremendously useful to turn the tides in big battles. Since their poisoning attack also benefits from marksmanship, it is a very effective way of dealing with enemies in high-defense terrain (e.g. dwarves on mountains or elves in the forest). Their disadvantage is that they are very weak, so leaving them vulnerable to attacks from even one or two strong enemies means they will probably bite the dust on the next turn.

For the second half of the campaign you gain access to '''Saurians'''. Most importantly, their Augurs, who can advance to Soothsayers and provide +8 heal will be a great addition for your army. On the other hand, the usefulness of Skirmishers for this campaign is debatable. They are normally very useful disrupting enemy lines and holding key positions where other units would have terrible defense (like swamp or sand). However, you get the Saurians at a time in the campaign when winter is about to arrive, and by then you will start fighting on snow-covered maps where the Saurians' movement is very poor. Any real chance of using them will come on the last few scenarios of the campaign, but by then your army will probably already have plenty of good and varied units. This means you won't be really urged to use them, but if you have fun with them, then by all means go ahead.

== Scenarios ==

=== The End Of Peace ===
* Objective: Defeat Alber, the human lieutenant.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e.

It looks tempting to recruit lots of Wolf Riders to match the humans' cavalry mobility, but don't try—they're not quite a match for cavalry and tend to get cut to pieces in detail. Two Wolf Riders for village stealing is enough, recruit mostly Orcish Grunts and Orcish Archers instead. Keep close order, pot the cavalry with Archers, and bodyguard the Archers with the Grunts. Kapou’e can do a second round of recruiting at one of the neutral keeps closer to the battle.

Once you defeat Alber, a Wolf Rider shows up to tell you about a large human army that is about to catch up with you. You are given the choice to either proceed with caution and avoid the fight, or to stubbornly stay and make a stand against impossible odds. If you decide to fight, you'll play the scenario ''The Human Army'', otherwise you skip right into ''Towards Mountains of Haag''.

Playing ''The Human Army'' gives you the possibility of levelling up a few units, but it is a very challenging scenario and it will take a toll on any bonus gold you may have picked up here. It can be a frustrating experience, especially if you're the type of player who doesn't like sacrificing units, but if you'd rather have an early start forming a core army of experienced units instead of playing it safe and saving your gold, you might want to give it a try.

=== The Human Army ===
* Objectives: Resist until your people can leave, then get Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Vrag.

This is a very difficult scenario. The human general recruits level-2 units and he starts with an amount of gold that is, for all intended purposes, infinite. Your goal is to do the best job you can holding the enemy, gaining experience for some of your troops in the process.

On turn 7, one of your units will be sent away on an errand, and then come back on turn 13, telling you that everything is ready to flee the scene. By then, you just need to move Kapou’e to the signpost on the north-eastern corner, and the scenario will end. Be prepared to escape as soon as possible, and try to level up as many units as you can, using fodder units to distract the enemy and protect your most valuable ones if necessary.

It is better to start this scenario with a good gold reserve from the first scenario, and a few units that are about to level up (instead of having L2 units with little experience). One way to play it is to start by recruiting all your good veterans and immediately move to the keep in the middle of the map, meanwhile send one or two wolves to the western villages. The first few loyalists should reach the middle of the map during the night, so that's the time to be as aggressive (but careful with your core units) as possible. When dawn arrives, get ready to retreat north, leaving a few fresh fodder units in the way to delay the human army. Make sure that by turn 13 Kapou’e can get to the signpost in one move. Use that last turn to gain as much additional experience as possible, and then finish the scenario. With a little luck, you should end up this level with a few experienced L2 units.

=== Towards Mountains of Haag ===
* Objective: Move Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Bonus objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 27/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e and one veteran.

This scenario requires you to fight dwarves in a mixture of open terrain, hills and mountains. Around turn 7 a small group of trolls will appear, and one of them will become loyal to your cause by the end of this battle. Players have succeeded by either running or fighting.

''Option 1'', run: Keep Kapou’e and your troops moving and try to brush the dwarves off your flank as you pass, because if they get to mass on you and fight a static battle they will chop you to dog meat. Recruit at most for two rounds and run for the signpost at least until the trolls show up. Then, if the odds are with you, you can linger a bit and harvest some XP. If you fight the dwarves, try and get them onto non-hill/mountain terrain. Again, your Archers are your best offensive tool, but you need to use Grunts and Wolf Riders keep the dwarves off them.

''Option 2'', fight: Run 2-3 Wolf Riders around to nab ALL the villages outside the mountain border. They do not need to engage the enemy. Send a large force of Archers with their Grunt bodyguards to the hills west of your keep. If you have a Crossbowman, he will be especially effective. Grunts must often forgo attacks, for fear of getting too weakened to survive the enemy's turn. Bring in some raw recruit Grunts to handle the risky jobs, sparing your high XP Grunts. When the trolls arrive, they should help clear the path to the king. When he steps off his keep, send someone tough to cover the spot, like Kapou’e, who can then recruit reinforcements if you wish. Keep an eye on the clock, especially on the hardest setting. Even if you kill the Dwarven king, you still have to move Kapou’e to the signpost.

The next scenario is a tough one, but it will be much easier if you finish with lots of extra gold here.

=== The Siege of Barag Gor ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü and a scout (a veteran if you have any wolves).
* Other:
** By freeing the unit in the cage, you will get a loyal Assassin and the ability to recruit more.
** You are now able to recruit Troll Whelps.

This is the first large scale battle in the campaign, involving four elvish leaders coming from each of the corners of the map. A rather large keep is located in the middle, where your three shamans will start the scenario and you will have to keep them safe from harm.

In older versions of BfW this scenario was quite harder (particularly in the highest difficulty levels), making it almost impossible to make a stand in the orcish city to then go attack the leaders because of a tighter time limit. However, it has been rebalanced and these concerns have been addressed to some degree. There are many ways to approach this scenario, but in general you have two choices:

'''Option 1 - Going straight for the enemy leaders'''

If you want to finish this scenario faster (with the gold bonus it implies) you can just resign the keep in the middle, moving the trapped Shamans out of the way as soon as possible; a gap is likely to open up to the SE around turn 2 or 3. You can provide ZOC blocking with your Troll and Wolf Wider.

For taking care of the enemy leaders, players have had success with different strategies.

One option is to go clockwise. Take your troops south to knock out the elves there first, then west, then north. One problem is that it's easy to get pinned in and overwhelmed at the south after taking out its leader. So, consider sending a few Wolves and maybe Troll Whelps counter-clockwise to boost income and distract some of the enemy troops.

Another option is to divide your army in two. Send an assassination squad (heavy on Troll Whelps and/or Wolf Riders, possibly levelled) to take out the south-east leader. Send your leader, your Troll, and escorts north. To maximize your income, the escorts can be a relatively small and cheap squad of level 1's, in which case try using Wolf Rider bait to lure the enemy leader off his keep and also away from your leader, so your leader can sneak in to recruit more there. Then your northern and southern forces can head west to finish off the last two leaders, transferring Wolf Riders to bolster any lagging front.

Even though defending the city will not be your biggest priority, keeping your ally intact will help clog up enemy forces and prevent you from getting surrounded and pinned. You may want to send a small force to assist in the city's defense.

Pay attention to income. The more income you get, the more Troll Whelps you can recruit. Think twice before recalling any level 2 units, except maybe Pillagers. Later in the game, the villages in the middle will be relatively undefended; swoop in with Wolf Riders.

It's also helpful to have gold coming into the scenario. On nightmare, it would be hard to win with much less than 280 gold.

'''Option 2 - Holding the city'''

It can be a little trickier to finish within the time limit (particularly on ''hard'') but it may be less risky to just move your center of operations to the city. Start by recruiting a couple of wolves to capture villages and some veterans and start moving right away into the keep in the middle. You'll need a little luck to quickly put Kapou’e in the second keep tile available, since your ally won't move from his place and during the battle it is very likely that other units occupy the space you want.

When you finally manage to move Kapou’e into place, however, things will start to look much brighter for you. Recruit troll whelps and recall some more of your veterans as long as you can pay their upkeep comfortably, and then patiently form squads to go deal with the elves. You will inevitably reach the turning point where you control most of the map and then it just becomes an exercise on assigning the experience to your units. It's probably better to leave the south-western leader for last, since he is the one with the most favorable terrain on his side so you should take your strongest units, including those who have levelled up during this battle, to finish him off.

=== Towards Harbor of Tirigaz ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 36/30/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto (the assassin, if you have him) and the Shamans.
* Other:
** The standard day of time cycle does not apply in this scenario. It will be nighttime practically all the way through instead.

For recruitment, recall from the Archer and Troll lines. Anything else is far less useful. The level 3 Archers and Trolls can take out an undead unit every turn with little damage to themselves. Except for taking down the Liches, level 1 Archers and Troll Whelps can get the job done too; it will be at grave danger to themselves, but you won't shed a tear if a low XP unit dies.

For main strategy, players have used at least two basic approaches with success:

Option 1, south-west first: The north-eastern enemy can be blocked with a couple of veteran units at the river fort; do that while you take villages on the near side of the river with your Shamans and take a recruiting round or two of troops south to deal with the south-western enemy.

Option 2, north-east first: Head north-east and destroy the Lich there as quickly as possible. At the same time a few Archers supported by Kapou’e (who should be at least level 2 by now) should be enough to handle the Ghosts the south-west Lich will send your way (unless you're really unlucky). The south-west Skeletons are slowed down by the swamp, so by the time they reach your forces the Ghosts should be no more, and Archers + Troll Whelps can handle the skeletons. On the Warrior difficulty with some luck and enough Crossbowmen recalled at the start you can can finish this scenario in just 10 turns using this approach.

You may ignore the holy water you see to the east as any unit that reaches it will just drink it and nothing will happen.

=== Black Flag ===
* Objective: Defeat the human generals, Slowhand and Harman.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto.

If you run Kapou’e straight south to the central keep (not stopping to grab villages unless you can end a longest possible move south on one), you'll get to recruit troops in time to meet the first "pirates" on the beach. This will be good as fighting from the water hinders them. Punch out Harmon's (southern) keep first, then roll north. If you can, try to take out the galleons by attacking them directly before they can offload their troops. Goblin Knights or Direwolf Riders are good for this if you happen to have them. This way you can effectively take out four units for the price of one.

Since your keep is small and by the time you can use it the human army is large and with reinforcements on their way, trying to start by recalling your good veterans will be risky and probably not very effective. Instead, you may try starting with level-1 units to be sacrificed. Try using many Orcish Assassins to poison as many enemies as you can on each turn, focusing on the most dangerous loyalists first. Assassins also have high defense, so they will probably serve very well as the only fodder unit you use until the first wave of enemies is mostly dealt with and then you can recall some of your strong veterans to finish up the job.

=== The Desert of Death ===
* Objectives:
*# Reach the oasis.
*# Defeat Ar-Dant, the bandit leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This is a demanding scenario where you need to keep moving without pause in order to finish in time. Take a few moments to explore the map before anything else. Take notice of the castle on the south-eastern corner; that is where you are ultimately going to find the enemy leader you need to defeat. Notice also the small segments of plain dirt, which will speed up your units a little bit during the journey. Finally, notice the few villages along the desert on which you can recover your wounded units, most importantly from poison.

You probably don't need to recruit/recall for more than one turn and you need to get moving as fast as possible. A good team can be composed mostly of Orcish Archers and Crossbowmen. One Goblin Pillager is also good for grabbing distant villages and slowing enemies.

Your first task is to deal with a group of scorpions that roam the desert. There will be about 7 to 10 scorpions in total, depending on the level of difficulty you're playing. Use ranged attacks from your archers and shamans, supported by Kapou’e's leadership and they will not last too long.

Don't take too long recovering your units before you continue moving south, until you find the bandits. They are not a big threat, and you can use Jetto to poison them, and Grüü and the rest of your army to finish them off.

=== The Silent Forest ===
* Objective: Defeat the elves.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/38/36 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This scenario is a forest, you are playing against elves, and it is likely that you're coming into it with very little gold (possibly the minimum of 100). This might make you think this will be a difficult battle, but that really isn't the case due to the weakness of the AI.

Recall strong veterans, including L1 and L2 units about to level up if you have them, and head directly south to deal with the first elvish leader while sending one wolf to grab villages. Once the first enemy leader is history, go east and deal with the second one. By playing carefully, and keeping a safe distance from the forests whenever possible (to avoid fighting on terrain largely favorable to the elves) you should coast to victory without much trouble.

=== Shan Taum the Smug ===
* Objective:
** Survive for 20 turns, or..
** Defeat Shan Taum.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

What makes this battle peculiar is that you will go against other orcs, supported by some ogres. The enemy starts with a good amount of gold, which would normally make for an intense fight with many casualties on your side, but there's a small river that divides the map right down the middle and can be used to your advantage thanks to the short-sightedness of the AI. As you probably have guessed by now, a good strategy is to place your units on the western bank of the river and let the enemy come to you and fight you from the water, which they will do without hesitance.

An army composed mostly of trolls will serve you well, because of their strong hits and their regeneration ability. Recruit/recall about two or three keeps of units (assuming your gold allows it), complementing the trolls with perhaps a few Orcish Warlords who can soak up some damage as well. Use Jetto (and perhaps one extra Assassin) to poison enemies with high HP, preferably during the day where they can't retaliate with full force. Don't forget to support your low level trolls with Kapou’e's leadership.

You can use your shamans to grab villages during the first turns, but be careful not to leave them in the zone of action of enemy wolves. Use your own wolves to protect them, and to grab villages to the north and south after your shamans have done their job.

Shan Taum will eventually run out of fuel, and it will be much easier to simply go and defeat him than to "survive" until the end of turns.

=== Saving Inarix ===
* Objective: Destroy the southern part of the bridge.
* Optional objective: Wait for Inarix's arrival and bring him and at least 4 other saurians to safety before blowing the bridge.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Plonk (a new loyal Slayer).

This scenario consists of a rescue mission. Inarix, a loyal Saurian Ambusher is on his way and arrives on turn 4 with a group of Saurian Augurs and Skirmishers on the SW corner. Your mission is to take him and most of his group to the north, and then blow up the bridge, escaping from the large group of elves, dwarves and bandits fighting you on the south bank of the river. The turn limit is a little tight, so trying to knock out any of the enemy leaders can be a little risky and unnecessary.

Start by recalling a small group of veterans (3 or 4 should be enough) to deal with the first few elves and dwarves on the bridge, and try to get Kapou’e to the southern keep as quickly as possible. By then Inarix has probably showed up already and the real battle begins.

The elvish leader to the east only recruits level-1 units, and they are not much of a threat outside forest tiles. The dwarven leader, however, recruits Bandits, who are very aggressive and dangerous at night. Make sure you dispatch them quickly with ranged attacks and protect your key units at night with good tactical formations, not leaving them open to attacks from more than one bandit at a time if possible.

One conservative strategy is to form two diagonal defense lines: one extending from the central keep to the north-west (for the dwarves) and one extending to the north-east (for the elves). Troll whelps work nicely for this purpose, using a few Archers and Assassins to deal with the bandits. Keep rotating your lines so the trolls can regenerate to limit your losses.

Meanwhile, Inarix should be on his way to the action. Initially, they will only be attacked by a few units, so build a formation with the healers in the middle and run them up in the center of the map, killing the attackers as you go. Try to give the final blows to the Augurs so they level up quickly into Soothsayers (finally, healers!). Use the swamps and water if possible for the high defense or even try to lure your attackers into it. Focus on moving them northwards and do not waste time, though.

By the end of turn 7 the elves and dwarves are getting low on units, but then they will just dig into their gold reserves and start heavily recruiting again. If you are really quick and concentrate on diminishing the elven attackers in turns 1 to 6, you can overrun the elves and kill their leader. That will make the rest of the scenario much easier as you will only be attacked by the dwarves. However, if you do not manage to kill the elven leader, do not worry. Just run Inarix and his group up to the north.

As soon as the saurian group reaches your defense line, start moving all units up north back across the bridge. Use the troll whelps as buffer to keep away the attackers as you do so.

Once all valuable units are past the center of the bridge, blow it up by moving a unit onto the little barrel in the water just east of it. You may sacrifice a saurian skirmisher for blowing up the bridge, but make sure you still have enough saurians left so you gain the ability to recruit them in the future.

As a final recommendation, it will make the next level a little easier if you can level at least one of the Augurs to a Soothsayer.

=== Clash of Armies ===
* Objective: Defend Prestim for 4 days (24 turns).
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or an enemy occupies a village on the north side when the turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Plonk, Inarix and a couple of veterans.

A new large-scale battle but with a very different flavor to previous scenarios. In this opportunity you have to defend your side of the river. The terrain is favorable to your army, but you have to stay on your toes to deal with the different challenges presented.

First of all, the large group of elves, loyalists, dwarves and bandits that will come from the south, trying to knock you out of the bridge. Using strong units (Trolls, Slurbows and Warlords) supported by a Saurian Augur/Soothsayer and rotating the lines should be enough to hold them in this bottleneck. Other than that, you need to keep two groups on the sides of the river bank to handle the additional sources of trouble: a few gryphons coming from the western keep (mostly during the first few turns and then on rare occasion afterwards), small groups of mermen coming every other turn from each side of the map during the first half of the battle, and Galleons crossing the river with groups of three enemies every now and then.

When planning a strategy, it is usually said that there is more than one way to do it, and that is very true for this scenario. Players have had success with it using different strategies; the general gist of it is probably the same, but the details come down to your particular style of playing and the units you like to use the most.

In general, as mentioned above, try to use veterans to hold the center, and form two groups to cover the sides, mixing fresh and experienced units there. Kapou’e can stay in his keep, recruiting/recalling units during the battle as you see fit; the circumstances will tell you whenever extra reinforcements are required on a particular spot. You will be able to see Galleons and Gryphons from the distance, giving you some time to prepare, and the mermen show up in a pattern that is easy to follow.

You don't need to be careful about your gold in this scenario so feel free to spend all you have here. The next scenario can be handled comfortably with the minimum gold you receive, plus you will get a nice surprise after the Great Horde joins you.

When mermen are about to attack you, avoid occupying the castle tiles, which lets the mermen fight from the water. Instead, lure them into the sand, where they are much more vulnerable. This will make the fighting go faster and avoids a situation where mermen and other enemies pile up on you. Saurians fight nicely from the sand, and using Assassins/Slayers to poison units will make things go even smoother. When you see that the Galleons are about to disembark, ''then'' it is a good idea to occupy those castle tiles, forcing the enemy to drop their units on sand or water.

Using spam units is almost a necessity to keep control of the beaches. Grunts, Assassins, Whelps and Skirmishers are all good options. After turn 12, no more mermen will appear, and the battle will be easier to handle, with only the occasional Gryphon and the Galleons to distract you. If you manage to destroy the Galleons (which have extra hitpoints for this scenario), you will make the second half of the battle even more comfortable for yourself.

''Note'': On versions of BfW previous to 1.9, this scenario played differently. Although many details were similar to its current form, it involved protecting Towers (special units), it didn't include Galleons and it had other balancing issues. The following advice was written for those older versions.

Here is a short strategy which works on minimum starting gold (200) and medium difficulty:

Recall all troll warriors you have, plus some orcish warlords, slurbows, and one saurian healer. Position 4 troll warriors together with Inarix and maybe one of the loyal assassins at the very east, one hex away from the beach. This group fends of the initial mermen onslaught and some gryphons. After the first couple of waves have been beaten, this becomes a very relaxing task well-suited for levelling Inarix.

On the bridgehead put the healer in the middle hex and circle your leader, the orcish warlords, slurbows and remaining trolls. After about turn 8 or 9 the gryphons are done with except for an occasional single gryphon recruit. Once you have the money recall the other saurian healers and use the outer hexes of the bridgehead to level them to soothsayers.

=== Giving Some Back ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 28/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.
* Other:
** Having the Great Horde on your side gives you a very useful bonus. From now on, the upkeep cost of all your non-loyal units is reduced by one.

This is a somewhat easy scenario, if you keep your critical and loyal troops out of harm's way. Early on, your orcish allies do much of the job for you, and you'll be especially thankful to them during the day. With a keep full of veteran recruits you should easily able to finish off in half the turns, though you can instead use mostly level 1's and win at a slower pace. For the slower strategy, recruit or recall a couple of quick Wolf Riders and send then along the western edge and into the treasure trove of enemy villages.

Once the north enemy is defeated, the southern enemy receives another 400 gold and recruits a second wave. If you are very quick, you might be able to kill the south leader first, so this does not happen. If you are less quick, you might catch the second wave in water. If you are slow, you may fight them on open ground and fortress hexes, where they may prove a challenge.

Watch out for the shock troopers, they can cause severe damage even to your trolls. You can use this scenario to level some troops e.g. archers and saurians.

=== The Dwarvish Stand ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 35/30/27 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is a relatively easy scenario. Recruit Wolf Riders and other types with lots of mobility, because just mushing through the snow to get to the enemy units will take a while. Do not bother with any Saurian fighters, who are terrible moving through ice/snow. It may be worthwhile to recall just a Soothsayer or two. You know all those Troll Whelps you've been spamming? Now is the time to recall your half-levelled Whelps who are quick and preferably fearless, but steer them away from plain snow and ice as much as possible. Quick assassins and archers are also helpful.

Let your allies get in front of you and screen your troops. Let them fight the entrenched units and rush out onto poor defensive ground. Considering that your allies will do much of the work for you (like in the previous scenario), you don't need to make plans for a very big fight, so don't over-recruit.

Simple alternative strategy for this easy scenario (min starting gold 300, medium difficulty):

Recall only one keep of: 1 direwolf rider, 5 troll warriors (preferably with the quick ability). Send one troll warrior together with the assassin and the rider around the south supporting your ally and taking some villages. Send all other troll warriors together with your leader through the hills to the north and then west.

Focus on fighting off the Gryphons first, which is not overly difficult. Then position your main force at the edge of the hills south-west of the ice river in the north and lure the dwarves into the river (fighting them in the hills is quite a pain). Once the main wave of dwarves is dealt with, press on towards the dwarven leader and kill him.

By this time the humans should be running low on units as well. Move some spare units in to kill their leader. Inarix is pretty much useless here so he can stay in one of the villages near the keep. You should be finished around turn 15 already and get a fair amount of money out of it.

=== Back Home ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Jetto, Inarix and one orcish veteran.

You finally catch up with the elves and humans you've been following, and it is decided that you will surround them from all four corners of the map. Your forces are divided and you start on your own, without your veteran trolls for the first few turns, and this initial period will probably be the most challenging of all.

It is vital to quickly gain control of the two castle tiles between your keep and the closest human general, as well as the small patches of flat dirt, giving you the advantage to quickly thin out the human troops before reinforcements from the other castles arrive from the north.

Your orc allies will get in position (on the SE and NE corners) on turns 4 and 5, while Grüü shows up with your veteran trolls on turn 7 on the NW, ready to take control of the rest of the map. Play patiently and be careful not to leave your key units too exposed on the snow/ice. Even if your allies are doing a good job, don't underestimate the damage you may receive if the enemies happen to focus on one of your vital units. Support your orcish troops with Soothsayers.

Keep in mind that your orcish allies must stay alive, which can be tricky since they tend to be very aggressive by default. Perhaps the best setting for your allies (right click) is to be "defensive" with no objective. This will help curb the aggressiveness of the leaders.

Use Pillagers to grab villages from very early on and occasionally support your army and your allies. Pay attention to gold, as you'll need extra for the next scenario.

=== Civil War ===
* Objectives:
** Defeat all rebel leaders.
** Move Kapou’e to the signpost at the west.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is regarded as one of the hardest scenarios in the campaign, but don't despair, the end is near. This battle requires patience and a lot of attention to recruitment, strategy and tactics. Any distraction can be costly.

It is good to start this scenario with as much gold as possible. You need to match the damage coming at you from four different leaders all by yourself. In general, a sensible approach is to divide your army into two, sending a group of mostly trolls to the south, and a mixed group to the west. The group to the south will fight on mountains, so it will be generally safer, and you should send your vital units like Grüü, Jetto and Inarix there. The west needs the most attention, and a larger group. There will be no way to avoid fighting from vulnerable positions, so casualties are to be expected. This will be an intense test of your abilities, but you should be ready for it by now after all the battles you've gone through.

It is recommended to recruit mostly level ones initially, to preserve your income. First, recruit a bunch of Wolf Riders for village snatching. You can mostly spam Troll Whelps (or Grunts if your prefer) and Assassins. On ice, level 2 Troll Warriors will die like flies, so better send them to the southern mountains. Troll Rocklobbers are great versus opponents on ice, so send them west, but keep them safe. You will also need at least one Soothsayer on the western front; bend over backwards to keep him safe. You should also recall 1-2 Pillagers for each front, for slowing enemy leaders. When you are almost done with recruiting, you may notice another front developing, with enemy troops closing towards your keep. For them, 3 Grunts, 2 Whelps, 1 Archer, and 1 Assassin might be enough to handle them with the support of your leader and that patch of good terrain next to your keep. When you are down to 100-140 gold, go crazy, recalling possibly only level 3's, mostly Great Trolls (one of which could help in that new front next to your keep.)

After each of the two groups takes out its respective target leader, they each then have one more leader farther west to kill. Watch the clock, as you may need to send Kapou’e running for the signpost.

Poisoning and healing (mostly of the troll regeneration variety) are the keys to success. There is no great place to make a line to the west, but do your best and take the 3 snow-hill hexes next to the road. In the battle to the south, try to keep at least some of the enemy from getting into the mountains, so Grüü can swat them dead on snow while he sits in the mountains. Be careful with Inarix, as just a couple of Orc Warriors can take him out.

=== The Coward ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/32/28 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix (or additional veterans if you have lost Jetto or Inarix).

This is another fight against orcs and ogres in mostly open terrain. This map is no longer fully covered in snow/ice, but the circumstances are still similar to the previous battle.

You start without a keep and two weak enemies with castles nearby. Your first task is to defeat at least one of them to take their fort. The problem is that the scenario starts during the day, and the defense of castle tiles will make it tricky to kill any of them on the first turn. Unless you're very lucky (or unlucky), the usual outcome will be killing just one of them. Don't attack with Kapou’e at first, so that if you manage to kill one of the leaders quickly, you can take his keep and start recruiting right away.

After you secure a keep, you must start recruiting frantically. Favoring Trolls and Assassins is a good idea. You'll want at least two Soothsayers and maybe a couple Augers. A reserve of a Direwolf Rider and Pillager will help plug any hole. Lots of scenery—and lots of villages—in this one. Use two or three Wolf Riders just to run around grabbing villages; it will pay off.

Once you dispatch the second weak leader, you need to scramble into a vertical straight line formation to meet the advancing horde from the West. Don't allow the enemy to flank your line. A Great Troll near each end helps with that, as does securing the ends of your line with snowy and swampy land. Keep a tight formation at all times and don't get over-confident because of the slightly more favorable terrain compared to the snow of previous scenarios.

Once again, poisoning and healing are key. Try not to put two weak units adjacent to each other on the line. Run Kapou’e up and down the behind the line, lending his support to the attacks of the Whelps and other level 1 and 2 troops.

=== The Human Attack ===
* Objective: Hold off the humans for 30 turns.
* Bonus objective: Defeat Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

You get your allies back, making this battle a breeze in comparison to recent experiences. Let them soak up the casualties; use them to screen your flanks and your movements. Thanks to their help, you don't need spam units for this scenario, and instead you can use it to give more experience to your veterans, especially any L2 units you still want to level up for the final battle that is coming next.

The human army seems impressive and they are very powerful during the day. Moreover, they always get reinforcements at dawn (turns 7, 13, 19). However, applying your knowledge of strategy and tactics here will show that this battle is not so tough. A static defense on the city wall will work, and since the humans will take some time reaching you, you can easily arrange for your participation to occur during the night, where your army will be devastating.

It is very likely that passively holding your fort will not be necessary. Instead, you can punch down the middle; that has the advantage that you may be able to take out Earl Lanbec'h before some of his reinforcements arrive—players have successfully finished this scenario before turn 13.

A couple Direwolves and a Pillager may be able to trap him for a very early finish, though at no small risk to themselves. Feel free to spend a lot of money. The early finish bonus is massive.

=== Northern Alliance ===
* Objective: Kill Shan Taum and Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or Howgarth III die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Inarix and one veteran.

The starting set up involves a small ambush, and you receive an extra ally, so in the end you are a team of two leaders against two. Start by moving Kapou’e quickly to your keep and leaving Grüü and your other veteran to deal with the group of orcs.

Shan Taum is far weaker than Lanbec'h. The benefit of taking him out quickly is that your ally will then concentrate his forces on Lanbec'h; if both enemies are present, Howgarth's forces oscillate a little in between the two.

You should start this level with '''a lot''' of gold. Keep recruiting every turn until you run out. With the Great Horde low upkeep this will take a while. Keep doing it. Leave the last reserves of gold for recruiting your strong veterans. Using Orcish Assassins early on will level the playing field nicely with poisoning.

Hold the wall until you reach a certain (im)balance and then push south. Lanbec'h gets reinforcements in the afternoon but they are nothing like as formidable as the previous scenario. All you have to do is kill Lanbec'h, not all the enemy units. So, if you get a chance, pick him off.

If you are willing to put up with the tedium of recruiting tons of units, your victory should be inevitable.

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

SonOfThe BlackEye

2013-09-27T02:59:39Z

Ericppp: Updated based on 1.10.x. Edited some portions to avoid numbered lists of instructions, giving general advice in regular paragraphs instead.

=== The End Of Peace ===
* Objective: Defeat Alber, the human lieutenant.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e.

It looks tempting to recruit lots of Wolf Riders to match the humans' cavalry mobility, but don't try—they're not quite a match for cavalry and tend to get cut to pieces in detail. Two Wolf Riders for village stealing is enough, recruit mostly Orcish Grunts and Orcish Archers instead. Keep close order, pot the cavalry with Archers, and bodyguard the Archers with the Grunts. Kapou’e can do a second round of recruiting at one of the neutral keeps closer to the battle.

Once you defeat Alber, a Wolf Rider shows up to tell you about a large human army that is about to catch up with you. You are given the choice to either proceed with caution and avoid the fight, or to stubbornly stay and make a stand against impossible odds. If you decide to fight, you'll play the scenario ''The Human Army'', otherwise you skip right into ''Towards Mountains of Haag''.

Playing ''The Human Army'' gives you the possibility of levelling up a few units, but it is a very challenging scenario and it will take a toll on any bonus gold you may have picked up here. It can be a frustrating experience, especially if you're the type of player who doesn't like sacrificing units, but if you'd rather have an early start forming a core army of experienced units instead of playing it safe and saving your gold, you might want to give it a try.

=== The Human Army ===
* Objectives: Resist until your people can leave, then get Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Lose if: Kapou’e dies.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Vrag.

This is a very difficult scenario. The human general recruits level-2 units and he starts with an amount of gold that is, for all intended purposes, infinite. Your goal is to do the best job you can holding the enemy, gaining experience for some of your troops in the process.

On turn 7, one of your units will be sent away on an errand, and then come back on turn 13, telling you that everything is ready to flee the scene. By then, you just need to move Kapou’e to the signpost on the north-eastern corner, and the scenario will end. Be prepared to escape as soon as possible, and try to level up as many units as you can, using fodder units to distract the enemy and protect your most valuable ones if necessary.

It is better to start this scenario with a good gold reserve from the first scenario, and a few units that are about to level up (instead of having L2 units with little experience). One way to play it is to start by recruiting all your good veterans and immediately move to the keep in the middle of the map, meanwhile send one or two wolves to the western villages. The first few loyalists should reach the middle of the map during the night, so that's the time to be as aggressive (but careful with your core units) as possible. When dawn arrives, get ready to retreat north, leaving a few fresh fodder units in the way to delay the human army. Make sure that by turn 13 Kapou’e can get to the signpost in one move. Use that last turn to gain as much additional experience as possible, and then finish the scenario. With a little luck, you should end up this level with a few experienced L2 units.

=== Towards Mountains of Haag ===
* Objective: Move Kapou’e to the signpost.
* Bonus objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 27/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e and one veteran.

This scenario requires you to fight dwarves in a mixture of open terrain, hills and mountains. Around turn 7 a small group of trolls will appear, and one of them will become loyal to your cause by the end of this battle. Players have succeeded by either running or fighting.

''Option 1'', run: Keep Kapou’e and your troops moving and try to brush the dwarves off your flank as you pass, because if they get to mass on you and fight a static battle they will chop you to dog meat. Recruit at most for two rounds and run for the signpost at least until the trolls show up. Then, if the odds are with you, you can linger a bit and harvest some XP. If you fight the dwarves, try and get them onto non-hill/mountain terrain. Again, your Archers are your best offensive tool, but you need to use Grunts and Wolf Riders keep the dwarves off them.

''Option 2'', fight: Run 2-3 Wolf Riders around to nab ALL the villages outside the mountain border. They do not need to engage the enemy. Send a large force of Archers with their Grunt bodyguards to the hills west of your keep. If you have a Crossbowman, he will be especially effective. Grunts must often forgo attacks, for fear of getting too weakened to survive the enemy's turn. Bring in some raw recruit Grunts to handle the risky jobs, sparing your high XP Grunts. When the trolls arrive, they should help clear the path to the king. When he steps off his keep, send someone tough to cover the spot, like Kapou’e, who can then recruit reinforcements if you wish. Keep an eye on the clock, especially on the hardest setting. Even if you kill the Dwarven king, you still have to move Kapou’e to the signpost.

The next scenario is a tough one, but it will be much easier if you finish with lots of extra gold here.

=== The Siege of Barag Gor ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/26 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü and a scout (a veteran if you have any wolves).
* Other:
** By freeing the unit in the cage, you will get a loyal Assassin and the ability to recruit more.
** You are now able to recruit Troll Whelps.

This is the first large scale battle in the campaign, involving four elvish leaders coming from each of the corners of the map. A rather large keep is located in the middle, where your three shamans will start the scenario and you will have to keep them safe from harm.

In older versions of BfW this scenario was quite harder (particularly in the highest difficulty levels), making it almost impossible to make a stand in the orcish city to then go attack the leaders because of a tighter time limit. However, it has been rebalanced and these concerns have been addressed to some degree. There are many ways to approach this scenario, but in general you have two choices:

'''Option 1 - Going straight for the enemy leaders'''

If you want to finish this scenario faster (with the gold bonus it implies) you can just resign the keep in the middle, moving the trapped Shamans out of the way as soon as possible; a gap is likely to open up to the SE around turn 2 or 3. You can provide ZOC blocking with your Troll and Wolf Wider.

For taking care of the enemy leaders, players have had success with different strategies.

One option is to go clockwise. Take your troops south to knock out the elves there first, then west, then north. One problem is that it's easy to get pinned in and overwhelmed at the south after taking out its leader. So, consider sending a few Wolves and maybe Troll Whelps counter-clockwise to boost income and distract some of the enemy troops.

Another option is to divide your army in two. Send an assassination squad (heavy on Troll Whelps and/or Wolf Riders, possibly levelled) to take out the south-east leader. Send your leader, your Troll, and escorts north. To maximize your income, the escorts can be a relatively small and cheap squad of level 1's, in which case try using Wolf Rider bait to lure the enemy leader off his keep and also away from your leader, so your leader can sneak in to recruit more there. Then your northern and southern forces can head west to finish off the last two leaders, transferring Wolf Riders to bolster any lagging front.

Even though defending the city will not be your biggest priority, keeping your ally intact will help clog up enemy forces and prevent you from getting surrounded and pinned. You may want to send a small force to assist in the city's defense.

Pay attention to income. The more income you get, the more Troll Whelps you can recruit. Think twice before recalling any level 2 units, except maybe Pillagers. Later in the game, the villages in the middle will be relatively undefended; swoop in with Wolf Riders.

It's also helpful to have gold coming into the scenario. On nightmare, it would be hard to win with much less than 280 gold.

'''Option 2 - Holding the city'''

It can be a little trickier to finish within the time limit (particularly on ''hard'') but it may be less risky to just move your center of operations to the city. Start by recruiting a couple of wolves to capture villages and some veterans and start moving right away into the keep in the middle. You'll need a little luck to quickly put Kapou’e in the second keep tile available, since your ally won't move from his place and during the battle it is very likely that other units occupy the space you want.

When you finally manage to move Kapou’e into place, however, things will start to look much brighter for you. Recruit troll whelps and recall some more of your veterans as long as you can pay their upkeep comfortably, and then patiently form squads to go deal with the elves. You will inevitably reach the turning point where you control most of the map and then it just becomes an exercise on assigning the experience to your units. It's probably better to leave the south-western leader for last, since he is the one with the most favorable terrain on his side so you should take your strongest units, including those who have levelled up during this battle, to finish him off.

=== Towards Harbor of Tirigaz ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the Shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 36/30/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto (the assassin, if you have him) and the Shamans.
* Other:
** The standard day of time cycle does not apply in this scenario. It will be nighttime practically all the way through instead.

For recruitment, recall from the Archer and Troll lines. Anything else is far less useful. The level 3 Archers and Trolls can take out an undead unit every turn with little damage to themselves. Except for taking down the Liches, level 1 Archers and Troll Whelps can get the job done too; it will be at grave danger to themselves, but you won't shed a tear if a low XP unit dies.

For main strategy, players have used at least two basic approaches with success:

Option 1, south-west first: The north-eastern enemy can be blocked with a couple of veteran units at the river fort; do that while you take villages on the near side of the river with your Shamans and take a recruiting round or two of troops south to deal with the south-western enemy.

Option 2, north-east first: Head north-east and destroy the Lich there as quickly as possible. At the same time a few Archers supported by Kapou’e (who should be at least level 2 by now) should be enough to handle the Ghosts the south-west Lich will send your way (unless you're really unlucky). The south-west Skeletons are slowed down by the swamp, so by the time they reach your forces the Ghosts should be no more, and Archers + Troll Whelps can handle the skeletons. On the Warrior difficulty with some luck and enough Crossbowmen recalled at the start you can can finish this scenario in just 10 turns using this approach.

You may ignore the holy water you see to the east as any unit that reaches it will just drink it and nothing will happen.

=== Black Flag ===
* Objective: Defeat the human generals, Slowhand and Harman.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 30/28/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto.

If you run Kapou’e straight south to the central keep (not stopping to grab villages unless you can end a longest possible move south on one), you'll get to recruit troops in time to meet the first "pirates" on the beach. This will be good as fighting from the water hinders them. Punch out Harmon's (southern) keep first, then roll north. If you can, try to take out the galleons by attacking them directly before they can offload their troops. Goblin Knights or Direwolf Riders are good for this if you happen to have them. This way you can effectively take out four units for the price of one.

Since your keep is small and by the time you can use it the human army is large and with reinforcements on their way, trying to start by recalling your good veterans will be risky and probably not very effective. Instead, you may try starting with level-1 units to be sacrificed. Try using many Orcish Assassins to poison as many enemies as you can on each turn, focusing on the most dangerous loyalists first. Assassins also have high defense, so they will probably serve very well as the only fodder unit you use until the first wave of enemies is mostly dealt with and then you can recall some of your strong veterans to finish up the job.

=== The Desert of Death ===
* Objectives:
*# Reach the oasis.
*# Defeat Ar-Dant, the bandit leader.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This is a demanding scenario where you need to keep moving without pause in order to finish in time. Take a few moments to explore the map before anything else. Take notice of the castle on the south-eastern corner; that is where you are ultimately going to find the enemy leader you need to defeat. Notice also the small segments of plain dirt, which will speed up your units a little bit during the journey. Finally, notice the few villages along the desert on which you can recover your wounded units, most importantly from poison.

You probably don't need to recruit/recall for more than one turn and you need to get moving as fast as possible. A good team can be composed mostly of Orcish Archers and Crossbowmen. One Goblin Pillager is also good for grabbing distant villages and slowing enemies.

Your first task is to deal with a group of scorpions that roam the desert. There will be about 7 to 10 scorpions in total, depending on the level of difficulty you're playing. Use ranged attacks from your archers and shamans, supported by Kapou’e's leadership and they will not last too long.

Don't take too long recovering your units before you continue moving south, until you find the bandits. They are not a big threat, and you can use Jetto to poison them, and Grüü and the rest of your army to finish them off.

=== The Silent Forest ===
* Objective: Defeat the elves.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/38/36 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

This scenario is a forest, you are playing against elves, and it is likely that you're coming into it with very little gold (possibly the minimum of 100). This might make you think this will be a difficult battle, but that really isn't the case due to the weakness of the AI.

Recall strong veterans, including L1 and L2 units about to level up if you have them, and head directly south to deal with the first elvish leader while sending one wolf to grab villages. Once the first enemy leader is history, go east and deal with the second one. By playing carefully, and keeping a safe distance from the forests whenever possible (to avoid fighting on terrain largely favorable to the elves) you should coast to victory without much trouble.

=== Shan Taum the Smug ===
* Objective:
** Survive for 20 turns, or..
** Defeat Shan Taum.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or any of the shamans die.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and the shamans.

What makes this battle peculiar is that you will go against other orcs, supported by some ogres. The enemy starts with a good amount of gold, which would normally make for an intense fight with many casualties on your side, but there's a small river that divides the map right down the middle and can be used to your advantage thanks to the short-sightedness of the AI. As you probably have guessed by now, a good strategy is to place your units on the western bank of the river and let the enemy come to you and fight you from the water, which they will do without hesitance.

An army composed mostly of trolls will serve you well, because of their strong hits and their regeneration ability. Recruit/recall about two or three keeps of units (assuming your gold allows it), complementing the trolls with perhaps a few Orcish Warlords who can soak up some damage as well. Use Jetto (and perhaps one extra Assassin) to poison enemies with high HP, preferably during the day where they can't retaliate with full force. Don't forget to support your low level trolls with Kapou’e's leadership.

You can use your shamans to grab villages during the first turns, but be careful not to leave them in the zone of action of enemy wolves. Use your own wolves to protect them, and to grab villages to the north and south after your shamans have done their job.

Shan Taum will eventually run out of fuel, and it will be much easier to simply go and defeat him than to "survive" until the end of turns.

=== Saving Inarix ===
* Objective: Destroy the southern part of the bridge.
* Optional objective: Wait for Inarix's arrival and bring him and at least 4 other saurians to safety before blowing the bridge.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Plonk (a new loyal Slayer).

This scenario consists of a rescue mission. Inarix, a loyal Saurian Ambusher is on his way and arrives on turn 4 with a group of Saurian Augurs and Skirmishers on the SW corner. Your mission is to take him and most of his group to the north, and then blow up the bridge, escaping from the large group of elves, dwarves and bandits fighting you on the south bank of the river. The turn limit is a little tight, so trying to knock out any of the enemy leaders can be a little risky and unnecessary.

Start by recalling a small group of veterans (3 or 4 should be enough) to deal with the first few elves and dwarves on the bridge, and try to get Kapou’e to the southern keep as quickly as possible. By then Inarix has probably showed up already and the real battle begins.

The elvish leader to the east only recruits level-1 units, and they are not much of a threat outside forest tiles. The dwarven leader, however, recruits Bandits, who are very aggressive and dangerous at night. Make sure you dispatch them quickly with ranged attacks and protect your key units at night with good tactical formations, not leaving them open to attacks from more than one bandit at a time if possible.

One conservative strategy is to form two diagonal defense lines: one extending from the central keep to the north-west (for the dwarves) and one extending to the north-east (for the elves). Troll whelps work nicely for this purpose, using a few Archers and Assassins to deal with the bandits. Keep rotating your lines so the trolls can regenerate to limit your losses.

Meanwhile, Inarix should be on his way to the action. Initially, they will only be attacked by a few units, so build a formation with the healers in the middle and run them up in the center of the map, killing the attackers as you go. Try to give the final blows to the Augurs so they level up quickly into Soothsayers (finally, healers!). Use the swamps and water if possible for the high defense or even try to lure your attackers into it. Focus on moving them northwards and do not waste time, though.

By the end of turn 7 the elves and dwarves are getting low on units, but then they will just dig into their gold reserves and start heavily recruiting again. If you are really quick and concentrate on diminishing the elven attackers in turns 1 to 6, you can overrun the elves and kill their leader. That will make the rest of the scenario much easier as you will only be attacked by the dwarves. However, if you do not manage to kill the elven leader, do not worry. Just run Inarix and his group up to the north.

As soon as the saurian group reaches your defense line, start moving all units up north back across the bridge. Use the troll whelps as buffer to keep away the attackers as you do so.

Once all valuable units are past the center of the bridge, blow it up by moving a unit onto the little barrel in the water just east of it. You may sacrifice a saurian skirmisher for blowing up the bridge, but make sure you still have enough saurians left so you gain the ability to recruit them in the future.

As a final recommendation, it will make the next level a little easier if you can level at least one of the Augurs to a Soothsayer.

=== Clash of Armies ===
* Objective: Defend Prestim for 4 days (24 turns).
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or an enemy occupies a village on the north side when the turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Plonk, Inarix and a couple of veterans.

A new large-scale battle but with a very different flavor to previous scenarios. In this opportunity you have to defend your side of the river. The terrain is favorable to your army, but you have to stay on your toes to deal with the different challenges presented.

First of all, the large group of elves, loyalists, dwarves and bandits that will come from the south, trying to knock you out of the bridge. Using strong units (Trolls, Slurbows and Warlords) supported by a Saurian Augur/Soothsayer and rotating the lines should be enough to hold them in this bottleneck. Other than that, you need to keep two groups on the sides of the river bank to handle the additional sources of trouble: a few gryphons coming from the western keep (mostly during the first few turns and then on rare occasion afterwards), small groups of mermen coming every other turn from each side of the map during the first half of the battle, and Galleons crossing the river with groups of three enemies every now and then.

When planning a strategy, it is usually said that there is more than one way to do it, and that is very true for this scenario. Players have had success with it using different strategies; the general gist of it is probably the same, but the details come down to your particular style of playing and the units you like to use the most.

In general, as mentioned above, try to use veterans to hold the center, and form two groups to cover the sides, mixing fresh and experienced units there. Kapou’e can stay in his keep, recruiting/recalling units during the battle as you see fit; the circumstances will tell you whenever extra reinforcements are required on a particular spot. You will be able to see Galleons and Gryphons from the distance, giving you some time to prepare, and the mermen show up in a pattern that is easy to follow.

You don't need to be careful about your gold in this scenario so feel free to spend all you have here. The next scenario can be handled comfortably with the minimum gold you receive, plus you will get a nice surprise after the Great Horde joins you.

When mermen are about to attack you, avoid occupying the castle tiles, which lets the mermen fight from the water. Instead, lure them into the sand, where they are much more vulnerable. This will make the fighting go faster and avoids a situation where mermen and other enemies pile up on you. Saurians fight nicely from the sand, and using Assassins/Slayers to poison units will make things go even smoother. When you see that the Galleons are about to disembark, ''then'' it is a good idea to occupy those castle tiles, forcing the enemy to drop their units on sand or water.

Using spam units is almost a necessity to keep control of the beaches. Grunts, Assassins, Whelps and Skirmishers are all good options. After turn 12, no more mermen will appear, and the battle will be easier to handle, with only the occasional Gryphon and the Galleons to distract you. If you manage to destroy the Galleons (which have extra hitpoints for this scenario), you will make the second half of the battle even more comfortable for yourself.

''Note'': On versions of BfW previous to 1.9, this scenario played differently. Although many details were similar to its current form, it involved protecting Towers (special units), it didn't include Galleons and it had other balancing issues. The following advice was written for those older versions.

Here is a short strategy which works on minimum starting gold (200) and medium difficulty:

Recall all troll warriors you have, plus some orcish warlords, slurbows, and one saurian healer. Position 4 troll warriors together with Inarix and maybe one of the loyal assassins at the very east, one hex away from the beach. This group fends of the initial mermen onslaught and some gryphons. After the first couple of waves have been beaten, this becomes a very relaxing task well-suited for levelling Inarix.

On the bridgehead put the healer in the middle hex and circle your leader, the orcish warlords, slurbows and remaining trolls. After about turn 8 or 9 the gryphons are done with except for an occasional single gryphon recruit. Once you have the money recall the other saurian healers and use the outer hexes of the bridgehead to level them to soothsayers.

=== Giving Some Back ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 28/24/20 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.
* Other:
** Having the Great Horde on your side gives you a very useful bonus. From now on, the upkeep cost of all your non-loyal units is reduced by one.

This is a somewhat easy scenario, if you keep your critical and loyal troops out of harm's way. Early on, your orcish allies do much of the job for you, and you'll be especially thankful to them during the day. With a keep full of veteran recruits you should easily able to finish off in half the turns, though you can instead use mostly level 1's and win at a slower pace. For the slower strategy, recruit or recall a couple of quick Wolf Riders and send then along the western edge and into the treasure trove of enemy villages.

Once the north enemy is defeated, the southern enemy receives another 400 gold and recruits a second wave. If you are very quick, you might be able to kill the south leader first, so this does not happen. If you are less quick, you might catch the second wave in water. If you are slow, you may fight them on open ground and fortress hexes, where they may prove a challenge.

Watch out for the shock troopers, they can cause severe damage even to your trolls. You can use this scenario to level some troops e.g. archers and saurians.

=== The Dwarvish Stand ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 35/30/27 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is a relatively easy scenario. Recruit Wolf Riders and other types with lots of mobility, because just mushing through the snow to get to the enemy units will take a while. Do not bother with any Saurian fighters, who are terrible moving through ice/snow. It may be worthwhile to recall just a Soothsayer or two. You know all those Troll Whelps you've been spamming? Now is the time to recall your half-levelled Whelps who are quick and preferably fearless, but steer them away from plain snow and ice as much as possible. Quick assassins and archers are also helpful.

Let your allies get in front of you and screen your troops. Let them fight the entrenched units and rush out onto poor defensive ground. Considering that your allies will do much of the work for you (like in the previous scenario), you don't need to make plans for a very big fight, so don't over-recruit.

Simple alternative strategy for this easy scenario (min starting gold 300, medium difficulty):

Recall only one keep of: 1 direwolf rider, 5 troll warriors (preferably with the quick ability). Send one troll warrior together with the assassin and the rider around the south supporting your ally and taking some villages. Send all other troll warriors together with your leader through the hills to the north and then west.

Focus on fighting off the Gryphons first, which is not overly difficult. Then position your main force at the edge of the hills south-west of the ice river in the north and lure the dwarves into the river (fighting them in the hills is quite a pain). Once the main wave of dwarves is dealt with, press on towards the dwarven leader and kill him.

By this time the humans should be running low on units as well. Move some spare units in to kill their leader. Inarix is pretty much useless here so he can stay in one of the villages near the keep. You should be finished around turn 15 already and get a fair amount of money out of it.

=== Back Home ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Jetto, Inarix and one orcish veteran.

You finally catch up with the elves and humans you've been following, and it is decided that you will surround them from all four corners of the map. Your forces are divided and you start on your own, without your veteran trolls for the first few turns, and this initial period will probably be the most challenging of all.

It is vital to quickly gain control of the two castle tiles between your keep and the closest human general, as well as the small patches of flat dirt, giving you the advantage to quickly thin out the human troops before reinforcements from the other castles arrive from the north.

Your orc allies will get in position (on the SE and NE corners) on turns 4 and 5, while Grüü shows up with your veteran trolls on turn 7 on the NW, ready to take control of the rest of the map. Play patiently and be careful not to leave your key units too exposed on the snow/ice. Even if your allies are doing a good job, don't underestimate the damage you may receive if the enemies happen to focus on one of your vital units. Support your orcish troops with Soothsayers.

Keep in mind that your orcish allies must stay alive, which can be tricky since they tend to be very aggressive by default. Perhaps the best setting for your allies (right click) is to be "defensive" with no objective. This will help curb the aggressiveness of the leaders.

Use Pillagers to grab villages from very early on and occasionally support your army and your allies. Pay attention to gold, as you'll need extra for the next scenario.

=== Civil War ===
* Objectives:
** Defeat all rebel leaders.
** Move Kapou’e to the signpost at the west.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

This is regarded as one of the hardest scenarios in the campaign, but don't despair, the end is near. This battle requires patience and a lot of attention to recruitment, strategy and tactics. Any distraction can be costly.

It is good to start this scenario with as much gold as possible. You need to match the damage coming at you from four different leaders all by yourself. In general, a sensible approach is to divide your army into two, sending a group of mostly trolls to the south, and a mixed group to the west. The group to the south will fight on mountains, so it will be generally safer, and you should send your vital units like Grüü, Jetto and Inarix there. The west needs the most attention, and a larger group. There will be no way to avoid fighting from vulnerable positions, so casualties are to be expected. This will be an intense test of your abilities, but you should be ready for it by now after all the battles you've gone through.

It is recommended to recruit mostly level ones initially, to preserve your income. First, recruit a bunch of Wolf Riders for village snatching. You can mostly spam Troll Whelps (or Grunts if your prefer) and Assassins. On ice, level 2 Troll Warriors will die like flies, so better send them to the southern mountains. Troll Rocklobbers are great versus opponents on ice, so send them west, but keep them safe. You will also need at least one Soothsayer on the western front; bend over backwards to keep him safe. You should also recall 1-2 Pillagers for each front, for slowing enemy leaders. When you are almost done with recruiting, you may notice another front developing, with enemy troops closing towards your keep. For them, 3 Grunts, 2 Whelps, 1 Archer, and 1 Assassin might be enough to handle them with the support of your leader and that patch of good terrain next to your keep. When you are down to 100-140 gold, go crazy, recalling possibly only level 3's, mostly Great Trolls (one of which could help in that new front next to your keep.)

After each of the two groups takes out its respective target leader, they each then have one more leader farther west to kill. Watch the clock, as you may need to send Kapou’e running for the signpost.

Poisoning and healing (mostly of the troll regeneration variety) are the keys to success. There is no great place to make a line to the west, but do your best and take the 3 snow-hill hexes next to the road. In the battle to the south, try to keep at least some of the enemy from getting into the mountains, so Grüü can swat them dead on snow while he sits in the mountains. Be careful with Inarix, as just a couple of Orc Warriors can take him out.

=== The Coward ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kapou’e or Grüü dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 34/32/28 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix (or additional veterans if you have lost Jetto or Inarix).

This is another fight against orcs and ogres in mostly open terrain. This map is no longer fully covered in snow/ice, but the circumstances are still similar to the previous battle.

You start without a keep and two weak enemies with castles nearby. Your first task is to defeat at least one of them to take their fort. The problem is that the scenario starts during the day, and the defense of castle tiles will make it tricky to kill any of them on the first turn. Unless you're very lucky (or unlucky), the usual outcome will be killing just one of them. Don't attack with Kapou’e at first, so that if you manage to kill one of the leaders quickly, you can take his keep and start recruiting right away.

After you secure a keep, you must start recruiting frantically. Favoring Trolls and Assassins is a good idea. You'll want at least two Soothsayers and maybe a couple Augers. A reserve of a Direwolf Rider and Pillager will help plug any hole. Lots of scenery—and lots of villages—in this one. Use two or three Wolf Riders just to run around grabbing villages; it will pay off.

Once you dispatch the second weak leader, you need to scramble into a vertical straight line formation to meet the advancing horde from the West. Don't allow the enemy to flank your line. A Great Troll near each end helps with that, as does securing the ends of your line with snowy and swampy land. Keep a tight formation at all times and don't get over-confident because of the slightly more favorable terrain compared to the snow of previous scenarios.

Once again, poisoning and healing are key. Try not to put two weak units adjacent to each other on the line. Run Kapou’e up and down the behind the line, lending his support to the attacks of the Whelps and other level 1 and 2 troops.

=== The Human Attack ===
* Objective: Hold off the humans for 30 turns.
* Bonus objective: Defeat Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü, Al’Brock or Flar’Tar die.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto and Inarix.

You get your allies back, making this battle a breeze in comparison to recent experiences. Let them soak up the casualties; use them to screen your flanks and your movements. Thanks to their help, you don't need spam units for this scenario, and instead you can use it to give more experience to your veterans, especially any L2 units you still want to level up for the final battle that is coming next.

The human army seems impressive and they are very powerful during the day. Moreover, they always get reinforcements at dawn (turns 7, 13, 19). However, applying your knowledge of strategy and tactics here will show that this battle is not so tough. A static defense on the city wall will work, and since the humans will take some time reaching you, you can easily arrange for your participation to occur during the night, where your army will be devastating.

It is very likely that passively holding your fort will not be necessary. Instead, you can punch down the middle; that has the advantage that you may be able to take out Earl Lanbec'h before some of his reinforcements arrive—players have successfully finished this scenario before turn 13.

A couple Direwolves and a Pillager may be able to trap him for a very early finish, though at no small risk to themselves. Feel free to spend a lot of money. The early finish bonus is massive.

=== Northern Alliance ===
* Objective: Kill Shan Taum and Earl Lanbec’h.
* Lose if: Kapou’e, Grüü or Howgarth III die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Kapou’e, Grüü, Jetto, Inarix and one veteran.

The starting set up involves a small ambush, and you receive an extra ally, so in the end you are a team of two leaders against two. Start by moving Kapou’e quickly to your keep and leaving Grüü and your other veteran to deal with the group of orcs.

Shan Taum is far weaker than Lanbec'h. The benefit of taking him out quickly is that your ally will then concentrate his forces on Lanbec'h; if both enemies are present, Howgarth's forces oscillate a little in between the two.

You should start this level with '''a lot''' of gold. Keep recruiting every turn until you run out. With the Great Horde low upkeep this will take a while. Keep doing it. Leave the last reserves of gold for recruiting your strong veterans. Using Orcish Assassins early on will level the playing field nicely with poisoning.

Hold the wall until you reach a certain (im)balance and then push south. Lanbec'h gets reinforcements in the afternoon but they are nothing like as formidable as the previous scenario. All you have to do is kill Lanbec'h, not all the enemy units. So, if you get a chance, pick him off.

If you are willing to put up with the tedium of recruiting tons of units, your victory should be inevitable.

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Sceptre of Fire

2013-09-23T06:40:09Z

Ericppp: Updated based on 1.10.x

==Campaign Strategy==

You fight this campaign almost entirely with the four classic dwarven units: fighter, thunderer, scout and guardsman. Healers are entirely missing, and villages become a key resource for army regeneration. Given the circumstances, your levelling strategy should lean strongly to the offensive.

In the many scenarios, the village distribution is strongly biased against you, and conquering a village cluster is the key to victory. Your main opponents are trolls, other dwarves and elves, and you are mostly fighting in caverns and mountains.

In this campaign, Dwarvish Fighters can advance to Runesmiths as well as Steelclads. Runemasters are useful overall and absolutely essential for forcing the caves of the Shorbear clan, and you should consider training at least one or two of them in addition to the two that join you. Dwarvish Lords are critical for the rearguard action against Berserkers in "The Dragon", and it is wise to have at least three of them in your army.

The guardsman line is only useful early on, since their pierce attack is useless against trolls and too weak for storming the Shorbear caves or discouraging berserkers in "The Dragon". However, having a few of them on your recall list will be useful for the final scenario. Thunderers do their share as your ranged unit, and scouts as screening forces, but make sure to keep a strong emphasis on the fighter line. Once Thursagan joins you, make it a priority to level him up all the way up to a Dwarvish Arcanister; he's the only unit able to do it, and by doing so he will become a truly frightening unit for your enemies.

==Scenarios==

=== A Bargain Is Struck ===
* Objectives:
** Move the caravans and Alanin to the dwarvish castle, or..
** Defeat the elvish leader.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Haldric II, Alanin or one of the caravans die or time runs out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Rugnur and Alanin.
* Other: It is probably easier and quicker to defeat the elvish leader.

After a short dialogue, you have to get four caravans (five on ''hard'') to your keep in the north. This is a straightforward mission. Merely move the caravans towards your keep. Recruit two or three units for Rugnur and send them south at all speed (scouts work well here, provided you are playing on 1.7.x). Use Alanin to guard the caravans as well as you can, until they get out of reach of the elves. Normally, your human allies wipe out the elven attack before your troops can get stuck in, but if you can get some experience, all the better for the next mission. However, unless you want to try a very unusual strategy, you probably won't have the chance to provide much experience to many units. As mentioned, two or three recruits is probably enough, so you can focus your experience on Rugnur and Alanin.

Because the humans are so effective against the elves, you may be able to simply ignore the caravans and go kill the elvish leader. Remember elves are tough to hit in forest, so concentrate on picking off the ones who venture into the grassland and let the humans take their licks against the dug-in elves.

[Thrash: In 1.8.4 on hard the above seems to be terribly out of date. The elves kick the human's butt and the objective becomes for the dwarves to kill the elven leader before the elves cause a loss.]

Don't waste time moving your dwarves to the elvish keep. Glildur receives a significant amout of gold around turn 10, allowing him to recruit wave after wave of new elves to fight you, and it can get unmanageable if you let him recruit with impunity by then.

=== Closing The Gates ===
* Objectives: Close the gates by having units standing on all six glyphs simultaneously.
* Lose if: Rugnur or Baglur die or time runs out.
* Turns: 15.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, 4 Guardsmen (5 on ''easy'').
* Other
** If there are any elves in the caves after you shut the gates, you must kill them.
** Any units outside the caves when the gates close will die; pull your units back.

This involves hunting down some trolls and stalling the elves. Firstly, recall and recruit a substantial amount of thunderers and fighters. Move all your guardsmen down towards the three towers, those two glyphs can be easily covered near the end. Move a couple of thunderers down that way as well.

You have to activate six glyphs and, as you can notice, two of them are near the main entrance and easy to activate. You will find the other four going through the two main passages inside the cave—one directly south of your keep and one to the west. Send teams composed of about 3 or 4 dwarves (mixing fighters, thunderers and perhaps scouts if you like using them) down each passage, and focus the rest of your force on the entrance, resisting the elves. The terrain will be very advantageous to your army so the challenge should not be too complicated.

Once the trolls are dead, place dwarves on each of those fours glyphs. You will notice that there are a couple of small additional entrances to the cave at the end of each passage. Don't worry, turning "on" the glyphs closest to those openings will seal them. You might even shut one or two trolls outside this way.

Once those four glyphs are done you're ready to finish your mission. However, you might as well defend the gate until turn 14 or so, picking up as much experience as possible (try to get Rugnor at least to level 2). Then, pull all your troops back behind the gate (any left outside will automatically die, and those trapped in the door will be squished) and place soldiers on the two remaining glyphs.

=== Searching for the Runecrafter ===
* Objectives:
*# Reach Thursagan with a non-gryphon unit.
*# Bring Thursagan back to the caves.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Alanin, Krawg, Thursagan or Baglur die or time runs out.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, Alanin.

Once you move a unit a little far from the cave, a loyal gryphon named Krawg will show up, along with a friendly Gryphon Rider. Thursagan is hiding in a village placed at random inside the map. You have to go find him and bring him back to the signpost in your keep. He won't follow a Gryphon, so you have to send a dwarf (or Alanin).

The monsters you'll face are Wolves, Ogres, Trolls and Woses. Maintain a defensive position in your mountain stronghold while your Gryphons scout the map to locate Thursagan's village, then send someone else to bring him back.

The Trolls, Woses and Ogres hit hard, so concentrate on killing them quickly when they reach you. Don't let the wolves flank you and get inside your perimeter.

It will be useful to recall/recruit scouts, who are good against woses, along with thunderers and fighters. Try not to over-recruit; this map won't have any other villages other than the ones close to your keep, and Thursagan's home.

=== Gathering Materials ===
* Objective: Mine one gold deposit and two coal deposits (see below).
* Lose if: Rugnur or Thursagan die or time runs out.
* Turns: 40/37/34 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, Thursagan and two loyal Runesmiths.
* Other
** To mine you must recruit a Dwarvish Miner, move him to the deposit and move him back to the keep.
** The map is randomized so your map may play slightly differently.

The coal deposits are near the northwest troll and the southeast troll. The gold deposit is towards the middle. (The map layout is randomized, but the minerals are always in these areas). In order to mine, you must recruit a Dwarvish Miner, move him to the deposit and move him back to the keep. The mining can be done with just one Miner, but make it a priority to grab the deposits as quickly as you can. The speed of the miners will be of great help to keep them safe from harm, but still be careful and protect them whenever necessary.

The gold reserve may be the easiest one to snatch first, and maybe the northwest coal could also be grabbed quickly before you kill the enemies up there. A sensible strategy is to recruit about 2 keepfuls of units and get to the crossroad area quickly. The goblins are numerous but weak. The trick here is to hold the northeast against Troll Whelps and Ogres, the southeast against more Whelps and Rocklobbers and still have enough units to kill all the goblins.

The AI tends to avoid attacking your Runesmiths/Thursagan when they are on good defensive ground. You can use this to your advantage when clogging up passageways.

Remember to move your Miner to and from the deposits as quickly as possible. In general, the order of things to do besides that is:

* Get your troops into the middle clearing and dig in.
* Kill the goblins and their leader.
* Kill the last of the wave from the northeast and reinforce the southeast.
* Move some of your forces to finish the northeast leader and the rest to reinforce the southeast.
* Push to the southeast (there are villages down here) and get the last leader.

The easiest order to get the deposits is probably gold, northwest coal, southeast coal.

'''Alternative Strategy'''

In 1.8.2 on the Steelclad (Challenging) difficulty the ogres and goblins fight each other, so you can let them weaken each other while you go south and slaughter the trolls there. Once you've dealt with the south trolls you can use the villages there to heal your troops before going north to finish the survivors (most likely the ogres, as the goblins are too weak). If you choose this strategy be careful not to spend too much time waiting for the fighting in the north to end.

[Thrash: In my experience the enemies seemed to prefer fighting each other instead of the player's units. If you just hang back a turn or two, they will starting fighting and then you can pick off weak units for XP and wade in after a couple turns when they've weakened each other. Also, recruiting 3 miners makes things much easier in turns of time (I wouldn't be surprised if it was impossible with one miner on hard).]

=== Hills of the Shorbear Clan ===
* Objectives: Defeat the dwarf leader and have all heroes in the cave while no enemies are in it.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Alanin, Krawg, Thursagan or Durstorn die or time runs out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Alanin, Baglur, Krawg, Thursagan, Durstorn, two new loyal units—a Thunderguard and a Steelclad.

Since Durstorn started a fight, you have to kick the dwarves out of their cave. The problem is that some elves show up and start fighting you too. So you have to take over the cave '''and''' kick everyone else out.

You can use Krawg and another Gryphon to go around the map and flag lots of villages. You'll get lots of gold and can use that to recruit a couple of fresh units if you need after you capture the Shorbears' keep.

The scenario is pretty straightforward. When fighting the dwarves use the terrain to your advantage. A dwarf on a mountain tile is only hit 30% of the time... unless you are attacking with a Runesmith/Runemaster. Their magical attacks (70% chance to hit) can make all the difference. Once you are in the cave and fighting off the elves, seal up the exits when you can. Now all you need to do is wipe out any stragglers and you are done.

=== Towards the Caves ===
* Objectives:
** Move Rugnur to the north-east cave entrance.
** Move Alanin to the southern border east of the river.
* Lose if: Rugnur, Alanin, Krawg or Thursagan die or time runs out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Baglur, Krawg, Thursagan and Alanin.

It is important to realize that the two objectives do not need to be accomplished simultaneously; once Alanin touches the southern border, east of the river, he disappears and his part is done. So, you can just send him straight south from turn 1. Have him go along the western edge of the river and cross over when he is at the bottom. The southeastern elves really don't like Alanin, so be careful not to attract too much attention. (Note that you can use that to your advantage to slow the advance of those elves).

This scenario is an exercise in holding a defensible position. The problem is that position has six entrances and you are up against a bunch of level 2 attackers. Recruit 2 or 3 keeps full of soldiers, sneak Alanin and Rugnur out (maybe with a few units, perhaps Gryphons, for cover and village flagging), and dig in. Rotate your units and try not to lose too many. Since most of the attackers are level 2, you can level some units with a couple of kills. Stay on good defensive ground and don't try anything crazy. It is also possible to win by killing all the leaders, but good luck with that.

[Thrash: I found just running for it worked for me. Alanin is able to make it to the southern edge before any elves can reach him by running down the west bank and crossing over. For Rugnur I recruited 6 sacrificial scouts and used them to screen the northern elves and Rugnur was able to make the cave with the elves on his heels.]

[Sojourner: With WN 10.0, running Alanin south down the west side of the river worked like a charm. I ran Thurgasin into the NW caves to keep him safe. The tricky part was getting Rugnur to the NE cave. Since even a single hex makes the differance, I could only recruit one keep load and then Rugnur had to start running on turn-1. Level 1 scouts as a screen didn't work because the Elvish archers slaughtered them. I used a full keep of Level 1 griffins (all ultimately sacrificed) as a screen, and had Rugnur go through the 5-hex of mountains to the East (32/10). But it was very close because I had to use Krawg at the last to help screen, yet not allow him to get zone-locked and killed. Possible, but tricky.]

=== Outriding the Outriders ===
* Objectives: Reach the outpost in the south.
* Lose if: Alanin dies or time runs out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Alanin.

Your mission is to run south as quickly as possible. The elvish outriders would easily catch up with you and defeat you, if it were not for the huge help you receive from villagers. Every time you capture a village, two (or three for the first village you capture) new loyalists will come out to help you against the elves. You will have them just for this scenario, so you don't have to worry too much about saving them or leveling them up. If you level a Spearman, the best choice is probably Javelineer. Pikeman and Javelineer have pierce attacks (which are best against the Outriders) but the Javelineer has the ranged attack too.

The main goal is to slow the elves down (which you can of course do by killing them). If a unit has 2 or 3 HP, don't attack with it. Make one of the Outriders waste his turn by killing it. Try and use your units ZOC and the terrain to slow the elves down. The Outriders are slow on ice, hills and mountains. If you have the option of falling back (or moving up) and combining two villages worth of defenders, that's probably a good idea.

There are two villages you can reach with your first move. Go to the southernmost one. This sums up the whole ''modus operandi'' for Alanin: move as far south as you can every turn. Deviate slightly to capture villages, but not too much. You will need most of every turn's moves to get to the outpost in time.

=== The Dragon ===
* Objectives: Get Rugnur, Thursagan and Krawg to the end of the tunnel; then move Thursagan to the forge and defend him for 9 turns
* Lose if: Rugnur, Thursagan or Krawg die
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Rugnur, Thursagan, Krawg, and Baglur.

Strong dwarves and elves will come from the west in great numbers. As the dialogue suggests, trying to make a stand in your initial keep would be practically impossible, and your only choice is to recruit as much as you can in the first turn, and flee to the south as quickly as possible.

You have to cover a lot of terrain, but the path is mostly straightforward, and at its end you will reach a small section where you will find the forge where the Sceptre can be built. That is a good place to finally make your stand. Until then, your job is to move quickly, dealing with bats coming from the cave, and dealing with the dwarves from behind. The elves move much more slowly so you'll probably deal with them later on.

Regarding the bats, they would normally be just a small annoyance, except that in this case there are lots of them, so they are challenging in their own right. The best way to kill them is with Scouts' ranged attack or Runesmiths' magical attack. They are level 0 (unless you're playing on ''hard'', where you'll find some level ones) and so don't exert a zone of control. Khrakrahs the dragon might come out but there is no special advantage in killing it. Just move past it and let the elvish army deal with it.

As for the dwarves coming from behind, the biggest challenge is that there are many berserkers among them, and there's a good chance a few of them are quick, so they'll catch up with you in no time. Try to leave Dwarvish Lords and Runemasters with good HP on the rear of your army to deal with them.

Once you finally reach the forge, you may choose to move Thursagan into it quickly, in which case he disappears and the rest of your mission is to survive for 9 more turns, or you can play it patiently and milk as much as experience as you can. In this case, don't move Thursagan into the forge yet, and make sure to advance him up to level 4 if you haven't done so already.

''Note'': Apparently this scenario played very differently in versions previous to 1.10.x, and the suggestions given by this walkthrough mentioned that the elves don't follow you. This no longer applies, and the following comments left here in the past by other players reflect that.

[Thash: Contrary to what this says, the elves and the dwarves did come after me in a big way after a few turns, but I was able to pick a good spot in the tunnel and hold them off by just plugging the tunnel - not attacking - and rotating wounded units through. Also be care of which units you send SW from starting point, beserkers can come running out of darkness and kill Krawg easily.]

[Sojourner: With WN 10.0 the elves and dwarves attacked immediately and relentlessly with level 2 and 3 units. I suggest running flat out until you're past the wide spot where you first see the dragon and then start delaying tactics while you race Thursagan to the forge. The best place to delay are the narrow two-hex choke points on the final SW run towards the forge. Make your main stand there. Expect to lose/sacrifice a fair number of units.]

=== Caverns of Flame ===
* Objectives: Move onto the glyph that makes the volcano erupt; then kill all the elves
* Lose if: Rugnur, Thursagan or Krawg die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: All of your available units, including your entire recall list.

You start with your entire army and won't have any real chance to recruit any new units. What you start with is all you get. The cave is populated by Trolls and a few Orcish Warriors guarding the glyph. Your job is to get onto the glyph and then kill all the elves.

After a turn or two a bunch of dwarves and elves appear at the mouth of the cave (so get your units moving). Just like in the last scenario the elves move very slowly so you'll fight the dwarves separately from the elves. Keep your force together. You face a lot of strong enemies and will need to rotate all your troops to prevent too much attrition. Take advantage of the fact that you are fighting so many level 2 and 3 units to level any of your troops that still can improve.

One way to play this scenario is to move everyone to the westernmost cavern. It has a good bottleneck to hold the dwarves at and plenty of villages to heal. Once you are dug in, send Rugnur, Thursagan (who is an absolute badass now that he has the Sceptre of Fire) and a few other units south to the glyph. Kill the orc guards and step on the glyph. Once you do that you are instructed to kill all the elves before they escape. Luckily for you, stepping on the glyph also unleashes the Troll Warriors '''behind''' the elves. The elves have no chance. The trolls will quickly slaughter them. You can help if you want, but the end is inevitable. Make sure Thursagan and Rugnur don't fall in lava.

To keep Krawg out of trouble you can move him onto one of the lava squares. There are several which are only accessible/attackable by flying units. There are no flying enemies so Krawg will be safe.

Don't worry about the Troll Warriors. They cannot get out until you step on the glyph. By that time it probably doesn't matter.

'''Alternative Strategy'''

A much more direct approach is to simply ignore the trolls coming from the internal caves. Use a few units to slow them down (guardsmen are very effective) and move your heavy hitters south directly into the glyph chamber. Kill the guards as quickly as possible and take defensive positions around the glyph while watching the elves and trolls fight each other. When you're ready, step on the glyph and unleash the Troll Warriors on the elves. Then it's only a matter of surviving until the elves are slaughtered. You might suffer some losses, but as long as the heroes survive it doesn't matter. If the elves don't get entirely wiped out in a few turns, the cave will end up entirely covered in lava, killing everyone. Either way, you win and proceed to the campaign's Epilogue.

-shadowblack

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheHammerOfThursagan

2013-09-12T21:51:33Z

Ericppp: /* The Siege of Kal Kartha */

The walkthrough is based on medium difficulty, and there are comments covering hard difficulty too.

==Campaign Strategy==

This is quite a balanced campaign - basically all the unit types available to you are useful. Here are some overall hints:

* Angarthing is perhaps the best support unit ever invented. He has two magical impact attacks, one of which slows, he’s very fast and, most importantly, he can give a Leadership-like 25% attack boost to units on the same level (so, once you have him at L3, he gives even your L3 units a boost). As he levels up he becomes able to cure, and then heal +4. As he is your only healer for a while (until scenario 8), make it a priority to level him up all the way. Angarthing makes fighting much easier.
* You gain the ability to recruit mages from mid-campaign. Don't let all your mages die as you then lose the recruit ability. You want to level up at least two white mages as soon as practical after that - you need two +8 healers by the final level.
* But red mages are useful too; you get a free arch mage at Medium, but at hard (Lord) you want to level up a red mage instead. A red mage/arch mage, backed by Angarthing, is excellent at dealing large amounts of damage against enemies in good defensive spots on the final level.
* Dwarf Lords are the backbone of any dwarven army; you will want ~4 by the final level, and more is better.
* It is very useful to level up one or two scouts all the way to an explorers, as their ranged attack is excellent against woses. 2-3 thunderguards are useful too, for the scenarios against dwarves.
* Preserve the Gryphon Rider - you are not able to recruit more. He can only reach L2 but that is worth having, as then it can beat any enemy scouts that it runs into.

==Scenarios==

=== At The East Gate ===
* Objectives: Defeat Orcish leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/30/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Gryphon Rider

This is pretty simple. Send a mixed force of Thunderers, Fighters, and Guardsmen along the road, and a few units south into the hills if the orcs go that way. That path through the forest can be deadly – they will surround you if they can, and can heal at the base of the path. Any Dwarf in forest is weak, while Wolf Riders are at a defensive advantage. Send the Gryphon Rider off village gathering to the north. The enemy recruited mostly Wolf Riders and Grunts, with a few Archers as I neared his keep.

Try and keep your units alive (this can be tricky to achieve while moving forward – his units are dangerous, and some are very fast – make sure hurt units stay out of reach, rather than failing to notice that an almost dead Wolf Rider being chased by a Gryphon is still a threat), and try to level at least one dwarf – your leader is an excellent choice. Play according to the basics, and you’ll have no trouble.

=== Reclaiming The Past ===

Plot only - here you gain Angarthing.

=== Strange Allies ===

* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing or Marth-Tak (Orcish leader) die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur and Angarthing

In this scenario, you are allies with the orcs, and must defeat the bandits, who start at the east end of the map, and with quite a fair bit of gold. The bandits recruited mostly footpads and outlaws, but a few thugs, and a poacher or two near the end. I recalled only one turns worth of dwarves and the Gryphon, and sent them straight east, through the river at the ford. Your allies are an incredible help in this level; once you reach the bandit's side of the river, the orcs should already have engaged most of their troops to the south. One good way to go about the rest of this battle is to keep your units off to one side, and grab the finishing blows, especially to those level 2 outlaws. You should have 3 or 4 people (hopefully including Aiglondur and Angarthing) leveled by the end of this battle.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] - at Lord, the ally isn't strong enough to survive unaided (1.8.1). Turn 1 you should recruit a small strike force to go east to take out the enemy boss (just a couple of recruits should do to go with your leaders, or ideally a couple of quick recalls) plus recall the gryphon rider to take the more scattered villages and snipe enemies for XP; turn 2, recruit some dwarvish fighters (5 should be enough) to go and block up the plain '''in front of''' the ally's keep (they can grab all his villages on the way). Mainly you want to hold the ford near his keep as this is the most direct route and so is where the first enemy units would reach him from. Your aim isn't to defend, it is to stop or save the ally boss from suicidally attacking the enemy around turn 8. You just need to buy the turn or two that your strike force needs to finish sneaking around the north of the map and take out the enemy boss.]

=== Troll Bridge ===
* Objectives: Defeat Troll leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur and Angarthing
* Other: You loot 200 gold from the troll

This one was a piece of cake. Recall a castle-full of troops, and set camp at the first line of trees and mountains, to the north side of the road. Your opponent can only recruit Level 1 Troll Whelps, so he doesn't have much attack strength. After the first onslaught, the remaining Whelps either retreat, or throw themselves at your weakest unit. Try and kill the enemies with weaker units, as it's a great chance to gain some experience. Also, after you kill the Troll leader, you find that he was sitting on a pile of 200 gold.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] - at Lord, the trolls can recruit Trolls. They are still no real problem though - recall a steelclad, a couple of thunderers close to leveling, and fill the rest of the keep with recruited thunderers; just the 1 round of recruit/recall is fine. Push a couple of strong melee units forward to take the shock of the first attack (there are a few hill tiles conveniently placed, and you must not allow any trolls onto these), then swarm them with thunderers. Angarthing 'slow' attack is useful. ]

=== Invaders ===
* Objectives: Defeat enemy leaders (3)
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/40/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and another dwarf
* Other: Hostile villagers come out of some villages when first flagged

When you flag your first village, you will discover that there are quite a number of outlaws hiding in it. This can be your undoing, but it can also work to your advantage: Try not to flag too many villages and retain a tight group. That way, your opponents will be quite preoccupied fighting the outlaws and you won't have to fight them simultaneously. Move in a tight pack along the southern border of the map and take out your enemies one by one. When I finally reached the northern orc, his troops were happily brawling away with the outlaws in the northwest...

The randomization on the bandit spawning system is also another advantage. Occasionally, you may play a map in which all the villages you flag are bandit-free.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] - A simple defensive strategy can work too. There is a convenient line of hills and woods just east of the start; form a defensive line there, but you can afford to take and hold all the villages in the south-west and deal with the ambushes there first, as the enemy won't get to you fast. Just don't get tempted to take any villages further east, as you won't want to deploy units further east to extricate your ambushed unit. Your army should be a mix of fighters and thunderers, including some recalls near leveling and a few already at L2.

Once the enemy's weakened units (from fighting outlaws) hit your defensive line, you get lots of XP from finishing them off; with care you can attack and roll forward, killing lots of enemy units each turn. Once you have crushed the first wave of enemies you can start clearing up. ]

=== High Pass ===
* Objectives: Move Aiglondur to signpost at end of pass
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing or Ratheln die or turns run out
* Turns: 24/18/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur and Angarthing
* Other: Friendly Arch Mage, Ratheln, available in a village near the middle of the path

Recalling your Gryphon Rider is a must on this scenario, he will be your eye in the fog. Dwarves just can't see very far in the snow. The rest is pretty straight forward, just make sure you meet the Arch Mage hiding in a village near the center of the pass.
Time is pretty tight in this scenario. Don't dawdle.

=== Mages and Drakes ===
* Objectives: Defeat Drake leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing, and Ratheln

Guardsmen and Thunderers are your units of choice in this scenario since they have piercing attacks that are quite deadly to drakes. Do not try to sweep the map of all opposition; your mobility disadvantage is too huge for that. Just quickly move to the nest of the drakes with a pack of well seasoned troops, trying to stay in the mountains/hills as much as possible, otherwise the fire drakes could really hurt your dwarves. Crossing the river at the mountains is going to be safer than crossing at the ford.

Ratheln, the arch mage, does not travel well through the mountains and so is difficult to protect with your dwarves. Run him down the waterfront, then through the forest and have him crossover to the backside of the mountains, where he can continue to run.

=== Fear ===
* Objectives: Find the villagers then defeat Masked Dwarf leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and 1 or 2 Mages and Ratheln (depending on difficulty)

The worst mistake you can make in this scenario is to recall too many troops. Those Ulfserkers look dangerous (and they probably are, if you let them get at one of your Thunderers or Magi), but otherwise your enemy is weak and you will need your gold. Just make sure, the Dwarvish Ulfserkers hit only a Dwarvish Lord or Sentinel, preferably while he's standing on a village, and everything will be fine.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] at Hard, it's different. The problem at hard is that the enemy recruits lots of units and keeps recruiting all the way through - you will barely finish inside the turn limit. So recruit a decent size army; fight in a solid formation against the first wave of enemies, while using your gryphon rider to take and hold the villages to the north; then push forward once the main body of resistance is broken, even though there will still be a steady stream of reinforcements - watch the clock and don't leave it to chance on the last turn. ]

You get an experienced Mage (or two, on easy) at the start of this scenario, and can recruit more. If all of your Magi die (and you have none available for recall) you will lose the ability to recruit them - don't let that happen. Aim for white mages first, see [[#Campaign Strategy]].

=== Forbidden Forest ===
* Objectives: Move '''both''' Aiglondur and Angarthing to the eastern signpost
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/34/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and any surviving Mages from Scenario 8
* Other: Staff of Righteous Flame

This is a tricky one. You are fighting elves. You are fighting them in a forest. And you are fighting them under fog of war. So, once again, your Gryphon Rider (preferably leveled into a Gryphon Master) is a must. Trouble is, Elvish Riders are as fast or faster than he is, and, he won't be able to spot Elvish Rangers or Woses because of their Ambush ability. A human playing the elves could take on almost any number of dwarves. Only the stupidity of the AI saves you from a grim defeat.

Proper recruitment is critical for this scenario. Explorers are the key to success. Recall up to four Explorers and Pathfinders. Their blade ranged attack is awesome against Woses, like paper over rock. Make it your #1 priority to promote any Pathfinders to Explorers. If you're lacking in the Pathfinder/Explorer department, Mages can substitute, as Woes are arcane vulnerable. Another reason Mages are nice here is that they always have a high chance to hit elves in the forest. However, Mages are slow in forest, especially non-quick ones. And they are vulnerable. If you recall/recruit a Mage, your second priority becomes trying to promote him to Red Mage. You also hopefully started with a free White Mage or else can recall one. Then add a couple of Dwarf Lords or high XP Steelclads plus the Gryphon and you should be set.

Because of all the ambushing, do not lead with low hit point units like Mages. And because of all the Riders, keep any critically injured units well protected.

For your initial strategy, you have two options:

Option #1: You can go for a lightening fast knock-out against the southwest enemy (who has mostly weak units including sorcerors).

Option #2: You can park in the wooded hills just southeast of your keep. You will need to finish off the assault from the southwest very quickly, because Woes will cross the river and elf Riders will come swooping in from the northeast, and you don't want to fight all three at once. You do not need to fight here to the bitter end, especially if there are multiple Woses approaching. When you see an opening, head south and across the river to finish off the southwest leader.

After knocking off the southwest leader, there's not much reason to knock off the Elder Wose in the Southeast (or the Elf in the Northeast.) So, just head for the signpost, but be extremely cautious: along the way there will be ambushing Woses, not to mention Elves. If you choose to follow the road, you'll go by the temple and can send a mage there to pick up the Staff of Righteous Flame. In addition to acting like a suicide bomber upon death, the bearer of the Staff gets the steadfast ability, doubling resistances, which is nice for Red Mages and their advancements, with their 20% arcane resistance being doubled to 40%.

Be careful with your Gryphon, as he is susceptible to getting ambushed, trapped and killed by the hiding Woses, Rangers and Scouts/Riders. However, most of enemy army will head south (drawn to your leaders) so it is usually safe flying around between villages in the northwest to keep your income high. Use control-v and steer clear of where you could get trapped. Once the Gryphon has flagged the northwest villages, send it to join your main force.

If you are struggling with this level, take note that you have quite a few turns. You do not need to sprint to the signpost.

If you're trying to win on the last turn, be warned that you need to move Aiglondur or Angarthing onto the signpost <i>and then off again</i>, and then move the other onto the signpost. You can't undo if you used up all your movement getting onto the signpost.

=== The Siege of Kal Kartha ===
* Objectives: Defeat Orcish leaders (3)
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing, or Dulcatulos (allied leader) die or turns run out
* Turns: 35/35/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and any surviving Mages from Scenario 8

It is quite easy to grab the patch of hills in front of you, wait for the northern enemies to come to you and chew them up. But you also need to make sure that you put enough pressure on the central enemy. If left alone, he gangs up with the southern one and you may be too late to rescue your ally.

More often than not, the Orcs will ignore you completely and focus all their firepower on your weak ally. If this happens, create three strike teams and rush the enemy leaders (who will be completely unguarded), as your ally will not be able to hold off their collective might for very long.

=== The Court of Karrag ===
* Objectives: Defeat Karrag
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing, or Dulcatulos die or turns run out
* Turns: 12/12/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing, Dulcatulos and Ratheln
* Other: Neither side can recruit units

Almost story only. Once again, those Berserkers are your most dangerous opponents, so take them out with your Dwarvish Lords. Don't let the Lich slip past you (he tries to run NW), as that would slow down killing him - there's a lot of bonus gold to be had here if you can kill him fast. Just ZOC his route for those early turns and then close in for the kill once you've dealt with his henchmen.

=== The Underlevels ===
* Objectives: Defeat Karrag
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing, or Dulcatulos die
* Turns: no limit
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing, Dulcatulos and Ratheln
* Other:
** Two alcoves with 150 gold in the first gallery
** 4 caves with friendly prisoners in the north (just before the spiders)
** Teleportation runes
** Secret passage down to the first Lich

Don't start playing this scenario, if you don't have a lot of time to spare. It's not so much of a scenario, it's actually a small campaign in itself. This is even more extreme than the missions in "Under the Burning Suns". In short, you will have to fight a gallery full of Masked Dwarves, 4 different Masked Dwarf leaders and their armies, a cavern full of Giant Spiders, 2 Liches and their Undead armies, and finally, once you're done with all that, have a final showdown with Karrag. But there is no time limit, so you can take as long as you wish to complete this mission.

It's going to be a long brawl, so you need to be prepared. You will have few villages for a long time, and need a big army from the start, so you will be in massive negative gold quite soon: so just recall and recruit as much as you can and move off. As this is the last fighting scenario, you can recall shamelessly.

(If you come in short of gold - less than 300 say - it may be worth recalling a smaller force and rushing an attack on one of the two side galleries in the start area - there is bonus gold behind a secret door in each gallery. If you have plenty of gold, you can just recall and you will be so negative by the time you get that gold that it won't help you.)

Two White Mages, your loyal Arch Mage and another Red Mage are really useful here. You would like 2-4 thunderguards or dragonguards, and a couple of sentinels would be handy for holding low-defence tiles. Most of your army should be Dwarvish Lords - you want at least 4 lords to start I would say, and in total 10 units that are either lords or will level into lords. Recall everything and recruit more with your leftover gold.

==== The Gallery ====

A hall with a line of dwarves on either side in extremely good defensive position. Try to take them out as fast as you can, as there is a treasure behind each line of defenders, which provides a little extra cash should you need it for more recruits. Establish a defensive line across the room on one of the north-south lines of cave tiles that cut into the room - before long, masked dwarves will start to pour into the gallery from the other side, and you can sit your dwarves on the cave tiles and have a terrain advantage.

==== The First Enemy ====

He sits right at the other end of the gallery, again in a good defensive position. But with enough aggression, he should not be a problem.

Once you've taken his castle, you will need to split your forces. Split them as evenly as you can. (Did I mention, that two White Mages are a real asset? Each group will need a healer!) There are more enemies to the north, so send more units requiring XP to level up in that direction.

==== The Fight in the Corridors ====

You are fighting a steady stream of tough enemies. But you are fighting underground in passages only three hexes wide. This is your advantage. Keep a solid defensive line, let their units come to you, and keep killing and advancing as opportunity permits. Don't worry if this takes some time, there is no turn limit anyway.

When you reach the main enemy at the end of each passage, as you enter the chamber with the keep, the enemy gives a speech and gets a big gold bonus to recruit a horde of L2 units. So don't rush in - step in, form a short solid line in the entrance, let them attack, keep cycling injured units for fresh ones and keep doing damage where you can. Their force will soon be spent and you can then advance again.

Once you defeat the southern enemy, you will find a locked door. Just leave your troops there, your other group can easily take care of getting the key in the north east corner.

When you have defeated the last enemy in the north, make sure to free the prisoners in the cells near his castle.

==== The Spiders and the First Lich ====

Before you move your norther force east to find the key, you should make a decision. There is a Lich on the eastern side of the map. You can enter his cellar from behind the locked door in the south, or through a long windy passage from the north. He's rather weak, but you need to take him out first, if you don't want him attacking your back while you face your real enemy.

The first possibility is to use the transportation runes to get your forces down to the locked door and fight him from there. In that case, go east with only a few well leveled dwarves, Angarthing and a White Mage, for there is quite a number of Spiders defending the key. Once your read the spell, go back to the runes, reunite your forces and take out the Lich in the east. The lich recruits a big army to start with, but then recruits hardly any more; so once you defeat his main force, you only need to send 4 dwarf lords and Angarthing through the tunnels to take out the lich (moving your white mages through the narrow tunnels is very slow and they won't be needed).

But if you want to get to the Lich through the back door, you need to take your whole northern force east. Defeat the Spiders, run down that narrow passage until your reach the end of the tunnel. It's just caved in, you can open it by moving a unit there. Before you do, open the locked door and advance with your southern force south east until you meet the undead forces. Be careful, they recruit quite a number of Shadows, nasty skirmishing, nightstalking Ghosts. Once the battle is raging you can open the backdoor to the Lich's castle and take him out.

Either way, you will have to do some boring running here.

==== The Second Lich ====

He sits in a big cavern behind the doors in the south west. Only take him on with your entire army (if you don't want to do a slow chokepoint fight at the door). He too makes heavy use of shadows, so make sure to form solid lines (including along the edge of the side chasms - the shadows can fly over them of course).

His forces are likely to be at a fair distance when you open the door, so, if you don't mind save-loading if it doesn't work, you could rush him - but there seems little point as you have to fight his army to progress anyway. So instead form up a solid formation just inside the door to his cavern - advance as far in as you can cover with dwarf lords, with plenty to spare - and then crush his forces when they come to attack you.

-- Or, just *outside* the door, where the passage narrows to one hex. Advance far enough into the cavern to provoke a response, then retreat to that point where you can play 2-on-1 for turn after turn until he's done for. Put your healer right behind your 2-unit front line and it's a snap.

==== Karrag ====

He's defended by quite a number of Draugs. They can take out a fully healed Dwarvish Lord in a single turn! So make sure, they don't hack Aiglondur to pieces. Dwarvish Lords are your unit of choice nevertheless, since their hammers do heavy damage while they fight off the onslaught. Take out the wounded with your Mages, protecting them once again with Dwarvish Lords. You should be able to get to Karrag before you have to finish off all the Draugs.

[elvish_sovereign] The easiest way for me to kill Karrag was to suicide my Mage with the Staff of Righteous Flame on him. It took on shot, my mage and Karrag died. Almost no blood shed!

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheEasternInvasion

2013-09-12T01:41:20Z

Ericppp: Adding summary points for remaining scenarios. Other minor edits.

This is a discussion of The Eastern Invasion, the campaign featuring Gweddry General of Wesnoth.

''This walkthrough has been updated by Maiklas3000 to reflect changes up to version 1.8.3 on hard and previously by Crus4a7E for up to version 1.4.5 on medium. Feel free to add your own updates.''

In this campaign you play the role of Gweddry, a human Sergeant who has the responsibility of dealing with a powerful Lich who wants to destroy Weldyn. As a sargeant, Gweddry has the potential to level up into a Grand Marshal, who will be able to empower his units significantly through his leadership ability. You start with the support of a White Mage named Dacyn, who will be by your side for most of the campaign.

As any other walkthrough, this document describes plot details that can be considered spoilers. This is particularly true for this campaign, since it contains quite a few surprises along the way, and at some points you will have to make choices that will have important repercussions for later scenarios. You may wish to read ahead to see what you will be facing. In particular, you might wish to read about the scenarios ''Captured'', ''Evacuation'' and ''Weldyn Under Attack'' in order to plan ahead.

You will encounter different types of enemies, mostly undead units (especially towards the beginning and the end of the campaign), as well as orcs and trolls. For this reason, two of the types of units you'll be able to recruit from the start and which will be key to your mission will be mages and heavy infantrymen. You'll probably want to level up at least one extra Mage of Light (other than Dacyn), and a few Arch/Silver Mages and Iron Maulers. You can also recruit Spearman, Cavalryman and Horseman units (the latter a few scenarios into the campaign), but their importance is perhaps less pronounced in many of the scenarios.

You will encounter a few tough challenges along the way, so be prepared, and be careful assigning experience to your units, especially during the first few scenarios.

=== The Outpost ===

* Objectives:
*# Resist until Dacyn's return.
*# Move Gweddry to the trapdoor.
* Lose if:
*# Gweddry dies.
*# Gweddry or Dacyn die. Turns run out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Gweddry.

The best approach is to recruit heavy infantry and optionally a mage (who should not be expected to survive.) Build a line using the heavy infantry, using the castle hexes and other hexes to the northwest. When and if you have more money available later, purchase additional heavy infantry.

Just hold out for the enemy attack during night time; only rotate wounded units if possible, but do not counter-attack. At dawn, start your counter-attack without worrying too much about keeping the original line intact. Instead, try to level 2 or 3 HI to Shock Troopers. The enemy's forces quickly will cease to be any danger to yours.

Also, around turn 12 the white mage returns and points out a trap door you should use. (Note that this trap door will be near your starting fort, so you'll either need to hold the fort or be prepared to get back to it by turn 16).

Position your leader near the trap door, so he can reach it in one turn. As it is almost impossible to finish with more than 100 gold (which is the minimum starting gold of the next level), use the remaining turns to level as many units as possible and only move your leader onto the trap door in the very last turn.

Using this strategy, you may be able to finish with a couple of shock troopers, as well as adding experience to your other units.

In 1.8.6, 40% of any gold you finish with is ADDED to your 100 starting gold in the next scenario. So you'll have to decide if money or experience is more important for you.

On challenging, this scenario is quite, hmm, challenging. These tactics can succeed, but alternatively you can try purchasing a couple of calvary to use as a diversionary force, capturing enemy villages and running away, taunting and distracting the enemy.

=== Escape Tunnel ===
* Objectives: Move Gweddry to the end of the tunnel.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 26/24/22 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** Permanent holy amulet in north.
** Treasure of 200 gold in southeast.

This scenario occurs in a small cave occupied by trolls and dwarves. You start on the far west of the map, and your mission is to take Gweddry all the way to the opposide side.

Take some time to choose your supporting units, depending on which ones you want to level up the quickest. Heavy Infantry are excellent frontline units, but the downside is that they move very slowly in caves. However, since Gweddry is the only unit that ''has'' to get quickly to the far east, this might not be a big problem. You can also go for a group of mostly Mages, and a couple of Spearmen. One keep of units in total should easily be enough—there's also a convenient keep with one castle tile to recruit additional units in the middle of the map, in case you need it during the battle.

The map is quite small. A little east from your keep the path is forked into three directions: north is a small area with a holy amulet, east is the troll keep and south is the dwarven keep. These two last paths will merge again to the east, leading to the exit, where Gweddry needs to go. The dwarves are friendly and will help you fight your enemies.

Given that you will probably be using inexperienced units, it's perhaps best to avoid going directly into the troll keep, but you can hold your position near the crossroads, on the southern path, where you can easily witness a lot of action between trolls, dwarves and undead (who are following you and show up on turn 6 from the west). The different armies will all fight each other. If you want to take a defensive stance, after having moved all your units south position one strong unit (a spearman or HI) at the end of the path leading south (so only one unit a turn can attack him) and position the White Mage right behind him to heal it every turn. These two units should easily keep of the enemies following you until the end of the scenario.

The holy amulet to the north is a very useful item, which will make all the attacks (melee and ranged) of the unit that picks it up of type ''arcane''—and, unlike in other campaigns, this holy amulet is permanent! Send a quick Spearman there or Gweddry. Giving Gweddry the holy amulet (instead of a Spearman) allows him to level very quickly, which is important, since he can advance to Grand Marshal. This gives benefits in other ways on a number of later scenarios as well, such as the scenario ''The Crossing'', where you can get an easy first turn kill against the undead leader and take his castle.

Move Gweddry to the northeast escorted by other units, to help him fight individual trolls if necessary, but before moving him to the end of the cave (which ends the level) send one of your units to the cave south–east, past the funny signpost warning you of the troll hole. In the cave you will discover a chest containing a troll treasure amounting to 200 gold.

[Thrash: Alternately, I used predominately Heavy Infantry on this level. I found (on medium) they were tough enough to hold the central cave and pretty much beat the trolls into submission long enough for Gweddry to run north to the the amulet and then cover his retreat south, only then recruiting a mage when the troll numbers were lower. With other units, I had problems with the trolls overrunning them and getting Gweddry trapped to the north. Also a heavy infantry in the village by your starting fort will hold off the undead for a long time.]

=== An Unexpected Appearance ===
* Objectives: Defeat either enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** Your next scenario depends on which leader you defeat.

In this scenario you have to defeat one of the dark sorcerers on the edges of the map. Your next scenario will depend on the enemy you choose to kill. Killing the one to the west will take you to the ''Elven Alliance'' scenario, while the one to the east takes you to ''The Undead Border Patrol''.

Going east is more difficult, especially on hard, but brings you more reward, such as the chance to go to Mal-Ravanal's Capital, which gives you the opportunity to get extra experience (a lot for whoever survives) and a free Paladin and several Knights.

First kill Mal-Tar to get your keep. To do this, shoot him with Dacyn and attack him with Gweddry's melee. If you don't kill him the first turn, second turn kill him with Dacyn so Gweddry can recruit. You will be fighting a mix of undead and bats, so recruit Heavy Infantry and Mages (if you gave the amulet to a Spearman in the previous scenario, recall him, too). Dacyn might be wounded, so send him to a village. Don't worry, he can fend for himself, since the bats usually arrive one at a time and he can kill one per turn.

On easy or medium (or hard going west), the attackers should be no problem, so focus on leveling units. If you move quickly you should only need to fight the attackers from one leader. Of course you can have some of your units double back to engage the second set.

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== Elven Alliance ====
* Objectives: Defeat enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Volas dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/22/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

The Orc's warning about the assassin is overrated; Volas can probably take care of it himself, although you might want to leave ONE unit near him to make sure. The assassin disappears into the forest, but you won't bump into him, he'll just reappear near the elf leader on turn 6.

Recruit / recall a wide assortment of units, mostly mages, spearmen and cavalry. Send mages and spearmen up to fight the opponent, send cavalry down as scouts. Any heavy infantry should go up to fight also; they will probably arrive late, and be good for reinforcements when the first troops are wounded.

Align the troops in the forest, so that the enemy will be on grass; this gives you a tactical advantage. Use Dacyn to heal those who need it most - those on the corners, and any mages who are on the front lines.

There is a village at {20,8} that can prove tactically very useful, because the elves usually fight somewhere near it.
The elves are defeated most of the time, and the orcs claim this village; it is crucial to kill the orc on this village and take it over with a resilient spearman, or a HI.

Once you have gotten past turn 6, it will be day, and the orcs will be very easy to defeat. When the assassin appears, you may ignore it unless you have a unit close-by. In that case, use it to fight the assassin. Keep pressing up. It is possible to kill the orcish leader by turn 9 for a nice gold bonus.

==== The Undead Border Patrol ====
* Objective: Defeat either enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn die or turns run out.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** Your next scenario depends on which leader you defeat.

This scenario also depends on which way you want to go. There is a Dark Sorcerer in the north-west corner and a Lich in the south-east corner. Defeating the Lich will give you the chance to go to ''Mal-Ravanal's Capital'', a challenging but rewarding path, while defeating the sorcerer is easier, and takes you directly to the next scenario in the campaign—''The Northern Outpost''.

If going NW, it is fairly straightforward. The enemy is relatively weak. Do the same as in Unexpected Appearance—you may recruit a couple of suicide cavalrymen to distract the bats. One will probably get enough XP to be worth recalling. Because of the open terrain, it is recommended to use mostly heavy infantry and spearmen with the holy amulet on this level and few mages. However, as in most scenarios against undead, white mages are very useful. Try to get the opponent to fight you from the sand; this gives you a significant advantage.

If you go East, expect to take some time getting over the river and through the swamp. A small force recruited to defend the fort will keep troops from the NW off of your backside and they'll pick up a good amount of experience in the process.

===== Mal-Ravanal's Capital =====
* Objective: Escape from the capital by killing one of the two dark sorcerers.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn die or turns run out.
* Turns: 26.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

Only reachable from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' scenario, but you might also skip it and go directly to ''Northern Outpost''.

The main reason to get here is to acquire a cavalry force of one Paladin (a loyal unit) and five Knights. Don't bother trying to defeat Mal-Ravanal, he's untouchable in this scenario. Focus on freeing the horsemen as quickly as possible. To do this, kill the 6 Revenants guarding the cages (they will not move unless you attack them first), but note the number of Knights available is reduced by one for each of your troops that die *after you rescue the first one*. You might want to make sure any expendable troops are "expended" before this. Each rescued unit pops in with full moves.

The regular Time of Day cycle does not apply here. Instead, dusk and night are twice as long as usual, so adjust your tactics accordingly. Most importantly, try to finish the mission quickly.

''Comments'': This is a very challenging scenario. I started with only 100 gold, so I recalled one Mage, two Shock Troopers, one Heavy Infantry, and my holy Halberdier. I defended the starting castle for about 10 turns until the Revenants had made their way over to me. Upon killing several of them, I freed some imprisoned Knights and a Paladin. I moved my forces to kill the Death Knight, and then split my forces. I sent one group to attack Mal-Ravanal and the other to kill the Necromancer in the NW corner. By turn 30, my Eastern assault force was in postion to attack Mal-Ravanal. However, when I attacked him, he teleported my troops back to the starting castle, so I wasn't able to defeat him. When I was ready, I killed the NW Necromancer and progressed to ''The Northern Outpost''.

If you just want to rescue the paladin and 5 knights and get out (in 1.6), this is how I finished that by turn 8. The horses were captive in 6 cages, 4 in a northern loop and 2 in a southern loop. First turn, I sent a quick shock trooper, quick heavy, and a white mage (not Dacyn) around the northern loop, looping from bottom to top (start at bottom knight, end at paladin). I looped that way to clear the middle ASAP and escape the oncoming troops. Also first turn, I sent 3 shock troopers around the southern loop, looping from top to bottom. If you encounter resistance, kill it quick or run as required, and instead focus on killing the guards fast, which conveniently don't hit back. On turn 2, I recruited another keep full of recruits and immediately sent everyone else to take out the northwestern leader. Time it so you kill the northwestern leader just as the last horses are rescued. It is by no means easy, but this way I managed to lose only a few HI types while picking up all 6 horses.

[elvish_sovereign] (1.8.2 Normal) An alternate strategy for the above if you have more leveled mages than leveled HI's. It also requires that you gave the Holy Amulet to Gweddry. I sent a single quick Shock Trooper due south (recruited on the southern-most hex on the starting castle), which promptly took out the southern Revenant on turn 3. Forget about the villages, it'll only delay you. I sent Dacyn due north, a quick RM go take out the second from the bottom Revenant, and a quick HI and a WM with Gweddry to take out the middle-couple Revenants. I also recruited two HI's to stop the advance and distract the two Dark Sorcerers' troops. After Gweddry and the WM take out the third from the bottom Revenant, send that Knight south. After taking out the Revenant with the RM, send the RM, Shock Trooper, and the three Knights in the direction of the SW Dark Sorcerer. Meanwhile, Gweddry, the WM, and the HI take out the third from the top Revenant, and then get Gweddry the hell outta there with the WM. have Dacyn free the Paladin first, then have the remaining Knights, HI, and the Paladin take out the remaining Revenant and hold out in the north. As Gweddry is fleeing and th e final Revenants are being felled, break through the SW Dark Sorcerer's lines (which should be easy if you distracted them properly) with the RM and the Shock Trooper, and send the three Knights to knock him into oblivion. I finished on turn 8 with no losses, but had some near-death moments.

[Thrash] My take on justing getting the paladin and 5 knights quickly is you want to send units in parallel to attack the NW enemy and free as many of the knights at the same time. The trick is you free the knights and then kill the NW leader right after before all your troops get overwhelmed by units from the East. Time of day is critical - if you can get to the revenants before dusk, a white mage or shock trooper can kill them in one turn, after that it will take two turns or a little help (like a previously freed knight). Gweddry, even with an amulet, will probably take 3 turns to kill one, but with his one turn head start, that's OK. With one fort of recruits (2 white mages and 4 shock troopers), I was able to free 5 of the 6 and kill the NW enemy leader on turn 6. I sent 3 shock troopers and a white mage at the NW enemy, diverting one of those to freeing the 6th knight probably would have gotten me 6 out of the 6.

=== The Northern Outpost ===
* Objectives:
** Find the outlaw leader in the villages and kill him.
** Defeat the undead leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 20.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** A holy amulet is located on the south-west.
** Horseman units can now be recruited.
** Owaec joins your team after the fight is over.

This scenario is reachable both from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' and the ''Elven Alliance'' scenarios.

Here, there are two enemies that you must defeat: the undead and the outlaws. It is a good idea to create a separate task force for each.

The undead are fairly straightforward to defeat, and in any case Owaec usually does a good part of the work. To finish off the undead, it's useful to have a white mage, since Dacyn will be busy with his special spell to reveal the outlaws for this scenario. If you don't have a white mage, you can try recruiting a few mages or else go back one or more scenarios and promote a mage to white mage. In addition to the mages or white mage, recall whomever picked up the holy amulet in one of the previous scenarios and have them accompany Gweddry to the southeast. If Gweddry is the one with the holy amulet and you have a white mage, then you can supplement them with a mage. You should also send a cavalryman/horseman or quick spearman to pick up the new holy amulet in the southwest.

By contrast to the undead, the outlaws require a novel strategy. Recruit/recall fast units, e.g., cavalry and horsemen. You may supplement them by recalling quick spearmen and quick shock troopers. The challenge is that criminals will sometimes appear randomly around the villages you flag. Therefore, before flagging a village, position as many healthy units as you can immediately around it. Note that you will get a chance to kill any newly appeared outlaws before they get a move. Outlaws will not appear in the villages that Owaec flags, so don't worry about him uncovering enemies for you. Send your outlaw hunting posse up the eastern side of the map flagging one village a turn and fighting the bandits. One of the villages has the assassin that is the outlaw leader, and there are a lot of villages, so speed is of the essence.

Once your undead task force has finished the undead, form them into a second outlaw hunting posse, transferring units as needed from the first posse. When you come across the village where the bandit leader hides, divert any available units to the battle, as the bandits have a bite.

Note: A Cavalry force (such as the one acquired in Mal-Ravanal's Capital) makes short work of the bandits. Lower level units have trouble against the bandits, especially at night.

Also note, that from this scenario on you can recruit horsemen. You might want to level up a paladin or two, for fast mobile undead removal services (and quick leader assasination).

/* governor */ Just a note: I had the misfortune of taking a group of men to a village where 5or6 enemies appeared. After taking heavy damage, I retreated my char (low on hitpoints) out of the village. When I recaptured the village the same group of enemies reappeared. Since AI enemies seem to prefer recapturing villages this can allow you to obtain easy experience for weak units a few times.

[Thrash] When I played, Oweac only recruited a couple mages, so he needed significant help as they get slaughtered quickly - I'd say 3-4 units. Also you don't really need to surround a village before flagging it, just have units in range to sweep in and attack if bandits pop out; this can save you some turns as move around as you can send one unit in to flag a village and move the rest on if nothing appears. Finally, the outlaw leader ran away when I played, so be prepared to chase him down.

=== Two Paths ===
* Objective: Defeat either enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 18/17/16 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other:
** Your next scenario depends on which leader you defeat.

You must choose between going north to attack the orc leader or going north-west to attack the undead leader.

One option is going north on the very east side of the map trying to fight your enemies from solid ground and mountains while they stand on sand ground with weak defense. As your troops move very slowly on this terrain, you will likely take some heavy losses however, as your enemies keep surrounding you. Also this will presumably take too many turns to reach the orc leader in time.

Thus the preferred choice is to recall a couple of shock troopers and white mages and move them on the path to the north-west in a tight formation towards the undead leader. Once you survived the first enemy onslaught without loosing units, the rest of this scenario becomes rather easy as the remaining enemies come one by one. Make sure to keep on moving fast to the north-west to reach the undead leader before turns run out.

On hard (and version 1.8.3), what will probably work better is an all-out suicidal calvary charge to assassinate the undead leader as quickly as possible.

It's worth noting that killing the orc leader results in what appears to be an easier and more rewarding subsequent scenario (The Crossing) than killing the undead leader (Undead Crossing).

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== Undead Crossing ====
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.

You need to cross the river, but not without first defeating a necromancer who is occupying a small island to the north.

A good general strategy can be something like the following: recall a couple of quick swordsmen (or about-to-level quick spearmen), two white mages, a red mage or multiple regular mages, and any units with holy amulets. Shock troopers are too slow. Send these units as quickly as possible northwest through the swamp towards the eastern crossing. Meanwhile, recruit/recall calvary. The calvary should run as fast as possible along the southern board edge (so as to not attract undue attention from bats and swimming undead) and then up the western crossing. You can divert a couple of calvary and Owaec to snatch up villages and then those units can join the eastern assault.

Now, this scenario has a nasty surprise... Once you have fought off the bats and skeletons, you will find this was not all, as the undead leader summons a number of cuttlefish monsters (1, 2 or 4 according to the difficulty level: easy, medium or hard respectively), which appear in the water between the two crossings. These always appear on turn number 10. Be very careful where to position your troops as the cuttlefish have a very nasty melee attack.

You have at least three options for the crossing. Option 1 is to just try to get a couple of your calvary across each of the two crossings, while the rest of your units run like hell away from the water and swamp. Option 2 is to send across more units while tossing a spearman into the water as bait. Option 3 is to fight the cuttlefish, which is extremely hazardous. For a fight, maneuver your units to encourage the cuttlefish to separate, then use good melee troops backed by Gweddry (for leadership) and a white mage to kill them one at a time. Good luck. Make sure you leave your units enough time to cross the river and kill the undead leader before turns run out.

==== The Crossing ====
* Objective: Get Gweddry and Owaec across the river.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other:
** Special bonuses if the objective is completed while the Ogre leader is still alive.

The challenge for this scenario is crossing a wide river, where units are very vulnerable, and have very restricted mobility (particularly horses). On the northern bank of the river you will find orcs and ogres, who will fight each other given the opportunity. To the south you will find an undead leader, who will receive reinforcements by turn 8.

I had only 100 gold, so recruited some units and went straight north from turn one on. The fighting in the water was quite hard, with some orcs coming down from the north. The un-dead only appeared when I was in the middle of the river, so no encounter with them, and the ogre's helped get rid of the orcs on the north side. (Allefant)

If you have Holy Gweddry, you can (sometimes) get a 1st turn kill on the 1st undead leader, scarf up all the villages, and return to kill the 2nd undead forces before their leader can recruit anything. If you don't, the second undead leader will recruit lots of level two units. The orcs will start out across the river, but usually most of them turn back to fight the ogre reinforcements. Waiting till their first wave hits your shore and wiping them out in the water will probably leave you just enough time to cross the river and find there are only 2 or 3 enemy units left besides the leaders.

[Thrash] I don't think the above is realistic in 1.8.3. The leader is a Revenant with 47HP, both Gweddry (lvl 2) and Oweac (lvl 1) together would have to hit 100% to dish that out in one turn. He does come out to grab a village though, and Dacyn can make short work of him on turn 2.

Make sure to cover your rear flank with some expendable troops (such as Heavy Infantry) as the undead can move more quickly through the water than your units. Alternately, if you kill the first wave of undead quickly enough (by turn 3), you can make it across the river before the second wave catches you from behind.

Another strategy is to go straight into the water after killing the first undead leader using the deep water in the middle of the path to seperate the orc forces. You go to the right with Gweddry and Owaec and some support troops while letting the ogres kill many of the orcs in your way. Knights and a Paladin can hold off the orcs enough to get across while the undead behind you are not an issue.

If the ogre leader is alive at the end of the scenario, he agrees to help you, which results in the following bonuses: he joins you as a loyal unit, you get two free Ogres, you gain the ability to recruit Young Ogres, and you skip "Training the Ogres" scenario and go directly to "Xenophobia".

[Thrash] I had problems with the Ogre leader dying before I could get to him. Sending Oweac into the river on turn 1 seemed to draw enough of the orcs south to solve this problem.

[Hipparchos] Agreed this is the only way to save the ogre leader (all others are too slow). I played this several ways before deciding the easiest is to recruit/recall only units with 6+ movement (horsemen, cavalrymen, fast mages and fast spearmen) which move 2 hexes through the water. Send them immediately south to the undead keep and defeat the units there in the first few turns. Then occupy the keep and wait for the reinforcements while one horseman goes west to take villages. With no keep, the reinforcements are small and easy to defeat. Then you have no problems to your rear as your fast units catch up to Oweac and cross the river. You'll take some hits on the far bank but should get through in time to keep the ogres alive.

=== Training the Ogres ===
* Objective: Survive until end of turns.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die.
* Turns: 4/5/6 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other:
** To add ogres to your army, keep two on the grass until end of turns.
** This scenario was missing in 1.6.

This can be a confusing scenario to understand. Basically, your three units just have to survive. However, if you want to be able to recruit young ogres later, you need a couple of the ogres to not reach the rocky borders where they will "escape", whereby they seem to disappear into thin air. You have a couple of options for accomplishing this. Option 1 is to run. To keep ogres in the area, you wind up running in a circle, probably with Gweddry. However, running in a circle, Gweddry cannot outrun ogres and he will not survive repeated attacks from multiple ogres. Therefore, you need some of the ogres to "escape", which you can arrange by having Gweddry run close to the rocky border. Option 2 is to fight and kill some of the ogres, but this is hazardous. Or you could try a combination of these options.

Being able to recruit young ogres allows you to promote them to ogres, which do middling damage, but unfortunately can't advance beyond level 2. Ogres are especially mobile on mountains (such as in the later scenario ''Lake Vrug'') and in caves (in the scenario ''Captured''). Being of neutral alignment, ogres can be helpful at night (especially in the scenario ''Weldyn Under Attack''). Perhaps less obvious is that even young ogres are quite useful. Given their low, low price of 15 gold, they make good spam, attracting attention from the enemy and soaking up a lot of damage before they die.

=== Xenophobia ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug (if available from ''The Crossing'').
* Other:
** A holy amulet near the orcs' keep.

This is a fun and silly level as all parties in the scenario (i.e. elves, orcs, drawves, and yourself) decide to fight each other instead of forming aliances. The scenario is not very difficult, so you can use this time to gain some experience for your units, pick up another permanent holy amulet (in the north, roughly in the middle between the dwarf and the orc keep), and train ogres (see below).

You have two obvious options: attack the elves first or the dwarves first. Don't worry, they will be distracted by the orcs. After you kill the first leader, proceed to the orcs and then finish off the remaining leader.

Attacking the elves first has the advantage that they have the richest lands, i.e., the most villages, so it means more gold for you by the end of the scenario. It has the side effect that you're more likely to face a live orc leader relative to if you had attacked the dwarves first, as the elves are pretty good at killing him.

Attacking the dwarves first has the advantage that it's probably easier, since the orc leader is more likely to die at the hands of the elves, plus the mountains make good ogre training grounds. It has the disadvantage that you have to spend time getting out of the dwarven mountains and then you will ultimately fight a lot of elves, though most of them will have come out of their forests by then.

In either case, you have a lot of ground to cover, so try to do without any non-quick shock troopers. Calvary, white mages, red mages and spearman track units (preferably quick) are all good.

Strongly consider recruiting three or four young ogres as well. Use the young ogres on the mountains in the north (and west) to hunt down any stray dwarves (and elves) whilst levelling up to ogres.

By the end of this scenario, it's very useful to have Gweddry at least on level 3, allowing you to use his leadership ability on other units like ogres (who reach their maximum at level 2). Leveling up a group of key units will also be very important for the upcoming scenario ''Captured'', where you won't be able to recruit, but a group of your most experienced veterans will have to work their way out of a cave. You may want to prepare a dragoon, a white mage, and a couple of adult ogres for then.

=== Lake Vrug ===
* Objective: Defeat the trolls and gryphons.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug.
* Other:
** An empty keep with 100 gold is located on the northwest.

This is a very confusing hide and seek scenario that could take you several pointless restarts until you have finally discover the enemy leaders.

There are three keeps, all north of the river. The troll leader has his keep on the northeast (go to the right into the mounts directly after crossing the bridge). To find the other two keeps, go west right after crossing the river; if you stay close to the southern line of mountains, you'll find the gryphon keep pretty easily. Finally, there is an empty keep going straight north from the gryphons. If you reach this empty keep with Gweddry, you'll receive 100 gold, and he and Dacyn will have a conversation about moving everyone to that base and attacking the enemies from there. However, this idea is not very practical, because by the time you reach that keep it will probably be too late to start the attack.

Gryphons are vulnerable to the impact damage of heavy infantry and shock troopers, so recall two or three, preferably quick ones. Also recall another white mage to supplement Dacyn and as many ogres/young ogres as possible, because they are probably the most useful unit for this scenario. The reason is simple: the enemy keeps are surrounded by high mountains which some of your troops cannot pass, but which the ogres handle quite easily. You might also want to recruit a horseman to scout ahead, although using that money for another mage or ogre may be a better investment.

The action for this scenario can be divided into two phases. The first phase will be surviving the first onslaught of gryphons and trolls coming your way. This will start around turn 4 with quite a number of gryphons appearing from the northwest. On hard, the onslaught will be especially difficult to handle. When you see the first gryphon swoop out of the fog, watch out! This means many others are coming behind. So, fall back away from the fog and form a defensive line that will eventually become a circle. Keep in mind that you can grab good terrain, i.e., the mountains, as gryphons are only too happy to attack you wherever you are, and your ogres and young ogres will hold up well there. Once you have wounded units, position your heavy units such as shock troopers and ogres very tighly around them, as the gryphons really have quite a large moving range and thus mercilessly slay unprotected injured units.

Just when you thought you had the gryphons wrapped up, here come the trolls across the bridge. They may be only a minor nuisance on medium or easy, but on hard it's a strain facing a large number of trolls with troops bloodied by the swarm of gryphons. Trolls are really no match for your shock troopers, however, who happily troll-crack away. Place these troopers on the grassland tiles on the edge of the river, so the trolls coming from the bridge will be forced to attack from unfavorable terrain for them (ice).

Once you have dealt with this first wave of enemies, the remaining phase consists in crossing the river, finding the enemy leaders and finishing them off, which will be much easier in comparison. Unfortunately, the shock troopers won't do you much good in this end phase. When taking the enemy keeps, use the ogres, who can move well on the high mountains, unlike most of your other units.

=== Captured ===
* Objective: Escape through the south-west tunnel.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 50/40/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, two supporting units.
* Other:
** No recruiting, but a group of your veterans will be available.
** A holy amulet to the south.

Gweddry starts out on autopilot, running up a tunnel to find some of his companions. These companions will consist of Dacyn, Oweac and, from your recall list, a couple of additional units—typically a mage (of any type other than white) and a level 2 or 3 loyalist soldier, if you have such units available. If you don't have them, Gweddry, Dacyn and Oweac will be on their own and facing a tough challenge. Many of the enemies you'll encounter in this cave are level two and three units.

Do not send this group back the way he came, or you will have to face some extremely mean trolls in the narrow tunnel. Instead, follow the tunnel to the north and west. You will face a few bats as you proceed. At the end of that tunnel, you will enter a throne room where you will find an enemy leader and his troops. Don't panic; the leader doesn't recruit and the troops are pretty sedate. Keep your units grouped and beware that a troll warrioir can ambush you out of the shroud from the south.

Meanwhile, when any of your units first enters the throne room, the resulting ruckus causes a group of your captured troops to plot an escape. This group of prisoners will be composed of 13 of your highest level units—or new units to complete the group if you're left with less than 13 units in your recall list, after counting your group of heroes and the two escorts in the throne room. You are well served by making sure you've got some Ogres, Mages of Light and others who do well in caves in that list.

They appear in a cavern called the "Torture Room" to the east, with about 75% of their hitpoints each—not a big problem if you had a white mage in your recall list.

These troops will face a number of assassins as they leave the Torture Room moving west. Try to get through the prison "door" of the torture room quickly; otherwise, the enemy units have an easy time keeping your entire army locked away using just a single unit blocking the door. To get through the entrance quickly, you need to have your troops back away, allowing the guard to come in so that you can get multiple attacks on him to kill him. Any ogres you have will come in handy to rush out and prevent other assassins from blocking the entrance.

Victory occurs when Gweddry moves through the exit in the southwest corner. There is quite a comfortable early finish bonus, so you might want to move him there quickly, because - believe me when I say - you're going to need every gold piece for the next scenario. You should also quickly flag the numerous villages in a cavern called "The City", a cavern southwest of the Torture Room, where you will be confronted by a troll and other enemy units. If you have a silver mage, remember that the silver mage can teleport back and forth between the Throne Room and The City, as needed. With these things in mind, it should be possible to finish with over 500 gold on medium or 300 gold on hard.

There is a holy necklace on this level in the City, at [22, 38]—to get there head south directly after getting out of the Torture Room, sending iron maulers or ogres on front to defend your other units from the guard trolls and orcs in the City. Preferably grab the holy amulet with a horseman or something similar. He will come in very hand in later scenarios (if he survives the next scenario, that is.)

If you have a large group of recallable units, loses in this scenario are not a big deal, as you're only going to be able to bring a fraction of your recall list past the next scenario, which is a contrivance set up to kill off all but a small amount of veterans (it will only let so many units over the bridge, and everyone else will be gone). So don't be afraid to play offensively to speed things up.

=== Evacuation ===
* Objective: Destroy the bridge or defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer.
* Other:
** Every unit not on the south side of the river when the bridge is destroyed will be lost (including units in your recall list).

This is one of those scenarios many deem "impossible", but it is by no means impossible, even on hard, given adequate gold. However, you must wrap your mind around an unpleasant truth: it may be necessary to accept heavy losses of high level troops. On the other hand, some players with strong rosters after going to Mal-Ravanal's Capital have beat this scenario on medium with minimal losses.

You should have over 400 gold and a large number of level 2 and 3 units to recall to start this scenario. The scenario is doable with 300 gold even on hard, but will result in even higher casualties.

There are two options in this scenario: you can either defeat all enemy leaders or blow up the bridge in the south. In the former case, you could suffer quite some casualties in fighting the enemy. In the latter case, all your units that are not on the south side of the river by the time you blow up the bridge are killed by the explosion. Cruelly, this includes your nonrecalled units! Whichever option you take, watch out for the very tight time limit of 12 turns. And watch out for the level 2 trolls, as they can (and frequently will) instantly kill almost any of your units. Best fight them with two white mages or a white mage accompanied by some other unit.

Of the two options, killing all the enemy leaders is preferable if you can pull it off, so that you can keep your nonrecalled troops. First, recruit two to three keeps (if you have the gold) full of your typical experienced troops like iron maulers, white mages, and so on. If you went Mal-Ravanal's Capital and so have a lot of knights, recall them too. Ogres are also helpful, if you have some left, as they are strong and you will have no use for them in later scenarios (except maybe ''Weldyn Under Attack''). After that, for cannon fodder, recall a keep full of young ogres and calvary.

Start to move your units south and attack the central enemy right away (i.e., do not wait until you have recruited all units). Split the second batch of recalls, sending half of them to the northeast and the other half to the southwest (otherwise you might not make it to all three leaders in time). Finally, send some young ogres and calvary to the northeast and southwest to distract the enemies there for two or three turns.

With all three groups of your units try to focus on attacking the enemy leaders as soon as possible, so you do not run out of time. With a bit of luck and probably some nasty casualties, you will have killed all three leaders around turns 10 to 12.

The second option - blowing up the bridge - is quite a bit easier to pull off, especially on hard or with less than 400 gold. Your opening move will be to start running the engineer, Dacyn, and Owaec to the southwest. Then recall a keep of cannon fodder: young ogres, ogres, and calvary. Send them in all directions to distract the enemy. On subsequent turns, recall the troops that you want to try to save, putting slower ones at the head of the line. However, non-quick shock troopers and iron maulers are so slow that they should be sacrificed in rear guard action. Focus on running the engineer, using other units to block for him, creating a ZOC corridor. Keep in mind that almost everyone is expendable. Use combat sparingly, just where you need to open a hole or where you see an opportunity to level up and heal.

If you finish the scenario with just the required units plus about three level 3 units, don't panic. You can indeed finish the rest of the scenarios, even on hard, starting with just a few level 3's. Note that the next scenario, ''The Drowned Plains'', is good for leveling raw recruits. However, if you have a lot of level 3's, it would certainly be easier to tackle another upcoming "impossible" scenario, namely ''Weldyn Under Attack'', so you may wish to replay ''Evacuation'' to get a better result.

WanderingHero: While this scenario is cruel, its not as asinine as it appears. You've already beaten the hardest scenarios of the campaign, so you dont have much to worry. Try saving a white mage, and maybe a Knight thats close to Paladin or a Paladin, but its hardly essential. Your heavy armors and ogres can be used to wall the enemy. Although the situation looks grim and the dialogue is grim, you actually near the end, the worst is behind you. You'll see the chequered flag soon enough.

=== The Drowned Plains ===
* Objective: Defeat Khrakrahs.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec die or turns run out.
* Turns: 28/26/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer.

Khrakrahs is a level-4 Skeletal Dragon that will be found in or near the castle (located on an island in the south). In getting there, you need to proceed slowly and carefully through the swamp. That is because there are lots of fairly high level undead hidden there, waiting to ambush your troops. Don't panic. They are easy to take one at a time, and you can offer the killing blow to troops that you are eager to promote. Think twice about trying to maneuver more units around the back of the one you're trying to kill, as there may be more ambushing undead there.

The dragon wanders around near the castle but only attacks units which he can kill instantly. If only strong units come near him, he tries to flee. Because of the fog the major challenge of this scenario is finding him and then getting him surrounded so he cannot just move away again. Once you have him trapped like this, slaying him should be easy using your stronger units —preferrably using impact weapons because the dragon has a low resistance there. Magical attacks from your magi are also very effective against the dragon.

This scenario is a good opportunity for all the units with holy amulets you still have with you. Use them against the ambushers. Since there's a good early finish bonus, just recruit a keep of your best anti-undead units, find and kill the dragon and reap the reward.

Note: On at least version 1.8.3, the Skeletal Dragon is buggy. It comes to you in the northeast early on and sits in your keep. [Thrash]

I saw this behavior as well, the dragon just camped and didn't even attack, just sat there. I also found him far from the castle, not too far from where I started. Same problem observed in 1.8.5. [Sojourner].

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
* Objective: Get Gweddry to Weldyn.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II die or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer.

The objective is simple enough; Gweddry has to reach the castle occupied by Konrad II. This is simply a matter of moving him there quickly. The end.

There is no challenge here, but with undead around you can pick up some XP with your fast moving arcane-enhanced troops (i.e., the ones that picked up holy amulets in earlier scenarios.) Try not to overrecruit or dilly-dally, though, as you need all the gold you can get for the next scenario, ''Weldyn Under Attack''.

=== The Council ===

Only plot in this. You see the inside of the castle.

=== Weldyn Under Attack ===
* Objective: Survive until end of turns.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II die.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer, Konrad II.
* Other:
** By the end of this scenario, you will have to choose whether to fight Mal-Ravanal directly in a duel, or repel his invasion with all you've got. This dictates the next and final scenario you'll play for this campaign.

At scenario start, you find your keep in the center of an island. Three allied leaders also have their keeps on the island around yours. There are three enemy leaders with equal amounts of gold at their disposal. The southwestern enemy leader is the only one that recruits nightgaunts, the southeastern enemy leader is the only one that recruits bats, and the northern leader is the only one that recruits Spectres.

The time of day cycle is 3 times longer than usual in this scenario, and it starts at dusk, so the first 3 turns are at dusk, and then it stays nighttime (first and second watch) during most of the scenario, which is painful with the damage the undead will unleash.

Your strategy should be to kill off one of the leaders and his troops, so that you can take over his defensive position. It's probably easiest to take the northern keep.

The backbone of your army will be heavy infantry track units, mages, and mages of light. On the first turn, recall one of each, plus three calvary units to the rear, preferably quick. Send the calvary to backstab your allies, robbing them of their villages. They won't mind. Later, the calvary can run around to distract the enemy. Send your heavy infantry types, mages, and mages of light towards the target enemy stronghold. You should supplement them with any units with arcane attacks: arch mages, silver mages, white mages, and any units that picked up amulets in previous scenarios. Pad out your force with ogre / young ogre spam. As ogres are neutral, their attacks won't suffer in the near-permanent darkness, and they are useful on the hills to protect your flanks.

You probably will not be able to assassinate the leader before he is out of gold. When he dashes out to attack, check his gold. If he's broke, you might wish to ignore him for a turn or two while you kill off other units.

After you take over the stronghold, you may be able to recruit some more troops, if you saved some gold and/or did a good job capturing villages with your calvary. Note that saving gold is of no use for ''The Duel'', so spend it now. Next, you should start preparing for the assault waves of the other two leaders. The combined assault waves may be more than your forces can survive. Therefore, while your main force braces itself, you should send out some ogres, young ogres, calvary, and/or silver mages as distractions, mostly along the board edges. They can even get in a few kills.

For your main force, unless you have taken over the southwestern keep, you need to think about the invisible, infiltrating, backstabbing Nightgaunts that are now headed your way. Have your units form a block with their back to the board edge. Round the corners of the block towards the enemy (so that you don't have one unit face four attacks.) Keep your whole line solid and heavily wounded units buried deep inside.

In addition to Nightgaunts, you have the threat of Banebows, which can do 52 ranged damage in one turn. However, they are fairly easily killed with proper strategy. Move a mage of light adjacent to blind the Banebow (i.e., remove its +25% bonus) and provide light for your lawful unit's attack (i.e., remove its -25% adjustment.) Move a shock trooper (or similar, preferably arcane enhanced) adjacent to the banebow and mage of light. Move a general up to lend leadership to the attacker. You may kill the Banebow in one attack. Otherwise, if the Banebow is quite wounded, you can use the mage of light to finish it off.

If you lose when you try to make a stand, you could instead try splitting your forces in two, travelling along the board edges to attack the remaining two leaders. Some players have had success with this, killing the last leader by turn 14 or 15. Just remember that the objective is to survive until the end of turns, and Nightgaunts may be a problem. Killing all three leaders is a victory though and will earn you a early finish bonus of 54/turn, which is important if you go on to Weldyn Besieged.

If you have one or two silver mages available, they are quite useful in this scenario. The map is rather large so have some fast-moving units like horsemen run through enemy territory and capture individual villages. Then use the teleport ability of your silver mage to perform hit-and-run (or rather: hit-and-teleport) attacks. Make sure you do not get him killed, though, by holding out too long after attacking. Make good use of Gweddry's leadership ability (he should be a Grand Marshal by now), and of Konrad's Sceptre of Fire to get rid of the most dangerous enemies coming your way.

At the end of the scenario, an enemy messenger appears telling you that you have only fought some delegates of the ancient lich Mal-Ravanal. It challenges you to a duel with Mal-Ravanal instead of letting the armies meet for a final battle. If you accept the challenge, you get to scenario ''The Duel''. Otherwise you go to ''Weldyn Besieged''. [Thrash: In my opinion Weldyn Besieged is much tougher and you probably only want to go that route if you have a decent carry-over.]

WanderingHero: Impossible Scenario? Not bloody likely. Hard Scenario? Pfft, this is actually quite a breather level. Enemy spams skeletons, so simply spam heavy Armour ad nausem, and make good use of any veterans you have. If your ogres die, it really doesn't matter. In fact it mostly doesn't matter who wins here, so rush the enemy with Heavies and you'll likely win well before the end of turns.

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== The Duel ====
* Objective: Defeat Mal-Ravanal.
* Lose if: Gweddry dies.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry.
* Other:
** You can only recruit for the first turn.

This is a somewhat strange scenario: you and Mal-Ravanal get to recall/recruit exactly six units each and then have to fight each other. Mal-Ravanal will recruit mostly level 3 units so this looks difficult. However, it is, in fact, quite manageable. Your goal is to attack first and hit hard—you should be able to eliminate two or three enemy units before they even get the chance to attack.

Except for Konrad II, you will have all of your units available in the recall list (including Dacyn and Owaec). Recall mages of light and other high-level arcane troops. Advance onto the battlefield, but stop just short of the enemies' range. After the enemies move closer, concentrate your attacks on a few of their units, particularly those with the strongest attacks. "Cowardly" Gweddry may be able to grant leadership bonuses to your troops, however he should probably refrain from actual fighting so he does not accidentally get killed.

Try to finish the fight quickly, as Mal-Ravanal plays unfair and every so often recruits another 3 units, albeit not so tough as the first batch of 6. If you position a weak unit within Mal-Ravanal's movement range the arrogant lich will gleefully charge out onto the battlefield and leave himself wide open for your counterattack.

==== Weldyn Besieged ====
* Objective: Defeat Mal-Ravanal.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II die, or any enemy unit reaches your keep.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Konrad II.

This battle is intended as a substantial challenge, and is inadvisable with low gold or an inadequate recall list. You face off against seven enemy leaders, with the goal of finding and eliminating Mal-Ravanal among them. The liches' names aren't revealed until they are attacked, and Mal-Ravanal is more likely to be revealed later in the scenario (the names are randomly assigned when you attack). Sending fast scouts to attack all the liches is not advisable since each lich receives a boost of gold for another round of recruitment after its name is revealed.

One strategy is to recall a group of cavalry with holy amulets and paladins to circle behind the undead horde and terminate the liches. You can draw the liches out of their keeps by positioning a sacrificial horseman within their attack radius. Once the lich is out in the open, your arcane damage cavalry should have no trouble finishing the lich off in a single turn.

Meanwhile you'll need the rest of your troops to hold the central keep against the undead onslaught. If you can spare the funds, a few sacrificial troops can delay the incoming enemies on one side, giving you the opportunity to focus your firepower on the undead approaching from the other side(s). If things turn grim, retreat to the castle and make your final stand.

[Thrash: I had no success with the strategy of sending out a group of cavalry as I needed all hands on deck to defend the keep. What I found to be the key to winning was to make sure you get good hard first attacks on the approaching undead, starting with the ones from the south on turn 3 and then others on turn 4.]

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

LegendofWesmere

2013-09-07T18:07:58Z

Ericppp: Added notes about Cleodil /* The Elvish Treasury */

General Note: Throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Strategical Note: This is a long campaign where you play elves. So take a look at the top level units: There are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans. However, they are not recruitable during the first four scenarios (since version 1.9.x) --you will still have enough opportunity to level them up, but it requires some effort.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling one (or both!) of your loyal fighters into a marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and Anduilas

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader. The keep directly to the east might seem tempting, but it will be hard to conquer, since its orcish leader will be pumping out units constantly for the first few turns.

A good alternative is going southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (warriors). Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will tend to go for the fighters when given the option. If you don't have a captain yet, level up a fighter as soon as possible, and use his leadership on your archers. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river—if you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked. Instead, send out an archer or two (preferably ''quick'' ones) to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. So you can as well kill them with some of your poisoned units as long as they have still enough health. Distribute XP carefully, units heal upon level up, rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives - and if you defended the Ka'lian well - the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work. Close in carefully - it will be very hard avoiding casualties, but when the time comes, let them be L1 fighters and not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

The behaviour of the orcs will depend directly on your ability to hold out the invasion of your fortress. If you manage to repel somewhat successfully their initial attack, the orcs will assume a defensive stance for the second part of the battle (usually triggered when Kalenz arrives). If, on the other hand, the orcs have a more successful start, they then become more aggresive and the battle becomes much more lively on the second part.

A special feature of this particular scenario --something not very common in a campaign-- is that you will control two armies simultaneously after Kalenz' arrival. You start assuming the role of El'Isomithir, ant later Kalenz joins the party and by then you will switch between your two roles. However, you won't control El'Isomithir's army anymore in the future, so don't grow too attached to it.

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where Cleodil (an Elvish Shyde) is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by level up.

It is alternatively possible to kill the eastern leader with rangers/avengers, the AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed. In general, take your time to experiment and figure out what works best on your strategy against saurians, as you'll be seeing many more of them in the future.

Along with Cleodil, one fighter and one archer (2 on ''easy'') will be freed from their prison. All of them become loyal to your cause, so by the end of this scenario you'll have a small loyal army on your hands. Protect them well and plan carefully how you are going to level them up, since they will become the core of your troops from now on until the very end (although you will be occasionally separated from them).

There's a couple of things worth noting regarding Cleodil: one is that she has a special ability labeled ''elates Kalenz'' which works basically like leadership, but only works on Kalenz. What this means is that from now on it's a good idea to keep those two close to each other in the battle field. The other one is that she can recruit shamans and woses. You may try it out in this scenario, in the small keep to the north. This works out nicely if your strategy for this scenario is to concentrate on the northwestern enemy first. With a little effort, you can free Cleodil relatively quickly, and then her recruits can be very helpful for the rest of the battle.

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

With Cleodil on your side now, you may finally recruit shamans, as well as woses.

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try to confront them on favorable terrain and form a defensive line (against skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, and the ''slows'' attribute of shamans' ranged attacks limits the damage potential and mobility of skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (you will have only have the movement points after taking up the treasure) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with a scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is another leveling opportunity for your shamans, as there is another troll leader to kill. Also you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

On this scenario you'll be able to ask Olurf to move to a specific location inside the map (using right-click), which may be useful in case you want his help in some particularly tight spot. This is one of the ways in which you can control the behaviour of your allies (you'll see another in the next scenario). Notice, however, that this command only applies to Olurf himself, and his troops will continue to move freely as they please, often taking experience away from you.

By the end of the scenario, you will end up "hiring" Olurf --paying him 400 gold-- but if you've been careful with your finances, you probably won't miss that amount.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives: Defeat all of the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

[NOTE: This scenario gives you the option of choosing to give orders to the AI that controls your allies. Because of bug issues, I ended up playing the scenario through without using this option. The advice that follows is for playing the scenario with the AI making automatic choices.--cathyr19355]

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies.

Avoid focusing too much on the troll keep for the first few turns. If you do this, Galdrid will probably be left without much assistance inside Ka'lian, and by turn 5-6 it will probably be too late. Instead, focus on moving your army to Ka'lian as quickly as possible and continue the battle from there. Fortunately, the terrain will help you repel the trolls and orcs coming from the north and west while you move the bulk of your army.

If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units. As you kill off the aforementioned trolls and orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to Grubr's keep, then west and north again to kill the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, recruit/recall a bunch of riders and other fast-moving units, send them directly south of your keep to grab the villages on the eastern side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at Grubr's keep to take some of the pressure off the Kal'ian. Even though you have a lot of gold and can recruit a lot of units, your enemies are numerous, and the reinforcements won't show up until the third day, so don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded.

Olurf will show up on turn 12 and you'll have to choose whether to place him on the northeast, or the northwest corner. Since dwarves are quite comfortable on mountains, a good choice is the northeast corner, from which you can guide him and his troops to finish off the troll leader.

If you want to save Eradion (your elf ally on the southwest), order him to move inside Ka'lian from the first turn. Otherwise, he will probably end up being caught in the fire and experiencing a not very heroic death.

Note for directing the AI:
I tried to get both my allies to swarm the sourthern orc, they should be able to defeat him, but unfortunately the AI does not really listen to this kind of order (bug?), so once I had the trolls under control I send a select few units south through Kal'ian to help mop up the remaining orcs there. This should leave you enough time to concentrate on the nothern battle.

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. Since you just left a lot of your troops at the Ka'lian, experience may be worth your effort. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble beating this level just run north as fast as you can. You should be able to cross the river with little trouble. You probably don't even need to recruit.

If you want to claim some experience, you can form a small army --gold will be the main limitation, since the considerable treasure you had was left on Ka'lian in the previous scenario-- and then either split it into two fronts, or take it all to one of the saurian keeps first if you don't feel comfortable splitting such a small army. If you do split it, send a dwarf-heavy squad to the left (closer mountains) and an elf-heavy one to the right (more forest).

The enemy recruits some relatively low HP level 2s and 3s. You can level units quickly after killing a couple of Saurian Oracles. Of course those Oracles have strong magical attacks (especially at night) negating your high defense. Luckily for you the battles start during the day.

Focus on killing the Oracles and Augurs first. They are easy to kill and do a lot of damage. Instead of throwing 3 or 4 units at a level 3 Flanker, just slow it and rack up kills. Try and kill as many units as you can before nightfall, when the attacks become much more ferocious.

The battles will be on high defense terrain, so they will go slowly. If you recruit more than one keepful Kalenz will have a much tougher time crossing the river.

However, if you already have good units that don't need a lot of extra experience, it might be better to aim for an early finish, in order to amass a good gold reserve again. Gold will become very important by the time you reach the ''Human Alliance'' scenario.

Once you reach the river, a few sea creatures will show up (water serpents and cuttle fish), but they are usually not much of a challenge. Make use of the small islands to get Kalenz across as quickly as possible. You may also try distracting the monsters with elvish scouts.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one.

First, you have to climb to your destination (the signpost at the top northeast corner of the map) over high mountains, so the going will be very slow for your elves; watch the turn clock carefully.

Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them.

Third, among your enemies you will find level 4 Yetis (which pack quite a punch), and Gryphons (which move very quickly through any terrain). Keep your shamans ready to slow Yetis before you attack them with other units.

You may try splitting your forces, sending one group west. The other group, with Kalenz, goes directly north, deals with the nearest enemy, and continues to the signpost. This group should be large enough that you can peel off 4-6 units once you get most of the way north to take out the enemy in the far northwestern keep. Note: dwarves do well in the mountains, but don't recruit a lot of ulfserkers, not even the second-level ones—they tend to take out the unit they attack but then are very vulnerable to attacks by other units.

Another strategy could be sending your full army northwest through the forest, using a quick unit to scout the way until you encounter the Yetis (there are 3 in total), and try to dispatch them quickly, before the trolls catch up with you from the east. Then send a few units to deal with the Gryphon leader on the northwest, while your main force goes east to fight the trolls, and Kalenz goes northeast to reach the sign post. If you want to gain as much XP as possible, move Kalenz ''near'' the signpost while you fight the remaining enemies. You can win the scenario by defeating the leaders, but if things get too hairy, you can always finish by moving Kalenz to its destination.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

The drakes, commanded by Aquagar (the foe you have to defeat) are at the northwest corner, while a keep of trolls is located at the northeast. Crelanu, the wise mage you came here for, is by the lake. You can send a quick unit (e.g. Cleodil) towards that keep in the middle of the map to trigger the dialogue with Crelanu.

You may try splitting your forces, sending half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

However, it will take some time for the trolls to reach Crelanu, so you may try focusing all your power towards Aquagar to finish him as quickly as possible, and then Crelanu won't need any assistance. If you go for killing Aquagar quickly, you might manage with just a few units, so you can save some gold by not over-recruiting.

Be careful about using archers, since some of the drakes breathe fire and do more damage that way than your units can with their arrows. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential.

'''For 1.9.x'''
In this scenario, you only have to kill Aquagar. So you just focus attacking the drakes. Send some Steelclads, Pathfinders to aid Crelanu. Marksmen, Rangers, Druids, Thunderguards, Stalwarts are extremely useful here. I killed Aquagar by turn 5. ~~Knyghtmare.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is the unofficial final, the following scenarios are pretty much a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The northeast trolls will not receive reinforcements, so you should concentrate on eliminating their army first.

The most challenging aspect of this scenario is that your army has to do three things practically simultaneously: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls.

The trolls should be pretty easy to kill. Their leader doesn't have much money, so there will not be many trolls to face. Slowing with some shaman and using the forest (and mountain tiles for placing your dwarves) to your benefit leads to a quick victory. Afterwards, send the units to reinforce your other two fronts.

Your allies can hold their own against the first wave of southern attackers but after that they'll be toast. A much better course of action is to team up with them and crush the first wave. When the reinforcements come you should be in a good position to defeat the orcs (especially with your victorious anti-troll army coming to help).

The northwest orcs are numerous but should be kept in check by strong units in the bottlenecks. You'll need some tanks (Champions/Marshals or Steelclads) and healers. When the orc reinforcements arrive you may get swarmed. By this time you should have some help coming from your anti-troll army.

The first wave of reinforcements for the orcs will arrive by the end of turn 5. The second wave will come at turn 12. By the end of the battle, the number of orcs will be overwhelming, and the action will take quite some time between turns. By the second half of the battle your complete focus should probably be on protecting your ally general, who by then will be out of money, occasionally recruiting one or two fodder units, and will remain immovable on his castle keep.

On turn 9, some of the elves you had left on Ka'lian will make a come back (including your loyals!). However, they will show up a little to the west of the keep where you start this scenario. It is a strange location for them to show up, and by that point of the battle it will probably be surrounded by enemies, so keeping these reinforcements alive may be very challenging if you don't have at least some of your forces making a stand near that location. If you can save just some of them, aim for the loyal units, and sacrifice the others.

You should spend all your gold upfront --there is no much point in saving it for later. You may want to recruit a scout or two at the beginning, if you think the investment will be profitable. They can capture a village almost every turn. Don't bother leaving villages for your ally. The money is better in your hands.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Landar to level 3.

When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into an Elvish Lord (as you might remember him if you have played [[HeirToTheThrone|HttT]]). He will now possess an arcane-magical attack, which proves very useful against many enemies. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will attack you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Sylphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A few of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario. At this point, this campaign becomes a very good example of why keeping your loyal units alive is very much worth it.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units
* Other

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. So, whatever you do, do not underrecruit! (You don't need more than minimal gold in the next recruiting scenario.)

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

High casualty approach:

You have to put units in the swamp to keep the saurians out of there. The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

Low casualty approach:

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI. Constantly check the turn clock, and be as aggresive as possible during the day.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

You might feel tempted to take this scenario as an opportunity to level up some new recruits from scratch, but this may not be a good idea. After a few turns, one of your elf allies (chosen at random) will turn against you, making the battle unpredictable and risky, for not a lot of gain.

There's just a couple of extra scenarios left in this campaign, and if you feel like leveling up units for the final battle, it's better to do it in the next scenario, where you can recall Cleodil's troops again.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on.

Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep a little to the north from yours. Approximately two thirds of your non-loyal veterans, chosen at random, will go with Landar, while the remaining third will go with Uradredia.

If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily. Moreover, the objective description is not very faithful, since you don't really have to kill all enemy leaders. It suffices to move any of your units adjacent to Landar. This makes this scenario quite easy to beat. If you still have Huraldur (your loyal quick elvish rider) on your side and you have leveled him up, you can take him straight to Landar's keep, and --thanks to the vulnerable design of Landar's keep-- place him next to Landar by turn 3, finishing the scenario with a huge gold reward. Alternatively, you may try a similar strategy with a group of new scout recruits or other quick units.

However, you can take the opportunity to level up a few recruits. Particularly, now could be a good time to level up any shamans/woses from Cleodil's old recall list to their maximum. Keep in mind that you need to put Cleodil in the ''Encampment Keep'' tile so you can recall those units.

Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay Crintil's army you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Playing this scenario patiently has a nice side-effect: by killing Landar's strong veterans here, they won't be available to him in the final battle. As a consequence, if you completely wipe up his army now, he'll be stuck with just fresh level-1 and level-2 elves to recruit by then (unless you're playing on ''hard'' difficulty). Also, all of Uradredia's units will become yours, so if you have the chance to save some of his veterans in this scenario, it's worth doing it.

[On version 1.8.2, all my levelled shaman-line had also disappeared - some for my ally, other for Landar. I could only recruit some shaman about to level. And some of my warriors had gone to my ally, not to Landar. With only first level units, killing the south-east level at turn 2 or 3 is not possible... but you can still buy some second-level warriors who will do the job. After that, most of Landar's units will go toward your ally's keep, which makes you able to reach Landar and end the scenario. Careful, he will be able to deal a final blow to the unit who assaulted him ! ]

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

A relatively short and simple battle, considering this is the final scenario. Recall/recruit all worthy veterans, and don't worry about gold or grabbing villages. If you've made it this far, surely you have the necessary strategic/tactical skills necessary to deal with Landar's army. Now is the time to try risky ideas; this is the last stop for you and your army, so give them the chance to act heroically on the battle field.

A straightforward strategy involves recalling any remaining veteran troops, then recruiting an army of level 1 elves. Form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

[version 1.8.2 : on medium, you can just buy loads of level 1 warriors, and keep - most of the time - in the woods. Landar start with about the same money as you do, but doing this, you just suffocate him under numbers.]

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Dead Water

2013-09-02T00:59:01Z

Ericppp: Updated based on 1.10.x

This walkthrough started with comments taken from the source data files for this campaign, which are based on normal difficulty. Maiklas3000 updated the comments for difficult (Triton/nightmare) level. Feel free to add your own comments and you can place your attribution here (using "edit" at the bottom.)

==Campaign Strategy==
You have piercing-attack Mermen to fight pierce-resistant Undead. What to do? Fortunately, for this campaign you are given a special impact unit, namely the Merman Brawler, which is an advancement of Merman Citizen, the peasants of the Mermen. Spamming Citizens and promoting them to Brawler is one of the keys to the campaign. Brawlers backed by leadership are especially deadly. Take note of the Brawlers' tail attacks with "stun", which can sometimes be used to good effect to disrupt Z.O.C's. You should also aggressively advance Hunters to Netcasters for their impact attacks, with "slow" as a bonus on the ranged attack. Many scenarios benefit from having at least two healers, so you should also promote an Initiate or two (or three) to Priestess early on, to supplement your starting Priestess, Cylanna, whom you should try to promote quickly to Diviner for the illumination. Fighters/Warriors and Spearmen are less useful in this campaign, but you do not always fight Undead, so groom a few on your roster "just in case."

Along the way, you will gather several loyal units that will remain with you until the end, if they survive. So, make sure they survive, replaying scenarios if necessary.

By the way, this is a campaign where it pays to read one scenario ahead, to see if you can better prepare yourself.

edit nuorc: Since I don't like cannon fudder tactics I didn't fuss around with Citizens too much. Instead I went for mass Priestesses and Netcasters, with a few piercing fish and some Enchantresses.

==Scenarios==

=== Invasion! ===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 30/28/26/26 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, Gwabbo and six citizens.

This scenario is tricky. Mastering a winning strategy may take you a few attempts.

A key feature of this scenario is that when the Undead capture any village, Walking Corpses spawn. (Soulless spawn on Difficult.) In light of this, you have two possible strategies, with which players have had success:

''Option 1'': Leader assassination / blitzkrieg. First turn, recruit only (or mostly) level 1 units. When you see an opening to go for the enemy leader, advance and kill him. The enemy will be focused on capturing villages in order to create an overwhelming number of Walking Corpses - so much so that you may be able to just walk in and kill their leader.

''Option 2'': "General Motorsing". Your basic strategy should be to take and hold as many villages as possible, both to prevent the spawning and to boost your income. If possible, grant the enemy only the three villages closest to his keep (not counting the two in the mountains, which your Mermen can't do anything about.) If you don't let many villages fall into enemy hands, eventually your income will be overwhelming. First turn, recruit a mix of level 1's and Citizens. Send a couple level 1's south to capture and protect villages there and send the Citizens in all directions to snatch up villages. Try not to lose any of the villages north of the eastern river. On Difficult, this is a challenge, but quite possible. Keep that area free of Soulless and Walking Corpses, so that you can concentrate your Citizens there and suicide attack them versus Skeletons.

Let the swimming Soulless/WC advance a bit towards your keep, so that your baby king can dart out to get an easy kill or two. As Gwabbo hints, you would be wise to get Krellis as much experience as possible this scenario; it will make the next scenario much easier.

Attack during the day, but retreat and heal at night. Keep your Citizens and wounded safe from becoming WC's, which often means sitting them on villages, but you can think of other ways, like using the ZOC's of level 1's and 2's to protect them.

Bat control is essential. Don't let even one Bat get into your rear area, or it may spell defeat. Initiates are good against Bats. A key to success is understanding how the Bats work. They will forego capturing a village in favor of making an attack. So, if there is a friendly or unowned village within range of a Bat, you have to make sure the Bat has someone to attack. Citizens make good bat bait.

If you start losing villages, it may not be the end of the world. You can sacrifice the land villages, but hold the ones in the water, using a couple of Fighters/Hunters plus Citizens. Use Cylanna, Gwabbo, and a few Citizens to hold off the Skeletons and Soulless southeast of your keep until the village situation is under control. Remember to look for an easy path to the enemy leader, despite the swarms of Walking Corpses on the rest of the map.

Towards the end, your income probably will be quite large, so if the situation is under control, then it's better to milk XP than go for an early finish. You can swarm the enemy keep with Citizens and take your time to end it. Try to get Krellis to level 1, while also turning some of the Citizens into Brawlers.

=== Flight ===
* Objective: Either
** Move Kai Krellis to the north-west corner of the map. He must be level 1 or higher.
** Defeat all enemy leaders (different bonus for each).
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 21/22/23/24 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, Gwabbo (if he survived the previous scenario).

Hopefully Kai Krellis is at least half leveled up already. Otherwise, this can be painful, as one of the victory conditions is that the Kai must be at least level 1.

You must decide whether to attack east or southwest. To the east is the prospect of more experience, while to the southwest is an easier foe and less distance for Krellis to travel back to the signpost.

''Option 1'', east: Recruit a bunch of Citizens and Brawlers, and send them east with Krellis. Use Citizens to lure the Skeleton Archer types into the water. They are easy pickings there for other Citizens, Brawlers, and Krellis. One of those guys gets Krellis half way up to level one. A few Citizens should also survive to become Brawlers. Remember that you can often turn a near-dead Citizen into a healthy Brawler by going for a kill, especially with the leadership of Krellis if he is already at level 1. About the time you get Krellis leveled up, and you are thinking about retreating everyone else, the bats will arrive. On Difficult, this will be a nasty number of Blood Bats. Use Hunters and Initiates to clear a path back west. Send three or four expendable units with Krellis. Their job is only to serve as bat bait, distracting the bats from Krellis, so that he does not get ZOC-locked. Krellis runs for the corner, while the rest of the troops gain experience doing a fighting retreat from the skeletons and other bad guys arriving in the middle of the map.

''Option 2'', southwest: Send Citizens east, while your best troops go southwest. After you advance to where you meet the enemy, you will start retreating almost as quickly, especially at night. Feed near-dead Blood Bats to Krellis for experience.

Whichever option you choose, this is not the normal sort of scenario where you will slaughter all the enemy. Remember that you are just trying to get enough experience for Krellis to level up. Then have him run like hell for the signpost. Ignore gold for now. You don't need much on the next level.

Killing all the enemy leaders will end the level, but that won't be easy. However, killing any enemy leader gives you a nice reward so you should consider defeating as many leaders as you can manage. Each one gives you a different bonus: defeating Mal-Kevek grants you a loyal Dread Bat, defeating Mel Daveth gives you a loyal Vampire Bat and a ''ring of strength'' (+1 to all attacks and +3 hitpoints) and defeating the Dead Knight gives you a loyal Bat Corpse and 120 gold. Even if the enemy armies outnumber you greatly, when you manage to assassinate a leader, all of his troops will go down with him.

=== Wolf Coast ===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 18/17/16/16 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all loyal units available.

This is a fairly easy level to give you a break. Go north, then lure wolves into the water where you can pick them off. If the wolves come in too big of a pack, you can split them up by sending Citizens off to the edges, in (or next to) shallow water.

You really should get a second healer leveled up here if you haven't yet. Netcasters and enchantresses are probably your next priorities. You'll want a bunch of both.

There is a storm trident in the east, sticking out of a pond. A fighter would be a wise choice of holder, simply because they have a lot of hit points. With the trident, he will level quickly. When you get him to level 3, choose Triton, as Hoplites have only pierce melee attack (bad for Skeletons.)

Money is useful going into the next scenario, but it's hard to get money out of this scenario. Scrounge every gold piece you can by starting with mostly level 1's (and 0's) and taking villages. Rushing for an early finish isn't really a good idea, as the next scenario also demands leveled troops (or better yet: ''about'' to level troops.)

edit nuorc: I gave the trident to Krellis, although I had to be careful about the right timig so he didn't get chewed up. After that he had a ranged attack (unlike before), and he either killed enemies helping levelling him, or he softened up the opponent helping levelling my other units, both being great with the leadership ability.

scorchgeek: I had great success with a leader-rush tactic. I recalled a spearman and an enchantress and sent them southeast to kill the wolves, then recruited three citizens and also sent them that direction. Then I recalled a couple more L2 units and sent them northwest with the starting units to the very edge of the map. All of the wolves then charged south, whereupon I sacrificed the citizens (keeping them in the water to slow down the orcs) and sent the valuable units west out of their reach. At this point I had three turns to sweep in and take out the leader before they could get back north (done by turn 8), which gave me a nice 285 gold to start the next scenario. The only downsides were that I didn't get a chance to get the storm trident and that I had only 6 L2 and L3 units for the next scenario (but I levelled nearly that many in the next scenario, as it was relatively easy with that amount of gold).

=== Slavers ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 30/28/26/24 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all loyal units available.

This is one of those scenarios that some will find impossible. However, rest assured it is possible, even on Difficult/Nightmare.

You get a free, loyal brawler.

There are two cages on the shore. One contains Keshan, a drake burner who can be ''very'' useful during the campaign, and the other contains a poacher named Siddry. He's not going to be much help here, and he won't come with you. However, if you keep him alive, he comes back in The Flaming Sword with some friends who are a big help taking villages in the beginning (and not much help thereafter).

The shipwreck in the north contains a treasure chest with 100 gold.

Recruit about two castles, one of which should be all level 2's. Hopefully that includes at least one more healer. Healers are ''essential'' here. Also, any units close to leveling are especially good.

Send a quick Citizen north to get the gold and villages along the way. Send everyone else east. Hang back a bit during the first watch of the first night: don't try to grab as much territory as possible; instead, try to lure the Saurians into the water.

During daytime, be aggressive in taking out the troops and getting to the leader, but don't leave any units out and exposed. At night, be conservative and forego attacks that would put your units at risk. As always against Saurians, maintain a solid line and make constant use of CTRL-V to watch where the enemy can move.

For triggering the slave revolt, a nice time is turn 7, after you have finished your attacks. It's dusk then, and the slaves will distract the Saurians from counterattacking you that turn and on into the night, plus it will slow down the Saurians coming from the North. However, if earlier you find you find yourself with a hole in your line or a unit in jeopardy, that's going to be your best time to pull the trigger on the slave revolt.

When it's safe, rescue the drake, and try to get him some experience—carefully. When he advances, maybe in a later scenario, choose Drake Flare, for the leadership bonus, as you will often have large hordes of level 0/1 troops and only one other leader, Krellis.

After taking out the leader and taking over the keep, you can recruit a unit or two as replacements, and maybe a couple of Citizens for distractions, but you shouldn't need more than that, except maybe on Difficult. You should just be getting involved with the first wave from the north leader now. (He's slowed down by the water.) Sit tight around the castle until the enemy onslaught has thinned out. Try to secure the board edge east of the enemy fortress and north of the forest, so that you do not get surrounded.

After that it should be no problem wiping out the other two leaders—if you have survived this far, you have quite a few high-level units. Advance north cautiously in line formation, while keeping an eye on the clock.

Note: If you find you cannot beat the scenario, you may need to go back and replay the campaign to this point, concentrating on promoting units in each scenario and gathering gold in the previous scenario.

=== Tirigaz ===
* Objective: Destroy all the undead.
* Bonus objective: Also kill Marg-Tonz (early finish bonus).
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 18/17/16/16 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all loyal units available.

This level is not too hard, so long as you give the high level undead their due respect.

Don't go too negative on gold, but recruit three or four high-level units. You need mostly leveled initiates for their magic ranged attacks. Keshan is a big help, and so is the unit with the storm trident.

Back off at the initial advance of the undead, waiting until daytime to go after them. Keep a solid line to protect against Shadows/Nightgaunts.

If you decide to go after the orc leader, wait until the undead are dispatched. Heal everyone, then assemble just to the north of his keep. Don't touch the ships or piers though! Wait until daytime, then send in all the units with magical attacks. Use other units to keep the slurbows busy. Hopefully the leader won't kill anyone before your next turn. One more round of magical attacks should kill him before his recruits start beating you up. Killing the orc leader isn't really necessary, but he helps someone level up, and he has about a hundred gold. The next level is much easier with lots of gold.

=== Uncharted Islands ===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 25/24/23/22 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all loyal units available.

Get some Citizens to capture villages and some more Citizens and level 1's to serve as cannon fodder to help soak up the awesome damage capability of the first wave of monsters. Then, recall your most powerful units. You need firepower. You also could really use the slow ability of Netcasters and Entanglers. Two healers are probably a minimum. Brawlers have no place here.

Slide the first Citizens around the edges capturing villages. This is mostly to distract the enemy and disperse his units, weakening his first assault wave, which arrives at night. Don't worry about gold—you probably can't start the next scenario with more than the minimum.

Keshan can handle the upper bottleneck section himself. He is good against the tentacles and even the cuttlefish, if he stays healed. If you lack Keshan, then an Entangler will suffice.

Put everyone else in the middle, using terrain to your advantage. As always, keep an eye on time of day. Use your auras as much as possible: leadership and illuminate (Cylanna ''is'' a diviner by now, isn't she?) Use "slows" to keep all your units from dying. You will probably lose a couple leveled-up ones anyway.

If you cannot win by a fair fight, you always have the option of leader assassination, sliding your assassination force along the north edge of the board, while the bulk of your force stays in the middle.

When you finish off the enemy leader, he gives you a loyal Cuttle Fish. It is isn't terribly useful, but cool to have anyway. When the Cuttle Fish levels into a Kraken, he is quite a bit nicer to have.

=== BilHeld ===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/22/20/20 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all loyal units available.

This scenario should be rated "R" for massive violence! Both sides can do lots of damage to the other.

This is a good scenario for you to use all the piercing units you have. Hopefully you haven't been totally ignoring the spearman and warrior lines. Even level one units supported by leadership can do pretty high damage to drakes, so you can level up some more here. Get piercing units, almost exclusively. Netcasters aren't really necessary, and one diviner is enough (but a second healer can help.)

If you're not in a hurry, you can play it patiently and not recall/recruit anyone, aside from maybe a few level zero Citizens, for about four turns. The drakes will take a while getting to you, so just take some villages and let your income work. Don't worry too much about ''holding'' the villages; instead, when you feel ready, try to knock out the enemy leader as fast as possible for a good early finish bonus.

Let the first wave of drakes come to you. You'll have the advantage in the water—even against high-level units. They might kill some of your weaker units, but you will do far more damage to them, and level up some new ones in the process. If you survive the first wave, you should be fine. You probably will have to do a little fighting on land towards the end. Just be careful about how many units can attack each of yours.

=== Talking to Tyegea ===

No fighting to do here. Give the holy water to one of your leveled fighters. Perhaps the most suited unit to receive it will be a Triton. Those units won't be as useful after one more scenario unless they have special weapons.

=== The Mage ===
* Objective: Find Caladon the mage.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis or Cylanna die or turns run out.
* Turns: 16/17/18/19 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all loyal units available.

You need fire (e.g., storm trident) and arcane to take care of scorpions. Mermen Javelineers get one more level to shine. Diviners are also great.

Stay near your fortress initially, forming a line across the southwest corner, because you will be hit with a nasty number of bats and scorpions, not to mention the occasional giant spider.

Hopefully you have Keshan or a Dread Bat, as they are especially helpful in actually finding the mage (he's hiding in a white temple to the north). A good scout can get there several turns ahead of even the fastest Merman (after you take out most of the scorpions in the way). Without one, the timing will be very tight, and you must focus on killing the creepy crawlies quickly and getting on your way ASAP.

=== The Flaming Sword ===
* Objective: Pry the flaming sword from the dead hands of its owner.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis, Cylanna or Caladon die or turns run out.
* Turns: 30/28/28/28 (easy/normal/hard/nightmare).
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, Caladon, all loyal units available plus one non–loyal merman from your recall list.

This is one of those scenarios where there are a lot of villages, so you will want to start with some level 0 units (e.g., Mermen Citizens), but don't expect them to last long. Manage your expenses and try to keep your income large, so you can create a large army supported by spam. If you have a large stable of Brawlers, you can start treating them suicidally much like Citizens, as this is just before the last scenario.

When you get near the ruined castle closest to your initial keep, an outlaw will appear and let you recruit outlaw units (for this scenario only). Furthermore, if you helped Siddry (the Poacher trapped in a cage in [[#Slavers|Slavers]]) survive in the past, he will show up here with a group of loyal units to help you. They won't come along with you after this scenario, so you can sacrifice them here if necessary.

After you advance to the three villages in the center, you'll want to retreat just as fast, as night will be coming, as well as a nasty wave of high level Undead. If you only see a couple of ghosts emerging out of the fog, don't be fooled: run like hell, because they are backed up by Spectres and other tough undead. You may wish to send a few weak units to the northwest, backed by a stronger unit with an arcane ranged attack, like an Enchantress. This will tend to draw some undead that way, making it easier to deal with the ones in the middle.

Towards the end, hoard your gold. You will need some for the last scenario.

You defeat the lich to try to get the sword, but as soon as the lich drops it, Caladon teleports in and picks it up. Now, you need to defeat Caladon to get the sword. He grants you time to leave, which is actually a turn to remove any very damaged units from the vicinity as Caladon is pretty dangerous. You can attack him now, or wait a turn for him to get impatient and attack you. When he attacks, or you attack him, he summons fire guardians. He does not also recruit, because that would just be mean. (There is no reason he would have much gold, anyway.)

=== Getting Help ===
No combat here. You gain the ability to recruit priestesses.

=== Revenge ===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kai Krellis dies.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Kai Krellis, Cylanna, all previous loyal units plus three new loyal mermen (a hunter, a fighter and a brawler).

It's the last scenario. Losses of loyal units are acceptable. Also, you are relieved of the responsibility of protecting Cylanna. And you gain a loyal diviner, the Kai's grandmother, Tyegëa.

Your minimum gold is 300, but this is likely insufficient, so hopefully you have a good carryover from the previous scenarios, so that your total gold coming into this final showdown is at least about 400 or 500. Recruit a batch or two of Merman Citizens to capture villages. Recruit Brawlers next, who are good for bashing skeleton types, doubly so when the Brawlers are supported by leadership. Pace your main recruitment to end by turn 5 or 6. Diviners and Priestesses are especially useful in this scenario, to kill Bats and arcane-suspectible undead, as well as to heal your main force. Remember that you now have the ability to recruit Priestesses, which will come in handy if you don't already have a stockpile of them to recall.

You must kill all the enemy leaders. The choice of which enemy leader to kill first is easy. The enemy leader at southeast is protected by terrain that is nasty to Mermen. Therefore, the bulk of your force should head to the island in the middle. Send only a few Citizens to collect villages in the east. The four toughies at the northwest strait will not bother you if you do not go near them, so steer clear. The middle leader may dart out if you present him with an easy kill. Try to take him down then, as he is tougher in the middle of the island, protected by his recruits. After killing the middle leader, the rest should be downhill. However, keep an eye on the location of the Shadows recruited by the southeast leader, so that they do not surprise you at night. To protect the wounded, stay in line formation whenever Shadows threaten.

Give great respect to the undead at night, backing off and foregoing attacks. By day, wail on them mercilessly.

Use your halos (illumination and leadership.) They are key. Hopefully, Keshan is both alive and a Flameheart, for its leadership bonus.

A few final tips:

* The pile of skeleton bones in the West has a special object, the Ankh Necklace, that will provide the wearer with 70% resistance to arcane damage. A good bearer is an Entangler like Gwabbo, who can then slow enemy necromancers with relative impunity.

* If you didn't win the ring of strength on the [[#Flight|Flight]] scenario, now is your chance. After killing Mel Daveth, he drops the ring, which "increases the damage of all its owner's attacks by one, and adds three hitpoints." Inky or Krellis would be a good choice of bearer.

* On turn 10, a squad of Dark Adepts (easy) or Necromancers (difficult) arrives on the northern beach. For this reason, your attack on the central island should veer towards the northwest. This way, you can cut them down in daylight with Brawlers backed by leadership.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Mainline Campaigns

2013-08-30T20:40:38Z

Ericppp: /* Dead Water */

These scenarios are included in the Wesnoth distribution. Most were written by fans of the game.
See [[ReferenceWML]] for information on how to make your own scenarios using the Wesnoth Markup Language. The following links are very likely to contain spoilers regarding the storyline.

== Heir to the Throne ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[https://raw.github.com/wesnoth/wesnoth-old/3464f2198e92f8173c3b418f3ff24ebb3e212693/data/campaigns/Heir_To_The_Throne/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/24/QR4qN.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Heir to the Throne</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3 Dave]

This is the original campaign, and probably the most played. It features Konrad, fighting to overturn the rule of the dark queen Asheviere. It is 25 scenarios, no more are planned, and is considered complete.

* [[HeirToTheThrone|Walkthrough]]
* [[HtttStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Heir_to_the_Throne Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Heir_to_the_Throne Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:HttT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10322 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Heir_To_The_Throne.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Heir_To_The_Throne Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#517_YW Position in timeline]
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== A Tale of Two Brothers ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Two_Brothers/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/qDabd.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">A Tale of Two Brothers</div>
</div>

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=93 Circon]

A village is being terrorized by a black Mage. He is defeated, but the local Mage, Baran, is kidnapped. His brother, Arvith, must go rescue him. It has 4 scenarios, and is aimed at first-time players on Easy.

* [[ATaleOfTwoBrothers|Walkthrough]]
* [[A Tale Of Two Brothers Story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#A_Tale_Of_Two_Brothers Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TB1.9 Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10339 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#A_Tale_of_Two_Brothers Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#363_YW Position in timeline]
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== An Orcish Incursion ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/An_Orcish_Incursion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/nVI6O.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">An Orcish Incursion</div>
</div>

by Josh Parsons; adapted for mainline by ESR.

Erlornas is an elven noble of Wesmere during the first years after the arrival of humans and orcs on the western shore of the Great Continent. It is his fate to be the first of his people to be directly confronted by the invading orcs.

* [[AnOrcishIncursion|Walkthrough]]
* [[An_Orcish_Incursion story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#An_Orcish_Incursion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:AOI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#An_Orcish_Incursion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#8_YW Position in timeline]
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== The South Guard ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_South_Guard/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/UMJFY.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The South Guard</div>
</div>

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=872 aelius]

A young Knight, Deoran is dispatched to take command of the South Guard. This campaign has 9 or 10 scenarios, depending on the branch you take, and is aimed at beginners on the easiest difficulty.

* [[TheSouthGuard|Walkthrough]]
* [[South Guard story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_South_Guard Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TSG Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10323 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_South_Guard.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_South_Guard Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#607_YW Position in timeline]
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== Liberty ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Liberty/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/rseVU.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Liberty</div>
</div>

by scott

The chronicles of how a certain group of Wesnothians were betrayed by their ruler and decided to fight back. This made them outlaws in the crown's eyes, but hopefully heroes in ours.

There are 9 scenarios and some goodies to boot. The main focus is to provide the experience of recruiting and recalling higher level outlaw characters, which you don't normally get to do. While there is a range of difficulty in the scenarios, the overall intent is for them to be straightforward and not too difficult.

* [[Liberty|Walkthrough]]
* [[Liberty story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Liberty Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:L Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20252 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Liberty.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Liberty Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#501_YW Position in timeline]
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== Legend of Wesmere ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Legend_of_Wesmere/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/nJGZu.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Legend of Wesmere</div>
</div>

by Santi; adapted for mainline by esr and fendrin

''The tale of Kalenz, the High Lord who rallied his people after the second orcish invasion of the Great Continent and became the most renowned hero in the recorded history of the Elves.''

* [[LegendofWesmere|Walkthrough]]
* [[LegendofWesmereStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Legend_of_Wesmere Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Legend_of_Wesmere Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:LOW Dialogue]
* [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=51 Discussion threads]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Legend_of_Wesmere Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#20_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Eastern Invasion ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/FKIXO.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Eastern Invasion</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=176 Turin]

This campaign follows Gweddry, a Wesnothian Army Officer, battling against undead invaders. It has 18 scenarios, and no more are planned.

* [[TheEasternInvasion|Walkthrough]]
* [[EiStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Eastern_Invasion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:EI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10325 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Eastern_Invasion.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Eastern_Invasion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Hammer of Thursagan ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/kavI.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Hammer of Thursagan</div>
</div>

by ESR (Eric S. Raymond)

In the first years of the Northern Alliance, the dwarves of Knalga attempt to re-establish contact with their kin in the east at Kal Kartha. Many perils beset the expedition, but none so dire as the dark secret they will discover at their destination.

* [[TheHammerOfThursagan|Walkthough]]
* [[TheHammerOfThursagan story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Hammer_Of_Thursagan Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:THOT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20258 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550_YW Position in timeline]
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== Descent into Darkness ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Descent_Into_Darkness/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JTXUi.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Descent into Darkness</div>
</div>

by esci

Malin Keshar, a young mage from the town of Parthyn, attempts to defend his home from marauding orcs by enlisting the help of a necromancer named Darken Volk. He learns the forbidden art of raising and controlling the deceased and the true power of the undead, and is gradually drawn further into the secrets of necromancy.

* [[DescentIntoDarkness|Walkthough]]
* [[Descent Into Darkness story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Descent_into_Darkness Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DID Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20251 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Descent_into_Darkness.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Descent_Into_Darkness Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#389_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Delfador's Memoirs ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Delfadors_Memoirs/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/PUG3x.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Delfador's Memoirs</div>
</div>

''Wesnoth seems to be slipping inexorably into chaos, as marauding orcs pour south across the Great River, and mysterious and deadly creatures roam the night. Who is the shadowy Iliah-Malal? Can you defeat him before he destroys all life in Wesnoth?''

* [[DelfadorsMemoirs|Walkthrough]]
* [[DelfadorsMemoirsStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DM Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Delfadors_Memoirs.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#468_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Dead Water ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Dead_Water/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/QpIvg.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Dead Water</div>
</div>

By [http://forums.wesnoth.org/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=107794 beetlenaut]

''You are Kai Krellis, a merman king, but only a child. A necromancer has arrived and is turning your subjects into undead slaves! Lead your people on a mission to convince a powerful mermaid to help you repel the invasion. The oceans near the Northern Lands are perilous, so you will need cunning and bravery to survive, but first you need to gain the respect of your troops!''
(Intermediate Level, 10 scenarios)

*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Dead_Water Walkthrough]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Dead_Water Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Dead_Water Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DW Dialogue]
*[http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31283 Discussion Thread]
*[http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Dead_Water.html Custom units]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Dead_Water Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#626_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== The Sceptre of Fire ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/HmBs1.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Sceptre of Fire</div>
</div>

by turin

King Haldric of the humans strikes a deal with the young dwarf Rugnor. In exchange for ten thousand in silver, the dwarves will create a sceptre of fire for the human king.

* [[Sceptre of Fire|Walkthrough]]
* [[Sceptre of Fire story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Sceptre_of_Fire Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOF Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20255 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Sceptre_of_Fire.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Scepter_of_Fire Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#25-40_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Son of the Black-Eye ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Son_Of_The_Black_Eye/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/K5pvI.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Son of the Black-Eye</div>
</div>

started by Benj, completed by Taurus

You are the orcish chieftain Kapou'e, son of the famed Black-Eye Karun who was treacherously murdered by the human-worms twenty-seven years ago. You must expel the human invaders from orcish lands and avenge your father's death. It has 18 scenarios.

* [[SonOfThe_BlackEye|Walkthrough]]
* [[Black Eye story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOTBE Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20257 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Son_of_the_Black-Eye.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#842_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Rise of Wesnoth ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JdZB3.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Rise of Wesnoth</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=388 Shade]

This campaign revolves around the events that brought Haldric I to the 'Great Continent' to found the Kingdom of
Wesnoth. It has 25 scenarios, and is considered complete.

* [[TheRiseOfWesnoth|Walkthrough]]
* [[TrowStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TROW Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10613 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Rise_of_Wesnoth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#5-2_BW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Northern Rebirth ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Northern_Rebirth/images/campaign_image.jpg http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JTXI5.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Northern Rebirth</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=100782 Taurus]

The people of Dwarven Doors rise against their orcish oppressors in a struggle that will shape the fate of the Northlands. 14 scenarios.

* [[Northern Rebirth|Walkthrough]]
* [[Northern Rebirth story|Story outline]] , [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Northern_Rebirth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:NR Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20253 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Northern_Rebirth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Northern_Rebirth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#534_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Under the Burning Suns ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Under_the_Burning_Suns/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/spPBH.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Under the Burning Suns</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=149 quartex]

Set in the distant future, where elves live in the desert. It has 11 scenarios, and is not recommended for beginners because it changes some parts of Wesnoth, including the elves stats and the day/night cycle.

* [[UnderTheBurningSuns|Walkthrough]]
* [[UtBSStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Under_the_Burning_Sun Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:UTBS Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10491 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Under_the_Burning_Suns.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Under_The_Burning_Suns Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#After_the_Fall Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== See also ==
* [[UserCampaigns]]
* [[Guide_to_UMC_Campaigns]]

[[Category:Review on Release]]
[[Category:Campaigns|*]]
[[Category:Wesnoth - Mainline]]

DelfadorsMemoirs

2013-08-30T17:08:53Z

Ericppp: Adding table with the timelines for the armies the player controls /* Campaign Strategy */

==Story==

This campaign follows the adventures of Delfador, beginning from him leaving home as a newly qualified journeyman mage, and leading up to him helping to bring peace to Wesnoth. It is set a couple of generations earlier than [[HeirToTheThrone|Heir to the Throne]].

==Development==

Original developer: email to Josh Parsons, jp30 AT st-and.ac.uk.
Thread is at http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1293.

More recently, the campaign has been picked up and improved by 'tapik' - see [[CampaignDelfadorsMemoirs]].

==Campaign Strategy==

This section gives some advice on long-term strategy in this campaign.

''NOTE: plot spoilers''. In this campaign, you work with several different armies: your starting loyalist army, an undead army in the underworld, Kalenz and Chantal's elven armies, a dwarf army, and a loyalist army from Parthyn. Which armies are on the recall list varies from scenario to scenario. To an extent that means that long-term strategy doesn't matter, because you keep being given a clean slate; conversely, if you are short of vital units, you might have to go back 10 levels to fix it.

To help you keep track of the armies you will be managing and their lifespans, the following table summarizes their races, the context in which they first appear, and the scenarios where they will be available:

{| style="border-width: 1px; border-color: #333;border-style: solid;padding:8px;"
!Race
!Context
! colspan="22"|Scenarios
|-
|
|
|[[#Overture|1]]
|[[#This Valley Belongs to Me|2]]
|[[#The_Road_to_Weldyn|3]]
|[[#Leollyn|4]]
|[[#Council_in_Weldyn|5]]
|[[#Swamps_of_Illuven|6]]
|[[#Night_in_the_Swamp|7]]
|[[#Ur-Thorodor|8]]
|[[#Houses_of_the_Dead|9]]
|[[#The_Gate_Between_Worlds|10]]
|[[#Wasteland|11]]
|[[#Terror_at_the_Ford_of_Parthyn|12]]
|[[#The_Return_of_Trouble_|13]]
|[[#Shadows_in_the_Dark|14]]
|[[#Save_the_King|15]]
|[[#Dark_Sky_Over_Weldyn|16]]
|[[#A_New_Ally|17]]
|[[#The_Portal_of_Doom|18]]
|[[#Showdown_in_the_Northern_Swamp|19]]
|[[#Prince_of_Wesnoth|20]]
|[[#Clash_at_the_Manor|21]]
|[[#Face_of_the_Enemy|22]]
|-
|Human
|Delfador's 1st army
|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|style="background-color:#729fcf"|
|
|
|
|-
|Undead
|Allies on the land of the dead
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#555753"|
|style="background-color:#555753"|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#555753"|
|
|
|
|-
|Elf
|Delfador's army on his return
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#8ae234"|
|style="background-color:#8ae234"|
|
|
|style="background-color:#8ae234"|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#8ae234"|
|style="background-color:#8ae234"|
|style="background-color:#8ae234"|
|-
|Human
|Defenders at the Ford of Parthyn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#3465a4"|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#3465a4"|
|style="background-color:#3465a4"|
|style="background-color:#3465a4"|
|
|
|
|-
|Elf
|Kalenz' army
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#73d216"|
|style="background-color:#73d216"|
|style="background-color:#73d216"|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#73d216"|
|style="background-color:#73d216"|
|style="background-color:#73d216"|
|-
|Human
|Delfador's reinforcements
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#204a87"|
|style="background-color:#204a87"|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Dwarf
|Allies against the undead
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background-color:#ef2929"|
|style="background-color:#ef2929"|
|
|
|
|}

As the campaign progresses, money will become scarce and you'll recall ever smaller armies; don't spread experience among too many units, but strive to build a small core of elite troops. With very rare exceptions, on this campaign you will not encounter loyal units, which means that practically all your units (including your heroes, in scenarios where they do not act as leaders) will require upkeep. Any extra effort you do on each scenario to avoid over–recruiting is very likely to pay off for you in the end.

Useful long term strategies are:

* loyalists:
** '''mages''': for your starting loyalist army, mages are important. '''Get 2 white mages as early as you can'''. You face a lot of assassins in the early levels, and from level 7 onward there are a lot of undead. You'll have little use for red mages, one really is enough.
** '''heavy infantry''': not that useful, despite the numbers of undead. Too many of the levels are big wide open spaces, or have difficult terrain where your HI will founder, or you are given holy water or dwarves and so have better options. Nonetheless it is worth recruiting some HI in levels that do suit them, because you lose the ability to recruit them at some points but can still recall them.
** '''horsemen''': now these are useful - the early levels suit them well and you can employ them in numbers. Later you'll be mostly facing undead: paladins will be excellent, but it will be hard to level up any more knights. Make your paladins while you're still facing orcs, you'll hardly be able to make more than three (and probably employ only two).
* elves: standard mixture of elves is fine (although there are many undead, you get holy water to deal with them), except:
** '''sorcerors''': you get a druid free, and will want a second, but perhaps more importantly you want plenty of sorcerors as these are good against the sort of undead that you don't want to melee even with holy water (spectres).
* Delfador: perhaps the most important long run strategy in this campaign is to get Delfador to level 3 early, and near to reaching level 4 by the end of the loyalist levels (1-8). Delfador has to fight a certain scenario (''Houses of the Dead'') essentially on his own, and it helps a lot if he is at or near level 4 by then (the free heal from the level-up would be useful during that level).

==Walkthrough==

You should be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

Each scenario has an individual forum thread where you can provide feedback to the authors. You can find these [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 here]. Feedback is useful as it helps the developers improve the campaign in future versions; and the posts by other players may contain advice or pointers beyond those in this walkthrough.

===Overture===

Just an introduction - sit back and enjoy the show.

===This Valley Belongs to Me===
* Objective: Defeat Grogor-Tuk, the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, Methor.

This one is tricky for a first scenario, so play patiently. The enemy has a lot of gold and sends a steady stream of units your way for the first day. In the south/centre is the easy bit - defend the river. Use your mage of light here to back up a few horsemen/spearmen to fend off the attackers.

The tricky bit is to the north - wolf riders cross the river to the north and come down through the woods. Some spearmen and mages in the woods works here, and there's a village in the woods to the north to anchor your defence on. Wolf riders don't benefit as much as your units do on the wooded tiles. Aim to give plenty of XP to at least one mage, so you can level him up here or early at the next level.

===The Road to Weldyn===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, a Bowman, two Horsemen.

You want quite a few horsemen here; it's a good opportunity to get lots of horsemen on your recall list (they are cheaper to recall than recruit later on). There are enough villages to fund recruiting or recalling 9 units and still have positive income throughout. You want at least half of your units to be horsemen: if you do the enemy will have lots of archers who are easy prey in these open fields. You start with an archer and gain the ability to recruit more here. Often you can avoid fighting in the first night altogether, strike hard during the second day and the scenario is already won.

This level is dead easy to win because the enemy has a small keep, so his forces arrive spread out and not supporting each other. Use the day/night cycle; at night just fall back and, particularly on the first night, use the line of woods and castle tiles just west of your start. Your horsemen can go and take villages and make it back to fight at dawn on day 2. In the day, crush them with the horsemen and mages. You want to level up mages and horsemen.

Once you have crushed the enemy army, take the remaining villages and milk for XP - the early exit bonus is only +15/turn, and you should be able to get +14/turn while prolonging the level. You are heading for knights (for paladins later) and white mages, as per [[#Campaign_Strategy]].

===Leollyn===
* Objective: Defeat Hagha-Tan.
* Lose if: Delfador or Leollyn die or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, two Bowmen (if available in your recall list).

You can usually ignore the ally; the enemy sends a few units down that way, but the L3 mage and his L2 mage recruits are well able to handle them.

You want to recall at least one and preferably two white mages (there will be lots of assassins), and a horseman near leveling up. The rest of your recruit should be a mix of bowmen and spearmen, including one or two level 2 ones. March up to the ford to the north-west and build a defensive position for the night; keep the front line together with as few units as you can, as most will end up poisoned each turn; cycle them out and replace with others.

Once day breaks, hopefully you have enough decent units left to mop up the enemy's first wave; your horseman is ideal to pick off any strong enemy units standing in the water. When you handled most wolves, red mages (Delfador and other) are good frontline units against assassins and archers as they won't use their ranged attack against them.

Hopefully you can push over the river by afternoon on the second day and lure out the enemy leader. You want to finish this one early, turn 10-12, to get a big enough bonus for the next scenario, as it seems impossible with minimum starting gold.

===Council in Weldyn===

Just story.

===Swamps of Illuven===
* Objective: Move Delfador to the signpost in the northeast.
* Lose if: Delfador or Lionel die or turns run out.
* Turns: 28.
* Starting units: Delfador, Lionel.
* Other
** You can recruit Cavalryman and Heavy Infantryman units now.
** There is a chest with 100 gold in the rogue's keep if you refuse to pay him.

Spoiler: The protection charge is always 80% of your gold, and gets rid of the north-west enemy (the one not in the way of getting to the signpost). The other enemy player (the one blocking the signpost) gets a small gold bonus. So, you are losing 80% of your gold to get rid of around 40% of the enemy gold; hence, it's normally best to refuse to pay. At Easy, the deal is even worse, as the net effect is only about -25% of the enemy gold. Additionally, there is a gold bonus available if you don't pay and do defeat the NW enemy. It is not noted in the "Objectives"; instead, a treasure chest is shown on the map. Remember to take it.

Option 1, refusing to pay: If you don't pay the charge, you get to recruit a big army, get more XP, and finish quicker. You should be able to hold the central island while pushing a force from there to take out the NW leader. A balanced force would consist of couple of horsemen, 2 white mages, a couple of level 2s, a couple of level 1 mages (which are pretty good against footpads and poachers as they ignore their high defense ratings), and the rest spearmen as fodder to form your defensive line. It is vital to use Lionel's level-3 leadership to help your level-1 units fight better.

Option 2, paying the charge: The level is playable paying the charge if you are coming in with ~250 gold or more. Although it gives the AI a big lead in gold, you have halved the recruit rate for the AIs and ensured that they are all on the far side of the level; the AI's forces don't concentrate so well and your small force can evade them at night. You may prefer this route if you prefer a challenging small-army scouting battle rather than a big army battle. You can win by starting with as little as two raw recruit Spearman and a recalled horseman, if you take some villages so that you can recall some more units later.

===Night in the Swamp===
* Objective: Survive until daybreak.
* Lose if: Delfador or Lionel die.
* Turns: 13.
* Starting units: Delfador, Lionel.
* Other
** This scenario doesn't follow the usual day/night cycle. Most turns will be at night.

It is hard to get an early exit bonus here, and you don't need it, so just take the opportunity to level up some units. Grab some heavy infantry and mages, and perhaps a knight - see [[#Campaign Strategy]].

You can put a generator out of action by landing any level 2 or better mage on it; the level will end when there are no skeletons left. At easy, it appears that there is only one generator - you can storm it and get an early exit bonus if you find the next level easier that way, but I think leveling up units is more useful here.

===Ur-Thorodor===
* Objective: Move Delfador to Ur-Thorodor's castle.
* Lose if: Delfador, Lionel or Ur-Thorodor die or turns run out.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Delfador, Lionel.

The main hazard here is the gryphons - they will attack as you cross the water. Be careful with Lionel and Delfador; you may need to use fodder to lure the gryphons and then blast them. Recall a red mage, a good damage sink (a knight will do), a healer, and perhaps another mage and a fodder unit. Cross straight away, and don't get bogged down on the other side - blast a hole with your mages and get Delfador into the castle asap. You are not likely to win a long fight. Remember that Lionel's leadership helps mages too.

===Houses of the Dead===
* Objective: Move Delfador to the signpost.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 64.
* Starting units: Delfador.
* Other
** Delfador acquires the Staff of An-Usrukhar, which grants him his lightning attack ans boosts his melee attack.

Explore to your north-west first - there is one village in that direction. To your north is an impassable barrier behind those mountains, so next turn back and work around the level anti-clockwise. No need to climb through the mountains: if you stick to the "road" you won't miss anything. If you pay attention to what you're told, you'll learn about a secret passage that *will* make life easier—it is located north of the village where you find a ghost by the name Sythan. But this scenario is pretty straightforward either way.

The friends you find will try to help, but usually throw their, uh, existences away against the skeletons quite quickly; at least they serve as distraction. Any survivors will be available for recall on the next level, one even for free—but that's not much of a benefit, so don't worry too much.

When you reach the Death Knight's keep at the northwest, don't capture his two villages until you have dealt with him; additional guards will come out of them once you grab them.

Don't exit until turn 64, as there is no early exit bonus but you should have a good income. Waiting gives you more gold for the next scenario.

===The Gate Between Worlds===
* Objective: Defeat Iliah-Malal.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, and a surviving Ghost, Ghoul or advancement from the previous scenario.

You get to recruit Ghosts and Ghouls here, your allies of the last level. Money should be no problem.

Players have used two options with success:

''Option 1'': attack with Ghouls. Backed by Delfador's leadership, ghouls can actually do a lot of damage. But he can't be everywhere, and anyway the ghouls will probably perish quickly. That's alright, as long as you manage to poison most enemies. There's not enough villages for your opponent to heal his army, and if you give battle on your shore of the swamp they won't get anywhere quickly. Ghosts can then finish the poisoned enemies.

''Option 2'': leader assassination with Ghosts. Send 8 Ghosts around the flanks of the enemy to converge on Iliah-Malal, surrounding and killing him, albeit slowly. Send a Ghoul-heavy force supported by Delfador and a couple of Ghosts up the middle to distract the majority of the enemy forces. Delfador should be cautious; he is only there to distract, and the Dark Adepts and Thugs pack enough of a punch to kill him if you are not careful.

It is worth noting that if you finish this scenario with any undead veterans, you will be able to recall them one more time in the future, and they will play an important role at that time. If you want to use them, then it's a good idea to level up some of your ghosts here and make sure that you end up with at least a couple of Shadows. Otherwise, make sure to get rid of all your undead units before finishing this scenario, or they will be more of a hindrance to you than anything else.

===Wasteland===
* Objectives:
*# Find shelter.
*# Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador.

Straightforward scenario, albeit the enemy can recruit L2 units and you have only raw Elven recruits. The walk north to the Elven castle is simple. Most of the fighting takes place in the woods that you can see to your west, so elven archers are good here. Also grab a scout to steal all your ally's villages, otherwise she will keep recruiting L2 units and stealing your XP. Definitely recruit 1 or 2 shamans, as you would like to have a sorcerer early in the next level.

===Terror at the Ford of Parthyn===
* Objectives:
*# Find out what is happening at the Ford.
*# Defeat all enemy leaders (orc and undead).
* Lose if: Delfador or Chantal die or turns run out.
* Turns: 36/36/34 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Chantal.

In this scenario you will join forces with a number of troops making a stand near the ford of Parthyn. Orcs will come from the west, and an army of undeads will come from the east—the latter receiving reinforcements around turn 7. Your main strategic decision will be whether to form an army on your initial keep to confront one of your enemies (possibly the orcs) from the very beginning, or move quickly to the south and organize the combined forces of your current veterans plus all the units that will join you in this scenario, to then work from there.

'''Conservative strategy:'''
As soon as you spot the ford guard, it will come under your control. Using a scout, you can get there in time for the humans to man the walls. Actually, the walls are one huge keep, so Delfador can recruit directly into the fortifications and fill the gaps. You should be able to fend off the first wave of attackers, the more so as the baddies will conveniently arrive at daybreak. The mages, on the other hand, won't get across the river until the fun is mostly over; recall your own healers. You should leave two mages on the other shore anyway, in order to deal with any ghosts that try to get at the villages down there.

'''Play-it-safe strategy:'''
Abandon the northern shore; run to the south castle (without recruiting at all) and play defensive through the first wave of enemies. The orcs and undead are hostile to each other, so this gives them ample opportunity to fight amongst themselves. ''Needs investigation and comments.''

[Hipparchos] This is definitely the easiest way to play it. Run Delfador and Chantal straight south and pick up the north castle defenders as a bodyguard as you head for the south castle. You'll get a few hits as you retreat but nothing serious, as long as you keep Chantal well guarded. Use Niktor to wake the mages and put the White Mages initially in the center of the castle to heal the wall defenders (but be prepared to move them to the walls). When Delfador gets to the south castle, have him recall any L2 and L3 elves to fill any remaining wall spots. Don't over-recruit because you won't have anywhere to put them. I also put a few strong units and a mage in the villages just southeast of the castle to deal with the ambushers who will pop up there.

Basically what happens is the orcs from the west and undead from the east will meet at the north castle and have a massive battle, which you cannot see because of the fog of war. The undead will win this battle and send the surviving remnants of their army straggling across the ford, 2 or 3 per turn, where they will be decimated by your mages on the walls. The draugs look dangerous but are no match for an arch mage. Patience is the key: just sit tight and kill what comes across.

By dawn on turn 16 the undead stragglers will be done for. Send your army back across the ford and split it into two groups, one northwest to kill the orcish warlord (who might be beset by a spectre) and one east to kill the Death Knight. You will pick up the village defenders when you re-take the north castle. Make sure you put at least one red mage and one white mage with each group, and you're home free. I played this strategy and didn't lose a single unit.

'''Aggressive strategy:'''
Recruit/Recall an army and send them west to deal with the orcs; only one scout should head south and find the guards, which should then retreat to the sourthern castle. The downside is that this approach will lead to more night-time engagements; dont try this if you don't have several lvl-2 elves to begin with. The benefit is that you'll get more experience on the units that need it most: your elves and the human mages. The latter will stay with your host, and often be automatically recalled for free.

You will find that some villages in the north of the map contain ambushes. The burned village near your inital keep, plus three of the villages (including the burned one) near the ford contain allied troops; releasing these early would be a big help to defending the south castle.

===The Return of Trouble===
* Objective: Defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Kalenz dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/27/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kalenz.

This level has a no-breathing-room start - the east enemy is almost on top of you and has as much gold as you (at Great Mage). The mountains and starting camp are poor terrain for you as that terrain is better for orcs; cross your forces into the woods opposite where you have advantages in defence and movement.

Although you can recruit "raw" L2 units here, don't feel you need to recruit too many of them; the large number of enemy L2s attacking mean that it is hard to keep units in the front line alive, and so recruiting good numbers of units matters here. Recruiting a few druids and captains and recruiting L1 units for the bulk of the army works well.

The ally spends his forces quickly and his leader will die early, but you aren't required to keep him alive, so don't worry about him; when he dies it is even an advantage as it stops encouraging the orcs to go through the woods south of your position.

At lower skills, aim to knock out the east enemy early. His right flank is open but rests on the mountains, which is bad terrain for you - if you try to go around that way he can easily shift forces to meet you. Instead you can approach close to his keep through the woods; this, his left flank, usually isn't open but the AI isn't smart about keeping a proper line here. At Great Mage, you may not have the forces to spare to take him out (if you can even make an opening - he has plenty of units); instead slow him with a shaman when he pops out of his keep to attack and block him from getting back to recruit. Note: With the right recruits it is possible to snipe the east leader on the second turn (but rather difficult and low probability).

You should aim to maintain a line along the north part of the woods; the main line is down the west side of the woods for a few tiles and this is where Kalenz should be; and a line back east inside the wood for your left flank, to catch enemy units coming at you through the woods. Hold out in the woods for 2 days and the storm will eventually subside; you will probably have heavy losses but your survivors should all be L3 or close to it by the end. You can then seize villages and take out the enemy commanders.

===Shadows in the Dark===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kalenz, Chantal or Delfador (in the second part) die or turns run out.
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kalenz, Chantal.

You start with your Kalenz force, and get back your Delfador force during the scenario (he arrives in the SE). There are two necromancer leaders in this scenario, located west and south, and one Death Knight to the east, this last one being the most dangerous enemy of all—he even receives reinforcements on turns 7 and 11.

Grab all three holy waters near the start, but you should then move all your elven forces in one direction, head west to take out the first necromancer. The forest and water slows up most of the undead and so means that the undead converging from the other two camps won't catch you before you overwhelm and eliminate the enemy leader that you target. Because you are facing some L1 and L2 troops here, don't feel that you need to give the holy water to L3 units - a mix of L1 and L2 units is ideal and they should level all the way to L3 during the level. Recall any Elven sorcerers or shaman with good XP, and shaman are good extra recruits at the start, again to level to sorcerers.

Once you have knocked out the NW leader, your elven force should head south to take out the south leader, and Delfador's force, arriving on turn 12, can head north to take out the NE leader. By this point, keep your units in tight groups and don't let important units wander off by themselves at night, where Nightgaunts can surprise them.

Lots of the undead forces will spend the whole level floundering around in the north woods around your start camp, chasing but never catching you up.

===Save the King===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kalenz, Delfador, Chantal or Garard II die or turns run out.
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz, Chantal, a group of Delfador's companions having survived the previous scenario.

You don't have to worry about Garard—he is more than strong enough to resist the two southern enemies and his forces may even help defeat Zorlan. You get a big automatic recall of your white mages, Chantal, and a shock trooper and Kalenz; that's plenty to win with, but recruit some new elves as it gives you some units to give XP to, fodder to face the trolls with, and they are handy to take out the SW enemy faster (at Mage and above). An elven sorcerer is a good recall, but 1 is enough.

Zorlan should be simple; some of his units tangle with Garard's units in the river, so you should meet little opposition getting to his camp - which can be easily crushed with your mages. The onset of trolls at around first watch is the only dangerous moment, but once they have attacked, your mages and high level units can wipe them out mostly in one round. Then send Delfador and a couple of other units to take out the troll leader, and send some elves south with Kalenz to help Garard clean up and then take out the SW leader. Garard usually kills the SE leader by himself.

Try not to delay the initial battle to the north too much. Around turns 8-10, the two southern orc leaders will be ready to send a second wave of enemies, at least if they have not been finished by Garard's forces yet.

===Dark Sky Over Weldyn===

Just story.

===A New Ally===
* Objective: Defeat Gruv-Malal.
* Lose if: Delfador, Ulrek or Relgorn die or turns run out.
* Turns: 32.
* Starting units: Delfador.

This is a relatively easy scenario. You regain command of your original human army plus the rest of the troops from the Ford or Parthyn. Recruit and recall some mages and maybe one or two knights/paladins. You may also get a few L1s and you should be able to level up a couple by the end of the level. Move to Ulrek's keep - provided you have some units there by second watch, there is no danger of him being defeated. The dwarves wear down the undead and your mages get to clean up and take the XP.

===The Portal of Doom===
* Objectives:
*# Guide Delfador to the portal to close it.
*# Move all your units into the mine entrance where you came from, moving Delfador last.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40.
* Starting units: Delfador, Ulrek.

This is a small, narrow map where you need to move west-to-east and then back again. There are two enemy leaders on your way, recruiting skeletons and ghosts, and Illah-Malal appears with a strong body of undead troops on turn 9. There are two basic ways to approach this scenario:

''Option 1'': Going through the ice. Your main force should be dwarf warriors, with a few white mages or quick mages to weaken enemy units and to deal with nightgaunts and the like. Heavy-infantry are too slow on the ice. A knight (even better, a paladin) would also be useful here, due to the speed and for finishing off enemy units when the dwarves can't reach. Don't rush into the ice from the start, unless you're okay with heavy losses. Instead, defend at your camp to defeat the first wave of undead, then march over the ice to close the portal, letting the northern undead come to you. Don't worry too much about the villages to the north and focus on moving Delfador quickly to the portal. On the way back, Delfador can stay a little behind, while the rest of your army goes through the tunnel. After all, Delfador has to be the last one to exit through the mines.

''Option 2'': Going north, then south-east. The main goal is to get a strong army heavy on mages, shock troopers and paladins on the northern castle before Illah-Malal appears. The enemies from the east will be slow to catch up with you, except for ghosts which shouldn't be too much of a problem. Once you deal with the lich and his bodyguards—fortunately they arrive during the day—, you can move south, close the portal and go back to your base. With a little luck, this strategy can be used to beat the scenario quickly and with minimal losses.

Regardless of the way you play it, it's very likely that you will finish with very little or negative gold, but it won't matter much. From this point until the end of the campaign, gold carryovers will have little or no impact and it is normal that you will start these last scenarios with the minimum amount of gold each time.

===Showdown in the Northern Swamp===
* Objective: Defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Delfador, Lionel or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/28/32 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other: If you have any undead veterans from [[#The_Gate_Between_Worlds|The Gate Between Worlds]], then one of them has to give the final strike to Illah-Malal, otherwise Delfador has to do it.

There is a few holy water flasks at the start, but you may not have many fast, high-level units with powerful melee attacks to assign them. You get control of Lionel on turn 3 (plus a castle of L1 recruits), so you don't have to take villages off of him. It is recommended to save one of the holy water flasks for Lionel, and give the other two to Ulrek and Kalenz, or some other loyalist veteran (perhaps a Halberdier or a Knight). Your remaining recalls could be 2 white mages, a steelclad and a paladin (or a knight close to leveling - as it is an open level).

A good strategy here is to strike straight north and seize the south end of the bridge. The NE necromancer recruits dark adepts, and you will have to run a long way during the night to outrun them if you don't bottle them up at the crossing. Once you hold the bridge, a good melee unit and a white mage, plus some of the ally's archers, can easily hold off the NE forces. The NW enemies attack during the first night, and the main tricky bit is dealing with the nightgaunts and spectres here - just keep L2 and L3 melee units in the front line to meet the attack, then clean up with your mages. The SW enemy's units are slower and Lionel's recruits can help in that front, holding them in the western bridge. By keeping those two forces under control on the river crossings, you should have little difficulty crushing each in turn.

If you have undead units, one of them will have to finish the lich. Protect your undead units well and reserve them for that final hit. Use Delfador or other mages or holy water fighters to weaken the lich, but be careful not to accidentally reduce his hitpoints to zero with the wrong unit, or the lich will be fully healed and stronger than before.

===Prince of Wesnoth===
* Objective: Defeat Eldred.
* Lose if: Kalenz or Chantal die or turns run out.
* Turns: 20/22/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kalenz, Chantal.

The central woods seem like a tempting spot to fight from, but you will struggle to maximise your recruitment and still get all your units across into it, because the southern enemy camp is close to your line of advance and he'll recruit fast cavalry that will catch up quickly with you. However, if you have quick units that can cross the river fast enough, fighting from the central forest will be very advantageous.

Alternatively, abandon all your villages and the rest of the level to the enemy and just defend the SW corner. Elves along the edge of the woods should be able to hold out and wear through the enemy. The number of L2 units, and the mages that the enemy recruit, mean that you will take casualties; but you will be killing a lot and scoring plenty of XP. A general mix of level 1, 2 and 3 units works well here; use the best units to hold tiles that can be attacked from several directions, which will deter the enemy from attacking them.

Once the initial wave of enemies is spent, mop up and proceed swiftly through the central woods and jump into an enemy camp to kill the general. You don't have to have much gold for the next level, but will want high-level units, so take time here to level some up if you don't have enough.

'''Alternative Strategy''' (crus4a8e)

I used the following on V1.8.5 (hard) with minimum starting gold of 100. While I had a tough struggle using the strategy described above, doing the following worked nicely and was quite a fun way of playing this scenario, too.

Recall the following units: 4 Avengers or Rangers, 2 Shydes. (Remember: Avengers/Rangers are invisible in the woods which comes in very handy in this scenario.)

Kalenz and the 2 Shydes stay in the western woods. Start moving them up to the northern part of the woods in the beginning and then back down south. Basically their job is not to get killed. ;-) So only attack single enemies and retreat whenever you are under serious attack.

The Avengers cross over into the central woods right away. Whenever only one or at most two enemy units are in reach, they attack or flag villages to become visible and lure individual enemy units into the woods. This also distracts most of the main enemy forces and stops them from attacking Kalenz.

Doing this for about 10 to 15 turns wears down the enemy forces quite easily. When only a few enemy units are left, move your 4 Avenger/Ranger units into the keep of either one enemy leader. You should be able to finish him off in 1 or at most 2 turns.

===Clash at the Manor===
* Objectives:
*# Defeat Pilafman.
*# Find the secret door.
* Lose if: Delfador, Kalenz or Chantal die, an enemy reaches a signpost or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/32/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz, Chantal.

As there are two roads and two signposts, you need to watch both routes. You can break your forces in two or just send one unit to keep an eye on the other route. If you wait at the edge of your forest, almost all the forces should come to you (Dragoons and Cavalry will try to escape instead), and you'll have the terrain advantage. Just be ready to counter anyone trying to make a run for it. You start with Chantal, and a second druid or shyde would be a good idea so that you have a healer and someone to entangle any royal guards. The rest of your recalls should be top melee units (e.g., champions and avengers.) After the assault is broken, the mopping up operation is just to kill the sitting duck leader.

The second phase of the level is a search; just explore the cave walls right below the northernmost encampment tile.

[Thrash: I don't think just sending a single unit to cover one route will work. If enemy sends a couple riders that way, you won't catch them.]

===Face of the Enemy===
* Objective: Defeat Sagus.
* Lose if: Delfador, Kalenz or Chantal die or turns run out.
* Turns: 20/22/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz, Chantal.

Last level, so you don't have to worry about losses or leveling up; recall some sorcerers and a decent melee unit to take the holy water. The enemy recruits few units, so you don't have to cover all the passageways; just advance as a group by the shortest route to the keep, and keep side passages covered (the enemy sometimes uses nightgaunts to ambush and slip in through any gaps). Beware of putting Delfador in front, as the enemy can use Banebows like walking corpses for suicide attacks against him.

This scenario is fairly straightforward, so just play conservatively and coast to victory.

== See Also ==

* [[Mainline Campaigns]]

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

DelfadorsMemoirs

2013-08-30T16:24:11Z

Ericppp: Updates based on 1.10.x

==Story==

This campaign follows the adventures of Delfador, beginning from him leaving home as a newly qualified journeyman mage, and leading up to him helping to bring peace to Wesnoth. It is set a couple of generations earlier than [[HeirToTheThrone|Heir to the Throne]].

==Development==

Original developer: email to Josh Parsons, jp30 AT st-and.ac.uk.
Thread is at http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1293.

More recently, the campaign has been picked up and improved by 'tapik' - see [[CampaignDelfadorsMemoirs]].

==Campaign Strategy==

This section gives some advice on long-term strategy in this campaign.

''NOTE: plot spoilers''. In this campaign, you work with 6 different armies: your starting loyalist army, an undead army in the underworld, Kalenz and Chantal's elven armies, a dwarf army, and a loyalist army from Parthyn. Which armies are on the recall list varies from scenario to scenario. To an extent that means that long-term strategy doesn't matter, because you keep being given a clean slate; conversely, if you are short of vital units, you might have to go back 10 levels to fix it.

As the campaign progresses, money will become scarce and you'll recall ever smaller armies; don't spread experience among too many units, but strive to build a small core of elite troops. With very rare exceptions, on this campaign you will not encounter loyal units, which means that practically all your units (including your heroes, in scenarios where they do not act as leaders) will require upkeep. Any extra effort you do on each scenario to avoid over–recruiting is very likely to pay off for you in the end.

Useful long term strategies are:

* loyalists:
** '''mages''': for your starting loyalist army, mages are important. '''Get 2 white mages as early as you can'''. You face a lot of assassins in the early levels, and from level 7 onward there are a lot of undead. You'll have little use for red mages, one really is enough.
** '''heavy infantry''': not that useful, despite the numbers of undead. Too many of the levels are big wide open spaces, or have difficult terrain where your HI will founder, or you are given holy water or dwarves and so have better options. Nonetheless it is worth recruiting some HI in levels that do suit them, because you lose the ability to recruit them at some points but can still recall them.
** '''horsemen''': now these are useful - the early levels suit them well and you can employ them in numbers. Later you'll be mostly facing undead: paladins will be excellent, but it will be hard to level up any more knights. Make your paladins while you're still facing orcs, you'll hardly be able to make more than three (and probably employ only two).
* elves: standard mixture of elves is fine (although there are many undead, you get holy water to deal with them), except:
** '''sorcerors''': you get a druid free, and will want a second, but perhaps more importantly you want plenty of sorcerors as these are good against the sort of undead that you don't want to melee even with holy water (spectres).
* Delfador: perhaps the most important long run strategy in this campaign is to get Delfador to level 3 early, and near to reaching level 4 by the end of the loyalist levels (1-8). Delfador has to fight a certain scenario (''Houses of the Dead'') essentially on his own, and it helps a lot if he is at or near level 4 by then (the free heal from the level-up would be useful during that level).

==Walkthrough==

You should be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

Each scenario has an individual forum thread where you can provide feedback to the authors. You can find these [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 here]. Feedback is useful as it helps the developers improve the campaign in future versions; and the posts by other players may contain advice or pointers beyond those in this walkthrough.

===Overture===

Just an introduction - sit back and enjoy the show.

===This Valley Belongs to Me===
* Objective: Defeat Grogor-Tuk, the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, Methor.

This one is tricky for a first scenario, so play patiently. The enemy has a lot of gold and sends a steady stream of units your way for the first day. In the south/centre is the easy bit - defend the river. Use your mage of light here to back up a few horsemen/spearmen to fend off the attackers.

The tricky bit is to the north - wolf riders cross the river to the north and come down through the woods. Some spearmen and mages in the woods works here, and there's a village in the woods to the north to anchor your defence on. Wolf riders don't benefit as much as your units do on the wooded tiles. Aim to give plenty of XP to at least one mage, so you can level him up here or early at the next level.

===The Road to Weldyn===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, a Bowman, two Horsemen.

You want quite a few horsemen here; it's a good opportunity to get lots of horsemen on your recall list (they are cheaper to recall than recruit later on). There are enough villages to fund recruiting or recalling 9 units and still have positive income throughout. You want at least half of your units to be horsemen: if you do the enemy will have lots of archers who are easy prey in these open fields. You start with an archer and gain the ability to recruit more here. Often you can avoid fighting in the first night altogether, strike hard during the second day and the scenario is already won.

This level is dead easy to win because the enemy has a small keep, so his forces arrive spread out and not supporting each other. Use the day/night cycle; at night just fall back and, particularly on the first night, use the line of woods and castle tiles just west of your start. Your horsemen can go and take villages and make it back to fight at dawn on day 2. In the day, crush them with the horsemen and mages. You want to level up mages and horsemen.

Once you have crushed the enemy army, take the remaining villages and milk for XP - the early exit bonus is only +15/turn, and you should be able to get +14/turn while prolonging the level. You are heading for knights (for paladins later) and white mages, as per [[#Campaign_Strategy]].

===Leollyn===
* Objective: Defeat Hagha-Tan.
* Lose if: Delfador or Leollyn die or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, two Bowmen (if available in your recall list).

You can usually ignore the ally; the enemy sends a few units down that way, but the L3 mage and his L2 mage recruits are well able to handle them.

You want to recall at least one and preferably two white mages (there will be lots of assassins), and a horseman near leveling up. The rest of your recruit should be a mix of bowmen and spearmen, including one or two level 2 ones. March up to the ford to the north-west and build a defensive position for the night; keep the front line together with as few units as you can, as most will end up poisoned each turn; cycle them out and replace with others.

Once day breaks, hopefully you have enough decent units left to mop up the enemy's first wave; your horseman is ideal to pick off any strong enemy units standing in the water. When you handled most wolves, red mages (Delfador and other) are good frontline units against assassins and archers as they won't use their ranged attack against them.

Hopefully you can push over the river by afternoon on the second day and lure out the enemy leader. You want to finish this one early, turn 10-12, to get a big enough bonus for the next scenario, as it seems impossible with minimum starting gold.

===Council in Weldyn===

Just story.

===Swamps of Illuven===
* Objective: Move Delfador to the signpost in the northeast.
* Lose if: Delfador or Lionel die or turns run out.
* Turns: 28.
* Starting units: Delfador, Lionel.
* Other
** You can recruit Cavalryman and Heavy Infantryman units now.
** There is a chest with 100 gold in the rogue's keep if you refuse to pay him.

Spoiler: The protection charge is always 80% of your gold, and gets rid of the north-west enemy (the one not in the way of getting to the signpost). The other enemy player (the one blocking the signpost) gets a small gold bonus. So, you are losing 80% of your gold to get rid of around 40% of the enemy gold; hence, it's normally best to refuse to pay. At Easy, the deal is even worse, as the net effect is only about -25% of the enemy gold. Additionally, there is a gold bonus available if you don't pay and do defeat the NW enemy. It is not noted in the "Objectives"; instead, a treasure chest is shown on the map. Remember to take it.

Option 1, refusing to pay: If you don't pay the charge, you get to recruit a big army, get more XP, and finish quicker. You should be able to hold the central island while pushing a force from there to take out the NW leader. A balanced force would consist of couple of horsemen, 2 white mages, a couple of level 2s, a couple of level 1 mages (which are pretty good against footpads and poachers as they ignore their high defense ratings), and the rest spearmen as fodder to form your defensive line. It is vital to use Lionel's level-3 leadership to help your level-1 units fight better.

Option 2, paying the charge: The level is playable paying the charge if you are coming in with ~250 gold or more. Although it gives the AI a big lead in gold, you have halved the recruit rate for the AIs and ensured that they are all on the far side of the level; the AI's forces don't concentrate so well and your small force can evade them at night. You may prefer this route if you prefer a challenging small-army scouting battle rather than a big army battle. You can win by starting with as little as two raw recruit Spearman and a recalled horseman, if you take some villages so that you can recall some more units later.

===Night in the Swamp===
* Objective: Survive until daybreak.
* Lose if: Delfador or Lionel die.
* Turns: 13.
* Starting units: Delfador, Lionel.
* Other
** This scenario doesn't follow the usual day/night cycle. Most turns will be at night.

It is hard to get an early exit bonus here, and you don't need it, so just take the opportunity to level up some units. Grab some heavy infantry and mages, and perhaps a knight - see [[#Campaign Strategy]].

You can put a generator out of action by landing any level 2 or better mage on it; the level will end when there are no skeletons left. At easy, it appears that there is only one generator - you can storm it and get an early exit bonus if you find the next level easier that way, but I think leveling up units is more useful here.

===Ur-Thorodor===
* Objective: Move Delfador to Ur-Thorodor's castle.
* Lose if: Delfador, Lionel or Ur-Thorodor die or turns run out.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Delfador, Lionel.

The main hazard here is the gryphons - they will attack as you cross the water. Be careful with Lionel and Delfador; you may need to use fodder to lure the gryphons and then blast them. Recall a red mage, a good damage sink (a knight will do), a healer, and perhaps another mage and a fodder unit. Cross straight away, and don't get bogged down on the other side - blast a hole with your mages and get Delfador into the castle asap. You are not likely to win a long fight. Remember that Lionel's leadership helps mages too.

===Houses of the Dead===
* Objective: Move Delfador to the signpost.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 64.
* Starting units: Delfador.
* Other
** Delfador acquires the Staff of An-Usrukhar, which grants him his lightning attack ans boosts his melee attack.

Explore to your north-west first - there is one village in that direction. To your north is an impassable barrier behind those mountains, so next turn back and work around the level anti-clockwise. No need to climb through the mountains: if you stick to the "road" you won't miss anything. If you pay attention to what you're told, you'll learn about a secret passage that *will* make life easier—it is located north of the village where you find a ghost by the name Sythan. But this scenario is pretty straightforward either way.

The friends you find will try to help, but usually throw their, uh, existences away against the skeletons quite quickly; at least they serve as distraction. Any survivors will be available for recall on the next level, one even for free—but that's not much of a benefit, so don't worry too much.

When you reach the Death Knight's keep at the northwest, don't capture his two villages until you have dealt with him; additional guards will come out of them once you grab them.

Don't exit until turn 64, as there is no early exit bonus but you should have a good income. Waiting gives you more gold for the next scenario.

===The Gate Between Worlds===
* Objective: Defeat Iliah-Malal.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador, and a surviving Ghost, Ghoul or advancement from the previous scenario.

You get to recruit Ghosts and Ghouls here, your allies of the last level. Money should be no problem.

Players have used two options with success:

''Option 1'': attack with Ghouls. Backed by Delfador's leadership, ghouls can actually do a lot of damage. But he can't be everywhere, and anyway the ghouls will probably perish quickly. That's alright, as long as you manage to poison most enemies. There's not enough villages for your opponent to heal his army, and if you give battle on your shore of the swamp they won't get anywhere quickly. Ghosts can then finish the poisoned enemies.

''Option 2'': leader assassination with Ghosts. Send 8 Ghosts around the flanks of the enemy to converge on Iliah-Malal, surrounding and killing him, albeit slowly. Send a Ghoul-heavy force supported by Delfador and a couple of Ghosts up the middle to distract the majority of the enemy forces. Delfador should be cautious; he is only there to distract, and the Dark Adepts and Thugs pack enough of a punch to kill him if you are not careful.

It is worth noting that if you finish this scenario with any undead veterans, you will be able to recall them one more time in the future, and they will play an important role at that time. If you want to use them, then it's a good idea to level up some of your ghosts here and make sure that you end up with at least a couple of Shadows. Otherwise, make sure to get rid of all your undead units before finishing this scenario, or they will be more of a hindrance to you than anything else.

===Wasteland===
* Objectives:
*# Find shelter.
*# Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Delfador.

Straightforward scenario, albeit the enemy can recruit L2 units and you have only raw Elven recruits. The walk north to the Elven castle is simple. Most of the fighting takes place in the woods that you can see to your west, so elven archers are good here. Also grab a scout to steal all your ally's villages, otherwise she will keep recruiting L2 units and stealing your XP. Definitely recruit 1 or 2 shamans, as you would like to have a sorcerer early in the next level.

===Terror at the Ford of Parthyn===
* Objectives:
*# Find out what is happening at the Ford.
*# Defeat all enemy leaders (orc and undead).
* Lose if: Delfador or Chantal die or turns run out.
* Turns: 36/36/34 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Chantal.

In this scenario you will join forces with a number of troops making a stand near the ford of Parthyn. Orcs will come from the west, and an army of undeads will come from the east—the latter receiving reinforcements around turn 7. Your main strategic decision will be whether to form an army on your initial keep to confront one of your enemies (possibly the orcs) from the very beginning, or move quickly to the south and organize the combined forces of your current veterans plus all the units that will join you in this scenario, to then work from there.

'''Conservative strategy:'''
As soon as you spot the ford guard, it will come under your control. Using a scout, you can get there in time for the humans to man the walls. Actually, the walls are one huge keep, so Delfador can recruit directly into the fortifications and fill the gaps. You should be able to fend off the first wave of attackers, the more so as the baddies will conveniently arrive at daybreak. The mages, on the other hand, won't get across the river until the fun is mostly over; recall your own healers. You should leave two mages on the other shore anyway, in order to deal with any ghosts that try to get at the villages down there.

'''Play-it-safe strategy:'''
Abandon the northern shore; run to the south castle (without recruiting at all) and play defensive through the first wave of enemies. The orcs and undead are hostile to each other, so this gives them ample opportunity to fight amongst themselves. ''Needs investigation and comments.''

[Hipparchos] This is definitely the easiest way to play it. Run Delfador and Chantal straight south and pick up the north castle defenders as a bodyguard as you head for the south castle. You'll get a few hits as you retreat but nothing serious, as long as you keep Chantal well guarded. Use Niktor to wake the mages and put the White Mages initially in the center of the castle to heal the wall defenders (but be prepared to move them to the walls). When Delfador gets to the south castle, have him recall any L2 and L3 elves to fill any remaining wall spots. Don't over-recruit because you won't have anywhere to put them. I also put a few strong units and a mage in the villages just southeast of the castle to deal with the ambushers who will pop up there.

Basically what happens is the orcs from the west and undead from the east will meet at the north castle and have a massive battle, which you cannot see because of the fog of war. The undead will win this battle and send the surviving remnants of their army straggling across the ford, 2 or 3 per turn, where they will be decimated by your mages on the walls. The draugs look dangerous but are no match for an arch mage. Patience is the key: just sit tight and kill what comes across.

By dawn on turn 16 the undead stragglers will be done for. Send your army back across the ford and split it into two groups, one northwest to kill the orcish warlord (who might be beset by a spectre) and one east to kill the Death Knight. You will pick up the village defenders when you re-take the north castle. Make sure you put at least one red mage and one white mage with each group, and you're home free. I played this strategy and didn't lose a single unit.

'''Aggressive strategy:'''
Recruit/Recall an army and send them west to deal with the orcs; only one scout should head south and find the guards, which should then retreat to the sourthern castle. The downside is that this approach will lead to more night-time engagements; dont try this if you don't have several lvl-2 elves to begin with. The benefit is that you'll get more experience on the units that need it most: your elves and the human mages. The latter will stay with your host, and often be automatically recalled for free.

You will find that some villages in the north of the map contain ambushes. The burned village near your inital keep, plus three of the villages (including the burned one) near the ford contain allied troops; releasing these early would be a big help to defending the south castle.

===The Return of Trouble===
* Objective: Defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Kalenz dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/27/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kalenz.

This level has a no-breathing-room start - the east enemy is almost on top of you and has as much gold as you (at Great Mage). The mountains and starting camp are poor terrain for you as that terrain is better for orcs; cross your forces into the woods opposite where you have advantages in defence and movement.

Although you can recruit "raw" L2 units here, don't feel you need to recruit too many of them; the large number of enemy L2s attacking mean that it is hard to keep units in the front line alive, and so recruiting good numbers of units matters here. Recruiting a few druids and captains and recruiting L1 units for the bulk of the army works well.

The ally spends his forces quickly and his leader will die early, but you aren't required to keep him alive, so don't worry about him; when he dies it is even an advantage as it stops encouraging the orcs to go through the woods south of your position.

At lower skills, aim to knock out the east enemy early. His right flank is open but rests on the mountains, which is bad terrain for you - if you try to go around that way he can easily shift forces to meet you. Instead you can approach close to his keep through the woods; this, his left flank, usually isn't open but the AI isn't smart about keeping a proper line here. At Great Mage, you may not have the forces to spare to take him out (if you can even make an opening - he has plenty of units); instead slow him with a shaman when he pops out of his keep to attack and block him from getting back to recruit. Note: With the right recruits it is possible to snipe the east leader on the second turn (but rather difficult and low probability).

You should aim to maintain a line along the north part of the woods; the main line is down the west side of the woods for a few tiles and this is where Kalenz should be; and a line back east inside the wood for your left flank, to catch enemy units coming at you through the woods. Hold out in the woods for 2 days and the storm will eventually subside; you will probably have heavy losses but your survivors should all be L3 or close to it by the end. You can then seize villages and take out the enemy commanders.

===Shadows in the Dark===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kalenz, Chantal or Delfador (in the second part) die or turns run out.
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kalenz, Chantal.

You start with your Kalenz force, and get back your Delfador force during the scenario (he arrives in the SE). There are two necromancer leaders in this scenario, located west and south, and one Death Knight to the east, this last one being the most dangerous enemy of all—he even receives reinforcements on turns 7 and 11.

Grab all three holy waters near the start, but you should then move all your elven forces in one direction, head west to take out the first necromancer. The forest and water slows up most of the undead and so means that the undead converging from the other two camps won't catch you before you overwhelm and eliminate the enemy leader that you target. Because you are facing some L1 and L2 troops here, don't feel that you need to give the holy water to L3 units - a mix of L1 and L2 units is ideal and they should level all the way to L3 during the level. Recall any Elven sorcerers or shaman with good XP, and shaman are good extra recruits at the start, again to level to sorcerers.

Once you have knocked out the NW leader, your elven force should head south to take out the south leader, and Delfador's force, arriving on turn 12, can head north to take out the NE leader. By this point, keep your units in tight groups and don't let important units wander off by themselves at night, where Nightgaunts can surprise them.

Lots of the undead forces will spend the whole level floundering around in the north woods around your start camp, chasing but never catching you up.

===Save the King===
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Kalenz, Delfador, Chantal or Garard II die or turns run out.
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz, Chantal, a group of Delfador's companions having survived the previous scenario.

You don't have to worry about Garard—he is more than strong enough to resist the two southern enemies and his forces may even help defeat Zorlan. You get a big automatic recall of your white mages, Chantal, and a shock trooper and Kalenz; that's plenty to win with, but recruit some new elves as it gives you some units to give XP to, fodder to face the trolls with, and they are handy to take out the SW enemy faster (at Mage and above). An elven sorcerer is a good recall, but 1 is enough.

Zorlan should be simple; some of his units tangle with Garard's units in the river, so you should meet little opposition getting to his camp - which can be easily crushed with your mages. The onset of trolls at around first watch is the only dangerous moment, but once they have attacked, your mages and high level units can wipe them out mostly in one round. Then send Delfador and a couple of other units to take out the troll leader, and send some elves south with Kalenz to help Garard clean up and then take out the SW leader. Garard usually kills the SE leader by himself.

Try not to delay the initial battle to the north too much. Around turns 8-10, the two southern orc leaders will be ready to send a second wave of enemies, at least if they have not been finished by Garard's forces yet.

===Dark Sky Over Weldyn===

Just story.

===A New Ally===
* Objective: Defeat Gruv-Malal.
* Lose if: Delfador, Ulrek or Relgorn die or turns run out.
* Turns: 32.
* Starting units: Delfador.

This is a relatively easy scenario. You regain command of your original human army plus the rest of the troops from the Ford or Parthyn. Recruit and recall some mages and maybe one or two knights/paladins. You may also get a few L1s and you should be able to level up a couple by the end of the level. Move to Ulrek's keep - provided you have some units there by second watch, there is no danger of him being defeated. The dwarves wear down the undead and your mages get to clean up and take the XP.

===The Portal of Doom===
* Objectives:
*# Guide Delfador to the portal to close it.
*# Move all your units into the mine entrance where you came from, moving Delfador last.
* Lose if: Delfador dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40.
* Starting units: Delfador, Ulrek.

This is a small, narrow map where you need to move west-to-east and then back again. There are two enemy leaders on your way, recruiting skeletons and ghosts, and Illah-Malal appears with a strong body of undead troops on turn 9. There are two basic ways to approach this scenario:

''Option 1'': Going through the ice. Your main force should be dwarf warriors, with a few white mages or quick mages to weaken enemy units and to deal with nightgaunts and the like. Heavy-infantry are too slow on the ice. A knight (even better, a paladin) would also be useful here, due to the speed and for finishing off enemy units when the dwarves can't reach. Don't rush into the ice from the start, unless you're okay with heavy losses. Instead, defend at your camp to defeat the first wave of undead, then march over the ice to close the portal, letting the northern undead come to you. Don't worry too much about the villages to the north and focus on moving Delfador quickly to the portal. On the way back, Delfador can stay a little behind, while the rest of your army goes through the tunnel. After all, Delfador has to be the last one to exit through the mines.

''Option 2'': Going north, then south-east. The main goal is to get a strong army heavy on mages, shock troopers and paladins on the northern castle before Illah-Malal appears. The enemies from the east will be slow to catch up with you, except for ghosts which shouldn't be too much of a problem. Once you deal with the lich and his bodyguards—fortunately they arrive during the day—, you can move south, close the portal and go back to your base. With a little luck, this strategy can be used to beat the scenario quickly and with minimal losses.

Regardless of the way you play it, it's very likely that you will finish with very little or negative gold, but it won't matter much. From this point until the end of the campaign, gold carryovers will have little or no impact and it is normal that you will start these last scenarios with the minimum amount of gold each time.

===Showdown in the Northern Swamp===
* Objective: Defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Delfador, Lionel or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/28/32 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other: If you have any undead veterans from [[#The_Gate_Between_Worlds|The Gate Between Worlds]], then one of them has to give the final strike to Illah-Malal, otherwise Delfador has to do it.

There is a few holy water flasks at the start, but you may not have many fast, high-level units with powerful melee attacks to assign them. You get control of Lionel on turn 3 (plus a castle of L1 recruits), so you don't have to take villages off of him. It is recommended to save one of the holy water flasks for Lionel, and give the other two to Ulrek and Kalenz, or some other loyalist veteran (perhaps a Halberdier or a Knight). Your remaining recalls could be 2 white mages, a steelclad and a paladin (or a knight close to leveling - as it is an open level).

A good strategy here is to strike straight north and seize the south end of the bridge. The NE necromancer recruits dark adepts, and you will have to run a long way during the night to outrun them if you don't bottle them up at the crossing. Once you hold the bridge, a good melee unit and a white mage, plus some of the ally's archers, can easily hold off the NE forces. The NW enemies attack during the first night, and the main tricky bit is dealing with the nightgaunts and spectres here - just keep L2 and L3 melee units in the front line to meet the attack, then clean up with your mages. The SW enemy's units are slower and Lionel's recruits can help in that front, holding them in the western bridge. By keeping those two forces under control on the river crossings, you should have little difficulty crushing each in turn.

If you have undead units, one of them will have to finish the lich. Protect your undead units well and reserve them for that final hit. Use Delfador or other mages or holy water fighters to weaken the lich, but be careful not to accidentally reduce his hitpoints to zero with the wrong unit, or the lich will be fully healed and stronger than before.

===Prince of Wesnoth===
* Objective: Defeat Eldred.
* Lose if: Kalenz or Chantal die or turns run out.
* Turns: 20/22/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Kalenz, Chantal.

The central woods seem like a tempting spot to fight from, but you will struggle to maximise your recruitment and still get all your units across into it, because the southern enemy camp is close to your line of advance and he'll recruit fast cavalry that will catch up quickly with you. However, if you have quick units that can cross the river fast enough, fighting from the central forest will be very advantageous.

Alternatively, abandon all your villages and the rest of the level to the enemy and just defend the SW corner. Elves along the edge of the woods should be able to hold out and wear through the enemy. The number of L2 units, and the mages that the enemy recruit, mean that you will take casualties; but you will be killing a lot and scoring plenty of XP. A general mix of level 1, 2 and 3 units works well here; use the best units to hold tiles that can be attacked from several directions, which will deter the enemy from attacking them.

Once the initial wave of enemies is spent, mop up and proceed swiftly through the central woods and jump into an enemy camp to kill the general. You don't have to have much gold for the next level, but will want high-level units, so take time here to level some up if you don't have enough.

'''Alternative Strategy''' (crus4a8e)

I used the following on V1.8.5 (hard) with minimum starting gold of 100. While I had a tough struggle using the strategy described above, doing the following worked nicely and was quite a fun way of playing this scenario, too.

Recall the following units: 4 Avengers or Rangers, 2 Shydes. (Remember: Avengers/Rangers are invisible in the woods which comes in very handy in this scenario.)

Kalenz and the 2 Shydes stay in the western woods. Start moving them up to the northern part of the woods in the beginning and then back down south. Basically their job is not to get killed. ;-) So only attack single enemies and retreat whenever you are under serious attack.

The Avengers cross over into the central woods right away. Whenever only one or at most two enemy units are in reach, they attack or flag villages to become visible and lure individual enemy units into the woods. This also distracts most of the main enemy forces and stops them from attacking Kalenz.

Doing this for about 10 to 15 turns wears down the enemy forces quite easily. When only a few enemy units are left, move your 4 Avenger/Ranger units into the keep of either one enemy leader. You should be able to finish him off in 1 or at most 2 turns.

===Clash at the Manor===
* Objectives:
*# Defeat Pilafman.
*# Find the secret door.
* Lose if: Delfador, Kalenz or Chantal die, an enemy reaches a signpost or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/32/30 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz, Chantal.

As there are two roads and two signposts, you need to watch both routes. You can break your forces in two or just send one unit to keep an eye on the other route. If you wait at the edge of your forest, almost all the forces should come to you (Dragoons and Cavalry will try to escape instead), and you'll have the terrain advantage. Just be ready to counter anyone trying to make a run for it. You start with Chantal, and a second druid or shyde would be a good idea so that you have a healer and someone to entangle any royal guards. The rest of your recalls should be top melee units (e.g., champions and avengers.) After the assault is broken, the mopping up operation is just to kill the sitting duck leader.

The second phase of the level is a search; just explore the cave walls right below the northernmost encampment tile.

[Thrash: I don't think just sending a single unit to cover one route will work. If enemy sends a couple riders that way, you won't catch them.]

===Face of the Enemy===
* Objective: Defeat Sagus.
* Lose if: Delfador, Kalenz or Chantal die or turns run out.
* Turns: 20/22/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Delfador, Kalenz, Chantal.

Last level, so you don't have to worry about losses or leveling up; recall some sorcerers and a decent melee unit to take the holy water. The enemy recruits few units, so you don't have to cover all the passageways; just advance as a group by the shortest route to the keep, and keep side passages covered (the enemy sometimes uses nightgaunts to ambush and slip in through any gaps). Beware of putting Delfador in front, as the enemy can use Banebows like walking corpses for suicide attacks against him.

This scenario is fairly straightforward, so just play conservatively and coast to victory.

== See Also ==

* [[Mainline Campaigns]]

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

HeirToTheThrone

2013-08-28T16:30:24Z

Ericppp: /* Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged */

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad.

Some of the information in this walkthrough may be outdated, as the campaign has seen some changes over the years without the respective updates of the walkthrough. It is generally valid and useful, however.

The suggestions herein are mostly based on the ''Medium'' and ''Hard'' difficulty levels. It should be possible to win on the ''Easy'' difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into ''Medium'' to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]]—this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

There is a [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=39 subforum] for providing feedback on the scenarios of this campaign, with each scenario having its individual thread, where you can post feedback, read other players' comments and sometimes get your questions answered. Note, however, that some of the posts date back to 2004... remember to mind the post dates. The scenario forum threads also have the occasional replay attached to a post (the 'replay' savegame that gets created whenever you complete a scenario).

There are also some personal walkthrough forum posts, such as [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough]. Finally, [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough to "Heir to the Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations and commentary, to the first six scenarios.

'''Warning - spoilers ahead!'''

== Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged ==
* Objective: Move Konrad to the signpost.
* Lose if: Konrad or Delfador die or turns run out.
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador.

The orcs as well as your allies will levy a great many troops, you'll soon find yourself between the lines in a huge battle. All those units slugging it out can take quite some time, you may want to try two options on the Preferences dialog, "Accelerated Speed" or maybe even "Skip AI Moves".

This scenario is a "runner" scenario; on turn one, recruit a castle full of fresh recruits, and immediately make a break for it! If you're new to Wesnoth, getting Konrad out of there in one piece will be difficult enough and may require you to start over a couple of times. Hint: don't keep your units all lumped around Konrad, as a large host will attract the enemies' attention.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. Either way, you should send Delfador and most of your army straight north. This is a ruse, the sole purpose is to lure the enemy towards the road while Konrad (with only one or two level-1 bodyguards) makes his way towards the exit. There's no chance of winning by defeating all enemies, your troops should perform a skirmishing retreat westwards into the forest.

Other than getting Konrad on his way, the secondary objective you should pursue on this scenario is to gain some experience for your troops. Experience is gained by fighting; once a level of experience is reached, your units will "level up" and become more powerful units. Killing an opponent will give much more experience than just fighting, so you should try to arrange it in such a way that the unit you want to upgrade gets to deliver the ''coup de grâce''.

Now a few words about the units at your disposal. In–game, you cannot check the data of unknown units; if you want to take a peek anyway, check the [http://www.wesnoth.org/units/ Wesnoth Unit Tree].

* Fighters and Archers. Melee and ranged, all elvish warriors are capable of both, it's more a matter of emphasis than an actual distinction. When they level up, most should become Heroes and Rangers, repectively; you'll only need one or two Captains, and probably are better off without any Marksmen: spellcasters will serve the same purpose much better.

* Shamans are minor healers. As a rule of thumb, you should never enter into any scenario without at least one healer. Leveling up a Shaman is somewhat tricky, as they can do only very little damage. If you use stronger units to knock an enemy unit's HP down, you can move your shamans up from behind the lines to administer the finishing blow. As difficult as it is to level up a shaman, it is well worth the hassle. Druids will be standard healers, you want one (and possibly only one) of those as soon as possible. A Sorceress cannot heal at all, but is a powerful spellcaster. At their higest level, both will learn to fly and become very mobile.

* Scouts may seem weak, but there's more to them than meets the eye. While most riders suffer severe penalties in difficult terrain, the elvish variant can cross rivers, swamps and even mountains rather quickly and will usually even receive a reasonable defense modifier. Insofar, they're less like horsemen and more like fast infantry. Whether you employ them in numbers is a matter of taste, however, you should always remember that you have these extremely mobile units at your disposal.

* Konrad, your leader, starts most scenarios at a keep where he may recruit some troops, but that doesn't mean that he should stay there forever: Being always on the map, he may just as well make himself useful. Getting him to level two will earn him a bow as well as the "leadership" ability, both will come in handy time and again.

* Delfador, the Elder Mage, is insanely powerful (at least compared to your other troops for the time being). Mages usually aren't very sturdy, but at level 5 he has so many hit points that you don't have to worry too much about him—he'll survive quite a few counterattacks. Don't overcommit him, but the first few scenarios depend on his abilities to instantly slay nearly any opponent and soaking up some damage that would otherwise kill several of your (still minor) units.

Be careful and don't leave Konrad or Delfador on vulnerable positions at the end of your turns (where many enemies may be able to surround them), especially on ''hard'' difficulty, because all enemies will be particularly aggresive towards them. Remember to use the CTRL-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move.

Early finish bonus: 32 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Scenario 2 - Blackwater Port ==
* Objectives: Either
** Resist until the end of the scenario, or..
** Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Sir Kaylan die or turns run out.
* Turns: 12/12/9 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Haldiel.
* Other
** An extra loyal Knight unit as a bonus if the enemy leader is defeated on ''hard''.
** You can recruit horseman units now.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel, a loyal Horseman. The importance of loyalty is explained in [[CampaignStrategies#The_importance_of_loyalty|Campaign Strategies]].

'''Horsemen'''
:Now that's cavalry as we know it. Their charges can be truly devastating if somewhat suicidal, as your ally will demonstrate soon. Employing charge attacks takes a little getting used to, as it differs so much from ordinary melee. Keep an eye on the "Damage Calculations" until you get the knack of it.<br>

Back to topic: If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or who have specific traits that you need. Hole up in the forest on your side of the road (so the enemy has to stand on the plains to face you). Feel free to seize a few villages from your ally, he won't complain. If you have a unit to spare, you may even take the villages next his castle. Matter of fact, this is a prudent move – after all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw some orcs south, reducing the pressure on your actual army and giving you more freedom to shape the battle. However, be careful to not let him get pinned down and killed.

Sir Kaylan will send one or two horsemen to the enemy lines to assist you. Although these horsemen are not under your direct control, they can serve as a distraction if you manoeuver your forces properly, taking the brunt during the enemy's turn to attack.

The first night will be tough, be prepared to lose some units; but if you use the terrain to your advantage, you should have enough of an army left to launch a serious counterattack during the next day. The momentum should keep you going even through the next night and you may soon find yourself besieging the enemy keep. However, the actual objective is merely to survive – if everything fails, you may still retreat behind the swordsmen guarding Sir Kaylans fortress.

There is an early finish gold bonus for killing the enemy leader, however, it will probably be small. In other words: rushing it won't be worthwhile, instead you should play it safe: manoeuver carefully and try to get some experience to those units that need it most. By the end of this scenario, you really ought to have a Druid—that's absolutely vital. Next in line should be an elvish Fighter (make him a Captain) and Konrad, anything else is optional. But the more the merrier as they say.

If you're playing on ''hard'' and manage to kill the orc leader, you will receive a special reward: Simyr, a loyal Knight with the ''intelligent'' trait, will join your army. This might very well be worth the effort, but it will not be an easy challenge. There have been, however, reports from users who have achieved this. You need some good luck distracting most the enemies away from the keep, enough to leave an opening for a few horseman units to charge on the leader during the day (on turn 8/9) in order to finish him off.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Scenario 3 - Isle of Alduin ==
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad or Delfador die or turns run out.
* Turns: 34/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador.
* Other
** A loyal mage named Elrian is hiding in a village near your keep.
** After finding Elrian, you'll be able to recruit magi.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and magi.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with magi. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember magi work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to leveling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably magi and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

A note about playing with Magi: They are weak units, but become important later in the game. Over the next few levels, you'll want to level at least two Magi to White Magi for later in the game; they have an arcane (or holy) attack which does incredible amounts of damage to the undead. Fire Magi can eventually level up to level 4 Great Magi, which are walking killing machines, and Fire Magi do decent damage to most other units, especially trolls and skeletons. Magi are weak, however, so they need to be guarded by stronger units. Don't let the enemy have more than one attack position on them.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Scenario 4 - Bay of Pearls ==
* Objective: Either
** Defeat one enemy leader, and resist the other until turns run out, or
** Defeat all enemy leaders (early finish bonus).
* Lose if: Konrad dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 27/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad.
* Other
** A storm trident is located on the northwest.

Opening moves: On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on: by the end of your very first turn, you should have at least five mermen in the water.

Watch out: there's one cage far out at sea that's easily overlooked. The first Merman you set free tells you as much, but if you skip the message... Anyway, it is guarded by two nagas. Send two or (at most) three Mermen up there and *do not* fight it out: get the cage first, then kill the nagas with the help of the mermen from that cage. It holds at least four Mermen, on of them an Initiate. The latter may become a healer, try to get her experienced as soon as possible.

Even further north than the last cage there's a trident in the water. It will confer a powerful ranged attack to its bearer. Have a "quick" merman pick it up (who should eventually become a Hoplite).

The remaining mermen should try to hold the sea leaders' recruits at bay. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal. Don't push too hard, especially not at night when your attacks are weak. Keeping your loyal mermen alive is more important than the possession of a village, and things will look much better on the next day. If that doesn't suffice, the troops from the deep-sea cage may lend a hand.

It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so eventually your need to do this. The Storm Trident and the Initiate both have magic attacks (70% to-hit regardless of terrain) and should go a long way... you better attack him during the day, even if it means that you need to wait for a few turns.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and wolves. Your decision is how far west to engage the enemy, though really, you have little choice: You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. Some wolves may reach you in the night, but the bulk of his army won't arrive until daybreak. Press hard during the day, and there will be little left of his army when the night comes.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, your loyal mage, and an elven fighter to level-2 (if you haven't already).

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose (and get an early finish bonus).

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up many units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players or those who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise may wish to consider the sea route to the Isle of the Damned, where you will find a loyal White Mage who *might* join you... if you meet some very tough winning conditions. Either choice will be a battle against undead.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 5A - Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 5B - Isle of the Damned ===
* Objective: Either
** Resist until turns run out, or
** Defeat all enemy leaders (special bonus)
* Lose if: Konrad dies.
* Turns: 28/26/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delurin (an Outlaw) and two Merman Fighters
* Other
** Thugs, Poachers and Footpads can be recruited in this scenario.
** Moremirmu, a White Mage with a special melee attack can be found in one of the temples in the middle of the map.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Delurin, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

While your new units might seem weaker than your old troops, they are chaotic like their undead opponents and Thugs and Footpads deal useful impact damage. Use the Footpads effectively to hold your line and the Thugs to deal the main portion of the damage.

Mermen can be used successfully to harass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though - their pierce damage does very little to the undead, especially at night. Mermen are also useful to hold the many isolated villages scattered throughout the map.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated. There are only a few ways to achieve the early finish. One involves recalling mermen from the previous scenario, including the one with the magical trident, and sending them to kill the southern lich, while land troops attack the other.

The other two center on Moremirmu. Get Moremirmu early, and send him along with a few footmen and thugs north, and use other units to draw fire. Meanwhile, secure the rest of the center of the map from the south. If Moremirmu can finish off the first Lich in time, send that group south -- it takes 10 turns to reach the other Lich, so you'll need to accomplish this by Turn 16! The alternative is to simultaneously send a large force south with Konrad, lure the Lich onto bad ground and surround it.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== Scenario 6 - The Siege of Elensefar ==
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Konrad dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/32/29 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, one veteran unit (typically an elf).
* Other
** A group of thieves/rogues join your party in the first few turns.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way - but casualties will probably be lower than if you do it the slow way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that the undead are well on their way to join the orcs occupying the city. Speed is a factor.

Konrad will receive some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties. Also, don't forget that mages can't take a lot of abuse, especially from melee attacks. You will have to figure out how to use your less effective elvish units and horsemen to shield your mages.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Scenario 7 - Crossroads ==
* Objective: Defeat the north-eastern enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 37/34/31 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other
** There are many enemies hidden in the mountains, placed at random.
** Two loyal units, an elf fighter and an elf archer, join you.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

Note: The first two villages on the screen that you will likely attempt to grab trigger an Elvish Fighter and Elvish Archer to join your party and warn you about the hills. Keep in mind that they, too, are Loyal troops.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== Scenario 8 - The Princess of Wesnoth ==
* Objective: Force Li'sar to surrender.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 31/28/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and one veteran (typically an elf).

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

[hipparchos] Patience is the key here. I send a couple of L2 horsemen north to take the northern villages, then cover your left flank. A couple of mermen swing south to take the southern ones, then cover your right flank. (The storm-trident merman stays on the village next to the mineshaft will deal with the Duellists.) But I put the bulk of my army on the west bank of the river, ''without crossing it''. Let the enemy come to you, because they will be much easier to defeat when they're standing in the river, and that's especially true as the Princess recruits L2 defenders later in the scenario. The bridge is the northern end of your main line, and Delfador can defend it easily with one other strong unit. Only after all the Princess's defenders have been defeated do you cross the river and take her keep.

== Scenario 9 - The Valley of Death ==
* Objective: Survive for 12 turns.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die.
* Turns: 12/12/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Moremirmu (if unlocked on the ''Isle of the Damned'' scenario).
* Other
** The map contains two holy water objects, useful for attacking undead enemies.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

You'll be facing many level-2 undead. They're all dangerous but two kinds require special attention:
* Spectres (level2 ghosts) are fast in every terrain, somewhat hard to hit, resistant to all common kinds of damage, and have a draining attack. Attacking them in melee is not recommendend, killing them with arrows will eventually work but takes many arrows. They are vulnerable to arcane spells and fireballs, though.
* Walking Corpses: they're slow, they're weak, they're fragile. Usually nothing to worry about, but this time they're many. Hordes. Night of the Living Dead. A strong fighter will easily slay them, but that can become his downfall: an attacking corpse that gets killed makes room for the next corpse to move in and attack... and the next, and the next, and each one gets a few blows. Even a Paladin or Champion will eventually be overwhelmed, taking around ten or fifteen zombies with him. Whether you consider this to be a good exchange is up to you. Incidentally, something similar can happen between Paladins and level-1 Skeletons.

The castle you start in is a well-defensible position, but all enemies arrive at about the same time. Once surrounded, you'll have very little wiggle room or inside tiles for your wounded units to retreat to. Filling the moat with Mermen might work a bit better, but their tridents won't impress the skeletons.

You should consider attacking the southern enemy, then hole up in his castle and the surrounding hills. This increases the distance to the others: their troops will reach you later and they will be strung out, so you don't have to fight them all at once.

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes—but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen (or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

[edit: Viper] On medium, I found that I could only make this strategy work by save/loading <b>and</b> by using knights or better for the Litches (as horsemen could not do the job in a single turn even hitting on every attack).

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Scenario 10 - Gryphon Mountain ==
* Objectives: Defeat the mother gryphon and the enemy commander.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 27/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 24 gold / turn
* Other:
** Killing the mother gryphon is optional, but doing it allows you to recruit gryphon riders in the future.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robryn, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and a few sleeping Gryphons.

If you manage to kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will—and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

== Scenario 11 - The Ford of Abez ==
* Objective: Move Konrad to the north side of the river.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 27/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other:
** A storm trident is located in the middle of the river.

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. Killing the Princess is meant to be impossible: she has plenty of troops as is, and if you actually get near her there will be numerous high-quality reinforcements. Do not even try to attack her, it will be a waste of good troops for no gain. Instead, fill the river with mermen: this is an excellent opportunity to get many of them leveled up.

But first things first: your task is to get Konrad across the river. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. All will happily fight each other if they ever meet, but with your army standing right between them in the middle of the river... it will pretty much seem as if everyone was out to get you.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. If you have some of the flying elvish units, they move and fight equally well over land or water. Wait for the Orcs and Humans to get into the water where the mermen have excellent defence while the landlubbers do not.

Even if you have the money, don't recruit for more than two turns, otherwise Konrad might not even make it into the river. The scenario ends as soon as he makes it to the other side (off the beach and onto flat ground) -- by the time he gets there, there will be few orcs left on that shore, Kalenz and Delfador can well deal with them. If you recruit any land troops at all (healers perhaps?), make sure they have at least two moves in shallow water.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your mermen some XP, and you don't really need the early finish bonus.

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8716 forum discussion]

== Scenario 12 - Northern Winter ==
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them).
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 50/40/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a veteran (knight or mage).
* Early finish bonus: 47 / turn
* Other
** Snow falls on more and more tiles every turn, until the whole map is covered in snow by the time turns run out.

This is a relatively simple scenario. The enemy will mostly raise level-1 wolf riders and orcish archers, plus the occasional level-2 Ogre or Troll. You can field a similar mix of mostly fresh recruits plus a few veterans. Throughout the scenario, the wolves will attempt to seize villages, often bypassing your forces: a few Elvish Scouts behind your lines will come in handy. Alternatively, your loyal Thieves can play hide-and-seek just as well. Don't overrecruit, though: there's only so many units you can actually bring to bear on the enemy. You've got enough time to win this twice, so you may chose to take it slow and milk this battle for experience. You'll still end this with more than enough gold in your coffers.

== Scenario 13 - The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objective: Move Konrad to the entrance of the dwarven tunnels.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 26/20/15 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, one experienced Rider, one outlaw unit (if you have any).

You may defeat all enemy leaders if you feel like it, but this won't end the scenario. The sole winning condition is to get Konrad to the entrance of the Dwarven Kingdom. Actually, there are two entrances: the "Great Gates", clearly labeled as such, and a less conspicious side entrance in the north-eastern corner. Only one of these is open, the other is blocked from the inside (determined at random).

You start the scenario with one rider who suggests to scout ahead: that's a good idea, even though you may chose another unit for the task (the game picks the most experienced). If you happen to have a ''quick'' Lancer, it could be a good idea to use it for this purpose, but anyone reaching an entrance will tell you whether it's open or not.

Alternatively, if you played the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about his uncle who used to have business with the dwarves, hiding in a village along the way (at position [18,24], you'd probably seize it anyway). The uncle is a loyal bandit who joins your troops; he also tells you which entrance to chose, main gate or mine tunnels. It pays off to actually read that dialog.

The most minimalistic approach is to recruit one castle full of cavalry and RUN. The enemies have to cover some distance and cross difficult terrain in order to get in you way -- if Konrad starts running on turn one, he can move past them practically unopposed. It falls to the cavalry to bring up the rear: let them form a line somewhere near the Pillars of Thunedain while Konrad, Delfador and the other walkers keep going. Holding the line for a single turn is enough, then the riders may follow Konrad, leaving the pursuers behind and unable to catch up again (except for the wolves, but there shouldn't be many).

You can still follow this basic principle if you recruit for two turns, adding a healer or two and perhaps some Rangers (their ambushes will stop many opponents). If you recruit for more than two turns, this will become a rather normal battle: your rearguard can no longer disengage, but will have to keep on fighting. There's nothing wrong with that, you can gain quite some experience that way, just don't forget the actual objective.

It's useful to know that moving any unit close to the small lake near the main entrance (any position inside the square between [10, 10] and [15, 15]) will cause an aquatic monster to appear. It will attack anything that moves (including orcs and trolls) and poisons its victims, so watch out.

Konrad needs to get into the mines. Scenario ends with early finish bonus as soon he does so.

== Scenario 14 - Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objective: Find the dwarves.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other:
** Secret pasage in south-western part of the tunnel.

In principle, this is quite simple. You cannot recruit and just have to walk down that corridor until you find the dwarves—you can't possibly miss them. You will be attacked by a few bats. They may hurt, that's all. This is mostly a lesson: see how slow Kalenz is in the caves? Notice his abysmal terrain defense? Clearly, this is no place for elves.

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southwest. Just stick to the wall, step by step, and you'll eventually find it. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty spider: watch out! It's a level-3 beast that poisons and slows.

After you're done with the bats, you can just sit there and wait until your men are healed again. There is no turn limit, after all. Once you found the secret door, do not get in. Step back a bit and the spider will rush out where you can attack her three to one. You should be able to kill her in a single turn, don't worry about getting poisoned—you won't die from poison and there are no other enemies left. However, if you fail to kill her quickly... you saved the game, didn't you?

== Scenario 15 - The Lost General ==
* Objective: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two).
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 64/60/54 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other
** A loyal Dwarvish Ulfserker can be found by a merman in this scenario.
** If the allied dwarf leader is saved in this scenario, you will then be able to recruit Dwarvish Guardsman units.

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recalling, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a Gryphon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

If the dwarf leader survives (and you actually reveal him), Dwarvish Guardsman will become available. It is easy to underestimate the importance of these units. Their defensive capabilities can be greatly appreciated towards the end of the campaign, especially in the last two scenarios.

Note: If you recall/recruit a merman and send it to the pond, then have it go to the whirlpool, it will arrive in a hidden cavern with a friendly ulfserker. Once your merman returns to the whirlpool through the other end, it will carry the ulf with it.

== Scenario 16 - Hasty Alliance ==
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 33/30/27 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

The way I did it was to recruit a keep of thieves (the cheapest unit) and move Delfador and Kalenz out of the way. Then my allies were able to send help over so that I could get 'real' units on my second turn without suffering casualties. One thief survived and I got a Rogue with 36/56 XP by the end of the scenario! -CountPenguin

== Scenario 17 - The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objective: Capture the Sceptre of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 50/45/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** 300 gold gift from Li'sar.
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus.
** Randomly generated map.

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the Sceptre is.

There's three or four enemy leaders, depending on difficulty. The map is randomly generated; there's no telling how many villages there are and where... but more often than not, it's something like 25 villages and most will be placed where you can seize them early. The scenario certainly feels as if you're in for a major underground struggle, but the enemy leaders have little money to begin with and -usually- they won't have much of an income either.

Usually there's two large tunnels going north, and quite often you meet little resistance in one, and quite a lot in the other -- though the latter still doesn't qualify as tough. You can gain quite some XP in the contested tunnel, just form a shieldwall with (mostly) guardians, play it safe, and you can level up some 4-8 dwarves. It's a good idea to station Kalenz here, his faerie fire will help a lot against the occasional lvl-3 Troll.

Meanwhile, The Princess, Delfador, one healer and several of your better dwarves should move up the less contested corridor and scout the map. The Scepter usually is somewhere about 2/3rds up the map. You may encounter the occasional enemy... it's alright to buzz off in all directions, but make sure that everyone has a line of retreat and may receive support within a turn or two.

The scenario ends as soon as Konrad or the Princess gets to the scepter. You may delay this a bit in order to milk a few more XP, but there's not that many more to be gained by then. All things considered, it's better to let Li'sar have the scepter -- she'll be with you until the end, she has no ranged attack, and while Konrad will often be held back by recruiting, Li'sar can be in the frontline from turn one.

Note: When the earth rumbles, something actually happens. There are lava chasms in various places, and these grow when there is a rumble, so keep your units away.

== Scenario 18 - A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objective: Defeat either of the leaders.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 33/30/27 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Other:
** The next two scenarios are three different routes to the Elven kingdom, depending on the enemy leader you kill:
*** Northern (Orcish) leader: [[#Scenario 19A - Snow Plains | The Snow Plains]] where you can get the Flaming Sword (15-4, magical), followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** Southern (Undead) leader: [[#Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread|The Swamp Of Dread]] where you can get the Void Armor (high resistance to blade, pierce, impact) , followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** If you take a merman east on the river to the edge of the map, you will brave [[Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria|Cliffs of Thoria]] which (used to be) an insanely difficult battle where you can find a loyal Sergeant (may become a level-4 leader). It will be followed by [[Scenario 20B - Underground Channels|Underground Channels]].
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts.
** First real chance to level gryphons.

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

Going south is the easiest way: the Orcs coming from the north may only cross the river at the bridge, a choke-point that's easy to block. In fact, a determined attack may defeat the undead before the bulk of the Orcs even makes it to the bridge. Fighting the Orcs in the hills will take longer while the undead can walk through deep water or fly over it, crossing the river wherever they like.

Going south will also the most prudent choice when considering the possible goodies: currently, Li'sar goes into battle wearing lingerie. While a magic sword or a loyal leader might come in handy, you don't need them as badly as the Princess needs a suit of armor.

The undead need to be dealt with even if you don't want to kill their leader. Delfador, Kalenz and Li'sar all have undead-killing ranged attacks (you ''did'' give her the scepter, didn't you?) — add two more Mages (one of them a healer) and three dwarfish Steelclads as bodyguards. Recruit those on turn one and move them to a position where they may receive the Chocobones' attack by dusk. You need at least steelclads in order to survive their charge. However, after the Chocobones are gone the remaining undead ought to be manageable even if you don't throw any more troops that way (though you may do so if you're after the undead and want this to be finished quickly). You may need a few turns' rest before you can tackle the Death Knight, but eventually your spellcasters should dispose of him quickly.

In order to hold back the Orcs, a few elves plus a healer are enough to secure your end of the bridge; the Orcs will be reluctant to attack even level-1 archers during the day, and if you employ more and better troops (like, level-3 loyalists in the woods and a few mermen in the water) the Orcs may not even attack at night. There's not much experience to be gained that way, though. If you want to actually fight the Orcs, you should get to the other side and meet them there. There's plenty of mountains, an excellent opportunity to get some more experience to your dwarves (you will have good use for high-level Dwarves later on). Dwarves, Gryphons and Orcs all have high defense in the mountains, so fighting will be slow.

It will be a long walk to the northern leader even after you rubbed out his army. You might consider an assassination: send like 4-6 suicidal gryphons to his keep. Bonus points if you have a Silver Mage (teleport!). Of course, you can assassinate him without defeating his host first. just wait until his army is too far away to turn back and help him.

Talking about Gryphons... this is the first time that you can really use them. Gryphons alone won't really impress the Orcs, not even when supported by leaders and healers (they're level-1 units, after all). They may however seize a few villages, harass and distract the enemy, track down wounded units and so on. You should certainly get a few.

They must have changed this scenario. As of v 1.9.5 at medium level it's absurdly easy. I recruited just one keep (two paladins, two mages of light, and two griffons). Then charged for the undead leader (South) and wiped him and his evil minions out by the end of turn 9. The griffons didn't even get in the fight. The Orcs hadn't even reached the river bridge. ~ Sojourner, 4/16/11.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 19A - Snow Plains ===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out.
* Turns: 43/40/37 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Other:
** Obtain the Flaming Sword.
** Li'sar will tell you about her relationship with her mother.

The main feature of this scenario, as its name suggests, is the terrain. Both armies will be slowed down by the snow. You may try recalling thieves and elves, who are not slowed down as much as other types of units. Another good choice is horsemen (Knights, Paladins, Lancers), which will have a field day, given that the enemy tends to scatter some of its units throughout the map where they will be sitting targets.

You can find the Flaming Sword—a remarkable weapon of type melee-fire, magical, and with damage 15-4—on the great tree at [29,9]. You can equip it to one of your fighter heroes (Konrad, Kalenz, Li'sar) or any unit from the Elvish Fighter line, or to Paladins. A good idea is to give it to the unit you like to use the most in your front lines (but not to the same person with the Sceptre of Fire).

The Orcish leader will have a good flow of income, so once you gain control of the map, you can milk the battle for experience, in case any of your units need it.

=== Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread ===
*Objective: Defeat the main enemy leader (Lich Lord at the SW corner)
*Bonus Objectives: Defeat all the minor enemy leaders (4 Death Knights)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 33/30/27 (easy/medium/hard)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
*Early finish bonus: 26/turn (on Medium difficulty)
*Other:
**Void Armor from one of the enemy leaders.

The swamp of dread isn't all that dreadful. This is a 5-castle map and there are lots of undead, but they are mostly levels 0 and 1 - nothing like Princess' Revenge. The terrain is unfavorable (swamp and sand, but hampers the Undead as much as you; and if you have a preference for Gryphons or Merman, the mobility advantage will be yours.

The swamp is good terrain for your Mermen. Those with attacks that hurt the undead (the ones with Storm Tridents, Netcasters, Priestesses...) or any level 3 unit can make quite a difference. However, be aware that the campaign is coming to an end and you'll probably have little use for Mermen in the following battles; so while the Mermen may well lend a hand, any experience they gain will effectively be wasted. (However, the next two levels do include rivers, so if you really insist you could still use Mermen later.)

One of the Death Knights (chosen randomly) drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (50% blade, 40% impact and 40% pierce, instead of whatever previous values they had). Since Li'sar is very vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor. You might consider keep her in the center at first so she doesn't have to walk across the whole map if the armor appears at the other end. Note, however, that by the time you get the armor you're probably close to clearing the level anyway, so better to think of it as an end-of-scenario perk rather than an intermediary objective playing the scenario.

Some of the Lich's power seems to be tied to the death knights; killing all four will hurt the Lich for about half its hit-points.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10269 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria ===
* Objectives:
*# Make it to the end of the river, to the east.
*# Reach the cave with Konrad.
* Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 55/50/45 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, a Merman veteran.
* Early finish bonus: 27 per turn
* Other:
** Loyal Sergeant on SE corner island.
** A storm trident is located near the first two islands.
** You find small amounts of gold on each drake base you conquer.

After a little spat between Kalenz and the merman you use to go east, you'll head for the Cliffs of Thoria. You'll find a long water level full of derelict vessels of the Queen. You'll also meet a Drake. After some conversation you discover that the Queens' forces attacked the Drakes, and now the Drakes will stop you from going forward. Since you have to move forward, you'll have to fight them.

There are a number of small islands on this map with Drake bases. Each base will produce one Drake every few turns until one of your units occupies the base. This means that although the drakes may run out of money, they will never run out of reinforcements. In order to win this, you need to kill them faster than they spawn new recruits. No easy task.

Further, if you find that you can't win in a direct assault and want to bypass the drakes by going through the swamps, you'll discover very powerful undead enemies guarding the shoreline. They won't move, but any casualty will be immediately replaced by a new unit. Clearly, that area is cursed. Just avoid the dark blue water. It's impossible to get into the swamps, any attempt will be a waste of time.

There is an opportunity to pick up a wonderful loyal unit, although you may wish to skip the challenge if you don't have good gold reserves and a sufficient number of leveled-up mermen.

Among the choices presented in the previous scenario, this map has historically been intended to be the hardest one of all. However, as of version 1.10.x, this map has been made significantly easier. The main difference is that now the drakes come out at a slower rate from their bases, and they are much more passive in general. With careful strategy and by progressing steadily through the map—not moving your gryphons ahead too quickly—you should be able to beat it without a lot of pain. At any rate, this scenario is no longer the monumental challenge it used to be.

Hire many gryphons and Merfolk. Since each base creates a unit every few turns, to destroy a base you have to kill its occupant or wait until it flies towards one of your units, and then move a unit onto the base as quickly as possible, before a new drake comes out of it. Since Merfolk can't move onto mountains, you'll need gryphons for that.

Drakes are vulnerable to piercing and arcane damage, so elvish arrows can be useful, as can your healers as spellcasters, but don't get too many landlubbers—most of the fighting will happen in or over the water. Level-1 mermen will either die quickly or level up; high-level mermen will wreak havoc on the drakes. However, you need a good many level-2 mermen to begin with. Rookies alone cannot maintain the constant pressure you need, and the turn limit is short enough as it is.

When you finally make it to the far side, you'll be told that the waterfall is impassable: you need Konrad to reach the marked "cave entrance" in the middle of the northern edge of the map. Start walking early, he'll take a while.

A loyal leader can be found on the island at the South-Eastern corner of the map. He's badly hurt and poisoned, but you will probably have the time to clear the surroundings and level him up using the undead swamp guards.

Comment: The decreased difficulty combined with the easily available XP in shape of the undead guards unbalances the rest of the campaign badly. If this is not intended, choose another road.

== Divergent Campaign Paths ==

=== Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves ===
* Objectives:
* Konrad must reach the Lintanir forest, at the East of the map, and hold that position until a turn is over.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 18
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

You reach this scenario from either [[Scenario 19A - Snow Plains]] or [[Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread]].

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

However, even in the fog you can see the terrain, including the enemy keeps. The Orcs start in the North central part of the map, while the humans begin in the South-East. What you can't see are the large hosts of level-3 units standing near their respective camps: these are the armies, and *they will not move* unless someone walks into their striking range. Getting at an enemy leader will be difficult indeed, but if you're content with moving past the armies you'll only have to cope with the level-2 vanguards seeking each other.

You start with up to 3 loyal units which can move six or more hexes per turn (provided you kept this many alive), in addition to the 4 heroes (Konrad, Li'sar, Kalenz and Deflador). You many recruit an additional encampment of more troops (i.e. 6 more); it's probably best to get only riders, be they human, elf or gryphon. Most of them should be level-2 at least. If you want to bring a healer, get the fastest on your roster (a quick Elvish flyer, perhaps?) and make sure it's spawned at the right side of your keep.

There is some dialogue to remind you that the winning condition is to move Konrad into the forest, while keeping Li'sar, Delfador and Kalenz alive; everyone else is "not important". During the game, some Elvish riders will show up and happily demonstrate how sacrificing a single unit can keep many others safe; they do it so well that you probably don't need to sacrifice any units of your own, but now you know how it works.

The dialogue makes you expect a large battle between Humans and Orcs, but no one tells you that the Elves (who have a keep in the woods) will also recruit a large force, and attack anyone in sight; you'll probably see your first Human warriors much later than you'd expect and find that they're busy enough fighting the elves. So you only really have to deal with the Orcs; once you're confident that they can't get at Konrad anymore, he can move on pretty much on his own. Your troops may turn around and fight the remaining Orcs, or join the Elves and steal a few kills there, or whatever. Have Konrad stop short of the forest to give your troops more time for fighting if you feel like it.

Delfador will tell you when Konrad enters the domain of the Elves, but the scenario won't end then: you need to finish your turn and let everyone else have one last chance to attack your troops. If Konrad is still alive at the beginning of your next turn, you've won.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10270 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 20B - Underground Channels ===
* Objective: Find the exit from the underground and move Konrad to it.
* Lose if: Death of Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar, Kalenz, or turns run out.
* Turns: 80/70/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Delfador, Kondrad, Li'sar and Kalenz.
* Early finish bonus: 54 per turn

You start at the far South West of a large map, consisting of mostly cave, river and swamp areas. In the North West is a friendly Wose leader who will send a few level one Woses, and at the far North East is the entrance, and some friendly elvish units. In the middle is an ancient Lich who recruits level 2 and 3 undead, and in the South East is a small group of Saurians.

This level is relatively easy, especially with the high-level Mermen you should have from the Cliffs of Thoria. You can recruit on keep of level 2 and 3 Mermen and Dwarves, and either run North and then East for a quick finish, bypassing most enemies, go East and then North, farming some experience from the Saurians, or slowly kill every enemy on the map before continuing. Be careful if you choose to fight the undead though, as the ancient Lich can kill most of your units in one turn, and his recruits, though not numerous, are powerful. If you choose to fight the undead, the mermen who got the tridents in previous scenarios, as well as any Mermaid Priestesses or Diviners will be extremely useful.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=20315 forum discussion].

== Scenario 21 - The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Scenario 22 - Return to Wesnoth ==
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders: 2 Loyalist Generals, 1 Orcish Warlord.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 31/28/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.

Three Halbardiers appear as enemy reinforcements in the lower southeastern corner of the map when you slay the nearest general, Josephus (just South of your encampment). The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack.

You can use the forests to your advantage: Elven troops are best in forest, while the Loyalists and Orcs are seriously slowed by the trees. On the other hand, nobody said your enemies will be that interested in frolicking in the forest when they have more accessible enemies outside of it.

How about Gryphons? Your enemies will be recruiting level-2 and level-3 units, and the Halbardiers are level-3, so relying on a force of Gryphon riders, or even Gryphon masters, will probably not work out too well. However, a pair of Gryphons (especially quick ones) can work great for village captures, doubling as an effective diversion, especially with respect to the Halbardiers. Watch these heavy-hitters comically wading through the thick brush of the South-East forest as you fly circles around them.

Your enemies aren't very rich, so while their recruits are powerful - they're also few in numbers. This means their defensive formations will have gaps. Add the fact that, except for the Goblin Knights, your enemies are on the slow side, and you find that using mounted units could be opportune. The downside for these is the Halbardiers' first strike: A lancer or Knight taking ~38 damage before touching his enemy is not a pretty sight. Take these out with your heroes instead (Delfador, Kalenz and whoever has the scepter), or units with ranged attacks.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10272 forum discussion]

== Scenario 23 - Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Either:
** Defeat all 4 enemy leaders (Grand Knights), or
** Kill (25/35/50) enemy units in total (on Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 53/50/47 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Early finish bonus: 54 Gold per turn (on Medium difficulty)

This is a large map against mostly Knights, Lancers, and Bowmen. The map is mostly open plains, which is an ideal battlefield for mounted units. The easiest way to complete the scenario is to keep all your units in one group and take them en mass to the enemy. Fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. Units with pierce attacks (Archers, Shydes, Knights) will deal high damage to the mounted enemy units (which have low pierce resistance).

Expect heavy losses from the charge attacks, but don't fret, because this is the second-to-last scenario. You'll want to finish this scenario quickly to get a nice gold bonus for the next level.

Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of Dwarves or Elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a relatively safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the South-Eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the South flank.

If you want to defeat all the clan leaders before killing the maximum allowed number of units (which ends the scenario), recruit a castle of Healers, then recruit a good force of Gryphon Riders. Grab as many villages as is safe, and then position your Gryphons on the deep water in the lake. The next castleful of recruits is your main army and two more Gryphon Rides. March this South, take out the South-Eastern leader, then send the two Gryphons to the group in the lake.

As soon as the majority of the North-Western leader's troops move away from him, assassinate him with your Gryphons. He should die in 1-2 rounds of attacks, assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the South-East, recruit a couple of castles' worth of Gryphon Riders and send them west to take on the South-West (Black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your Gryphons cross the river on the offensive, the AI usually moves troops back in to defend with. You should be able to outrun these. Converge all the Gryphons you have left on the middle leader (Purple). I won around turn 25, giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

An alternative strategy for defeating the enemy leaders relies on Li'sar being equipped with both the Scepter of Fire and the Void Armor. This makes her very difficult to hit and very effective against the mounted units (they have no ranged attacks, plus, if they try to lance her they're up against 26-4). What's more, the AI will tend to ignore her: Individual units will tend to not approach her, and groups will go after her escort if she has any. This means she can mount an effective attack together with a very small escort on the South-Eastern leader right away; and after that, the escort can pretty much leave her to go after the Black leader in the South-West alone. In the mean time, A force of Knights or Gryphons might go forward to dispatch the North-Western leader. Then whoever i's left converges on Bayar in the West.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10273 forum discussion].

== Scenario 24 - The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere (thus claiming the throne for Li'sar)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46 gold per turn (and what's that good for, exactly?)

One good strategy for this scenario is to set up a defensive line around your fort, and let the enemy come to you. You'll want to make sure the units on your front line can survive the beating they receive for at least one turn, after which you rotate them with freshly healed units. Don't attack the attackers if it means your unit won't have enough HP to survive the next thrashing. Three or Four healers will be needed behind the lines, and keep them fully occupied (remember that healers will heal every unit adjacent to them for 8 HP. They're like walking sets of 6 villages).

For front-line units, Dwarvish Guardsman, even Level-1, are excellent; they'll take a good beating but not lose too many HP because of their steadfast attribute, on top of their basic resistance to Pierce (read: lance) attacks. Because they don't lose many HP, they'll also heal quickly. Only attack the enemy if no HP will be lost. Guardsmen can throw a spear at the attacker on every turn if the attacker has no ranged attack.

Other units that are good for the front line are any unit with more than 50 HP. Elvish Marshals will make your Dwarvish Guardsmen or Stalwarts even more awesome. Dwarvish Lords have an incredible 79HP and can dish it out back to the enemy. Unfortunately, after a good thrashing, these units will take a long time to heal back up because of the large number of HP lost.

If you have any Assassins, rotate them up and down the line, poisoning enemy units. The enemies have very few villages available to them in your vicinity, so with three Assassins you can poison half the army until the enemies have a bunch of level three units walking around with 1HP each.

Once the enemy has no army left, you can just wander up to Asheviere and discuss her resignation over a cup of hot tea. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill. Or you could surround her with Elvish Shamans and get the last little bit of fun juice out of this game.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: Recruit six of them, right on Turn 1, and send them South. You'll
easily elude the forces of the Eastern general and reach the river (or just past it). Moving in for the kill, however, might prove more difficult than you think - unless you've used an effective distraction. Sending out six-packs of Knight recruits each turn works well. Asheviere herself will not have many troops surrounding her for protection, and might actually be stupid enough to leave her castle to attack your Gryphons. One has to wonder how she's held on to the throne this long with such a poor sense of judgement. You'll probably want to approach her from the South-West, as right South of her is the bridge on which the loyal Weldyn troops will be coming to get you.

Using this strategy it is possible to win within 6-7 turns, without any significant losses. If, however, you've not distracted well enough, Asheviere may divert up to half of her forces to get your Gryphons. But in this case, again - congratulations, you've won: You should have still about 20 living Knights to storm the city with, while too many of her troops are stuck finishing their roast Gryphon sandwiches.

Of course, in both of the above cases you would be relying on a good bonus from [[Test of the Clans]], which should be enough to win this scenario in any which way.

Another humorous brute-force way to win this battle is by relying purely on the diversion tactic mentioned above: An all-Knight rush. Knights are quite possibly the only Level-2 unit you can ever recruit in the mainline campaigns; with roughly 1,500 Gold from the plains battle, just send out loads of Knights to massacre the enemy with suicidal attacks. Just make sure to keep your heroes out of harm's way... It'll be a very bloody, but relatively short, win.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10271 forum discussion].

== Scenario 25 - Epilogue ==

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]][[Category:Campaigns - Heir to the Throne]]

DescentIntoDarkness

2013-08-27T19:05:09Z

Ericppp: Explain a little better the setup for this scenario /* Eternal Night */

=== Saving Parthyn ===
* Objectives: Defend the fort for two nights
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Drogan die
* Turns: 15
* Starting units: Malin Keshar, two Spearmen and a Bowman
You'll start the battle with three human soldiers. Recruit a lot of Walking Corpses.

Block the ford. Try to take advantage of terrain and time of day. You can take the opposite riverbank by rushing with your human units, but may get pushed back. That's okay, just try not to fight in the water while the enemy stands on the bank, or you will be at a disadvantage. Don't panic: once the allies arrive, they should make short work of the orcs.

Note: The scenario ends early if the orc leader is killed.

Spoiler: Your three human units have the "loyal" attribute, but don't bother trying to level them, because they go away at the end of the scenario. Likewise, all you can recruit are Walking Corpses, and they won't be worth recalling. If you're going to collect experience for anyone, it should be your main character. However, if a Walking Corpse kills something, you get another Walking Corpse.

=== A Peaceful Valley ===
* Objectives: Occupy all of the goblin villages
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 29/26/23 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk

0 to 2 Goblins will spring out of each village you capture, including those that you recapture. The key is to not capture many villages quickly. Ironically, this will allow you to capture all the villages more quickly.

In most scenarios, bats are highly useful in remote village capturing, but not in this scenario, as they would have little chance against the guards.

Walking corpses, on the other hand, are more useful than normal. Use them on wounded goblins to snowball your forces. Also use Walking Corpses as placeholders on captured villages to prevent them from easily reverting to enemy hands.

To kill the enemy leader, zap him with your leaders. Walking Corpses, if are in the area, can assist.

Spoiler: Do not try to beat this scenario without entering the swamp. Once you enter the swamp with either Malin Keshar or Darken Volk you will get three Ghouls, without which the scenario would be close to impossible.

=== A Haunting in Winter ===
* Objectives: Clear the cave of enemies
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/34/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk
You can recruit Ghosts on this level.

It's important to not get bottled up in the passageway prior to the central chamber, or you will burn up a lot of turns. Use Ghosts to speedily enter the chamber. After a certain point, you are going to split your forces, with Ghosts heading to the dwarves in the northeast and your two leaders and ground forces headed to the outlaws in the southwest. So, you should recruit a lot of Ghosts, at least five. Bats are useful to snatch up villages.

This scenario is a good opportunity to gain experience for your Ghosts. While both the Wraith and Shadow units are nice, it is especially useful to have at least 4 Shadows by a certain scenario. Your Ghosts can get easy experience from killing the Dwarves as they wade through the swamp in the northeast, and you should be able to level one or more to Shadows. Then you can use a Shadow or two, accompanied by a Ghost or two, to kill the dwarven leader. Also note that there are two routes to the dwarven leader. One is through the swamp, but you can also send flying units over the chasm to the south of the swamp and attack the dwarves on two fronts.

Spoiler: At one point there's a special event: one of your Ghosts will rebel and run off to the outlaw's keep. For each turn until you kill him, another of your units will rebel. You'll want to keep all of your Ghosts close by until one rebels, and then kill the rebel quickly. So, delay your Dwarf hunting expedition until the rebellion occurs, or recruit several Ghosts and keep them together so that the rest can subdue the one that goes rogue.

=== Beginning of the Revenge ===
* Objectives: Defeat the orc leaders, move Malin Keshar to the mountain pass
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 36
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk
Starting with this mission you can recruit Skeletons and Skeleton Archers.

Understand that this is basically a leader assassination scenario. Note that the scenario ends when both orc leaders are dead; you do not need to move Malin Keshar to the signpost.

The mountainous geography begs you to use ghosts and their kin for mobility. Ghosts can cross the mountains and river left of your starting fortress. (So can Corpses, by the way, but slowly.) Unfortunately, the fire arrows are quite effective against ghosts, so tread carefully.

Players have used different strategies with success...

Option 1, assassination: Kill both leaders at once. Recruit/recall almost exclusively ghosts, shadows, and wraiths, and split them into two, one taskforce for each leader. A reasonable minimal strike force for one leader would be 5 ghosts and a shadow. Wait patiently across the river from the strongholds until darkness descends on turn 8. Then assassinate both leaders. If all goes well, the leaders will be dead by turn 9, for a nice gold bonus. Just in case it doesn't end so quickly, Malin Keshar and Darken Volk should have already been running into the deepest part of the southern mountains for safety. Exercise restraint with respect to capturing villages with bats or ghosts near the strongholds before the strike, as the enemy may divert units to intercept, which may interfere with your assassination plot.

Option 2, defeat in detail: Attack the southern orc first, then the northern orc. Ghosts and Bats can capture difficult to reach villages and move on, thus weakening your foes.

Option 3, feint: Use ghosts to discourage the enemy from concentrating his forces at the lake. Sending a few ghosts over the mountains and river allows you to distract the computer into sending troops back to its base, because it interprets the closer enemies as a larger threat. By doing this, you can delay the southern orcs and meet the northern orcs at the lake. Just be careful, because if you distract them too long, they build up a substantial force (rather then sending troops in piecemeal like the computer usually does) which takes a while to cut through.

Spoiler: Be careful when moving non-flying units onto the ice next to the bridge which separates you from the orcs' valley, as the ice weakens when a non-flying unit starts a turn on it and weakened ice then breaks and drowns any unit which starts a turn on in. This even applies to Skeletons and Skeleton Archers! Use breaking ice to your advantage; try to lure high level orcs to their demise by placing ghosts in the middle of weakened ice.

=== Orc War ===
* Objectives: Defeat the orc leaders
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 30
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk
Starting with this mission you can recruit Dark Adepts.
There are a couple of ways to approach this scenario:

*One strategy is to recruit two major forces and send one south to hold back the orcs at the bridge (a Wraith does a good job of holding the bridge) then send the other force northwest to take out that leader first. At that point, if you've had particularly good luck on the the southern front you might want to go after that leader next, but more likely, you will want to recruit a few more units plus the units you used to kill the northwest leader and head south to kill the southwest orc leader.
*Another strategy is to recruit one large force and take out either the northwestern or southeastern orc leaders before the other orcish troops can catch up with you. Then you'll probably want to take out the southwestern orc leader. When I tried this I took heavier casualties and had less gold at the end of the scenario but it did work.
*If you've managed to acquire at least two Shadows you can try slipping them behind enemy lines and assassinating one of the orc leaders. If you have at least 4 Shadows your chances of success increase greatly.

Spoiler: After you kill two orc leaders the third will flee and this will end the scenario. You probably will want to postpone this as long as possible to allow your forces to gain experience.

=== Return to Parthyn ===
* Objectives: Kill Drogan then escape to the northwest
* Lose if: Malin Keshar dies or any people from Parthyn die (except Drogan)
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and a Wraith, Shadow, or Spectre, if available

Your first objective is to kill Drogan; if any other human unit dies before Drogan, you lose. A Wraith, Shadow, or Spectre will probably start with Malin. If you recall an appealing target like a Revenant into the keep's northwest hex, Drogan should run out to shoot some arrows at it. Between this and recalling another Wraith or Shadow as a backup plan, it should be easy to take out Drogan and discover, oops, the Parthyn townspeople hate you anyway. Wraiths and Shadows are particularly effective, since they can fly across the river quite quickly. After you kill Drogan, you should escape across the river and to the west.

Option 1: Kill the orcs so that you can flee across the ford. This shouldn't be a problem. What might be a problem is that the Parthyn troops will continue to attack you as you flee.

Option 2: Leave the ford open, and cross in water at far right, hoping for the orcs and village militia to clash and leave you alone, at least until the orcs are dead. As an additional distraction, you can send some Ghouls and Walking Corpses south/southwest in the forest. Both this and the first option have the disadvantage that you will lose all the villages you hold south of the river and will probably end up losing a bunch of gold but, oh well.

Option 3: Stay and fight. You don't <i>have</i> to flee immediately. But you face fairly strong opposition and will probably take enough casualties that it isn't really worth it to stay and fight longer than you need to. Also, you'll have to recruit enough units that you lose gold each turn, since there's no time limit, if you defeat the Parthyn townspeople after taking heavy enough casualties that you gain gold each turn, you can wait and make up the loss. It isn't really worth it, however, because you'll need your high level troops for the next mission.

===A Small Favor - Part One===
* Objectives: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk enter the manor
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 28/26/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk

First off, you can capture the free villages scattered around near your keep, but don't capture any enemy occupied villages.

Then there are a few options that players have tried with success:

Option 1, leader assassination: You should have at least 2 Shadows (or Nightgaunts), preferably more, to assassinate the leader. Their nightstalk ability gets them past the perimeter guards and directly to the enemy leader. Take him out in one turn or two, or he will recruit heavily. Keep Malin and Volk out of sight. After you takeout the enemy leader, take out the rest of the human troops and capture the rest of the villages at your leisure. Once that is accomplished, send Volk directly to the manor, but send Malin to the enemy commander's keep. Wait here accumulating cash each turn until the penultimate turn. On the penultimate turn recruit all the units you will want to take forward into part 2; Wraiths and Shadows are particularly useful, while level 1 units are not. Then move Malin towards the manor. On the last turn move Malin into the manor to join Volk to end the scenario. While carry over gold won't help you in parts two and three (no recruiting), it will carry over to the next scenario.

Option 2, mage assassination: It is possible to win this part without any Shadows. You can use about 6 Wraiths/Spectres and slip them around the north of the map as near to the entrance of the manor as possible while staying out of sight (you can see how much your enemies can see with Ctrl-v). Malin and Darken Volk should take the same route, but can't get as far as the Ghosts. Then take out as many enemies as you can with your Ghosts, targeting the Mages first, and rush towards the manor with your heroes. You should be inside before the battle gets ugly.

Option 3, guard assassination: If you kill a guard in one turn, he won't have time to raise the alarm. Therefore, you can proceed across the map, assassinating guards one by one, until you get within strike distance of the leader.

===A Small Favor - Part Two===
* Objectives: Defeat Mage Lord Karres then move through the northwest passage
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/27/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar, Darken Volk and any units that survived the previous scenario

* Other: You can't recruit or recall; only the units from last scenario will be present
You start with the units you recalled at the end of the last mission, but you don't have to pay their upkeep for this scenario (nor are there any villages, anyway). Since there are no villages, you won't be able to heal your units unless they have a drain attack.

Anyway, your first task is to kill Karres, who is a Great Mage and is put into one of the rooms at random. Each room is filled with mages of one variety or another. They won't leave the rooms of their own accord, although a couple of Swordsmen and other human units wander the halls, but these shouldn't be a big deal, the Mages, however, can be quite deadly. Always make sure you have sufficient forces to wipe out at least three Red or White Mages before opening a door. (You open doors by placing a unit in front of the door). Actually, most room only has one or two Mages in it, and they may be level one Mages, but the room with Karres in it will also have two White Mages [Thrash: He just had a single Red Mage for me in 1.8.3.]. The invisibility of Shadows and Nightgaunts, in particular, is useful in wiping out Mages. If you let the Mages counter-attack, you will almost certainly lose one or more units. Head northwest with Malin and move on.

There doesn't seem to be any bonus for an early finish, so if you get the objective early, you can hold off and harvest some XP.

===A Small Favor - Part Three===
* Objectives: Find the book and then escape
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/27/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and any units that survived the previous scenario
* Other
** You can't recruit or recall; only the units from last scenario will be present
** You no longer control Darken Volk

Darken Volk will operate separately with an army of allied undead. Hmmm, in all previous missions you commanded him directly... could this be foreshadowing? Head to the northwest to grab the book. Then head to the northeast to exit.

===Alone at Last===
* Objectives: Take the book from Darken Volk and bring it back to Malin's castle
* Lose if: Malin Keshar dies
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and one unit
* Other: Ghosts and Bats (and the rest of their unit trees) cannot pick up the book

The situation is that you must take the book from Darken Volk, but two additional armies will appear in the middle of the battle, bent on killing both your army and Volk's, making the task more than a little difficult. When the battle reaches its peek, you probably won't have much money, and your forces will be outnumbered and at great disadvantage. To win requires supreme strategy.

On turn 8, Sir Cadaeus arrives to take revenge for your attack on the city of Tath. He sets up camp in the southeast corner of the map, and his army of paladins and mages will have no problem destroying your army of undead if you give them the opportunity. However, his forces will attack Volk as well. Even better, Volk will attack <i>him</i>. In addition to sending his forces to attack Sir Cadaeus', Volk himself will normally dash into fray, to his doom.

After Volk dies, he leaves behind the book, which you need to retrieve and bring to your initial keep. Ghosts and Bats (and Spectres, Shadows, Wraiths, and Nightgaunts) can't carry the book. Try to use the quickest skeleton or dark adept unit you can to pick it up and bring it back.

By the end of turn 11, Dela Keshar will show up to the north, set up camp and send her army of loyalists and outlaws to attack you as well.

For general strategy, players have had success with at least three alternatives, which all try to avoid combat to a greater or lesser extent...

Option 1, the Northern end around: Summon a few good troops and move everyone almost due north and then east and south towards Volk's keep, trying to avoid battle as long as possible. Once Sir Cadaeus arrives, Volk's forces will shift their attention to the south.

Option 2, the Southern deception: In addition to an elite thrust to the North as above, add a fairly large and fast feint to the Southeast with several Ghosts and Bats to encourage Volk to go south. You must move far quickly to make a large effect.

Option 3, the Waiting game: Recruit just a couple of bats initially for village capturing out of range of the enemy. Once Sir Cadeus' forces arrive, begin recruiting in earnest and make a dash for the book. Be warned that you will probably lose a lot of the units in the process, so try to avoid recalling troops that you might need in a later scenario.

Whatever initial course you take, the end game is the same: you will need to retrieve the book with a nonflying unit and head west, back to your keep.

'''Note''': This scenario was rebalanced some time after v1.8.5. The following addendums apply for earlier versions.

* On 1.8.3 and many earlier versions, Dela is impervius to your attacks, though Darken Volk's minions can both wound and kill her. This hardly seems fair, so you may wish to place a unit on what will be her central keep hex before she arrives. She will then appear one hex away and be unable to recruit, so long as you maintain a unit there. A Dark Sorcerer will hold her off. (kimnor: as of 1.8.5 her camp appears wherever she does and you can't stop her from recruiting.)

* Sir Cadaeus arrives on turn 5, 6, or 7 (for hard, medium, or easy, respectively).

* Dela Keshar will arrive on turn 9, 10, or 11 (for hard, medium, or easy, respectively).

* The scenario had unlimited turns and the enemies used to receive more gold, so the battle was harder in general for all difficulty levels.

===Descent into Darkness===
* Objectives: Defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Mal Keshar is destroyed
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Mal Keshar
The first segment of the mission is pretty self-explanatory. After you reach the small keep you need to decide which way to send your troops to the large castle, there is a main passage and two side passages. I'm not sure it matters, but I successfully advanced through the main passage. You will face some high level trolls, including Troll Shamans capable of throwing deadly fireballs at your undead minions. There's no particularly good defense against these things, but I will note that all the trolls also deal impact damage, which your Skeletons are weak against, so you may want to avoid recalling your Skeletons.

Addition by cMaster: Wraiths/Spectres are actually quite good at killing Troll Shamans, since they deal arcane damage. So you just have to make sure, that you get to the Shamans before they get to you. If you can't take out one of them, stay out of his reach.

Addition by smenze: I just finished up this scenario and it was as easy as I have ever played. After the intro, pretty much run by past the creatures that are there for you to regain your strength on. If you get really unlucky with your counter attacks, you can die this way, but normally you won't. Grab the castle on the west side of the passageway and recall some Nightgaunts (3 was more then enough for me). I just sent them straight up the passage to the main castle, and stabbed the troll leader to death leading to an instant victory.

Addition by Adeptus: Since this scenario is quite easy, it's a good chance to train your units and see strange monsters. In both side passages you can find a Troll Shaman, few Trolls and lots of villages. But the left passage is more interesting: in the middle of some water there's a tree where an Ancient Woose waits to ambush. Shadows and Wraiths will kill him easily. Enjoy its dying animation! At the top left of this room there's a path that leads to the hardest step of the scenario: 3 Giant Spiders. Try to make them follow you outside through the corridor to sorround them one by one.

===Eternal Night===
* Objectives: Defeat the foolish hero
* Lose if: Mal Keshar is destroyed
* Turns: Unlimited
* Starting units: Mal Keshar

And so we reach the conclusion of the campaign. We learn that Mal Keshar—formerly Malin—has become a somewhat powerful lich that has gained a reputation for himself for fighting the orc armies (and anyone who comes in his way) every summer.

For this reason, heroes of every race that has been victimized by Mal Keshar's troops follow him to his lair, wanting to finally put an end to his advances. In this scenario you will be fighting this ''foolish'' hero, which will be either an elf, a loyalist, an outlaw, a dwarf, or an orc, chosen at random. You will be fighting them in your cave, so you have some advantage, but every time you beat one of these heroes, the scenario will repeat itself and a new hero will come for you, with more gold on his side, so it will be increasingly difficult to fight their armies.

You can play this scenario as many times as you want to. You really have to beat only the very first hero—when Malin is defeated by any subsequent hero, the victor will give a short monologue and the campaign will end.

Addition by cMaster: If you care to play this scenario more than just a few times, it might be worth noting the small cavity to the right at the bottom of the map. You can easily place 11 units inside (you won't be able to recall more than 10 units + Mal Keshar) and it's got a choke point of only two hexes. Use this to chew away any enemy foolish enough to enter the choke point, and forget about the seven villages. Your enemy will not be able to pay the upkeep of his troops anyway. Correctly used you should not have to fear any number of enemies!

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

DescentIntoDarkness

2013-08-27T16:56:51Z

Ericppp: Updates based on 1.10.x /* Alone at Last */

=== Saving Parthyn ===
* Objectives: Defend the fort for two nights
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Drogan die
* Turns: 15
* Starting units: Malin Keshar, two Spearmen and a Bowman
You'll start the battle with three human soldiers. Recruit a lot of Walking Corpses.

Block the ford. Try to take advantage of terrain and time of day. You can take the opposite riverbank by rushing with your human units, but may get pushed back. That's okay, just try not to fight in the water while the enemy stands on the bank, or you will be at a disadvantage. Don't panic: once the allies arrive, they should make short work of the orcs.

Note: The scenario ends early if the orc leader is killed.

Spoiler: Your three human units have the "loyal" attribute, but don't bother trying to level them, because they go away at the end of the scenario. Likewise, all you can recruit are Walking Corpses, and they won't be worth recalling. If you're going to collect experience for anyone, it should be your main character. However, if a Walking Corpse kills something, you get another Walking Corpse.

=== A Peaceful Valley ===
* Objectives: Occupy all of the goblin villages
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 29/26/23 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk

0 to 2 Goblins will spring out of each village you capture, including those that you recapture. The key is to not capture many villages quickly. Ironically, this will allow you to capture all the villages more quickly.

In most scenarios, bats are highly useful in remote village capturing, but not in this scenario, as they would have little chance against the guards.

Walking corpses, on the other hand, are more useful than normal. Use them on wounded goblins to snowball your forces. Also use Walking Corpses as placeholders on captured villages to prevent them from easily reverting to enemy hands.

To kill the enemy leader, zap him with your leaders. Walking Corpses, if are in the area, can assist.

Spoiler: Do not try to beat this scenario without entering the swamp. Once you enter the swamp with either Malin Keshar or Darken Volk you will get three Ghouls, without which the scenario would be close to impossible.

=== A Haunting in Winter ===
* Objectives: Clear the cave of enemies
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/34/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk
You can recruit Ghosts on this level.

It's important to not get bottled up in the passageway prior to the central chamber, or you will burn up a lot of turns. Use Ghosts to speedily enter the chamber. After a certain point, you are going to split your forces, with Ghosts heading to the dwarves in the northeast and your two leaders and ground forces headed to the outlaws in the southwest. So, you should recruit a lot of Ghosts, at least five. Bats are useful to snatch up villages.

This scenario is a good opportunity to gain experience for your Ghosts. While both the Wraith and Shadow units are nice, it is especially useful to have at least 4 Shadows by a certain scenario. Your Ghosts can get easy experience from killing the Dwarves as they wade through the swamp in the northeast, and you should be able to level one or more to Shadows. Then you can use a Shadow or two, accompanied by a Ghost or two, to kill the dwarven leader. Also note that there are two routes to the dwarven leader. One is through the swamp, but you can also send flying units over the chasm to the south of the swamp and attack the dwarves on two fronts.

Spoiler: At one point there's a special event: one of your Ghosts will rebel and run off to the outlaw's keep. For each turn until you kill him, another of your units will rebel. You'll want to keep all of your Ghosts close by until one rebels, and then kill the rebel quickly. So, delay your Dwarf hunting expedition until the rebellion occurs, or recruit several Ghosts and keep them together so that the rest can subdue the one that goes rogue.

=== Beginning of the Revenge ===
* Objectives: Defeat the orc leaders, move Malin Keshar to the mountain pass
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 36
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk
Starting with this mission you can recruit Skeletons and Skeleton Archers.

Understand that this is basically a leader assassination scenario. Note that the scenario ends when both orc leaders are dead; you do not need to move Malin Keshar to the signpost.

The mountainous geography begs you to use ghosts and their kin for mobility. Ghosts can cross the mountains and river left of your starting fortress. (So can Corpses, by the way, but slowly.) Unfortunately, the fire arrows are quite effective against ghosts, so tread carefully.

Players have used different strategies with success...

Option 1, assassination: Kill both leaders at once. Recruit/recall almost exclusively ghosts, shadows, and wraiths, and split them into two, one taskforce for each leader. A reasonable minimal strike force for one leader would be 5 ghosts and a shadow. Wait patiently across the river from the strongholds until darkness descends on turn 8. Then assassinate both leaders. If all goes well, the leaders will be dead by turn 9, for a nice gold bonus. Just in case it doesn't end so quickly, Malin Keshar and Darken Volk should have already been running into the deepest part of the southern mountains for safety. Exercise restraint with respect to capturing villages with bats or ghosts near the strongholds before the strike, as the enemy may divert units to intercept, which may interfere with your assassination plot.

Option 2, defeat in detail: Attack the southern orc first, then the northern orc. Ghosts and Bats can capture difficult to reach villages and move on, thus weakening your foes.

Option 3, feint: Use ghosts to discourage the enemy from concentrating his forces at the lake. Sending a few ghosts over the mountains and river allows you to distract the computer into sending troops back to its base, because it interprets the closer enemies as a larger threat. By doing this, you can delay the southern orcs and meet the northern orcs at the lake. Just be careful, because if you distract them too long, they build up a substantial force (rather then sending troops in piecemeal like the computer usually does) which takes a while to cut through.

Spoiler: Be careful when moving non-flying units onto the ice next to the bridge which separates you from the orcs' valley, as the ice weakens when a non-flying unit starts a turn on it and weakened ice then breaks and drowns any unit which starts a turn on in. This even applies to Skeletons and Skeleton Archers! Use breaking ice to your advantage; try to lure high level orcs to their demise by placing ghosts in the middle of weakened ice.

=== Orc War ===
* Objectives: Defeat the orc leaders
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 30
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk
Starting with this mission you can recruit Dark Adepts.
There are a couple of ways to approach this scenario:

*One strategy is to recruit two major forces and send one south to hold back the orcs at the bridge (a Wraith does a good job of holding the bridge) then send the other force northwest to take out that leader first. At that point, if you've had particularly good luck on the the southern front you might want to go after that leader next, but more likely, you will want to recruit a few more units plus the units you used to kill the northwest leader and head south to kill the southwest orc leader.
*Another strategy is to recruit one large force and take out either the northwestern or southeastern orc leaders before the other orcish troops can catch up with you. Then you'll probably want to take out the southwestern orc leader. When I tried this I took heavier casualties and had less gold at the end of the scenario but it did work.
*If you've managed to acquire at least two Shadows you can try slipping them behind enemy lines and assassinating one of the orc leaders. If you have at least 4 Shadows your chances of success increase greatly.

Spoiler: After you kill two orc leaders the third will flee and this will end the scenario. You probably will want to postpone this as long as possible to allow your forces to gain experience.

=== Return to Parthyn ===
* Objectives: Kill Drogan then escape to the northwest
* Lose if: Malin Keshar dies or any people from Parthyn die (except Drogan)
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and a Wraith, Shadow, or Spectre, if available

Your first objective is to kill Drogan; if any other human unit dies before Drogan, you lose. A Wraith, Shadow, or Spectre will probably start with Malin. If you recall an appealing target like a Revenant into the keep's northwest hex, Drogan should run out to shoot some arrows at it. Between this and recalling another Wraith or Shadow as a backup plan, it should be easy to take out Drogan and discover, oops, the Parthyn townspeople hate you anyway. Wraiths and Shadows are particularly effective, since they can fly across the river quite quickly. After you kill Drogan, you should escape across the river and to the west.

Option 1: Kill the orcs so that you can flee across the ford. This shouldn't be a problem. What might be a problem is that the Parthyn troops will continue to attack you as you flee.

Option 2: Leave the ford open, and cross in water at far right, hoping for the orcs and village militia to clash and leave you alone, at least until the orcs are dead. As an additional distraction, you can send some Ghouls and Walking Corpses south/southwest in the forest. Both this and the first option have the disadvantage that you will lose all the villages you hold south of the river and will probably end up losing a bunch of gold but, oh well.

Option 3: Stay and fight. You don't <i>have</i> to flee immediately. But you face fairly strong opposition and will probably take enough casualties that it isn't really worth it to stay and fight longer than you need to. Also, you'll have to recruit enough units that you lose gold each turn, since there's no time limit, if you defeat the Parthyn townspeople after taking heavy enough casualties that you gain gold each turn, you can wait and make up the loss. It isn't really worth it, however, because you'll need your high level troops for the next mission.

===A Small Favor - Part One===
* Objectives: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk enter the manor
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 28/26/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and Darken Volk

First off, you can capture the free villages scattered around near your keep, but don't capture any enemy occupied villages.

Then there are a few options that players have tried with success:

Option 1, leader assassination: You should have at least 2 Shadows (or Nightgaunts), preferably more, to assassinate the leader. Their nightstalk ability gets them past the perimeter guards and directly to the enemy leader. Take him out in one turn or two, or he will recruit heavily. Keep Malin and Volk out of sight. After you takeout the enemy leader, take out the rest of the human troops and capture the rest of the villages at your leisure. Once that is accomplished, send Volk directly to the manor, but send Malin to the enemy commander's keep. Wait here accumulating cash each turn until the penultimate turn. On the penultimate turn recruit all the units you will want to take forward into part 2; Wraiths and Shadows are particularly useful, while level 1 units are not. Then move Malin towards the manor. On the last turn move Malin into the manor to join Volk to end the scenario. While carry over gold won't help you in parts two and three (no recruiting), it will carry over to the next scenario.

Option 2, mage assassination: It is possible to win this part without any Shadows. You can use about 6 Wraiths/Spectres and slip them around the north of the map as near to the entrance of the manor as possible while staying out of sight (you can see how much your enemies can see with Ctrl-v). Malin and Darken Volk should take the same route, but can't get as far as the Ghosts. Then take out as many enemies as you can with your Ghosts, targeting the Mages first, and rush towards the manor with your heroes. You should be inside before the battle gets ugly.

Option 3, guard assassination: If you kill a guard in one turn, he won't have time to raise the alarm. Therefore, you can proceed across the map, assassinating guards one by one, until you get within strike distance of the leader.

===A Small Favor - Part Two===
* Objectives: Defeat Mage Lord Karres then move through the northwest passage
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/27/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar, Darken Volk and any units that survived the previous scenario

* Other: You can't recruit or recall; only the units from last scenario will be present
You start with the units you recalled at the end of the last mission, but you don't have to pay their upkeep for this scenario (nor are there any villages, anyway). Since there are no villages, you won't be able to heal your units unless they have a drain attack.

Anyway, your first task is to kill Karres, who is a Great Mage and is put into one of the rooms at random. Each room is filled with mages of one variety or another. They won't leave the rooms of their own accord, although a couple of Swordsmen and other human units wander the halls, but these shouldn't be a big deal, the Mages, however, can be quite deadly. Always make sure you have sufficient forces to wipe out at least three Red or White Mages before opening a door. (You open doors by placing a unit in front of the door). Actually, most room only has one or two Mages in it, and they may be level one Mages, but the room with Karres in it will also have two White Mages [Thrash: He just had a single Red Mage for me in 1.8.3.]. The invisibility of Shadows and Nightgaunts, in particular, is useful in wiping out Mages. If you let the Mages counter-attack, you will almost certainly lose one or more units. Head northwest with Malin and move on.

There doesn't seem to be any bonus for an early finish, so if you get the objective early, you can hold off and harvest some XP.

===A Small Favor - Part Three===
* Objectives: Find the book and then escape
* Lose if: Malin Keshar or Darken Volk die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/27/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and any units that survived the previous scenario
* Other
** You can't recruit or recall; only the units from last scenario will be present
** You no longer control Darken Volk

Darken Volk will operate separately with an army of allied undead. Hmmm, in all previous missions you commanded him directly... could this be foreshadowing? Head to the northwest to grab the book. Then head to the northeast to exit.

===Alone at Last===
* Objectives: Take the book from Darken Volk and bring it back to Malin's castle
* Lose if: Malin Keshar dies
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Malin Keshar and one unit
* Other: Ghosts and Bats (and the rest of their unit trees) cannot pick up the book

The situation is that you must take the book from Darken Volk, but two additional armies will appear in the middle of the battle, bent on killing both your army and Volk's, making the task more than a little difficult. When the battle reaches its peek, you probably won't have much money, and your forces will be outnumbered and at great disadvantage. To win requires supreme strategy.

On turn 8, Sir Cadaeus arrives to take revenge for your attack on the city of Tath. He sets up camp in the southeast corner of the map, and his army of paladins and mages will have no problem destroying your army of undead if you give them the opportunity. However, his forces will attack Volk as well. Even better, Volk will attack <i>him</i>. In addition to sending his forces to attack Sir Cadaeus', Volk himself will normally dash into fray, to his doom.

After Volk dies, he leaves behind the book, which you need to retrieve and bring to your initial keep. Ghosts and Bats (and Spectres, Shadows, Wraiths, and Nightgaunts) can't carry the book. Try to use the quickest skeleton or dark adept unit you can to pick it up and bring it back.

By the end of turn 11, Dela Keshar will show up to the north, set up camp and send her army of loyalists and outlaws to attack you as well.

For general strategy, players have had success with at least three alternatives, which all try to avoid combat to a greater or lesser extent...

Option 1, the Northern end around: Summon a few good troops and move everyone almost due north and then east and south towards Volk's keep, trying to avoid battle as long as possible. Once Sir Cadaeus arrives, Volk's forces will shift their attention to the south.

Option 2, the Southern deception: In addition to an elite thrust to the North as above, add a fairly large and fast feint to the Southeast with several Ghosts and Bats to encourage Volk to go south. You must move far quickly to make a large effect.

Option 3, the Waiting game: Recruit just a couple of bats initially for village capturing out of range of the enemy. Once Sir Cadeus' forces arrive, begin recruiting in earnest and make a dash for the book. Be warned that you will probably lose a lot of the units in the process, so try to avoid recalling troops that you might need in a later scenario.

Whatever initial course you take, the end game is the same: you will need to retrieve the book with a nonflying unit and head west, back to your keep.

'''Note''': This scenario was rebalanced some time after v1.8.5. The following addendums apply for earlier versions.

* On 1.8.3 and many earlier versions, Dela is impervius to your attacks, though Darken Volk's minions can both wound and kill her. This hardly seems fair, so you may wish to place a unit on what will be her central keep hex before she arrives. She will then appear one hex away and be unable to recruit, so long as you maintain a unit there. A Dark Sorcerer will hold her off. (kimnor: as of 1.8.5 her camp appears wherever she does and you can't stop her from recruiting.)

* Sir Cadaeus arrives on turn 5, 6, or 7 (for hard, medium, or easy, respectively).

* Dela Keshar will arrive on turn 9, 10, or 11 (for hard, medium, or easy, respectively).

* The scenario had unlimited turns and the enemies used to receive more gold, so the battle was harder in general for all difficulty levels.

===Descent into Darkness===
* Objectives: Defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Mal Keshar is destroyed
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Mal Keshar
The first segment of the mission is pretty self-explanatory. After you reach the small keep you need to decide which way to send your troops to the large castle, there is a main passage and two side passages. I'm not sure it matters, but I successfully advanced through the main passage. You will face some high level trolls, including Troll Shamans capable of throwing deadly fireballs at your undead minions. There's no particularly good defense against these things, but I will note that all the trolls also deal impact damage, which your Skeletons are weak against, so you may want to avoid recalling your Skeletons.

Addition by cMaster: Wraiths/Spectres are actually quite good at killing Troll Shamans, since they deal arcane damage. So you just have to make sure, that you get to the Shamans before they get to you. If you can't take out one of them, stay out of his reach.

Addition by smenze: I just finished up this scenario and it was as easy as I have ever played. After the intro, pretty much run by past the creatures that are there for you to regain your strength on. If you get really unlucky with your counter attacks, you can die this way, but normally you won't. Grab the castle on the west side of the passageway and recall some Nightgaunts (3 was more then enough for me). I just sent them straight up the passage to the main castle, and stabbed the troll leader to death leading to an instant victory.

Addition by Adeptus: Since this scenario is quite easy, it's a good chance to train your units and see strange monsters. In both side passages you can find a Troll Shaman, few Trolls and lots of villages. But the left passage is more interesting: in the middle of some water there's a tree where an Ancient Woose waits to ambush. Shadows and Wraiths will kill him easily. Enjoy its dying animation! At the top left of this room there's a path that leads to the hardest step of the scenario: 3 Giant Spiders. Try to make them follow you outside through the corridor to sorround them one by one.

===Eternal Night===
* Objectives: Defeat the foolish hero
* Lose if: Mal Keshar is destroyed
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Mal Keshar
Play this scenario as many times as you want to. If Malin is defeated, the defeating hero will give a short monologue and the campaign will end.

Addition by cMaster: If you care to play this scenario more than just a few times, it might be worth noting the small cavity to the right at the bottom of the map. You can easily place 11 units inside (you won't be able to recall more than 10 units + Mal Keshar) and it's got a choke point of only two hexes. Use this to chew away any enemy foolish enough to enter the choke point, and forget about the seven villages. Your enemy will not be able to pay the upkeep of his troops anyway. Correctly used you should not have to fear any number of enemies!

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

WesnothFigures

2013-08-24T13:46:13Z

Ericppp: Updated portraits /* Heir to the Throne */

<tt>This section does not meet WesnothPedian Standards for excellence. ;)</tt>

'''Historian's Notes'''

This is a collection of short biographies of some of the most notable figures in the history of the Kingdom of Wesnoth, and the Irdyan world, as a whole. The article is arranged by historical epoch, and the biographies within each epoch are listed in alphabetical order, using the name by which the person was most commonly referred to in the historical records. Dates are consistent with the system of chronology used in the [[WesnothHistory|Wesnoth History]] section. The appearance of a triple question mark (???) indicates that the information needs to be verified.

:''See also [[CharactersStorys|Character's stories]], for brief descriptions of a wider range of the inhabitants of Wesnoth and the rest of Irdya.''

== The Rise Of Wesnoth ==
{{-}}
=== <u>''Addroran''</u> ===
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
** Reigned: A King in the Green Isle, baesed in Southbay.
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth The Rise of Wesnoth]
* Notable Deeds
**Defence of Southbay against the orcs.
** Makes a deal with [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Jessene Jessene]that wesfolk refugees may shelter in Southbay in exchange for information. She reveals that she can translate the book that allows [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Haldric Haldric] to use the Ruby of Fire. Secondly she knows the way to the Great Continent.
*Background
***He knew Prince Haldric as a boy, and his people that preceded him. He tells Haldric that he considered King Eldaric an honorable man.
***His legacy of descendents are a dead adventurer and a missing fool and as a result, his line ends with his kingdom.
{{-}}

=== <u>''Eldaric''</u> ===
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
** Reigned: A King in the Green Isle
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth The Rise of Wesnoth]
* Notable Deeds
**
{{-}}
=== <u>''Haldric''</u> ===
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
** Reigned:
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth The Rise of Wesnoth]
* Notable Deeds
**Founded Wesnoth
{{-}}
=== <u>''Jessene''</u> ===
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http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth/images/portraits/jessica.png
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
** Reigned:
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth The Rise of Wesnoth]
* Notable Deeds
** Makes a deal with [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Addoran Addoran] that wesfolk refugees may shelter in Southbay in exchange for information. She reveals that she can translate the book that allows [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Haldric Haldric] to use the Ruby of Fire. Secondly that she knows the way to the Great Continent. She was Addoran's son's navigator and companion.
{{-}}

=== <u>''Typhon''</u> ===
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
** Reigned:
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth The Rise of Wesnoth]
* Notable Deeds
**
{{-}}

== Legend of Wesmere ==
{{-}}
=== <u>''Kalenz''</u> ===
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</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married: [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Cleodil Cleodil]
** Reigned: Unanimously chosen as ''High Lord of the Elves''. North and South Elves swore allegiance to him.
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Legend_of_Wesmere Legend of Wesmere], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Heir_to_the_Throne Heir to the Throne], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Delfadors_Memoirs Delfadors Memoirs]
* Notable Deeds
**Defeats [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Landar Landar] in elven civil war.
**Protector and companion of [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Konrad Konrad].
**Extremely long lived, even for an elf due to Aquagar's curse that he would never find lasting peace in all his years and lose his dearest.
* Background
**From the forest of Lintanir
{{-}}

=== <u>''Cleodil''</u> ===
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married: Kalenz
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Legend_of_Wesmere Legend of Wesmere]
* Notable Deeds
**Guardian of the book of Crelanu.
** Warns Haldric II that the Ruby of fire can have evil effects on its wieldersand advises him to enclose it in a net or filigree of pure gold charged with the magic of light.
* Background
{{-}}
=== <u>''Landar''</u> ===
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http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Legend_of_Wesmere/images/portraits/landar.png
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* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
** Reigned: proclaimed himself ''High Warlord of the Elves''
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Legend_of_Wesmere Legend of Wesmere]
* Notable Deeds
**Fought [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Kalenz Kalenz] in an elven civil war.
**Died in a battle in the forest of Gitamoth.
**Kalenz buried Landar with full honors and made him a monument worthy of a true elvish hero.
**Landar’s remaining followers’ lives were spared, but they were banished to Gitamoth forest, henceforth known as Silent Forest.

* Background
**

== Delfador's Memoirs ==
{{-}}
=== <u>''Leollyn''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Delfadors_Memoirs/images/portraits/leollyn.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died: Killed by Sagus near the end of Delfadors Memoirs.
** Married:
** Title: Chief Mage of the High Council, Master Leollyn
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Delfadors_Memoirs Delfadors Memoirs]
* Notable Deeds
**Delfador was the legate and emissary of Leollyn.
* Background
**One of [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Garard_I Garard I]'s, King of Wesnoth's most trusted advisors.
**A friend of Methor.
{{-}}
=== <u>''Eldred''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Delfadors_Memoirs/images/portraits/eldred.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: Son of [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Garard_II Garard II] and [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Asheviere Asheviere]
** Died: Killed by [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Delfador Delfador].
** Married:
** Title:
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Delfadors_Memoirs Delfadors Memoirs]
* Notable Deeds
**Betrayed his father [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Garard_II Garard II] in battle at the Ford of Abez.
* Background
{{-}}

== Heir to the Throne ==
{{-}}

=== <u>''Asheviere''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/24/UQd2G.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: 462 YW ???
** Died: 518 YW
** Married: King [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Garard_II Garard II] (478 - 501 YW), Widowed
** Reigned: as ''Queen consort'' 478-501; ruled Wesnoth ''de facto'' & (debatably) ''de jure'' as ''Queen Dowager'', & (theoretically) as ''Regent'' for her daughter 501-518; deposed, died in the course of her overthrow.
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Heir_to_the_Throne Heir to the Throne]
* Notable Deeds
** Mother of Li'sar
** Catalyst in the deaths of King Gerard II, Prince Arand, and all male heirs within the contemporary royal family of Wesnoth (chief conspirator in all cases except for Arand, her son, with whose faction she was aligned).
**Highly skilled & cunning politician, tactician, & strategist. Known in her youth for her great beauty, known in later life for her ruthlessness & willingness to spill (other people's) blood in pursuit of her goals.
**Became a popular figure in subsequent Wesnothian folklore as a villainous tyrant, responsible for the deaths of all those around her, and doomed to destruction as a result of her own paranoid, over-ambitious plotting.
* Background
"Perhaps it would be easier to condemn Asheviere for her evil deeds committed later in her life. Yet even rotten apples, not suitable for consumption, may provide the seeds for a fresh field of trees." - ''anonymous''

{{-}}

=== <u>''Delfador''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
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* Bio
** Born: 121 YW ???
** Died: 533 YW
** Married: N/A
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Heir_to_the_Throne Heir to the Throne], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Delfador's Memoirs]
* Notable Deeds
**Defeats Iliah Malal.
** Killer of Prince Eldred.
** Protector of Konrad.
* Background
[ insert text here ]

{{-}}

=== <u>''Konrad''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/24/fKp5.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: ''ca'' 499-501 YW
** Died: 563 YW
** Married: Li'sar (~520 - 563 YW)
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Heir_to_the_Throne Heir to the Throne]
* Notable Deeds
** Recovered the Scepter of Fire with Li'sar's assistance.
** ''King consort'' of Wesnoth after the defeat of Asheviere (through marriage to Li'sar).
* Background Information

"Identity curses men from birth, as does fate. Konrad, forgive me for the burdens which I shoulder you with. I pray that you will wear them as a badge on your heart, not a stone around your neck." - ''Delfador, at the coronation of Li'sar & Konrad''

Had Parandra of Elvendom not been as prudent and as benevolent, the tale of the boy who became Konrad, King of Wesnoth would never have been sung in the minstrel's tunes. Konrad never knew his real parents; he was found by Elves, as an infant, abandoned in a copse a few strides off an Elvish trader's path. Parandra the wise, knowing the baby had been there for some time, (as evidenced by certain smells emanating from the child's swaddling clothes) set aside all hope of reuniting him with his unknown parents. She picked up the orphaned child and took him as her own.

Delfador arrived sometime thereafter, bearing the grim evidence of his failed rescue; the lifeless body of the murdered infant-Prince Konrad. Parandra and Delfador discussed the situation at length, including the co-incidental discovery of the other, nameless child. Both of them shared their worries that this plan, this trick, wouldn't work. However, staring down at the foundling in his new crib, touched by his liveliness and cheer, they agreed to give him and the people of Wesnoth, a chance.

That night, while the corpse of one child was laid to rest in the green woods, another child, the boy abandoned & left for dead, was given a new destiny as the fugitive Konrad, Prince & Heir to the throne of Wesnoth.

Delfador raised Konrad as his son, yet never pretended to be his father. Konrad grew up knowing only the life that Delfador created for him. Delfador trained him as a warrior and leader. Each new lesson gave way to another for the precocious student.

During his seventeenth year with Delfador, Konrad and his mentor fled the land of the elves during an attack led by Asheviere.

Konrad's life during these times is chronicled in the [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Heir_to_the_Throne '''Heir to the Throne'''] campaign.

{{-}}

=== <u>''Li'sar''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/24/rs710.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: 498 YW
** Died: 563 YW
** Child of Gerald II & Asheviere, only surviving member of the royal family after the death of Asheviere
** Married: Konrad (~520 - 563 YW)
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Heir_to_the_Throne Heir to the Throne]
* Notable as
** Successor to the throne of Wesnoth (only legitimate claimant), became ''Queen Regnant'' after the defeat of Asheviere.
** Respected as a skilled military commander within the armed forces of Wesnoth, prior to becoming Queen
* Background

[ Insert background here ]

{{-}}

== The Hammer Of Thursagan ==

{{-}}

=== <u>'' Aiglondur''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan/images/portraits/aiglondur.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
**Reigned: Became lord of Kal Kartha after Karrag's downfall. Early [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550 551] YW
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan The Hammer Of Thursagan]
* Notable Deeds
** Defeat of Karrag
*Background
**Great-nephew of Lord Hamel and Guard Captain of the east gate of Knalga.

{{-}}
=== <u>'' Karrag''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan/images/portraits/karrag.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died: At the hands of Aiglondur's forces in the underlevels of Kal Kartha. [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550 551] YW
** Married:
**Reigned: Lord of Kal Kartha until early [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550 551] YW
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan The Hammer Of Thursagan]
* Notable Deeds
**Became a lich
**Launched fiercely xenophobic war against other races
{{-}}
=== <u>'' Hamel''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan/images/portraits/hamel.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married:
**Reigned: Lord of Knalga, Lord Companion of the Northern Alliance
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Northern_Rebirth Northern Rebirth], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan The Hammer Of Thursagan]
* Notable Deeds
**
{{-}}

== Eastern Invasion ==

{{-}}

=== <u>''Gweddry''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/portraits/gweddry.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: 605 YW ???
** Died: 655 YW ???
** Married: ???
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Eastern_Invasion Eastern Invasion]
* Notable Deeds
** At the sight of their new born boy, Gweddry's parents decided to name him after a close friend who fell under Gweddry's father's command. [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15716&start=16]
** Sent by Konrad II with Dacyn and Owaec to man the old River Guard strongpoints. ([http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625 625 YW)])
** Gweddry breaks through Mal-Ravanal's Undead armies lines to reach WeldynGweddry's army kills Mal-Ravanal. Wesnoth is saved. ([http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#627 627 YW)])
** Gweddry is made Grand Marshal of the Wesnothian Army after he saved Weldyn from destruction. [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15716&start=16]

{{-}}

=== <u>''Dacyn''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/portraits/dacyn.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: 533 YW
** Died: ???
** Married: ???
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Eastern_Invasion Eastern Invasion]
* Notable Deeds
** Dacyn successfully competed with Ravanal, an eastern wizard, to becomw the king's advisor. ([http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#589 589YW])
** Advisor to Haldric VII then Konrad II after Haldric's death. ([http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#612 612YW])
** The journey outlined in [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Eastern_Invasion Eastern Invasion]. ([http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625 625 YW]- [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#628 628 YW])

{{-}}

=== <u>''Owaec''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/portraits/owaec.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married: ???
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Eastern_Invasion Eastern Invasion]
* Notable Deeds
* Background
** A horse clan noble with loyalty to the Wesnoth crown

{{-}}

=== <u>''Konrad II''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/portraits/konrad_II.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married: ???
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Eastern_Invasion Eastern Invasion]
* Notable Deeds
**King of Wesnoth
* Background

{{-}}

=== <u>''Mal Ravanal''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/portraits/mal-ravanal.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born:
** Died:
** Married: ???
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#The_Eastern_Invasion Eastern Invasion]
* Notable Deeds
* Background
{{-}}

== Dead Water==
{{-}}
=== <u>''Kai Krellis''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Dead_Water/images/portraits/transparent/kai_krellis2.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: ???
** Died: ???
** Married: ???
** In Game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Dead_Water Dead Water]
* Notable Deeds
** Evacuates Jotha under threat of Mal-Ravanal's undead onslaught.
** Defeats suarian slavers and freed their prisoners.
** Gains support of Tyegëa, high priestess.
** Reconquers merfolk city Jotha from undead.
*Background
**Grandson of high priestess, Tyegëa.
**His father, Kai Laudiss, and mother die at the hands of orcs from the city of Tirigaz
{{-}}

== Son Of The Black Eye ==
{{-}}
=== <u>''Kapou'e''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Son_Of_The_Black_Eye/images/portraits/kapoue-angry.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: ???
** Died: ???
** Married: ???
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Son of the Black Eye]
* Notable Deeds
** Leader of the Great Horde
** Made a mug from his rival, Shan Taum's skull
** Made Barag Gor his capital as Orcish Sovereign
* Background
**Son of the orc leader, Black Eye Karun

=== <u>''Earl Lanbec'h''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Son_Of_The_Black_Eye/images/portraits/lanbech.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: ???
** Died: ???
** Married: ???
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Son of the Black Eye]
* Notable Deeds
**Launched invasion of orc lands determined to extinguish the orc menace.
* Background
**The most powerful human warlord of the North
{{-}}
=== <u>''Howgarth III''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Son_Of_The_Black_Eye/images/portraits/howgarth.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: ???
** Died: ???
** Married: ???
** In game Appearance(s): [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Mainline_Campaigns#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Son of the Black Eye]
* Notable Deeds
**Issued an invitation to Kapou'e to join the Northern Alliance. Kapou'e declined.
* Background
**Sucessor to Rahul I as Lord Protector of the Northern Alliance
{{-}}

== Under the Burning Suns ==

{{-}}

=== <u>''Kaleh''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Under_the_Burning_Suns/images/portraits/kaleh.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: in post Wesnothian times
** Died: still alive at the end of UtBS
** Married: N/A
** In game Appearance(s): Under the Burning Suns
* Notable Deeds
** Leader of the Quenoth elves
* Background

Kaleh, as happens to some great leaders, fell into the job of leading the remnants of the Quenoth elves. The once great town of these sand dwelling elves was decimated over night by meteorites. Their leader slain, the remaining elves looked up to Kaleh for guidance as he was the next in line.

{{-}}

=== <u>''Nym''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Under_the_Burning_Suns/images/portraits/nym.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: in post Wesnothian times
** Died: unknown
** Married: N/A
** In game Appearance(s): Under the Burning Suns
* Notable Deeds
** Sidekick of Kaleh on the great journey of the Quenoth elves.
* Background

[insert details here]

{{-}}

=== <u>''Zhul''</u> ===
<div style="float:right">
http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/wesnoth/trunk/data/campaigns/Under_the_Burning_Suns/images/portraits/zhul.png
</div>
* Bio
** Born: in post Wesnothian times
** Died: unknown
** Married: N/A
** In game Appearance(s): Under the Burning Suns
* Notable Deeds
** Head priestess of the Quenoth elves.
* Background

[insert details here]

[[Category:World of Wesnoth]]

Mainline Campaigns

2013-08-24T13:30:06Z

Ericppp: Updated campaign image /* Heir to the Throne */

These scenarios are included in the Wesnoth distribution. Most were written by fans of the game.
See [[ReferenceWML]] for information on how to make your own scenarios using the Wesnoth Markup Language. The following links are very likely to contain spoilers regarding the storyline.

== Heir to the Throne ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[https://raw.github.com/wesnoth/wesnoth-old/3464f2198e92f8173c3b418f3ff24ebb3e212693/data/campaigns/Heir_To_The_Throne/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/24/QR4qN.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Heir to the Throne</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3 Dave]

This is the original campaign, and probably the most played. It features Konrad, fighting to overturn the rule of the dark queen Asheviere. It is 25 scenarios, no more are planned, and is considered complete.

* [[HeirToTheThrone|Walkthrough]]
* [[HtttStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Heir_to_the_Throne Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Heir_to_the_Throne Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:HttT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10322 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Heir_To_The_Throne.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Heir_To_The_Throne Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#517_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== A Tale of Two Brothers ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Two_Brothers/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/qDabd.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">A Tale of Two Brothers</div>
</div>

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=93 Circon]

A village is being terrorized by a black Mage. He is defeated, but the local Mage, Baran, is kidnapped. His brother, Arvith, must go rescue him. It has 4 scenarios, and is aimed at first-time players on Easy.

* [[ATaleOfTwoBrothers|Walkthrough]]
* [[A Tale Of Two Brothers Story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#A_Tale_Of_Two_Brothers Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TB1.9 Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10339 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#A_Tale_of_Two_Brothers Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#363_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== An Orcish Incursion ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/An_Orcish_Incursion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/nVI6O.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">An Orcish Incursion</div>
</div>

by Josh Parsons; adapted for mainline by ESR.

Erlornas is an elven noble of Wesmere during the first years after the arrival of humans and orcs on the western shore of the Great Continent. It is his fate to be the first of his people to be directly confronted by the invading orcs.

* [[AnOrcishIncursion|Walkthrough]]
* [[An_Orcish_Incursion story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#An_Orcish_Incursion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:AOI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#An_Orcish_Incursion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#8_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== The South Guard ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_South_Guard/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/UMJFY.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The South Guard</div>
</div>

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=872 aelius]

A young Knight, Deoran is dispatched to take command of the South Guard. This campaign has 9 or 10 scenarios, depending on the branch you take, and is aimed at beginners on the easiest difficulty.

* [[TheSouthGuard|Walkthrough]]
* [[South Guard story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_South_Guard Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TSG Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10323 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_South_Guard.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_South_Guard Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#607_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Liberty ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Liberty/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/rseVU.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Liberty</div>
</div>

by scott

The chronicles of how a certain group of Wesnothians were betrayed by their ruler and decided to fight back. This made them outlaws in the crown's eyes, but hopefully heroes in ours.

There are 9 scenarios and some goodies to boot. The main focus is to provide the experience of recruiting and recalling higher level outlaw characters, which you don't normally get to do. While there is a range of difficulty in the scenarios, the overall intent is for them to be straightforward and not too difficult.

* [[Liberty|Walkthrough]]
* [[Liberty story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Liberty Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:L Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20252 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Liberty.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Liberty Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#501_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Legend of Wesmere ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Legend_of_Wesmere/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/nJGZu.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Legend of Wesmere</div>
</div>

by Santi; adapted for mainline by esr and fendrin

''The tale of Kalenz, the High Lord who rallied his people after the second orcish invasion of the Great Continent and became the most renowned hero in the recorded history of the Elves.''

* [[LegendofWesmere|Walkthrough]]
* [[LegendofWesmereStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Legend_of_Wesmere Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Legend_of_Wesmere Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:LOW Dialogue]
* [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=51 Discussion threads]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Legend_of_Wesmere Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#20_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== The Eastern Invasion ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/FKIXO.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Eastern Invasion</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=176 Turin]

This campaign follows Gweddry, a Wesnothian Army Officer, battling against undead invaders. It has 18 scenarios, and no more are planned.

* [[TheEasternInvasion|Walkthrough]]
* [[EiStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Eastern_Invasion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:EI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10325 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Eastern_Invasion.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Eastern_Invasion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== The Hammer of Thursagan ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/kavI.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Hammer of Thursagan</div>
</div>

by ESR (Eric S. Raymond)

In the first years of the Northern Alliance, the dwarves of Knalga attempt to re-establish contact with their kin in the east at Kal Kartha. Many perils beset the expedition, but none so dire as the dark secret they will discover at their destination.

* [[TheHammerOfThursagan|Walkthough]]
* [[TheHammerOfThursagan story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Hammer_Of_Thursagan Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:THOT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20258 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550_YW Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== Descent into Darkness ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Descent_Into_Darkness/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JTXUi.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Descent into Darkness</div>
</div>

by esci

Malin Keshar, a young mage from the town of Parthyn, attempts to defend his home from marauding orcs by enlisting the help of a necromancer named Darken Volk. He learns the forbidden art of raising and controlling the deceased and the true power of the undead, and is gradually drawn further into the secrets of necromancy.

* [[DescentIntoDarkness|Walkthough]]
* [[Descent Into Darkness story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Descent_into_Darkness Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DID Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20251 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Descent_into_Darkness.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Descent_Into_Darkness Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#389_YW Position in timeline]
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== Delfador's Memoirs ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Delfadors_Memoirs/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/PUG3x.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Delfador's Memoirs</div>
</div>

''Wesnoth seems to be slipping inexorably into chaos, as marauding orcs pour south across the Great River, and mysterious and deadly creatures roam the night. Who is the shadowy Iliah-Malal? Can you defeat him before he destroys all life in Wesnoth?''

* [[DelfadorsMemoirs|Walkthrough]]
* [[DelfadorsMemoirsStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DM Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Delfadors_Memoirs.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#468_YW Position in timeline]
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== Dead Water ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Dead_Water/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/QpIvg.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Dead Water</div>
</div>

By [http://forums.wesnoth.org/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=107794 beetlenaut]

''You are Kai Krellis, a merman king, but only a child. A necromancer has arrived and is turning your subjects into undead slaves! Lead your people on a mission to convince a powerful mermaid to help you repel the invasion. The oceans near the Northern Lands are perilous, so you will need cunning and bravery to be survive, but first you need to gain the respect of your troops!''
(Intermediate Level, 10 scenarios)

*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Dead_Water Walkthrough]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Dead_Water Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Dead_Water Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DW Dialogue]
*[http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31283 Discussion Thread]
*[http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Dead_Water.html Custom units]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Dead_Water Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#626_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Sceptre of Fire ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/HmBs1.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Sceptre of Fire</div>
</div>

by turin

King Haldric of the humans strikes a deal with the young dwarf Rugnor. In exchange for ten thousand in silver, the dwarves will create a sceptre of fire for the human king.

* [[Sceptre of Fire|Walkthrough]]
* [[Sceptre of Fire story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Sceptre_of_Fire Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOF Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20255 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Sceptre_of_Fire.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Scepter_of_Fire Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#25-40_YW Position in timeline]
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== Son of the Black-Eye ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Son_Of_The_Black_Eye/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/K5pvI.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Son of the Black-Eye</div>
</div>

started by Benj, completed by Taurus

You are the orcish chieftain Kapou'e, son of the famed Black-Eye Karun who was treacherously murdered by the human-worms twenty-seven years ago. You must expel the human invaders from orcish lands and avenge your father's death. It has 18 scenarios.

* [[SonOfThe_BlackEye|Walkthrough]]
* [[Black Eye story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOTBE Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20257 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Son_of_the_Black-Eye.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#842_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Rise of Wesnoth ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JdZB3.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Rise of Wesnoth</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=388 Shade]

This campaign revolves around the events that brought Haldric I to the 'Great Continent' to found the Kingdom of
Wesnoth. It has 25 scenarios, and is considered complete.

* [[TheRiseOfWesnoth|Walkthrough]]
* [[TrowStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TROW Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10613 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Rise_of_Wesnoth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#5-2_BW Position in timeline]
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== Northern Rebirth ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Northern_Rebirth/images/campaign_image.jpg http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JTXI5.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Northern Rebirth</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=100782 Taurus]

The people of Dwarven Doors rise against their orcish oppressors in a struggle that will shape the fate of the Northlands. 14 scenarios.

* [[Northern Rebirth|Walkthrough]]
* [[Northern Rebirth story|Story outline]] , [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Northern_Rebirth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:NR Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20253 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Northern_Rebirth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Northern_Rebirth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#534_YW Position in timeline]
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== Under the Burning Suns ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Under_the_Burning_Suns/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/spPBH.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Under the Burning Suns</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=149 quartex]

Set in the distant future, where elves live in the desert. It has 11 scenarios, and is not recommended for beginners because it changes some parts of Wesnoth, including the elves stats and the day/night cycle.

* [[UnderTheBurningSuns|Walkthrough]]
* [[UtBSStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Under_the_Burning_Sun Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:UTBS Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10491 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Under_the_Burning_Suns.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Under_The_Burning_Suns Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#After_the_Fall Position in timeline]
<div style="clear:both"></div>

== See also ==
* [[UserCampaigns]]
* [[Guide_to_UMC_Campaigns]]

[[Category:Review on Release]]
[[Category:Campaigns|*]]
[[Category:Wesnoth - Mainline]]

AnOrcishIncursion

2013-08-24T11:00:29Z

Ericppp: /* A Detour Through the Swamp */

If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to hone your skills, try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

Each scenario has an individual forum thread where you can provide feedback to the authors. You can find these [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 here].

=== Defend the Forest ===
* Objectives: Defeat Urugha, the enemy leader
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and an Elvish Rider

This is a simple 'Kill the enemy leader' scenario. The main objective in the first couple scenarios in this campaign is to develop your shaman line recruits, so you should recruit a fairly even mix of fighters, archers, and shamans. Normally as Rebels you would recruit many more fighters, but in this campaign you can be assured of lots of forest, so you don't need quite as many of them. As always, plan your starting recruits so that you can get the most villages quickly (many require a quick archer to reach expediently, unfortunately).

The battle is quickly over. Watch for the enemy Grunts as they have the highest damage dealing potential, and some Wolf Riders may try to steal your village. Try to milk the enemy leader for XP at the end, especially on your Shamans. If he's slowed, he's not much of a threat, even at night. Finish early for a nice bonus.

=== Assassins ===
* Objectives: Defeat Ghalrsa, the enemy leader
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and another unit
Hopefully you're entering this scenario with a good hunk of XP on your units, if not level 2s already. Your primary goal is to get a Druid quickly in this scenario - the AI uses Orcish Assassins, which will poison you. A Druid will make this far less painful than if you were relying solely on your Shamans.

It is up to you where to make your stand, but try to get the enemy to fight from the river. Even if you lose a unit or two, the return damage he will deal hitting them in the river is quite tremendous and will greatly weaken their forces. Especially on the higher levels of difficulty, consider recruiting quite a bit more than one castleful for this scenario as the enemy will have units aplenty. This enemy leader isn't quite so easy to milk so finish it as quickly as possible.

=== Wasteland ===

* Objectives: Defeat Gnargha, the Orcish Warlord
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and another unit

This is an interesting scenario - no villages. Check your income in the top: it's all you're going to get. The next scenario is possible with minimum starting gold but painful, especially if you don't have leveled troops that you're willing to lose. This is slightly offset by the gold bonus you will (hopefully) get at the end of the scenario. This scenario is as much an exercise in gold management as anything else. Keep in mind that some troops may level and try to stay under your income as much as possible with your upkeep. Multiple level 1s may be better than your leveled units in some cases. A Druid, of course, is a necessity with the lack of villages.

Establish your units in the middle "island" of forest. With some healers behind your line you should easily absorb the wave of attackers then take out the leader.

When you finish, you will get a gold bonus, and its amount will be in inverse proportion to the number of units the enemy recruited throughout the scenario (the less units he gets to recruit, the more money for you), so it is probably best to avoid a long fight.

=== Valley of Trolls ===
* Objectives: Defeat the two Troll leaders
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and another unit

Largely regarded as the first truly difficult scenario by many beginners, this has stumped many by either waves of Troll Whelps or truly scary adult Trolls, depending on your difficulty. What may not be obvious to you is that the troll AI has been set up to NOT USE the two mountain hexes that border their caves, but only the path through the middle. Once you realize this it is far easier to setup a nice bottleneck for them.

The troops from the shaman line should make good use of their slow attack. A slowed troll is much more survivable.

Good luck! Try to eliminate the blue troll quickly so that the teal one will be a sole target.

[stupidjaguar] I agree with all of the above. The scenario becomes much easier if you use the Sorceress line and Elornas, because of the Trolls' vulnerabilities to arcane damage. Slow them with Shamen and Druids, then take them out with faerie fire.

[cph] Maybe the bottleneck approach above works for the Easy skill, but I don't think it's suitable for Challenging. Instead, it's a divide-and-conquer level. Send a scout west over the river to grab villages and distract the west trolls, and throw the rest of your forces in a quick knock-out against the east trolls. Remember to recall some L2 or near-to-levelling up units with good ranged damage: you want to be able to take out trolls in 1 or two turns. It would help to level up Erlornas before you get here, as he does more ranged damage at L3.

=== Linaera the Quick ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Erlornas or Linaera die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas, another unit, Linaera and three Mages

This is a fun scenario lending you a very handy unit, the Silver Mage. Be careful not to lose her and use her as a surprise attacker. The AI does not understand that a Silver Mage can appear from any of your villages, so when she's not teleporting around the map grabbing more villages for you keep her on a village so that she's handy to aid in a strike on an unsuspecting AI unit.

You may start off with low gold after last scenario, so start off slow, especially on higher difficulty levels. Let them come to you instead of you rushing them. You have plenty of time to take the rest of the map once the first wave has pummeled you.

[comments by elvish_sovereign] If your low on gold (which you might be because of the previous scenario), try this strategy if you need some quick cash. Depending on the amount of gold you have, get one or two scouts. Recruit fighters with the rest of your gold. Place Linaera on one of the villages you start with. The orc leader will start recruiting and sending units down to attack you. Use your fighters to lure the enemy units first south and then west. When all of the enemy units are attacking your fighters, use your scout(s) to rush up north and aim to grab the village at 9,5: the village right above the enemy leader. Once your scout leaves that village teleport Linaera to the village and kill the leader. Try not to let the scout(s) die because they also can shoot the leader with their bow(s). This way I finished the scenario (on hard) on turn 6, giving me loads of gold for the next scenario.

=== A Detour Through the Swamp ===

* Objectives: Defeat Keremal the Lich
* Lose if: Erlornas or Linaera die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas, Linaera and any surviving Mage

Pretty simple 'kill the enemy leader' scenario again. This campaign has a lot of them. Be careful of the undead at night - they pack a serious punch, but they're much less scary in the daytime. Your best unit will be your Mages. The final boss is a toughy. The only thing you really have that can hurt him is your Mages, with Linaera being by far the best as a Silver Mage (she resists the Lich attack quite a bit!). Get in a gang around him and then try to finish him off in one turn. If that fails, try again. You'll probably have heavy casualties finishing him if you're new to fighting Liches, and beware using melee attacks on him (he'll heal when he hits you), even if his ranged attack is truly terrifyingly powerful. Again, slowing the Lich will help a lot.

[comments by scorchgeek]
Erlornas and Elvish Sorceresses also do heavy damage to undead. I sacrificed all my mages in the previous scenario and at first thought I would have to go back and repeat it, but as I had 2 Sorceresses, I did fine in the end.

[comments by Mountain_King]
If you decide to do a shamans-only challenge on this campaign, this scenario is loads easier. Sorceresses + Shamans make quick work of even revenants. Don't be afraid to bring Erlornas to use his faerie fire either. You should have an enchantress or two at this point, which when combined with Linaera will take out the lich very easily.

=== Showdown ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Orcish Sovereign
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas, Linaera, another unit and 4 Elvish Rangers

Another kill the enemy leader, but with a twist: you get 4 loyal Rangers to sneak around the backside for an assassination! If you have any rangers of your own, send them along to and use the rest of your forces as a diversion to the southwest. If played well you can actually just destroy his army at the moment, but it's always fun to pop out of the trees and surround the bewildered AI.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - An Orcish Incursion]]

HeirToTheThrone

2013-08-22T19:50:52Z

Ericppp: Minor style changes. Content updated based on 1.10.x.

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad.

Some of the information in this walkthrough may be outdated, as the campaign has seen some changes over the years without the respective updates of the walkthrough. It is generally valid and useful, however.

The suggestions herein are mostly based on the ''Medium'' and ''Hard'' difficulty levels. It should be possible to win on the ''Easy'' difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into ''Medium'' to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]]—this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

There is a [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=39 subforum] for providing feedback on the scenarios of this campaign, with each scenario having its individual thread, where you can post feedback, read other players' comments and sometimes get your questions answered. Note, however, that some of the posts date back to 2004... remember to mind the post dates. The scenario forum threads also have the occasional replay attached to a post (the 'replay' savegame that gets created whenever you complete a scenario).

There are also some personal walkthrough forum posts, such as [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough]. Finally, [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough to "Heir to the Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations and commentary, to the first six scenarios.

'''Warning - spoilers ahead!'''

== Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged ==
* Objective: Move Konrad to the signpost.
* Lose if: Konrad or Delfador die or turns run out.
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador.

The orcs as well as your allies will levy a great many troops, you'll soon find yourself between the lines in a huge battle. All those units slugging it out can take quite some time, you may want to try two options on the Preferences dialog, "Accelerated Speed" or maybe even "Skip AI Moves".

This scenario is a "runner" scenario; on turn one, recruit a castle full of fresh recruits, and immediately make a break for it! If you're new to Wesnoth, getting Konrad out of there in one piece will be difficult enough and may require you to start over a couple of times. Hint: don't keep your units all lumped around Konrad, as a large host will attract the enemies' attention.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. Either way, you should send Delfador and most of your army straight north. This is a ruse, the sole purpose is to lure the enemy towards the road while Konrad (with only one or two level-1 bodyguards) makes his way towards the exit. There's no chance of winning by defeating all enemies, your troops should perform a skirmishing retreat westwards into the forest.

Other than getting Konrad on his way, the secondary objective you should pursue on this scenario is to gain some experience for your troops. Experience is gained by fighting; once a level of experience is reached, your units will "level up" and become more powerful units. Killing an opponent will give much more experience than just fighting, so you should try to arrange it in such a way that the unit you want to upgrade gets to deliver the ''coup de grâce''.

Now a few words about the units at your disposal. In–game, you cannot check the data of unknown units; if you want to take a peek anyway, check the [http://www.wesnoth.org/units/ Wesnoth Unit Tree].

* Fighters and Archers. Melee and ranged, all elvish warriors are capable of both, it's more a matter of emphasis than an actual distinction. When they level up, most should become Heroes and Rangers, repectively; you'll only need one or two Captains, and probably are better off without any Marksmen: spellcasters will serve the same purpose much better.

* Shamans are minor healers. As a rule of thumb, you should never enter into any scenario without at least one healer. Leveling up a Shaman is somewhat tricky, as they can do only very little damage. If you use stronger units to knock an enemy unit's HP down, you can move your shamans up from behind the lines to administer the finishing blow. As difficult as it is to level up a shaman, it is well worth the hassle. Druids will be standard healers, you want one (and possibly only one) of those as soon as possible. A Sorceress cannot heal at all, but is a powerful spellcaster. At their higest level, both will learn to fly and become very mobile.

* Scouts may seem weak, but there's more to them than meets the eye. While most riders suffer severe penalties in difficult terrain, the elvish variant can cross rivers, swamps and even mountains rather quickly and will usually even receive a reasonable defense modifier. Insofar, they're less like horsemen and more like fast infantry. Whether you employ them in numbers is a matter of taste, however, you should always remember that you have these extremely mobile units at your disposal.

* Konrad, your leader, starts most scenarios at a keep where he may recruit some troops, but that doesn't mean that he should stay there forever: Being always on the map, he may just as well make himself useful. Getting him to level two will earn him a bow as well as the "leadership" ability, both will come in handy time and again.

* Delfador, the Elder Mage, is insanely powerful (at least compared to your other troops for the time being). Mages usually aren't very sturdy, but at level 5 he has so many hit points that you don't have to worry too much about him—he'll survive quite a few counterattacks. Don't overcommit him, but the first few scenarios depend on his abilities to instantly slay nearly any opponent and soaking up some damage that would otherwise kill several of your (still minor) units.

Be careful and don't leave Konrad or Delfador on vulnerable positions at the end of your turns (where many enemies may be able to surround them), especially on ''hard'' difficulty, because all enemies will be particularly aggresive towards them.

Remember to use the CTRL-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move. Be careful with your heroes and constantly think of their safety.

Early finish bonus: 32 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Scenario 2 - Blackwater Port ==
* Objectives: Either
** Resist until the end of the scenario, or..
** Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Sir Kaylan die or turns run out.
* Turns: 12/12/9 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Haldiel.
* Other
** An extra loyal Knight unit as a bonus if the enemy leader is defeated on ''hard''.
** You can recruit horseman units now.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel, a loyal Horseman. The importance of loyalty is explained in [[CampaignStrategies#The_importance_of_loyalty|Campaign Strategies]].

'''Horsemen'''
:Now that's cavalry as we know it. Their charges can be truly devastating if somewhat suicidal, as your ally will demonstrate soon. Employing charge attacks takes a little getting used to, as it differs so much from ordinary melee. Keep an eye on the "Damage Calculations" until you get the knack of it.<br>

Back to topic: If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or who have specific traits that you need. Hole up in the forest on your side of the road (so the enemy has to stand on the plains to face you). Feel free to seize a few villages from your ally, he won't complain. If you have a unit to spare, you may even take the villages next his castle. Matter of fact, this is a prudent move – after all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw some orcs south, reducing the pressure on your actual army and giving you more freedom to shape the battle. However, be careful to not let him get pinned down and killed.

Sir Kaylan will send one or two horsemen to the enemy lines to assist you. Although these horsemen are not under your direct control, they can serve as a distraction if you manoeuver your forces properly, taking the brunt during the enemy's turn to attack.

The first night will be tough, be prepared to lose some units; but if you use the terrain to your advantage, you should have enough of an army left to launch a serious counterattack during the next day. The momentum should keep you going even through the next night and you may soon find yourself besieging the enemy keep. However, the actual objective is merely to survive – if everything fails, you may still retreat behind the swordsmen guarding Sir Kaylans fortress.

There is an early finish gold bonus for killing the enemy leader, however, it will probably be small. In other words: rushing it won't be worthwhile, instead you should play it safe: manoeuver carefully and try to get some experience to those units that need it most. By the end of this scenario, you really ought to have a Druid—that's absolutely vital. Next in line should be an elvish Fighter (make him a Captain) and Konrad, anything else is optional. But the more the merrier as they say.

If you're playing on ''hard'' and manage to kill the orc leader, you will receive a special reward: Simyr, a loyal Knight with the ''intelligent'' trait, will join your army. This might very well be worth the effort, but it will not be an easy challenge. There have been, however, reports from users who have achieved this. You need some good luck distracting most the enemies away from the keep, enough to leave an opening for a few horseman units to charge on the leader during the day (on turn 8/9) in order to finish him off.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Scenario 3 - Isle of Alduin ==
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad or Delfador die or turns run out.
* Turns: 34/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador.
* Other
** A loyal mage named Elrian is hiding in a village near your keep.
** After finding Elrian, you'll be able to recruit magi.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and magi.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with magi. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember magi work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to leveling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably magi and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

A note about playing with Magi: They are weak units, but become important later in the game. Over the next few levels, you'll want to level at least two Magi to White Magi for later in the game; they have an arcane (or holy) attack which does incredible amounts of damage to the undead. Fire Magi can eventually level up to level 4 Great Magi, which are walking killing machines, and Fire Magi do decent damage to most other units, especially trolls and skeletons. Magi are weak, however, so they need to be guarded by stronger units. Don't let the enemy have more than one attack position on them.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Scenario 4 - Bay of Pearls ==
* Objective: Either
** Defeat one enemy leader, and resist the other until turns run out, or
** Defeat all enemy leaders (early finish bonus).
* Lose if: Konrad dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 27/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad.
* Other
** A storm trident is located on the northwest.

Opening moves: On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on: by the end of your very first turn, you should have at least five mermen in the water.

Watch out: there's one cage far out at sea that's easily overlooked. The first Merman you set free tells you as much, but if you skip the message... Anyway, it is guarded by two nagas. Send two or (at most) three Mermen up there and *do not* fight it out: get the cage first, then kill the nagas with the help of the mermen from that cage. It holds at least four Mermen, on of them an Initiate. The latter may become a healer, try to get her experienced as soon as possible.

Even further north than the last cage there's a trident in the water. It will confer a powerful ranged attack to its bearer. Have a "quick" merman pick it up (who should eventually become a Hoplite).

The remaining mermen should try to hold the sea leaders' recruits at bay. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal. Don't push too hard, especially not at night when your attacks are weak. Keeping your loyal mermen alive is more important than the possession of a village, and things will look much better on the next day. If that doesn't suffice, the troops from the deep-sea cage may lend a hand.

It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so eventually your need to do this. The Storm Trident and the Initiate both have magic attacks (70% to-hit regardless of terrain) and should go a long way... you better attack him during the day, even if it means that you need to wait for a few turns.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and wolves. Your decision is how far west to engage the enemy, though really, you have little choice: You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. Some wolves may reach you in the night, but the bulk of his army won't arrive until daybreak. Press hard during the day, and there will be little left of his army when the night comes.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, your loyal mage, and an elven fighter to level-2 (if you haven't already).

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose (and get an early finish bonus).

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up many units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players or those who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise may wish to consider the sea route to the Isle of the Damned, where you will find a loyal White Mage who *might* join you... if you meet some very tough winning conditions. Either choice will be a battle against undead.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 5A - Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 5B - Isle of the Damned ===
* Objective: Either
** Resist until turns run out, or
** Defeat all enemy leaders (special bonus)
* Lose if: Konrad dies.
* Turns: 28/26/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delurin (an Outlaw) and two Merman Fighters
* Other
** Thugs, Poachers and Footpads can be recruited in this scenario.
** Moremirmu, a White Mage with a special melee attack can be found in one of the temples in the middle of the map.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Delurin, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

While your new units might seem weaker than your old troops, they are chaotic like their undead opponents and Thugs and Footpads deal useful impact damage. Use the Footpads effectively to hold your line and the Thugs to deal the main portion of the damage.

Mermen can be used successfully to harass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though - their pierce damage does very little to the undead, especially at night. Mermen are also useful to hold the many isolated villages scattered throughout the map.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated. There are only a few ways to achieve the early finish. One involves recalling mermen from the previous scenario, including the one with the magical trident, and sending them to kill the southern lich, while land troops attack the other.

The other two center on Moremirmu. Get Moremirmu early, and send him along with a few footmen and thugs north, and use other units to draw fire. Meanwhile, secure the rest of the center of the map from the south. If Moremirmu can finish off the first Lich in time, send that group south -- it takes 10 turns to reach the other Lich, so you'll need to accomplish this by Turn 16! The alternative is to simultaneously send a large force south with Konrad, lure the Lich onto bad ground and surround it.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== Scenario 6 - The Siege of Elensefar ==
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Konrad dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/32/29 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, one veteran unit (typically an elf).
* Other
** A group of thieves/rogues join your party in the first few turns.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way - but casualties will probably be lower than if you do it the slow way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that the undead are well on their way to join the orcs occupying the city. Speed is a factor.

Konrad will receive some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties. Also, don't forget that mages can't take a lot of abuse, especially from melee attacks. You will have to figure out how to use your less effective elvish units and horsemen to shield your mages.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Scenario 7 - Crossroads ==
* Objective: Defeat the north-eastern enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 37/34/31 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other
** There are many enemies hidden in the mountains, placed at random.
** Two loyal units, an elf fighter and an elf archer, join you.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

Note: The first two villages on the screen that you will likely attempt to grab trigger an Elvish Fighter and Elvish Archer to join your party and warn you about the hills. Keep in mind that they, too, are Loyal troops.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== Scenario 8 - The Princess of Wesnoth ==
* Objective: Force Li'sar to surrender.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 31/28/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and one veteran (typically an elf).

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

[hipparchos] Patience is the key here. I send a couple of L2 horsemen north to take the northern villages, then cover your left flank. A couple of mermen swing south to take the southern ones, then cover your right flank. (The storm-trident merman stays on the village next to the mineshaft will deal with the Duellists.) But I put the bulk of my army on the west bank of the river, ''without crossing it''. Let the enemy come to you, because they will be much easier to defeat when they're standing in the river, and that's especially true as the Princess recruits L2 defenders later in the scenario. The bridge is the northern end of your main line, and Delfador can defend it easily with one other strong unit. Only after all the Princess's defenders have been defeated do you cross the river and take her keep.

== Scenario 9 - The Valley of Death ==
* Objective: Survive for 12 turns.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die.
* Turns: 12/12/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Moremirmu (if unlocked on the ''Isle of the Damned'' scenario).
* Other
** The map contains two holy water objects, useful for attacking undead enemies.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

You'll be facing many level-2 undead. They're all dangerous but two kinds require special attention:
* Spectres (level2 ghosts) are fast in every terrain, somewhat hard to hit, resistant to all common kinds of damage, and have a draining attack. Attacking them in melee is not recommendend, killing them with arrows will eventually work but takes many arrows. They are vulnerable to arcane spells and fireballs, though.
* Walking Corpses: they're slow, they're weak, they're fragile. Usually nothing to worry about, but this time they're many. Hordes. Night of the Living Dead. A strong fighter will easily slay them, but that can become his downfall: an attacking corpse that gets killed makes room for the next corpse to move in and attack... and the next, and the next, and each one gets a few blows. Even a Paladin or Champion will eventually be overwhelmed, taking around ten or fifteen zombies with him. Whether you consider this to be a good exchange is up to you. Incidentally, something similar can happen between Paladins and level-1 Skeletons.

The castle you start in is a well-defensible position, but all enemies arrive at about the same time. Once surrounded, you'll have very little wiggle room or inside tiles for your wounded units to retreat to. Filling the moat with Mermen might work a bit better, but their tridents won't impress the skeletons.

You should consider attacking the southern enemy, then hole up in his castle and the surrounding hills. This increases the distance to the others: their troops will reach you later and they will be strung out, so you don't have to fight them all at once.

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes—but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen (or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

[edit: Viper] On medium, I found that I could only make this strategy work by save/loading <b>and</b> by using knights or better for the Litches (as horsemen could not do the job in a single turn even hitting on every attack).

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Scenario 10 - Gryphon Mountain ==
* Objectives: Defeat the mother gryphon and the enemy commander.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 27/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 24 gold / turn
* Other:
** Killing the mother gryphon is optional, but doing it allows you to recruit gryphon riders in the future.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robryn, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and a few sleeping Gryphons.

If you manage to kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will—and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

== Scenario 11 - The Ford of Abez ==
* Objective: Move Konrad to the north side of the river.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 27/24/21 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other:
** A storm trident is located in the middle of the river.

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. Killing the Princess is meant to be impossible: she has plenty of troops as is, and if you actually get near her there will be numerous high-quality reinforcements. Do not even try to attack her, it will be a waste of good troops for no gain. Instead, fill the river with mermen: this is an excellent opportunity to get many of them leveled up.

But first things first: your task is to get Konrad across the river. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. All will happily fight each other if they ever meet, but with your army standing right between them in the middle of the river... it will pretty much seem as if everyone was out to get you.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. If you have some of the flying elvish units, they move and fight equally well over land or water. Wait for the Orcs and Humans to get into the water where the mermen have excellent defence while the landlubbers do not.

Even if you have the money, don't recruit for more than two turns, otherwise Konrad might not even make it into the river. The scenario ends as soon as he makes it to the other side (off the beach and onto flat ground) -- by the time he gets there, there will be few orcs left on that shore, Kalenz and Delfador can well deal with them. If you recruit any land troops at all (healers perhaps?), make sure they have at least two moves in shallow water.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your mermen some XP, and you don't really need the early finish bonus.

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8716 forum discussion]

== Scenario 12 - Northern Winter ==
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them).
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die, or turns run out.
* Turns: 50/40/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a veteran (knight or mage).
* Early finish bonus: 47 / turn
* Other
** Snow falls on more and more tiles every turn, until the whole map is covered in snow by the time turns run out.

This is a relatively simple scenario. The enemy will mostly raise level-1 wolf riders and orcish archers, plus the occasional level-2 Ogre or Troll. You can field a similar mix of mostly fresh recruits plus a few veterans. Throughout the scenario, the wolves will attempt to seize villages, often bypassing your forces: a few Elvish Scouts behind your lines will come in handy. Alternatively, your loyal Thieves can play hide-and-seek just as well. Don't overrecruit, though: there's only so many units you can actually bring to bear on the enemy. You've got enough time to win this twice, so you may chose to take it slow and milk this battle for experience. You'll still end this with more than enough gold in your coffers.

== Scenario 13 - The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objective: Move Konrad to the entrance of the dwarven tunnels.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 26/20/15 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, one experienced Rider, one outlaw unit (if you have any).

You may defeat all enemy leaders if you feel like it, but this won't end the scenario. The sole winning condition is to get Konrad to the entrance of the Dwarven Kingdom. Actually, there are two entrances: the "Great Gates", clearly labeled as such, and a less conspicious side entrance in the north-eastern corner. Only one of these is open, the other is blocked from the inside (determined at random).

You start the scenario with one rider who suggests to scout ahead: that's a good idea, even though you may chose another unit for the task (the game picks the most experienced). If you happen to have a ''quick'' Lancer, it could be a good idea to use it for this purpose, but anyone reaching an entrance will tell you whether it's open or not.

Alternatively, if you played the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about his uncle who used to have business with the dwarves, hiding in a village along the way (at position [18,24], you'd probably seize it anyway). The uncle is a loyal bandit who joins your troops; he also tells you which entrance to chose, main gate or mine tunnels. It pays off to actually read that dialog.

The most minimalistic approach is to recruit one castle full of cavalry and RUN. The enemies have to cover some distance and cross difficult terrain in order to get in you way -- if Konrad starts running on turn one, he can move past them practically unopposed. It falls to the cavalry to bring up the rear: let them form a line somewhere near the Pillars of Thunedain while Konrad, Delfador and the other walkers keep going. Holding the line for a single turn is enough, then the riders may follow Konrad, leaving the pursuers behind and unable to catch up again (except for the wolves, but there shouldn't be many).

You can still follow this basic principle if you recruit for two turns, adding a healer or two and perhaps some Rangers (their ambushes will stop many opponents). If you recruit for more than two turns, this will become a rather normal battle: your rearguard can no longer disengage, but will have to keep on fighting. There's nothing wrong with that, you can gain quite some experience that way, just don't forget the actual objective.

It's useful to know that moving any unit close to the small lake near the main entrance (any position inside the square between [10, 10] and [15, 15]) will cause an aquatic monster to appear. It will attack anything that moves (including orcs and trolls) and poisons its victims, so watch out.

Konrad needs to get into the mines. Scenario ends with early finish bonus as soon he does so.

== Scenario 14 - Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objective: Find the dwarves.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other:
** Secret pasage in south-western part of the tunnel.

In principle, this is quite simple. You cannot recruit and just have to walk down that corridor until you find the dwarves—you can't possibly miss them. You will be attacked by a few bats. They may hurt, that's all. This is mostly a lesson: see how slow Kalenz is in the caves? Notice his abysmal terrain defense? Clearly, this is no place for elves.

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southwest. Just stick to the wall, step by step, and you'll eventually find it. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty spider: watch out! It's a level-3 beast that poisons and slows.

After you're done with the bats, you can just sit there and wait until your men are healed again. There is no turn limit, after all. Once you found the secret door, do not get in. Step back a bit and the spider will rush out where you can attack her three to one. You should be able to kill her in a single turn, don't worry about getting poisoned—you won't die from poison and there are no other enemies left. However, if you fail to kill her quickly... you saved the game, didn't you?

== Scenario 15 - The Lost General ==
* Objective: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two).
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 64/60/54 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Other
** A loyal Dwarvish Ulfserker can be found by a merman in this scenario.
** If the allied dwarf leader is saved in this scenario, you will then be able to recruit Dwarvish Guardsman units.

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recalling, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a Gryphon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

If the dwarf leader survives (and you actually reveal him), Dwarvish Guardsman will become available. It is easy to underestimate the importance of these units. Their defensive capabilities can be greatly appreciated towards the end of the campaign, especially in the last two scenarios.

Note: If you recall/recruit a merman and send it to the pond, then have it go to the whirlpool, it will arrive in a hidden cavern with a friendly ulfserker. Once your merman returns to the whirlpool through the other end, it will carry the ulf with it.

== Scenario 16 - Hasty Alliance ==
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 33/30/27 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz.
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

The way I did it was to recruit a keep of thieves (the cheapest unit) and move Delfador and Kalenz out of the way. Then my allies were able to send help over so that I could get 'real' units on my second turn without suffering casualties. One thief survived and I got a Rogue with 36/56 XP by the end of the scenario! -CountPenguin

== Scenario 17 - The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objective: Capture the Sceptre of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 50/45/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** 300 gold gift from Li'sar.
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus.
** Randomly generated map.

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the Sceptre is.

There's three or four enemy leaders, depending on difficulty. The map is randomly generated; there's no telling how many villages there are and where... but more often than not, it's something like 25 villages and most will be placed where you can seize them early. The scenario certainly feels as if you're in for a major underground struggle, but the enemy leaders have little money to begin with and -usually- they won't have much of an income either.

Usually there's two large tunnels going north, and quite often you meet little resistance in one, and quite a lot in the other -- though the latter still doesn't qualify as tough. You can gain quite some XP in the contested tunnel, just form a shieldwall with (mostly) guardians, play it safe, and you can level up some 4-8 dwarves. It's a good idea to station Kalenz here, his faerie fire will help a lot against the occasional lvl-3 Troll.

Meanwhile, The Princess, Delfador, one healer and several of your better dwarves should move up the less contested corridor and scout the map. The Scepter usually is somewhere about 2/3rds up the map. You may encounter the occasional enemy... it's alright to buzz off in all directions, but make sure that everyone has a line of retreat and may receive support within a turn or two.

The scenario ends as soon as Konrad or the Princess gets to the scepter. You may delay this a bit in order to milk a few more XP, but there's not that many more to be gained by then. All things considered, it's better to let Li'sar have the scepter -- she'll be with you until the end, she has no ranged attack, and while Konrad will often be held back by recruiting, Li'sar can be in the frontline from turn one.

Note: When the earth rumbles, something actually happens. There are lava chasms in various places, and these grow when there is a rumble, so keep your units away.

== Scenario 18 - A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objective: Defeat either of the leaders.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 33/30/27 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Other:
** The next two scenarios are three different routes to the Elven kingdom, depending on the enemy leader you kill:
*** Northern (Orcish) leader: [[#Scenario 19A - Snow Plains | The Snow Plains]] where you can get the Flaming Sword (15-4, magical), followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** Southern (Undead) leader: [[#Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread|The Swamp Of Dread]] where you can get the Void Armor (high resistance to blade, pierce, impact) , followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** If you take a merman east on the river to the edge of the map, you will brave [[Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria|Cliffs of Thoria]] which (used to be) an insanely difficult battle where you can find a loyal Sergeant (may become a level-4 leader). It will be followed by [[Scenario 20B - Underground Channels|Underground Channels]].
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts.
** First real chance to level gryphons.

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

Going south is the easiest way: the Orcs coming from the north may only cross the river at the bridge, a choke-point that's easy to block. In fact, a determined attack may defeat the undead before the bulk of the Orcs even makes it to the bridge. Fighting the Orcs in the hills will take longer while the undead can walk through deep water or fly over it, crossing the river wherever they like.

Going south will also the most prudent choice when considering the possible goodies: currently, Li'sar goes into battle wearing lingerie. While a magic sword or a loyal leader might come in handy, you don't need them as badly as the Princess needs a suit of armor.

The undead need to be dealt with even if you don't want to kill their leader. Delfador, Kalenz and Li'sar all have undead-killing ranged attacks (you ''did'' give her the scepter, didn't you?) — add two more Mages (one of them a healer) and three dwarfish Steelclads as bodyguards. Recruit those on turn one and move them to a position where they may receive the Chocobones' attack by dusk. You need at least steelclads in order to survive their charge. However, after the Chocobones are gone the remaining undead ought to be manageable even if you don't throw any more troops that way (though you may do so if you're after the undead and want this to be finished quickly). You may need a few turns' rest before you can tackle the Death Knight, but eventually your spellcasters should dispose of him quickly.

In order to hold back the Orcs, a few elves plus a healer are enough to secure your end of the bridge; the Orcs will be reluctant to attack even level-1 archers during the day, and if you employ more and better troops (like, level-3 loyalists in the woods and a few mermen in the water) the Orcs may not even attack at night. There's not much experience to be gained that way, though. If you want to actually fight the Orcs, you should get to the other side and meet them there. There's plenty of mountains, an excellent opportunity to get some more experience to your dwarves (you will have good use for high-level Dwarves later on). Dwarves, Gryphons and Orcs all have high defense in the mountains, so fighting will be slow.

It will be a long walk to the northern leader even after you rubbed out his army. You might consider an assassination: send like 4-6 suicidal gryphons to his keep. Bonus points if you have a Silver Mage (teleport!). Of course, you can assassinate him without defeating his host first. just wait until his army is too far away to turn back and help him.

Talking about Gryphons... this is the first time that you can really use them. Gryphons alone won't really impress the Orcs, not even when supported by leaders and healers (they're level-1 units, after all). They may however seize a few villages, harass and distract the enemy, track down wounded units and so on. You should certainly get a few.

They must have changed this scenario. As of v 1.9.5 at medium level it's absurdly easy. I recruited just one keep (two paladins, two mages of light, and two griffons). Then charged for the undead leader (South) and wiped him and his evil minions out by the end of turn 9. The griffons didn't even get in the fight. The Orcs hadn't even reached the river bridge. ~ Sojourner, 4/16/11.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 19A - Snow Plains ===
* Objective: Defeat the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out.
* Turns: 43/40/37 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Other:
** Obtain the Flaming Sword.
** Li'sar will tell you about her relationship with her mother.

The main feature of this scenario, as its name suggests, is the terrain. Both armies will be slowed down by the snow. You may try recalling thieves and elves, who are not slowed down as much as other types of units. Another good choice is horsemen (Knights, Paladins, Lancers), which will have a field day, given that the enemy tends to scatter some of its units throughout the map where they will be sitting targets.

You can find the Flaming Sword—a remarkable weapon of type melee-fire, magical, and with damage 15-4—on the great tree at [29,9]. You can equip it to one of your fighter heroes (Konrad, Kalenz, Li'sar) or any unit from the Elvish Fighter line, or to Paladins. A good idea is to give it to the unit you like to use the most in your front lines (but not to the same person with the Sceptre of Fire).

The Orcish leader will have a good flow of income, so once you gain control of the map, you can milk the battle for experience, in case any of your units need it.

=== Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread ===
*Objective: Defeat the main enemy leader (Lich Lord at the SW corner)
*Bonus Objectives: Defeat all the minor enemy leaders (4 Death Knights)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 33/30/27 (easy/medium/hard)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
*Early finish bonus: 26/turn (on Medium difficulty)
*Other:
**Void Armor from one of the enemy leaders.

The swamp of dread isn't all that dreadful. This is a 5-castle map and there are lots of undead, but they are mostly levels 0 and 1 - nothing like Princess' Revenge. The terrain is unfavorable (swamp and sand, but hampers the Undead as much as you; and if you have a preference for Gryphons or Merman, the mobility advantage will be yours.

The swamp is good terrain for your Mermen. Those with attacks that hurt the undead (the ones with Storm Tridents, Netcasters, Priestesses...) or any level 3 unit can make quite a difference. However, be aware that the campaign is coming to an end and you'll probably have little use for Mermen in the following battles; so while the Mermen may well lend a hand, any experience they gain will effectively be wasted. (However, the next two levels do include rivers, so if you really insist you could still use Mermen later.)

One of the Death Knights (chosen randomly) drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (50% blade, 40% impact and 40% pierce, instead of whatever previous values they had). Since Li'sar is very vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor. You might consider keep her in the center at first so she doesn't have to walk across the whole map if the armor appears at the other end. Note, however, that by the time you get the armor you're probably close to clearing the level anyway, so better to think of it as an end-of-scenario perk rather than an intermediary objective playing the scenario.

Some of the Lich's power seems to be tied to the death knights; killing all four will hurt the Lich for about half its hit-points.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10269 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria ===
* Objectives:
*# Make it to the end of the river, to the east.
*# Reach the cave with Konrad.
* Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 55/50/45 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, a Merman veteran.
* Early finish bonus: 27 per turn
* Other:
** Loyal Sergeant on SE corner island.
** A storm trident is located near the first two islands.
** You find small amounts of gold on each drake base you conquer.

After a little spat between Kalenz and the merman you use to go east, you'll head for the Cliffs of Thoria. You'll find a long water level full of derelict vessels of the Queen. You'll also meet a Drake. After some conversation you discover that the Queens' forces attacked the Drakes, and now the Drakes will stop you from going forward. Since you have to move forward, you'll have to fight them.

There are a number of small islands on this map with Drake bases. Each base will produce one Drake every few turns until one of your units occupies the base. This means that although the drakes may run out of money, they will never run out of reinforcements. In order to win this, you need to kill them faster than they spawn new recruits. No easy task.

Further, if you find that you can't win in a direct assault and want to bypass the drakes by going through the swamps, you'll discover very powerful undead enemies guarding the shoreline. They won't move, but any casualty will be immediately replaced by a new unit. Clearly, that area is cursed. Just avoid the dark blue water. It's impossible to get into the swamps, any attempt will be a waste of time.

There is an opportunity to pick up a wonderful loyal unit, although you may wish to skip the challenge if you don't have good gold reserves and a sufficient number of leveled-up mermen.

Among the choices presented in the previous scenario, this map has historically been intended to be the hardest one of all. However, as of version 1.10.x, this map has been made significantly easier. The main difference is that now the drakes come out at a slower rate from their bases, and they are much more passive in general. With careful strategy and by progressing steadily through the map—not moving your gryphons ahead too quickly—you should be able to beat it without a lot of pain. At any rate, this scenario is no longer the monumental challenge it used to be.

Hire many gryphons and Merfolk. Since each base creates a unit every few turns, to destroy a base you have to kill its occupant or wait until it flies towards one of your units, and then move a unit onto the base as quickly as possible, before a new drake comes out of it. Since Merfolk can't move onto mountains, you'll need gryphons for that.

Drakes are vulnerable to piercing and arcane damage, so elvish arrows can be useful, as can your healers as spellcasters, but don't get too many landlubbers—most of the fighting will happen in or over the water. Level-1 mermen will either die quickly or level up; high-level mermen will wreak havoc on the drakes. However, you need a good many level-2 mermen to begin with. Rookies alone cannot maintain the constant pressure you need, and the turn limit is short enough as it is.

When you finally make it to the far side, you'll be told that the waterfall is impassable: you need Konrad to reach the marked "cave entrance" in the middle of the northern edge of the map. Start walking early, he'll take a while.

A loyal leader can be found on the island at the South-Eastern corner of the map. He's badly hurt and poisoned, but you will probably have the time to clear the surroundings and level him up using the undead swamp guards.

Comment: The decreased difficulty combined with the easily available XP in shape of the undead guards unbalances the rest of the campaign badly. If this is not intended, choose another road.

== Divergent Campaign Paths ==

=== Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves ===
* Objectives:
* Konrad must reach the Lintanir forest, at the East of the map, and hold that position until a turn is over.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 18
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

You reach this scenario from either [[Scenario 19A - Snow Plains]] or [[Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread]].

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

However, even in the fog you can see the terrain, including the enemy keeps. The Orcs start in the North central part of the map, while the humans begin in the South-East. What you can't see are the large hosts of level-3 units standing near their respective camps: these are the armies, and *they will not move* unless someone walks into their striking range. Getting at an enemy leader will be difficult indeed, but if you're content with moving past the armies you'll only have to cope with the level-2 vanguards seeking each other.

You start with up to 3 loyal units which can move six or more hexes per turn (provided you kept this many alive), in addition to the 4 heroes (Konrad, Li'sar, Kalenz and Deflador). You many recruit an additional encampment of more troops (i.e. 6 more); it's probably best to get only riders, be they human, elf or gryphon. Most of them should be level-2 at least. If you want to bring a healer, get the fastest on your roster (a quick Elvish flyer, perhaps?) and make sure it's spawned at the right side of your keep.

There is some dialogue to remind you that the winning condition is to move Konrad into the forest, while keeping Li'sar, Delfador and Kalenz alive; everyone else is "not important". During the game, some Elvish riders will show up and happily demonstrate how sacrificing a single unit can keep many others safe; they do it so well that you probably don't need to sacrifice any units of your own, but now you know how it works.

The dialogue makes you expect a large battle between Humans and Orcs, but no one tells you that the Elves (who have a keep in the woods) will also recruit a large force, and attack anyone in sight; you'll probably see your first Human warriors much later than you'd expect and find that they're busy enough fighting the elves. So you only really have to deal with the Orcs; once you're confident that they can't get at Konrad anymore, he can move on pretty much on his own. Your troops may turn around and fight the remaining Orcs, or join the Elves and steal a few kills there, or whatever. Have Konrad stop short of the forest to give your troops more time for fighting if you feel like it.

Delfador will tell you when Konrad enters the domain of the Elves, but the scenario won't end then: you need to finish your turn and let everyone else have one last chance to attack your troops. If Konrad is still alive at the beginning of your next turn, you've won.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10270 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 20B - Underground Channels ===
* Objective: Find the exit from the underground and move Konrad to it.
* Lose if: Death of Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar, Kalenz, or turns run out.
* Turns: 80/70/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Delfador, Kondrad, Li'sar and Kalenz.
* Early finish bonus: 54 per turn

You start at the far South West of a large map, consisting of mostly cave, river and swamp areas. In the North West is a friendly Wose leader who will send a few level one Woses, and at the far North East is the entrance, and some friendly elvish units. In the middle is an ancient Lich who recruits level 2 and 3 undead, and in the South East is a small group of Saurians.

This level is relatively easy, especially with the high-level Mermen you should have from the Cliffs of Thoria. You can recruit on keep of level 2 and 3 Mermen and Dwarves, and either run North and then East for a quick finish, bypassing most enemies, go East and then North, farming some experience from the Saurians, or slowly kill every enemy on the map before continuing. Be careful if you choose to fight the undead though, as the ancient Lich can kill most of your units in one turn, and his recruits, though not numerous, are powerful. If you choose to fight the undead, the mermen who got the tridents in previous scenarios, as well as any Mermaid Priestesses or Diviners will be extremely useful.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=20315 forum discussion].

== Scenario 21 - The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Scenario 22 - Return to Wesnoth ==
* Objective: Defeat all enemy leaders: 2 Loyalist Generals, 1 Orcish Warlord.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 31/28/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.

Three Halbardiers appear as enemy reinforcements in the lower southeastern corner of the map when you slay the nearest general, Josephus (just South of your encampment). The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack.

You can use the forests to your advantage: Elven troops are best in forest, while the Loyalists and Orcs are seriously slowed by the trees. On the other hand, nobody said your enemies will be that interested in frolicking in the forest when they have more accessible enemies outside of it.

How about Gryphons? Your enemies will be recruiting level-2 and level-3 units, and the Halbardiers are level-3, so relying on a force of Gryphon riders, or even Gryphon masters, will probably not work out too well. However, a pair of Gryphons (especially quick ones) can work great for village captures, doubling as an effective diversion, especially with respect to the Halbardiers. Watch these heavy-hitters comically wading through the thick brush of the South-East forest as you fly circles around them.

Your enemies aren't very rich, so while their recruits are powerful - they're also few in numbers. This means their defensive formations will have gaps. Add the fact that, except for the Goblin Knights, your enemies are on the slow side, and you find that using mounted units could be opportune. The downside for these is the Halbardiers' first strike: A lancer or Knight taking ~38 damage before touching his enemy is not a pretty sight. Take these out with your heroes instead (Delfador, Kalenz and whoever has the scepter), or units with ranged attacks.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10272 forum discussion]

== Scenario 23 - Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Either:
** Defeat all 4 enemy leaders (Grand Knights), or
** Kill (25/35/50) enemy units in total (on Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out.
* Turns: 53/50/47 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
* Early finish bonus: 54 Gold per turn (on Medium difficulty)

This is a large map against mostly Knights, Lancers, and Bowmen. The map is mostly open plains, which is an ideal battlefield for mounted units. The easiest way to complete the scenario is to keep all your units in one group and take them en mass to the enemy. Fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. Units with pierce attacks (Archers, Shydes, Knights) will deal high damage to the mounted enemy units (which have low pierce resistance).

Expect heavy losses from the charge attacks, but don't fret, because this is the second-to-last scenario. You'll want to finish this scenario quickly to get a nice gold bonus for the next level.

Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of Dwarves or Elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a relatively safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the South-Eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the South flank.

If you want to defeat all the clan leaders before killing the maximum allowed number of units (which ends the scenario), recruit a castle of Healers, then recruit a good force of Gryphon Riders. Grab as many villages as is safe, and then position your Gryphons on the deep water in the lake. The next castleful of recruits is your main army and two more Gryphon Rides. March this South, take out the South-Eastern leader, then send the two Gryphons to the group in the lake.

As soon as the majority of the North-Western leader's troops move away from him, assassinate him with your Gryphons. He should die in 1-2 rounds of attacks, assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the South-East, recruit a couple of castles' worth of Gryphon Riders and send them west to take on the South-West (Black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your Gryphons cross the river on the offensive, the AI usually moves troops back in to defend with. You should be able to outrun these. Converge all the Gryphons you have left on the middle leader (Purple). I won around turn 25, giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

An alternative strategy for defeating the enemy leaders relies on Li'sar being equipped with both the Scepter of Fire and the Void Armor. This makes her very difficult to hit and very effective against the mounted units (they have no ranged attacks, plus, if they try to lance her they're up against 26-4). What's more, the AI will tend to ignore her: Individual units will tend to not approach her, and groups will go after her escort if she has any. This means she can mount an effective attack together with a very small escort on the South-Eastern leader right away; and after that, the escort can pretty much leave her to go after the Black leader in the South-West alone. In the mean time, A force of Knights or Gryphons might go forward to dispatch the North-Western leader. Then whoever i's left converges on Bayar in the West.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10273 forum discussion].

== Scenario 24 - The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere (thus claiming the throne for Li'sar)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46 gold per turn (and what's that good for, exactly?)

One good strategy for this scenario is to set up a defensive line around your fort, and let the enemy come to you. You'll want to make sure the units on your front line can survive the beating they receive for at least one turn, after which you rotate them with freshly healed units. Don't attack the attackers if it means your unit won't have enough HP to survive the next thrashing. Three or Four healers will be needed behind the lines, and keep them fully occupied (remember that healers will heal every unit adjacent to them for 8 HP. They're like walking sets of 6 villages).

For front-line units, Dwarvish Guardsman, even Level-1, are excellent; they'll take a good beating but not lose too many HP because of their steadfast attribute, on top of their basic resistance to Pierce (read: lance) attacks. Because they don't lose many HP, they'll also heal quickly. Only attack the enemy if no HP will be lost. Guardsmen can throw a spear at the attacker on every turn if the attacker has no ranged attack.

Other units that are good for the front line are any unit with more than 50 HP. Elvish Marshals will make your Dwarvish Guardsmen or Stalwarts even more awesome. Dwarvish Lords have an incredible 79HP and can dish it out back to the enemy. Unfortunately, after a good thrashing, these units will take a long time to heal back up because of the large number of HP lost.

If you have any Assassins, rotate them up and down the line, poisoning enemy units. The enemies have very few villages available to them in your vicinity, so with three Assassins you can poison half the army until the enemies have a bunch of level three units walking around with 1HP each.

Once the enemy has no army left, you can just wander up to Asheviere and discuss her resignation over a cup of hot tea. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill. Or you could surround her with Elvish Shamans and get the last little bit of fun juice out of this game.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: Recruit six of them, right on Turn 1, and send them South. You'll
easily elude the forces of the Eastern general and reach the river (or just past it). Moving in for the kill, however, might prove more difficult than you think - unless you've used an effective distraction. Sending out six-packs of Knight recruits each turn works well. Asheviere herself will not have many troops surrounding her for protection, and might actually be stupid enough to leave her castle to attack your Gryphons. One has to wonder how she's held on to the throne this long with such a poor sense of judgement. You'll probably want to approach her from the South-West, as right South of her is the bridge on which the loyal Weldyn troops will be coming to get you.

Using this strategy it is possible to win within 6-7 turns, without any significant losses. If, however, you've not distracted well enough, Asheviere may divert up to half of her forces to get your Gryphons. But in this case, again - congratulations, you've won: You should have still about 20 living Knights to storm the city with, while too many of her troops are stuck finishing their roast Gryphon sandwiches.

Of course, in both of the above cases you would be relying on a good bonus from [[Test of the Clans]], which should be enough to win this scenario in any which way.

Another humorous brute-force way to win this battle is by relying purely on the diversion tactic mentioned above: An all-Knight rush. Knights are quite possibly the only Level-2 unit you can ever recruit in the mainline campaigns; with roughly 1,500 Gold from the plains battle, just send out loads of Knights to massacre the enemy with suicidal attacks. Just make sure to keep your heroes out of harm's way... It'll be a very bloody, but relatively short, win.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10271 forum discussion].

== Scenario 25 - Epilogue ==

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]][[Category:Campaigns - Heir to the Throne]]

HeirToTheThrone

2013-08-19T23:44:56Z

Ericppp:

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad. It contains spoilers.

Some of the information in this walkthrough is outdated, as the campaign has seen some changes over the years without the respective updates of the walkthrough. It is generally valid and useful, however.

The suggestions herein are based on the "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty levels. It should be possible to win the "Easy" difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]]—this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

There is a [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=39 subforum] for providing feedback on the scenarios of this campaign, with each scenario having its individual thread, where you can post feedback, read other players' comments and sometimes get your questions answered. Note, however, that some of the posts date back to 2004... remember to mind the post dates. The scenario forum threads also have the occasional replay attached to a post (the 'replay' savegame that gets created whenever you complete a scenario).

There are also some personal walkthrough forum posts, such as [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough]. Finally, [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough to "Heir to the Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations and commentary, to the first six scenarios.

'''Warning - spoilers ahead!'''

== Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged ==
Scenario objectives: Both Konrad and Delfador must survive, and Konrad must escape to the signpost in the northwest corner of the map.

The orcs as well as your allies will levy a great many troops, you'll soon find yourself between the lines in a huge battle. All those units slugging it out can take quite some time, you may want to try two options on the Preferences dialog, "Accelerated Speed" or maybe even "Skip AI Moves".

This scenario is a "runner" scenario; on turn one, recruit a castle full of fresh recruits, and immediately make a break for it! If you're new to Wesnoth, getting Konrad out of there in one piece will be difficult enough and may require you to start over a couple of times. Hint: don't keep your units all lumped around Konrad, as a large host will attract the enemies' attention.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. Either way, you should send Delfador and most of your army straight north. This is a ruse, the sole purpose is to lure the enemy towards the road while Konrad (with only one or two level-1 bodyguards) makes his way towards the exit. There's no chance of winning, your troops should perform a skirmishing retreat westwards into the forest.

Other than getting Konrad on his way, the inofficial objective of this scenario is to gain some experience for your troops. Experience is gained by fighting; once a level of experience is reached, your units will "level up" and become more powerful units. Killing an opponent will give much more experience than just fighting, so you should try to arrange it in such a way that the unit you want to upgrade gets to deliver the coup de grace.

Now a few words about the units at your disposal. In-game, you cannot check the data of unknown units; if you want to take a peek anyway, check the [http://www.wesnoth.org/units/ Wesnoth Unit Tree].

* Fighters and Archers. Melee and ranged, all elvish warriors are capable of both, it's more a matter of emphasis than an actual distinction. When they level up, most should become Heroes and Rangers, repectively; you'll only need one or two Captains, and probably are better off without any Marksmen: spellcasters will serve the same purpose much better.

* Shamans are minor healers. As a rule of thumb, you should never enter into any scenario without at least one healer. Leveling up a Shaman is somewhat tricky, as they can do only very little damage. If you use stronger units to knock an enemy unit's HP down, you can move your shamans up from behind the lines to administer the finishing blow. As difficult as it is to level up a shaman, it is well worth the hassle. Druids will be standard healers, you want one (and possibly only one) of those as soon as possible. A Sorceress cannot heal at all, but is a powerful spellcaster. At their higest level, both will learn to fly and become very mobile.

* Scouts may seem weak, but there's more to them than meets the eye. While most riders suffer severe penalties in difficult terrain, the elvish variant can cross rivers, swamps and even mountains rather quickly and will usually even receive a reasonable defense modifier. Insofar, they're less like horsemen and more like fast infantry. Whether you employ them in numbers is a matter of taste, however, you should always remember that you have these extremely mobile units at your disposal.

* Konrad, your leader, starts most scenarios at a keep where he may recruit some troops, but that doesn't mean that he should stay there forever: Being always on the map, he may just as well make himself useful. Getting him to level two will earn him a bow as well as the "leadership" ability, both will come in handy time and again.

* Delfador, the Elder Mage, is insanely powerful (at least compared to your other troops for the time being). Mages usually aren't very sturdy, but at level 5 he has so many hit points that you don't have to worry too much about him – he'll survive quite a few counterattacks. Don't overcommit him, but the first few scenarios depend on his abilities to instantly slay nearly any opponent and soaking up some damage that would otherwise kill several of your (still minor) units.

Remember to use the CTRL-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move. Be careful with your heroes and constantly think of their safety.

Early finish bonus: 32 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Scenario 2 - Blackwater Port ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns (9 on Hard), or kill the enemy leader.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel, a loyal Horseman. The importance of loyalty is explained in [http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/CampaignStrategies#The_importance_of_loyalty Campaign Strategies].

'''Horsemen'''
:Now that's cavalry as we know it. Their charges can be truly devastating if somewhat suicidal, as your ally will demonstrate soon. Employing charge attacks takes a little getting used to, as it differs so much from ordinary melee. Keep an eye on the "Damage Calculations" until you get the knack of it.<br>

Back to topic: If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or who have specific traits that you need. Hole up in the forest on your side of the road (so the enemy has to stand on the plains to face you). Feel free to seize a few villages from your ally, he won't complain. If you have a unit to spare, you may even take the villages next his castle. Matter of fact, this is a prudent move – after all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw some orcs south, reducing the pressure on your actual army and giving you more freedom to shape the battle. However, be careful to not let him get pinned down and killed.

Sir Kaylan will send one or two horsemen to the enemy lines to assist you. Although these horsemen are not under your direct control, they can serve as a distraction if you manoeuver your forces properly, taking the brunt during the enemy's turn to attack.

The first night will be tough, be prepared to lose some units; but if you use the terrain to your advantage, you should have enough of an army left to launch a serious counterattack during the next day. The momentum should keep you going even through the next night and you may soon find yourself besieging the enemy keep. However, the actual objective is merely to survive – if everything fails, you may still retreat behind the swordsmen guarding Sir Kaylans fortress.

There is an early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader, however, it will probably be small. In other words: rushing it won't be worthwhile, instead you should play it safe: manoeuver carefully and try to get some experience to those units that need it most. By the end of this scenario, you really ought to have a Druid – that's absolutely vital. Next in line should be an elvish Fighter (make him a Captain) and Konrad, anything else is optional. But the more the merrier as they say.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Scenario 3 - Isle of Alduin ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and magi.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn, especially saurians, because these pesky units can kill weakened units in the rear. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with magi. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember magi work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to leveling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably magi and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

A note about playing with Magi: They are weak units, but become important later in the game. Over the next few levels, you'll want to level at least two Magi to White Magi for later in the game; they have an arcane (or holy) attack which does incredible amounts of damage to the undead. Fire Magi can eventually level up to level 4 Great Magi, which are walking killing machines, and Fire Magi do decent damage to most other units, especially trolls and skeletons. Magi are weak, however, so they need to be guarded by stronger units. Don't let the enemy have more than one attack position on them.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Scenario 4 - Bay of Pearls ==
Scenario objectives: Kill one or both enemy leaders.

Opening moves: On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on: by the end of your very first turn, you should have five mermen in the water.

Watch out: there's one cage far out at sea that's easily overlooked. The first Merman you set free tells you as much, but if you skip the message... Anyway, it is guarded by two nagas. Send two or (at most) three Mermen up there and *do not* fight it out: get the cage first, then kill the nagas with the help of the mermen from that cage. It holds at least four Mermen, on of them an Initiate. The latter may become a healer, try to get her experienced as soon as possible.

Even further north than the last cage there's a trident in the water. It will confer a powerful ranged attack to its bearer. Have a "quick" merman pick it up (who should eventually become a Hoplite).

The remaining mermen should try to hold the sea leaders' recruits at bay. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal. Don't push too hard, especially not at night when your attacks are weak. Keeping your loyal mermen alive is more important than the possession of a village, and things will look much better on the next day. If that doesn't suffice, the troops from the deep-sea cage may lend a hand.

It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so eventually your need to do this. The Storm Trident and the Initiate both have magic attacks (70% to-hit regardless of terrain) and should go a long way... you better attack him during the day, even if it means that you need to wait for a few turns.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and wolves. Your decision is how far west to engage the enemy, though really, you have little choice: You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. Some wolves may reach you in the night, but the bulk of his army won't arrive until daybreak. Press hard during the day, and there will be little left of his army when the night comes.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, your loyal mage, and an elven fighter to level-2 (if you haven't already).

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose (and get an early finish bonus).

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up many units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players or those who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise may wish to consider the sea route to the Isle of the Damned, where you will find a loyal White Mage who *might* join you... if you meet some very tough winning conditions. Either choice will be a battle against undead.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 5A - Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 5B - Isle of the Damned ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leaders, or survive for 27 turns.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Urlaf, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

While your new units might seem weaker than your old troops, they are chaotic like their undead opponents and Thugs and Footpads deal useful impact damage. Use the Footpads effectively to hold your line and the Thugs to deal the main portion of the damage.

Mermen can be used successfully to harass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though - their pierce damage does very little to the undead, especially at night. Mermen are also useful to hold the many isolated villages scattered throughout the map.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated. There are only a few ways to achieve the early finish. One involves recalling mermen from the previous scenario, including the one with the magical trident, and sending them to kill the southern lich, while land troops attack the other.

The other two center on Moremirmu. Get Moremirmu early, and send him along with a few footmen and thugs north, and use other units to draw fire. Meanwhile, secure the rest of the center of the map from the south. If Moremirmu can finish off the first Lich in time, send that group south -- it takes 10 turns to reach the other Lich, so you'll need to accomplish this by Turn 16! The alternative is to simultaneously send a large force south with Konrad, lure the Lich onto bad ground and surround it.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== Scenario 6 - The Siege of Elensefar ==
Scenario objectives: Kill both enemy leaders.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way - but casualties will probably be lower than if you do it the slow way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that the undead are well on their way to join the orcs occupying the city. Speed is a factor.

Konrad will receive some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties. Also, don't forget that mages can't take a lot of abuse, especially from melee attacks. You will have to figure out how to use your less effective elvish units and horsemen to shield your mages.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Scenario 7 - Crossroads ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the north-eastern enemy leader.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

Note: The first two villages on the screen that you will likely attempt to grab trigger an Elvish Fighter and Elvish Archer to join your party and warn you about the hills. Keep in mind that they, too, are Loyal troops.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== Scenario 8 - The Princess of Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Subdue Li'sar to win

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

[hipparchos] Patience is the key here. I send a couple of L2 horsemen north to take the northern villages, then cover your left flank. A couple of mermen swing south to take the southern ones, then cover your right flank. (The storm-trident merman stays on the village next to the mineshaft will deal with the Duellists.) But I put the bulk of my army on the west bank of the river, ''without crossing it''. Let the enemy come to you, because they will be much easier to defeat when they're standing in the river, and that's especially true as the Princess recruits L2 defenders later in the scenario. The bridge is the northern end of your main line, and Delfador can defend it easily with one other strong unit. Only after all the Princess's defenders have been defeated do you cross the river and take her keep.

== Scenario 9 - The Valley of Death ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

You'll be facing many level-2 undead. They're all dangerous but two kinds require special attention:
* Spectres (level2 ghosts) are fast in every terrain, somewhat hard to hit, resistant to all common kinds of damage, and have a draining attack. Attacking them in melee is not recommendend, killing them with arrows will eventually work but takes many arrows. They are vulnerable to arcane spells and fireballs, though.
* Walking Corpses: they're slow, they're weak, they're fragile. Usually nothing to worry about, but this time they're many. Hordes. Night of the Living Dead. A strong fighter will easily slay them, but that can become his downfall: an attacking corpse that gets killed makes room for the next corpse to move in and attack... and the next, and the next, and each one gets a few blows. Even a Paladin or Champion will eventually be overwhelmed, taking around ten or fifteen zombies with him. Whether you consider this to be a good exchange is up to you. Incidentally, something similar can happen between Paladins and level-1 Skeletons.

The castle you start in is a well-defensible position, but all enemies arrive at about the same time. Once surrounded, you'll have very little wiggle room or inside tiles for your wounded units to retreat to. Filling the moat with Mermen might work a bit better, but their tridents won't impress the skeletons.

You should consider attacking the southern enemy, then hole up in his castle and the surrounding hills. This increases the distance to the others: their troops will reach you later and they will be strung out, so you don't have to fight them all at once.

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes -- but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen (or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

[edit: Viper] On medium, I found that I could only make this strategy work by save/loading <b>and</b> by using knights or better for the Litches (as horsemen could not do the job in a single turn even hitting on every attack).

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Scenario 10 - Gryphon Mountain ==
* Scenario objectives: Defeat the Mother Gryphon and the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 24 gold / turn
* Other: The actual completion condition is defeating only the enemy leader.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robert, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and four sleeping Gryphons.

You kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will -- and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

== Scenario 11 - The Ford of Abez ==
Scenario objectives: Move Konrad to the north side of the river

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. Killing the Princess is meant to be impossible: she has plenty of troops as is, and if you actually get near her there will be numerous high-quality reinforcements. Do not even try to attack her, it will be a waste of good troops for no gain. Instead, fill the river with mermen: this is an excellent opportunity to get many of them leveled up.

But first things first: your task is to get Konrad across the river. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. All will happily fight each other if they ever meet, but with your army standing right between them in the middle of the river... it will pretty much seem as if everyone was out to get you.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. If you have some of the flying elvish units, they move and fight equally well over land or water. Wait for the Orcs and Humans to get into the water where the mermen have excellent defence while the landlubbers do not.

Even if you have the money, don't recruit for more than two turns, otherwise Konrad might not even make it into the river. The scenario ends as soon as he makes it to the other side (off the beach and onto flat ground) -- by the time he gets there, there will be few orcs left on that shore, Kalenz and Delfador can well deal with them. If you recruit any land troops at all (healers perhaps?), make sure they have at least two moves in shallow water.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your mermen some XP, and you don't really need the early finish bonus.

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8716 forum discussion]

== Scenario 12 - Northern Winter ==
*Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50 (as of 1.8.3 on medium difficulty turns = 40)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a random soldier
*Early finish bonus: 47 / turn
*Other:
**Snow falls on turns 6 and 10, making the tundra patches larger.
<br />
This is a relatively simple scenario. The enemy will mostly raise level-1 wolf riders and orcish archers, plus the occasional level-2 Ogre or Troll. You can field a similar mix of mostly fresh recruits plus a few veterans. Throughout the scenario, the wolves will attempt to seize villages, often bypassing your forces: a few Elvish Scouts behind your lines will come in handy. Alternatively, your loyal Thieves can play hide-and-seek just as well. Don't overrecruit, though: there's only so many units you can actually bring to bear on the enemy. You've got enough time to win this twice, so you may chose to take it slow and milk this battle for experience. You'll still end this with more than enough gold in your coffers.

== Scenario 13 - The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objectives: Move Konrad to entrance of the Dwarfen Kingdom
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 26 / 20 / 15
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, one experienced Rider, one outlaw unit (if you have any)

You may defeat all enemy leaders if you feel like it, but this won't end the scenario. The sole winning condition is to get Konrad to the entrance of the Dwarven Kingdom. Actually, there are two entrances: the "Great Gates", clearly labeled as such, and a less conspicious side entrance in the north-eastern corner. Only one of these is open, the other is blocked from the inside (determined at random).

You start the scenario with one rider who suggests to scout ahead: that's a good idea, even though you may chose another unit for the task (the game picks the most experienced). If you happen to have a ''quick'' Lancer, it could be a good idea to use it for this purpose, but anyone reaching an entrance will tell you whether it's open or not.

Alternatively, if you played the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about his uncle who used to have business with the dwarves, hiding in a village along the way (at position [18,24], you'd probably seize it anyway). The uncle is a loyal bandit who joins your troops; he also tells you which entrance to chose, main gate or mine tunnels. It pays off to actually read that dialog.

The most minimalistic approach is to recruit one castle full of cavalry and RUN. The enemies have to cover some distance and cross difficult terrain in order to get in you way -- if Konrad starts running on turn one, he can move past them practically unopposed. It falls to the cavalry to bring up the rear: let them form a line somewhere near the Pillars of Thunedain while Konrad, Delfador and the other walkers keep going. Holding the line for a single turn is enough, then the riders may follow Konrad, leaving the pursuers behind and unable to catch up again (except for the wolves, but there shouldn't be many).

You can still follow this basic principle if you recruit for two turns, adding a healer or two and perhaps some Rangers (their ambushes will stop many opponents). If you recruit for more than two turns, this will become a rather normal battle: your rearguard can no longer disengage, but will have to keep on fighting. There's nothing wrong with that, you can gain quite some experience that way, just don't forget the actual objective.

It's useful to know that moving any unit close to the small lake near the main entrance (any position inside the square between [10, 10] and [15, 15]) will cause an aquatic monster to appear. It will attack anything that moves (including orcs and trolls) and poisons its victims, so watch out.

Konrad needs to get into the mines. Scenario ends with early finish bonus as soon he does so.

== Scenario 14 - Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objectives: Find the dwarves
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 19
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Secret pasage in southeastern part of the tunnel
** A very short and straightforward map

In principle, this is quite simple. You cannot recruit and just have to walk down that corridor until you find the dwarves -- you can't possibly miss them. You will be attacked by a few bats. They may hurt, that's all. This is mostly a lesson: see how slow Kalenz is in the caves? Notice his abysmal terrain defense? Clearly, this is no place for elves.

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southwest. Just stick to the wall, step by step, and you'll eventually find it. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty spider: watch out! It's a level-3 beast that poisons and slows.

After you're done with the bats, you can just sit there and wait until your men are healed again. There is no turn limit, after all. Once you found the secret door, do not get in. Step back a bit and the spider will rush out where you can attack her three to one. You should be able to kill her in a single turn, don't worry about getting poisoned -- you won't die from poison and there are no other enemies left. However, if you fail to kill her quickly... you saved the game, didn't you?

== Scenario 15 - The Lost General ==
* Objectives: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 64(!)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing both enemy leaders

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recalling, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a Gryphon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

Tip: If you make dwarf leader to survive (and actually reveal him), Dwarvish Guardsman will become available.

Note: If you recall/recruit a merman and send it to the pond, then have it go to the whirlpool, it will arrive in a hidden cavern with a friendly ulfserker. Once your merman returns to the whirlpool through the other end, it will carry the ulf with it.

== Scenario 16 - Hasty Alliance ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

The way I did it was to recruit a keep of thieves (the cheapest unit) and move Delfador and Kalenz out of the way. Then my allies were able to send help over so that I could get 'real' units on my second turn without suffering casualties. One thief survived and I got a Rogue with 36/56 XP by the end of the scenario! -CountPenguin

== Scenario 17 - The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objectives: Capture the Sceptre of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** 300 gold gift from Li'sar
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus
** Randomly generated map

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the Sceptre is.

There's three or four enemy leaders, depending on difficulty. The map is randomly generated; there's no telling how many villages there are and where... but more often than not, it's something like 25 villages and most will be placed where you can seize them early. The scenario certainly feels as if you're in for a major underground struggle, but the enemy leaders have little money to begin with and -usually- they won't have much of an income either.

Usually there's two large tunnels going north, and quite often you meet little resistance in one, and quite a lot in the other -- though the latter still doesn't qualify as tough. You can gain quite some XP in the contested tunnel, just form a shieldwall with (mostly) guardians, play it safe, and you can level up some 4-8 dwarves. It's a good idea to station Kalenz here, his faerie fire will help a lot against the occasional lvl-3 Troll.

Meanwhile, The Princess, Delfador, one healer and several of your better dwarves should move up the less contested corridor and scout the map. The Scepter usually is somewhere about 2/3rds up the map. You may encounter the occasional enemy... it's alright to buzz off in all directions, but make sure that everyone has a line of retreat and may receive support within a turn or two.

The scenario ends as soon as Konrad or the Princess gets to the scepter. You may delay this a bit in order to milk a few more XP, but there's not that many more to be gained by then. All things considered, it's better to let Li'sar have the scepter -- she'll be with you until the end, she has no ranged attack, and while Konrad will often be held back by recruiting, Li'sar can be in the frontline from turn one.

Note: When the earth rumbles, something actually happens. There are lava chasms in various places, and these grow when there is a rumble, so keep your units away.

== Scenario 18 - A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objectives: Defeat either of the leaders
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill either leader
* Other:
** The next two scenarios are three different routes to the Elven kingdom, depending on the enemy leader you kill:
*** Northern (Orcish) leader: [[#Scenario 19A - Snow Plains | The Snow Plains]] where you can get the Flaming Sword (15-4, magical), followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** Southern (Undead) leader: [[#Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread|The Swamp Of Dread]] where you can get the Void Armor (high resistance to blade, pierce, impact) , followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** If you take a merman east on the river to the edge of the map, you will brave [[Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria|Cliffs of Thoria]] which (used to be) an insanely difficult battle where you can find a loyal Sergeant (may become a level-4 leader). It will be followed by [[Scenario 20B - Underground Channels|Underground Channels]].
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts
** First real chance to level gryphons

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

Going south is the easiest way: the Orcs coming from the north may only cross the river at the bridge, a choke-point that's easy to block. In fact, a determined attack may defeat the undead before the bulk of the Orcs even makes it to the bridge. Fighting the Orcs in the hills will take longer while the undead can walk through deep water or fly over it, crossing the river wherever they like.

Going south will also the most prudent choice when considering the possible goodies: currently, Li'sar goes into battle wearing lingerie. While a magic sword or a loyal leader might come in handy, you don't need them as badly as the Princess needs a suit of armor.

The undead need to be dealt with even if you don't want to kill their leader. Delfador, Kalenz and Li'sar all have undead-killing ranged attacks (you ''did'' give her the scepter, didn't you?) — add two more Mages (one of them a healer) and three dwarfish Steelclads as bodyguards. Recruit those on turn one and move them to a position where they may receive the Chocobones' attack by dusk. You need at least steelclads in order to survive their charge. However, after the Chocobones are gone the remaining undead ought to be manageable even if you don't throw any more troops that way (though you may do so if you're after the undead and want this to be finished quickly). You may need a few turns' rest before you can tackle the Death Knight, but eventually your spellcasters should dispose of him quickly.

In order to hold back the Orcs, a few elves plus a healer are enough to secure your end of the bridge; the Orcs will be reluctant to attack even level-1 archers during the day, and if you employ more and better troops (like, level-3 loyalists in the woods and a few mermen in the water) the Orcs may not even attack at night. There's not much experience to be gained that way, though. If you want to actually fight the Orcs, you should get to the other side and meet them there. There's plenty of mountains, an excellent opportunity to get some more experience to your dwarves (you will have good use for high-level Dwarves later on). Dwarves, Gryphons and Orcs all have high defense in the mountains, so fighting will be slow.

It will be a long walk to the northern leader even after you rubbed out his army. You might consider an assassination: send like 4-6 suicidal gryphons to his keep. Bonus points if you have a Silver Mage (teleport!). Of course, you can assassinate him without defeating his host first. just wait until his army is too far away to turn back and help him.

Talking about Gryphons... this is the first time that you can really use them. Gryphons alone won't really impress the Orcs, not even when supported by leaders and healers (they're level-1 units, after all). They may however seize a few villages, harass and distract the enemy, track down wounded units and so on. You should certainly get a few.

They must have changed this scenario. As of v 1.9.5 at medium level it's absurdly easy. I recruited just one keep (two paladins, two mages of light, and two griffons). Then charged for the undead leader (South) and wiped him and his evil minions out by the end of turn 9. The griffons didn't even get in the fight. The Orcs hadn't even reached the river bridge. ~ Sojourner, 4/16/11.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 19A - Snow Plains ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 43 / 40 / 37
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill the leader
* Other:
** Obtain the Flaming Sword
** Li'sar will tell you she does not like her mother

The main feature of this scenario, as its name suggests, is the terrain. Both armies will be slowed down by the snow. You may try recalling thieves and elves, who are not slowed down as much as other types of units. Another good choice is horsemen (Knights, Paladins, Lancers), which will have a field day, given that the enemy tends to scatter some of its units throughout the map where they will be sitting targets.

You can find the Flaming Sword ---a remarkable weapon of type melee-fire, magical, and with damage 15-4--- on the great tree at [29,9]. You can equip it to one of your fighter heroes (Konrad, Kalenz, Li'sar) or any unit from the Elvish Fighter line, or to Paladins. A good idea is to give it to the unit you like to use the most in your front lines (but not to the same person with the Sceptre of Fire).

The Orcish leader will have a good flow of income, so once you gain control of the map, you can milk the battle for experience, in case any of your units need it.

=== Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread ===
*Objective: Defeat the main enemy leader (Lich Lord at the SW corner)
*Bonus Objectives: Defeat all the minor enemy leaders (4 Death Knights)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 30 (on medium as of 1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
*Early finish bonus: 26/turn (on Medium difficulty)
*Other:
**Void Armor from one of the enemy leaders

The swamp of dread isn't all that dreadful. This is a 5-castle map and there are lots of undead, but they are mostly levels 0 and 1 - nothing like Princess' Revenge. The terrain is unfavorable (swamp and sand, but hampers the Undead as much as you; and if you have a preference for Gryphons or Merman, the mobility advantage will be yours.

The swamp is good terrain for your Mermen. Those with attacks that hurt the undead (the ones with Storm Tridents, Netcasters, Priestesses...) or any level 3 unit can make quite a difference. However, be aware that the campaign is coming to an end and you'll probably have little use for Mermen in the following battles; so while the Mermen may well lend a hand, any experience they gain will effectively be wasted. (However, the next two levels do include rivers, so if you really insist you could still use Mermen later.)

One of the Death Knights (chosen randomly) drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (50% blade, 40% impact and 40% pierce, instead of whatever previous values they had). Since Li'sar is very vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor. You might consider keep her in the center at first so she doesn't have to walk across the whole map if the armor appears at the other end. Note, however, that by the time you get the armor you're probably close to clearing the level anyway, so better to think of it as an end-of-scenario perk rather than an intermediary objective playing the scenario.

Some of the Lich's power seems to be tied to the death knights; killing all four will hurt the Lich for about half its hit-points.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10269 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria ===
*Objective: Make it to the (Eastern) far side of the level
*Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50 (on medium as of 1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar & a strong Merman.
*Early finish bonus: 27 per turn
*Other:
**Loyal Sergeant on SE corner island

After a little spat between Kalenz and the merman you use to go east, you'll head for the Cliffs of Thoria. You'll find a long water level full of derelict vessels of the Queen. You'll also meet a Drake. After some conversation you discover that the Queens' forces attacked the Drakes, and now the Drakes will stop you from going forward. Since you have to move forward, you'll have to fight them.

There are a number of small islands on this map with Drake bases. Each base will produce one Drake every turn until one of your units occupies the base. This means that although the drakes may run out of money, they will never run out of reinforcements. In order to win this, you need to kill them faster than they spawn new recruits. No easy task.

Further, if you find that you can't win in a direct assault and want to bypass the drakes by going through the swamps, you'll discover very powerful undead enemies guarding the shoreline. They won't move, but any casualty will be immediately replaced by a new unit. Clearly, that area is cursed. Just avoid the dark blue water. It's impossible to get into the swamps, any attempt will be a waste of time.

Tip: Compared to the other two choices, this map is insanely hard. While there is an opportunity to pick up a wonderful loyal unit, you may wish to skip the challenge unless you have at least 800 gold and a sufficient number of leveled-up mermen. Note: as of version 1.10.x, this map has been made significantly easier, though you only get a loyal Sergeant, not a General.)

If you're going to insist on playing this map, hire many gryphons and Merfolk and move as fast as you can and just take the heavy losses. Since each base creates a unit every turn, to destroy a base you have to kill the unit occupying it and immediately move onto the base in that turn. Since Merfolk can't move onto mountains, you'll need gryphons for that. Getting the first two or three bases quickly is absolutely vital.

With a somewhat longer perspective, spend all your money as long as you have it: you will inevitably run out of funds during this scenario. Drakes are vulnerable to piercing and arcane damage, so elvish arrows can be useful, as can your healers as spellcasters. Don't get too many landlubbers though, most of the fighting will happen in or over the water. Level-1 mermen will either die quickly or level up; high-level mermen will wreak havoc on the drakes. However, you need a good many level-2 mermen to begin with. Rookies alone cannot maintain the constant pressure you need, and the turn limit is short enough as it is.

When you finally make it to the far side, you'll be told that the waterfall is impassable: you need Konrad to reach the marked "cave entrance" in the middle of the northern edge of the map. Start walking early, he'll take a while.

A loyal leader can be found on the island at the South-Eastern corner of the map. He's badly hurt, keeping him alive may be tricky... better to discover him only on he very last moment. (Not so in 1.10.x: with the level being made easier, you have time to clear the surroundings and level him up using the undead.)

Comment: The decreased difficulty combined with the easily available XP in shape of the undead guards unbalances the rest of the campaign badly. If this is not intended, choose another road.

== Divergent Campaign Paths ==

=== Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves ===
* Objectives:
* Konrad must reach the Lintanir forest, at the East of the map, and hold that position until a turn is over.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 18
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

You reach this scenario from either [[Scenario 19A - Snow Plains]] or [[Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread]].

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

However, even in the fog you can see the terrain, including the enemy keeps. The Orcs start in the North central part of the map, while the humans begin in the South-East. What you can't see are the large hosts of level-3 units standing near their respective camps: these are the armies, and *they will not move* unless someone walks into their striking range. Getting at an enemy leader will be difficult indeed, but if you're content with moving past the armies you'll only have to cope with the level-2 vanguards seeking each other.

You start with up to 3 loyal units which can move six or more hexes per turn (provided you kept this many alive), in addition to the 4 heroes (Konrad, Li'sar, Kalenz and Deflador). You many recruit an additional encampment of more troops (i.e. 6 more); it's probably best to get only riders, be they human, elf or gryphon. Most of them should be level-2 at least. If you want to bring a healer, get the fastest on your roster (a quick Elvish flyer, perhaps?) and make sure it's spawned at the right side of your keep.

There is some dialogue to remind you that the winning condition is to move Konrad into the forest, while keeping Li'sar, Delfador and Kalenz alive; everyone else is "not important". During the game, some Elvish riders will show up and happily demonstrate how sacrificing a single unit can keep many others safe; they do it so well that you probably don't need to sacrifice any units of your own, but now you know how it works.

The dialogue makes you expect a large battle between Humans and Orcs, but no one tells you that the Elves (who have a keep in the woods) will also recruit a large force, and attack anyone in sight; you'll probably see your first Human warriors much later than you'd expect and find that they're busy enough fighting the elves. So you only really have to deal with the Orcs; once you're confident that they can't get at Konrad anymore, he can move on pretty much on his own. Your troops may turn around and fight the remaining Orcs, or join the Elves and steal a few kills there, or whatever. Have Konrad stop short of the forest to give your troops more time for fighting if you feel like it.

Delfador will tell you when Konrad enters the domain of the Elves, but the scenario won't end then: you need to finish your turn and let everyone else have one last chance to attack your troops. If Konrad is still alive at the beginning of your next turn, you've won.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10270 forum discussion].

===Scenario 20B - Underground Channels ===
* Objectives: Find the exit from the underground and move Konrad to it.
* Lose if: Death of Kalenz, Li'sar, Delfador, Konrad, or turns run out
* Turns: 70
* Starting units: Delfador, Kondrad, Li'sar and Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 54 per turn

You start at the far South West of a large map, consisting of mostly cave, river and swamp areas. In the North West is a friendly Wose leader who will send a few level one Woses, and at the far North East is the entrance, and some friendly elvish units. In the middle is an ancient Lich who recruits level 2 and 3 undead, and in the South East is a small group of Saurians.

This level is relatively easy, especially with the high-level Mermen you should have from the Cliffs of Thoria. You can recruit on keep of level 2 and 3 Mermen and Dwarves, and either run North and then East for a quick finish, bypassing most enemies, go East and then North, farming some experience from the Saurians, or slowly kill every enemy on the map before continuing. Be careful if you choose to fight the undead though, as the ancient Lich can kill most of your units in one turn, and his recruits, though not numerous, are powerful. If you choose to fight the undead, the mermen who got the tridents in previous scenarios, as well as any Mermaid Priestesses or Diviners will be extremely useful.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=20315 forum discussion].

== Scenario 21 - The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Scenario 22 - Return to Wesnoth ==
*Objective: Kill the three enemy leaders: 2 Loyalist Generals, 1 Orcish Warlord
*Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 28 (on medium as of v1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar & a strong Merman.
*Early finish bonus: 27 (?) per turn

Three Halbardiers appear as enemy reinforcements in the lower southeastern corner of the map when you slay the nearest general, Josephus (just South of your encampment). The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack.

You can use the forests to your advantage: Elven troops are best in forest, while the Loyalists and Orcs are seriously slowed by the trees. On the other hand, nobody said your enemies will be that interested in frolicking in the forest when they have more accessible enemies outside of it.

How about Gryphons? Your enemies will be recruiting level-2 and level-3 units, and the Halbardiers are level-3, so relying on a force of Gryphon riders, or even Gryphon masters, will probably not work out too well. However, a pair of Gryphons (especially quick ones) can work great for village captures, doubling as an effective diversion, especially with respect to the Halbardiers. Watch these heavy-hitters comically wading through the thick brush of the South-East forest as you fly circles around them.

Your enemies aren't very rich, so while their recruits are powerful - they're also few in numbers. This means their defensive formations will have gaps. Add the fact that, except for the Goblin Knights, your enemies are on the slow side, and you find that using mounted units could be opportune. The downside for these is the Halbardiers' first strike: A lancer or Knight taking ~38 damage before touching his enemy is not a pretty sight. Take these out with your heroes instead (Delfador, Kalenz and whoever has the scepter), or units with ranged attacks.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10272 forum discussion]

== Scenario 23 - Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Either:
** Defeat all 4 enemy leaders (Grand Knights), or
** Kill (25/35/50) enemy units in total (on Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 54 Gold per turn (on Medium difficulty)

This is a large map against mostly Knights, Lancers, and Bowmen. The map is mostly open plains, which is an ideal battlefield for mounted units. The easiest way to complete the scenario is to keep all your units in one group and take them en mass to the enemy. Fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. Units with pierce attacks (Archers, Shydes, Knights) will deal high damage to the mounted enemy units (which have low pierce resistance).

Expect heavy losses from the charge attacks, but don't fret, because this is the second-to-last scenario. You'll want to finish this scenario quickly to get a nice gold bonus for the next level.

Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of Dwarves or Elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a relatively safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the South-Eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the South flank.

If you want to defeat all the clan leaders before killing the maximum allowed number of units (which ends the scenario), recruit a castle of Healers, then recruit a good force of Gryphon Riders. Grab as many villages as is safe, and then position your Gryphons on the deep water in the lake. The next castleful of recruits is your main army and two more Gryphon Rides. March this South, take out the South-Eastern leader, then send the two Gryphons to the group in the lake.

As soon as the majority of the North-Western leader's troops move away from him, assassinate him with your Gryphons. He should die in 1-2 rounds of attacks, assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the South-East, recruit a couple of castles' worth of Gryphon Riders and send them west to take on the South-West (Black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your Gryphons cross the river on the offensive, the AI usually moves troops back in to defend with. You should be able to outrun these. Converge all the Gryphons you have left on the middle leader (Purple). I won around turn 25, giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

An alternative strategy for defeating the enemy leaders relies on Li'sar being equipped with both the Scepter of Fire and the Void Armor. This makes her very difficult to hit and very effective against the mounted units (they have no ranged attacks, plus, if they try to lance her they're up against 26-4). What's more, the AI will tend to ignore her: Individual units will tend to not approach her, and groups will go after her escort if she has any. This means she can mount an effective attack together with a very small escort on the South-Eastern leader right away; and after that, the escort can pretty much leave her to go after the Black leader in the South-West alone. In the mean time, A force of Knights or Gryphons might go forward to dispatch the North-Western leader. Then whoever i's left converges on Bayar in the West.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10273 forum discussion].

== Scenario 24 - The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere (thus claiming the throne for Li'sar)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46 gold per turn (and what's that good for, exactly?)

One good strategy for this scenario is to set up a defensive line around your fort, and let the enemy come to you. You'll want to make sure the units on your front line can survive the beating they receive for at least one turn, after which you rotate them with freshly healed units. Don't attack the attackers if it means your unit won't have enough HP to survive the next thrashing. Three or Four healers will be needed behind the lines, and keep them fully occupied (remember that healers will heal every unit adjacent to them for 8 HP. They're like walking sets of 6 villages).

For front-line units, Dwarvish Guardsman, even Level-1, are excellent; they'll take a good beating but not lose too many HP because of their steadfast attribute, on top of their basic resistance to Pierce (read: lance) attacks. Because they don't lose many HP, they'll also heal quickly. Only attack the enemy if no HP will be lost. Guardsmen can throw a spear at the attacker on every turn if the attacker has no ranged attack.

Other units that are good for the front line are any unit with more than 50 HP. Elvish Marshals will make your Dwarvish Guardsmen or Stalwarts even more awesome. Dwarvish Lords have an incredible 79HP and can dish it out back to the enemy. Unfortunately, after a good thrashing, these units will take a long time to heal back up because of the large number of HP lost.

If you have any Assassins, rotate them up and down the line, poisoning enemy units. The enemies have very few villages available to them in your vicinity, so with three Assassins you can poison half the army until the enemies have a bunch of level three units walking around with 1HP each.

Once the enemy has no army left, you can just wander up to Asheviere and discuss her resignation over a cup of hot tea. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill. Or you could surround her with Elvish Shamans and get the last little bit of fun juice out of this game.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: Recruit six of them, right on Turn 1, and send them South. You'll
easily elude the forces of the Eastern general and reach the river (or just past it). Moving in for the kill, however, might prove more difficult than you think - unless you've used an effective distraction. Sending out six-packs of Knight recruits each turn works well. Asheviere herself will not have many troops surrounding her for protection, and might actually be stupid enough to leave her castle to attack your Gryphons. One has to wonder how she's held on to the throne this long with such a poor sense of judgement. You'll probably want to approach her from the South-West, as right South of her is the bridge on which the loyal Weldyn troops will be coming to get you.

Using this strategy it is possible to win within 6-7 turns, without any significant losses. If, however, you've not distracted well enough, Asheviere may divert up to half of her forces to get your Gryphons. But in this case, again - congratulations, you've won: You should have still about 20 living Knights to storm the city with, while too many of her troops are stuck finishing their roast Gryphon sandwiches.

Of course, in both of the above cases you would be relying on a good bonus from [[Test of the Clans]], which should be enough to win this scenario in any which way.

Another humorous brute-force way to win this battle is by relying purely on the diversion tactic mentioned above: An all-Knight rush. Knights are quite possibly the only Level-2 unit you can ever recruit in the mainline campaigns; with roughly 1,500 Gold from the plains battle, just send out loads of Knights to massacre the enemy with suicidal attacks. Just make sure to keep your heroes out of harm's way... It'll be a very bloody, but relatively short, win.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10271 forum discussion].

== Scenario 25 - Epilogue ==

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]][[Category:Campaigns - Heir to the Throne]]

TheHammerOfThursagan

2013-08-19T13:36:28Z

Ericppp: Correction /* Mages and Drakes */

The walkthrough is based on medium difficulty, and there are comments covering hard difficulty too.

==Campaign Strategy==

This is quite a balanced campaign - basically all the unit types available to you are useful. Here are some overall hints:

* Angarthing is perhaps the best support unit ever invented. He has two magical impact attacks, one of which slows, he’s very fast and, most importantly, he can give a Leadership-like 25% attack boost to units on the same level (so, once you have him at L3, he gives even your L3 units a boost). As he levels up he becomes able to cure, and then heal +4. As he is your only healer for a while (until scenario 8), make it a priority to level him up all the way. Angarthing makes fighting much easier.
* You gain the ability to recruit mages from mid-campaign. Don't let all your mages die as you then lose the recruit ability. You want to level up at least two white mages as soon as practical after that - you need two +8 healers by the final level.
* But red mages are useful too; you get a free arch mage at Medium, but at hard (Lord) you want to level up a red mage instead. A red mage/arch mage, backed by Angarthing, is excellent at dealing large amounts of damage against enemies in good defensive spots on the final level.
* Dwarf Lords are the backbone of any dwarven army; you will want ~4 by the final level, and more is better.
* It is very useful to level up one or two scouts all the way to an explorers, as their ranged attack is excellent against woses. 2-3 thunderguards are useful too, for the scenarios against dwarves.
* Preserve the Gryphon Rider - you are not able to recruit more. He can only reach L2 but that is worth having, as then it can beat any enemy scouts that it runs into.

==Scenarios==

=== At The East Gate ===
* Objectives: Defeat Orcish leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/30/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Gryphon Rider

This is pretty simple. Send a mixed force of Thunderers, Fighters, and Guardsmen along the road, and a few units south into the hills if the orcs go that way. That path through the forest can be deadly – they will surround you if they can, and can heal at the base of the path. Any Dwarf in forest is weak, while Wolf Riders are at a defensive advantage. Send the Gryphon Rider off village gathering to the north. The enemy recruited mostly Wolf Riders and Grunts, with a few Archers as I neared his keep.

Try and keep your units alive (this can be tricky to achieve while moving forward – his units are dangerous, and some are very fast – make sure hurt units stay out of reach, rather than failing to notice that an almost dead Wolf Rider being chased by a Gryphon is still a threat), and try to level at least one dwarf – your leader is an excellent choice. Play according to the basics, and you’ll have no trouble.

=== Reclaiming The Past ===

Plot only - here you gain Angarthing.

=== Strange Allies ===

* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing or Marth-Tak (Orcish leader) die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur and Angarthing

In this scenario, you are allies with the orcs, and must defeat the bandits, who start at the east end of the map, and with quite a fair bit of gold. The bandits recruited mostly footpads and outlaws, but a few thugs, and a poacher or two near the end. I recalled only one turns worth of dwarves and the Gryphon, and sent them straight east, through the river at the ford. Your allies are an incredible help in this level; once you reach the bandit's side of the river, the orcs should already have engaged most of their troops to the south. One good way to go about the rest of this battle is to keep your units off to one side, and grab the finishing blows, especially to those level 2 outlaws. You should have 3 or 4 people (hopefully including Aiglondur and Angarthing) leveled by the end of this battle.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] - at Lord, the ally isn't strong enough to survive unaided (1.8.1). Turn 1 you should recruit a small strike force to go east to take out the enemy boss (just a couple of recruits should do to go with your leaders, or ideally a couple of quick recalls) plus recall the gryphon rider to take the more scattered villages and snipe enemies for XP; turn 2, recruit some dwarvish fighters (5 should be enough) to go and block up the plain '''in front of''' the ally's keep (they can grab all his villages on the way). Mainly you want to hold the ford near his keep as this is the most direct route and so is where the first enemy units would reach him from. Your aim isn't to defend, it is to stop or save the ally boss from suicidally attacking the enemy around turn 8. You just need to buy the turn or two that your strike force needs to finish sneaking around the north of the map and take out the enemy boss.]

=== Troll Bridge ===
* Objectives: Defeat Troll leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur and Angarthing
* Other: You loot 200 gold from the troll

This one was a piece of cake. Recall a castle-full of troops, and set camp at the first line of trees and mountains, to the north side of the road. Your opponent can only recruit Level 1 Troll Whelps, so he doesn't have much attack strength. After the first onslaught, the remaining Whelps either retreat, or throw themselves at your weakest unit. Try and kill the enemies with weaker units, as it's a great chance to gain some experience. Also, after you kill the Troll leader, you find that he was sitting on a pile of 200 gold.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] - at Lord, the trolls can recruit Trolls. They are still no real problem though - recall a steelclad, a couple of thunderers close to leveling, and fill the rest of the keep with recruited thunderers; just the 1 round of recruit/recall is fine. Push a couple of strong melee units forward to take the shock of the first attack (there are a few hill tiles conveniently placed, and you must not allow any trolls onto these), then swarm them with thunderers. Angarthing 'slow' attack is useful. ]

=== Invaders ===
* Objectives: Defeat enemy leaders (3)
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/40/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and another dwarf
* Other: Hostile villagers come out of some villages when first flagged

When you flag your first village, you will discover that there are quite a number of outlaws hiding in it. This can be your undoing, but it can also work to your advantage: Try not to flag too many villages and retain a tight group. That way, your opponents will be quite preoccupied fighting the outlaws and you won't have to fight them simultaneously. Move in a tight pack along the southern border of the map and take out your enemies one by one. When I finally reached the northern orc, his troops were happily brawling away with the outlaws in the northwest...

The randomization on the bandit spawning system is also another advantage. Occasionally, you may play a map in which all the villages you flag are bandit-free.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] - A simple defensive strategy can work too. There is a convenient line of hills and woods just east of the start; form a defensive line there, but you can afford to take and hold all the villages in the south-west and deal with the ambushes there first, as the enemy won't get to you fast. Just don't get tempted to take any villages further east, as you won't want to deploy units further east to extricate your ambushed unit. Your army should be a mix of fighters and thunderers, including some recalls near leveling and a few already at L2.

Once the enemy's weakened units (from fighting outlaws) hit your defensive line, you get lots of XP from finishing them off; with care you can attack and roll forward, killing lots of enemy units each turn. Once you have crushed the first wave of enemies you can start clearing up. ]

=== High Pass ===
* Objectives: Move Aiglondur to signpost at end of pass
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing or Ratheln die or turns run out
* Turns: 24/18/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur and Angarthing
* Other: Friendly Arch Mage, Ratheln, available in a village near the middle of the path

Recalling your Gryphon Rider is a must on this scenario, he will be your eye in the fog. Dwarves just can't see very far in the snow. The rest is pretty straight forward, just make sure you meet the Arch Mage hiding in a village near the center of the pass.
Time is pretty tight in this scenario. Don't dawdle.

=== Mages and Drakes ===
* Objectives: Defeat Drake leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing, and Ratheln

Guardsmen and Thunderers are your units of choice in this scenario since they have piercing attacks that are quite deadly to drakes. Do not try to sweep the map of all opposition; your mobility disadvantage is too huge for that. Just quickly move to the nest of the drakes with a pack of well seasoned troops, trying to stay in the mountains/hills as much as possible, otherwise the fire drakes could really hurt your dwarves. Crossing the river at the mountains is going to be safer than crossing at the ford.

Ratheln, the arch mage, does not travel well through the mountains and so is difficult to protect with your dwarves. Run him down the waterfront, then through the forest and have him crossover to the backside of the mountains, where he can continue to run.

=== Fear ===
* Objectives: Find the villagers then defeat Masked Dwarf leader
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and 1 or 2 Mages and Ratheln (depending on difficulty)

The worst mistake you can make in this scenario is to recall too many troops. Those Ulfserkers look dangerous (and they probably are, if you let them get at one of your Thunderers or Magi), but otherwise your enemy is weak and you will need your gold. Just make sure, the Dwarvish Ulfserkers hit only a Dwarvish Lord or Sentinel, preferably while he's standing on a village, and everything will be fine.

[ [[User:Cph|Cph]] at Hard, it's different. The problem at hard is that the enemy recruits lots of units and keeps recruiting all the way through - you will barely finish inside the turn limit. So recruit a decent size army; fight in a solid formation against the first wave of enemies, while using your gryphon rider to take and hold the villages to the north; then push forward once the main body of resistance is broken, even though there will still be a steady stream of reinforcements - watch the clock and don't leave it to chance on the last turn. ]

You get an experienced Mage (or two, on easy) at the start of this scenario, and can recruit more. If all of your Magi die (and you have none available for recall) you will lose the ability to recruit them - don't let that happen. Aim for white mages first, see [[#Campaign Strategy]].

=== Forbidden Forest ===
* Objectives: Move '''both''' Aiglondur and Angarthing to the eastern signpost
* Lose if: Aiglondur or Angarthing die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/34/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and any surviving Mages from Scenario 8
* Other: Staff of Righteous Flame

This is a tricky one. You are fighting elves. You are fighting them in a forest. And you are fighting them under fog of war. So, once again, your Gryphon Rider (preferably leveled into a Gryphon Master) is a must. Trouble is, Elvish Riders are as fast or faster than he is, and, he won't be able to spot Elvish Rangers or Woses because of their Ambush ability. A human playing the elves could take on almost any number of dwarves. Only the stupidity of the AI saves you from a grim defeat.

Proper recruitment is critical for this scenario. Explorers are the key to success. Recall up to four Explorers and Pathfinders. Their blade ranged attack is awesome against Woses, like paper over rock. Make it your #1 priority to promote any Pathfinders to Explorers. If you're lacking in the Pathfinder/Explorer department, Mages can substitute, as Woes are arcane vulnerable. Another reason Mages are nice here is that they always have a high chance to hit elves in the forest. However, Mages are slow in forest, especially non-quick ones. And they are vulnerable. If you recall/recruit a Mage, your second priority becomes trying to promote him to Red Mage. You also hopefully started with a free White Mage or else can recall one. Then add a couple of Dwarf Lords or high XP Steelclads plus the Gryphon and you should be set.

Because of all the ambushing, do not lead with low hit point units like Mages. And because of all the Riders, keep any critically injured units well protected.

For your initial strategy, you have two options:

Option #1: You can go for a lightening fast knock-out against the southwest enemy (who has mostly weak units including sorcerors).

Option #2: You can park in the wooded hills just southeast of your keep. You will need to finish off the assault from the southwest very quickly, because Woes will cross the river and elf Riders will come swooping in from the northeast, and you don't want to fight all three at once. You do not need to fight here to the bitter end, especially if there are multiple Woses approaching. When you see an opening, head south and across the river to finish off the southwest leader.

After knocking off the southwest leader, there's not much reason to knock off the Elder Wose in the Southeast (or the Elf in the Northeast.) So, just head for the signpost, but be extremely cautious: along the way there will be ambushing Woses, not to mention Elves. If you choose to follow the road, you'll go by the temple and can send a mage there to pick up the Staff of Righteous Flame. In addition to acting like a suicide bomber upon death, the bearer of the Staff gets the steadfast ability, doubling resistances, which is nice for Red Mages and their advancements, with their 20% arcane resistance being doubled to 40%.

Be careful with your Gryphon, as he is susceptible to getting ambushed, trapped and killed by the hiding Woses, Rangers and Scouts/Riders. However, most of enemy army will head south (drawn to your leaders) so it is usually safe flying around between villages in the northwest to keep your income high. Use control-v and steer clear of where you could get trapped. Once the Gryphon has flagged the northwest villages, send it to join your main force.

If you are struggling with this level, take note that you have quite a few turns. You do not need to sprint to the signpost.

If you're trying to win on the last turn, be warned that you need to move Aiglondur or Angarthing onto the signpost <i>and then off again</i>, and then move the other onto the signpost. You can't undo if you used up all your movement getting onto the signpost.

=== The Siege of Kal Kartha ===
* Objectives: Defeat Orcish leaders (3)
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing, or Dulcatulos(allied leader) die or turns run out
* Turns: 35/35/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing and any surviving Mages from Scenario 8

It is quite easy to grab the patch of hills in front of you, wait for the northern enemies to come to you and chew them up. But you also need to make sure, that you put enough pressure on the central enemy. If left alone, he gangs up with the southern one and you may be too late to rescue your ally.

More often than not, the Orcs will ignore you completely and focus all their firepower on your weak ally. If this happens, create three strike teams and rush the enemy leaders (who will be completely unguarded), as your ally will not be able to hold off their collective might for very long.

=== The Court of Karrag ===
* Objectives: Defeat Karrag
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing, or Dulcatulos die or turns run out
* Turns: 12/12/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing, Dulcatulos and Ratheln
* Other: Neither side can recruit units

Almost story only. Once again, those Berserkers are your most dangerous opponents, so take them out with your Dwarvish Lords. Don't let the Lich slip past you (he tries to run NW), as that would slow down killing him - there's a lot of bonus gold to be had here if you can kill him fast. Just ZOC his route for those early turns and then close in for the kill once you've dealt with his henchmen.

=== The Underlevels ===
* Objectives: Defeat Karrag
* Lose if: Aiglondur, Angarthing, or Dulcatulos die
* Turns: no limit
* Starting units: Aiglondur, Angarthing, Dulcatulos and Ratheln
* Other:
** Two alcoves with 150 gold in the first gallery
** 4 caves with friendly prisoners in the north (just before the spiders)
** Teleportation runes
** Secret passage down to the first Lich

Don't start playing this scenario, if you don't have a lot of time to spare. It's not so much of a scenario, it's actually a small campaign in itself. This is even more extreme than the missions in "Under the Burning Suns". In short, you will have to fight a gallery full of Masked Dwarves, 4 different Masked Dwarf leaders and their armies, a cavern full of Giant Spiders, 2 Liches and their Undead armies, and finally, once you're done with all that, have a final showdown with Karrag. But there is no time limit, so you can take as long as you wish to complete this mission.

It's going to be a long brawl, so you need to be prepared. You will have few villages for a long time, and need a big army from the start, so you will be in massive negative gold quite soon: so just recall and recruit as much as you can and move off. As this is the last fighting scenario, you can recall shamelessly.

(If you come in short of gold - less than 300 say - it may be worth recalling a smaller force and rushing an attack on one of the two side galleries in the start area - there is bonus gold behind a secret door in each gallery. If you have plenty of gold, you can just recall and you will be so negative by the time you get that gold that it won't help you.)

Two White Mages, your loyal Arch Mage and another Red Mage are really useful here. You would like 2-4 thunderguards or dragonguards, and a couple of sentinels would be handy for holding low-defence tiles. Most of your army should be Dwarvish Lords - you want at least 4 lords to start I would say, and in total 10 units that are either lords or will level into lords. Recall everything and recruit more with your leftover gold.

==== The Gallery ====

A hall with a line of dwarves on either side in extremely good defensive position. Try to take them out as fast as you can, as there is a treasure behind each line of defenders, which provides a little extra cash should you need it for more recruits. Establish a defensive line across the room on one of the north-south lines of cave tiles that cut into the room - before long, masked dwarves will start to pour into the gallery from the other side, and you can sit your dwarves on the cave tiles and have a terrain advantage.

==== The First Enemy ====

He sits right at the other end of the gallery, again in a good defensive position. But with enough aggression, he should not be a problem.

Once you've taken his castle, you will need to split your forces. Split them as evenly as you can. (Did I mention, that two White Mages are a real asset? Each group will need a healer!) There are more enemies to the north, so send more units requiring XP to level up in that direction.

==== The Fight in the Corridors ====

You are fighting a steady stream of tough enemies. But you are fighting underground in passages only three hexes wide. This is your advantage. Keep a solid defensive line, let their units come to you, and keep killing and advancing as opportunity permits. Don't worry if this takes some time, there is no turn limit anyway.

When you reach the main enemy at the end of each passage, as you enter the chamber with the keep, the enemy gives a speech and gets a big gold bonus to recruit a horde of L2 units. So don't rush in - step in, form a short solid line in the entrance, let them attack, keep cycling injured units for fresh ones and keep doing damage where you can. Their force will soon be spent and you can then advance again.

Once you defeat the southern enemy, you will find a locked door. Just leave your troops there, your other group can easily take care of getting the key in the north east corner.

When you have defeated the last enemy in the north, make sure to free the prisoners in the cells near his castle.

==== The Spiders and the First Lich ====

Before you move your norther force east to find the key, you should make a decision. There is a Lich on the eastern side of the map. You can enter his cellar from behind the locked door in the south, or through a long windy passage from the north. He's rather weak, but you need to take him out first, if you don't want him attacking your back while you face your real enemy.

The first possibility is to use the transportation runes to get your forces down to the locked door and fight him from there. In that case, go east with only a few well leveled dwarves, Angarthing and a White Mage, for there is quite a number of Spiders defending the key. Once your read the spell, go back to the runes, reunite your forces and take out the Lich in the east. The lich recruits a big army to start with, but then recruits hardly any more; so once you defeat his main force, you only need to send 4 dwarf lords and Angarthing through the tunnels to take out the lich (moving your white mages through the narrow tunnels is very slow and they won't be needed).

But if you want to get to the Lich through the back door, you need to take your whole northern force east. Defeat the Spiders, run down that narrow passage until your reach the end of the tunnel. It's just caved in, you can open it by moving a unit there. Before you do, open the locked door and advance with your southern force south east until you meet the undead forces. Be careful, they recruit quite a number of Shadows, nasty skirmishing, nightstalking Ghosts. Once the battle is raging you can open the backdoor to the Lich's castle and take him out.

Either way, you will have to do some boring running here.

==== The Second Lich ====

He sits in a big cavern behind the doors in the south west. Only take him on with your entire army (if you don't want to do a slow chokepoint fight at the door). He too makes heavy use of shadows, so make sure to form solid lines (including along the edge of the side chasms - the shadows can fly over them of course).

His forces are likely to be at a fair distance when you open the door, so, if you don't mind save-loading if it doesn't work, you could rush him - but there seems little point as you have to fight his army to progress anyway. So instead form up a solid formation just inside the door to his cavern - advance as far in as you can cover with dwarf lords, with plenty to spare - and then crush his forces when they come to attack you.

-- Or, just *outside* the door, where the passage narrows to one hex. Advance far enough into the cavern to provoke a response, then retreat to that point where you can play 2-on-1 for turn after turn until he's done for. Put your healer right behind your 2-unit front line and it's a snap.

==== Karrag ====

He's defended by quite a number of Draugs. They can take out a fully healed Dwarvish Lord in a single turn! So make sure, they don't hack Aiglondur to pieces. Dwarvish Lords are your unit of choice nevertheless, since their hammers do heavy damage while they fight off the onslaught. Take out the wounded with your Mages, protecting them once again with Dwarvish Lords. You should be able to get to Karrag before you have to finish off all the Draugs.

[elvish_sovereign] The easiest way for me to kill Karrag was to suicide my Mage with the Staff of Righteous Flame on him. It took on shot, my mage and Karrag died. Almost no blood shed!

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheEasternInvasion

2013-08-18T15:01:18Z

Ericppp: Updates based on 1.10.x gameplay

This is a discussion of The Eastern Invasion, the campaign featuring Gweddry General of Wesnoth.

''This walkthrough has been updated by Maiklas3000 to reflect changes up to version 1.8.3 on hard and previously by Crus4a7E for up to version 1.4.5 on medium. Feel free to add your own updates.''

In this campaign you play the role of Gweddry, a human Sergeant who has the responsibility of dealing with a powerful Lich who wants to destroy Weldyn. As a sargeant, Gweddry has the potential to level up into a Grand Marshal, who will be able to empower his units significantly through his leadership ability. You start with the support of a White Mage named Dacyn, who will be by your side for most of the campaign.

As any other walkthrough, this document describes plot details that can be considered spoilers. This is particularly true for this campaign, since it contains quite a few surprises along the way, and at some points you will have to make choices that will have important repercussions for later scenarios. You may wish to read ahead to see what you will be facing. In particular, you might wish to read about the scenarios ''Captured'', ''Evacuation'' and ''Weldyn Under Attack'' in order to plan ahead.

You will encounter different types of enemies, mostly undead units (especially towards the beginning and the end of the campaign), as well as orcs and trolls. For this reason, two of the types of units you'll be able to recruit from the start and which will be key to your mission will be mages and heavy infantrymen. You'll probably want to level up at least one extra Mage of Light (other than Dacyn), and a few Arch/Silver Mages and Iron Maulers. You can also recruit Spearman, Cavalryman and Horseman units (the latter a few scenarios into the campaign), but their importance is perhaps less pronounced in many of the scenarios.

You will encounter a few tough challenges along the way, so be prepared, and be careful assigning experience to your units, especially during the first few scenarios.

=== The Outpost ===

* Objectives:
*# Resist until Dacyn's return.
*# Move Gweddry to the trapdoor.
* Lose if:
*# Gweddry dies.
*# Gweddry or Dacyn die. Turns run out.
* Turns: 16/16/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry

The best approach is to recruit heavy infantry and optionally a mage (who should not be expected to survive.) Build a line using the heavy infantry, using the castle hexes and other hexes to the northwest. When and if you have more money available later, purchase additional heavy infantry.

Just hold out for the enemy attack during night time; only rotate wounded units if possible, but do not counter-attack. At dawn, start your counter-attack without worrying too much about keeping the original line intact. Instead, try to level 2 or 3 HI to Shock Troopers. The enemy's forces quickly will cease to be any danger to yours.

Also, around turn 12 the white mage returns and points out a trap door you should use. (Note that this trap door will be near your starting fort, so you'll either need to hold the fort or be prepared to get back to it by turn 16).

Position your leader near the trap door, so he can reach it in one turn. As it is almost impossible to finish with more than 100 gold (which is the minimum starting gold of the next level), use the remaining turns to level as many units as possible and only move your leader onto the trap door in the very last turn.

Using this strategy, you may be able to finish with a couple of shock troopers, as well as adding experience to your other units.

In 1.8.6, 40% of any gold you finish with is ADDED to your 100 starting gold in the next scenario. So you'll have to decide if money or experience is more important for you.

On challenging, this scenario is quite, hmm, challenging. These tactics can succeed, but alternatively you can try purchasing a couple of calvary to use as a diversionary force, capturing enemy villages and running away, taunting and distracting the enemy.

=== Escape Tunnel ===
* Objectives: Move Gweddry to the end of the tunnel.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 26/24/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other
** Permanent holy amulet in north.
** Treasure of 200 gold in southeast.

This scenario occurs in a small cave occupied by trolls and dwarves. You start on the far west of the map, and your mission is to take Gweddry all the way to the opposide side.

Take some time to choose your supporting units, depending on which ones you want to level up the quickest. Heavy Infantry are excellent frontline units, but the downside is that they move very slowly in caves. However, since Gweddry is the only unit that ''has'' to get quickly to the far east, this might not be a big problem. You can also go for a group of mostly Mages, and a couple of Spearmen. One keep of units in total should easily be enough—there's also a convenient keep with one castle tile to recruit additional units in the middle of the map, in case you need it during the battle.

The map is quite small. A little east from your keep the path is forked into three directions: north is a small area with a holy amulet, east is the troll keep and south is the dwarven keep. These two last paths will merge again to the east, leading to the exit, where Gweddry needs to go. The dwarves are friendly and will help you fight your enemies.

Given that you will probably be using inexperienced units, it's perhaps best to avoid going directly into the troll keep, but you can hold your position near the crossroads, on the southern path, where you can easily witness a lot of action between trolls, dwarves and undead (who are following you and show up on turn 6 from the west). You can take advantage of this situation to grab some experience, but be careful and protect and heal your units.

The holy amulet to the north is a very useful item, which will make all the attacks (melee and ranged) of the unit that picks it up of type ''arcane'' —and, unlike in other campaigns, this holy amulet is permanent!. Send a quick Spearman there or Gweddry. Giving Gweddry the holy amulet (instead of a Spearman) allows him to level very quickly, which is important, since he can advance to Grand Marshal. This gives benefits in other ways on a number of later scenarios as well, such as the scenario ''The Crossing'', where you can get an easy first turn kill against the undead leader and take his castle.

The undead, trolls and dwarves will all fight each other. If you want to take a defensive stance, after having moved all your units south position one strong unit (a spearman or HI) at the end of the path leading south (so only one unit a turn can attack him) and position the White Mage right behind him to heal it every turn. These two units should easily keep of the enemies following you until the end of the scenario. Move Gweddry to the northeast escorted by other units, to help him fight individual trolls if necessary.

Before moving Gweddry to the end of the cave (which ends the level) send one of your units to the cave south–east, past the funny signpost warning you of the troll hole. In the cave you will discover a chest containing a troll treasure amounting to 200 gold.

[Thrash: Alternately, I used predominately Heavy Infantry on this level. I found (on medium) they were tough enough to hold the central cave and pretty much beat the trolls into submission long enough for Gweddry to run north to the the amulet and then cover his retreat south, only then recruiting a mage when the troll numbers were lower. With other units, I had problems with the trolls overrunning them and getting Gweddry trapped to the north. Also a heavy infantry in the village by your starting fort will hold off the undead for a long time.]

=== An Unexpected Appearance ===
* Objectives: Defeat either enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 20/20/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** Your next scenario depends on which leader you defeat.

In this scenario you have to defeat one of the dark sorcerers on the edges of the map. Your next scenario will depend on the enemy you choose to kill. Killing the one to the west will take you to the ''Elven Alliance'' scenario, while the one to the east takes you to ''The Undead Border Patrol''.

Going east is more difficult, especially on hard, but brings you more reward, such as the chance to go to Mal-Ravanal's Capital, which gives you the opportunity to get extra experience (a lot for whoever survives) and a free Paladin and several Knights.

First kill Mal-Tar to get your keep. To do this, shoot him with Dacyn and attack him with Gweddry's melee. If you don't kill him the first turn, second turn kill him with Dacyn so Gweddry can recruit. You will be fighting a mix of undead and bats, so recruit Heavy Infantry and Mages (if you gave the amulet to a Spearman in the previous scenario, recall him, too). Dacyn might be wounded, so send him to a village. Don't worry, he can fend for himself, since the bats usually arrive one at a time and he can kill one per turn.

On easy or medium (or hard going west), the attackers should be no problem, so focus on leveling units. If you move quickly you should only need to fight the attackers from one leader. Of course you can have some of your units double back to engage the second set.

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== Elven Alliance ====
* Objectives: Defeat enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Volas dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/22/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

The Orc's warning about the assassin is overrated; Volas can probably take care of it himself, although you might want to leave ONE unit near him to make sure. The assassin disappears into the forest, but you won't bump into him, he'll just reappear near the elf leader on turn 6.

Recruit / recall a wide assortment of units, mostly mages, spearmen and cavalry. Send mages and spearmen up to fight the opponent, send cavalry down as scouts. Any heavy infantry should go up to fight also; they will probably arrive late, and be good for reinforcements when the first troops are wounded.

Align the troops in the forest, so that the enemy will be on grass; this gives you a tactical advantage. Use Dacyn to heal those who need it most - those on the corners, and any mages who are on the front lines.

There is a village at {20,8} that can prove tactically very useful, because the elves usually fight somewhere near it.
The elves are defeated most of the time, and the orcs claim this village; it is crucial to kill the orc on this village and take it over with a resilient spearman, or a HI.

Once you have gotten past turn 6, it will be day, and the orcs will be very easy to defeat. When the assassin appears, you may ignore it unless you have a unit close-by. In that case, use it to fight the assassin. Keep pressing up. It is possible to kill the orcish leader by turn 9 for a nice gold bonus.

==== The Undead Border Patrol ====

This scenario also depends on which way you want to go. If going NW, it is fairly straightforward. The enemy is relatively weak. Do the same as in Unexpected Appearance - recruit 2 suicide cavalrymen to distract the bats. One will probably get enough XP to be worth recalling.

I would use mostly heavy infantry and spearmen with the holy amulet on this level, because mages will only get a +10% to hit from magical. However, as in most scenarios against undead, white mages are very useful.

Try to get the opponent to fight you from the sand. This gives you something like a 70% CTH. >)

(CTH = Chance To Hit).

If you go East, expect to take some time getting over the river and through the swamp. A small force recruited to defend the fort will keep troops from the NW off of your backside and they'll pick up a good amount of experience in the process.

===== Mal-Ravanal's Capital =====

Only reachable from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' scenario, but you might also skip it and go directly to ''Northern Outpost''.

This is a very challenging scenario. I started with only 100 gold, so I recalled one Mage, two Shock Troopers, one Heavy Infantry, and my holy Halberdier. I defended the starting castle for about 10 turns until the Revenants had made their way over to me. Upon killing several of them, I freed some imprisoned Knights and a Paladin. I moved my forces to kill the Death Knight, and then split my forces. I sent one group to attack Mal-Ravanal and the other to kill the Necromancer in the NW corner. By turn 30, my Eastern assault force was in postion to attack Mal-Ravanal. However, when I attacked him, he teleported my troops back to the starting castle, so I wasn't able to defeat him. When I was ready, I killed the NW Necromancer and progressed to ''The Northern Outpost''.

The reason to go here is to acquire a cavalry force of one Paladin and five Knights. To do this kill the 6 Revenants guarding the cages, but note the number of Knights available is reduced by one for each of your troops that die *after you rescue the first one*. You might want to make sure any expendable troops are "expended" before this. Each rescued unit pops in with full moves.

If you just want to rescue the paladin and 5 knights and get out (in 1.6), this is how I finished that by turn 8. The horses were captive in 6 cages, 4 in a northern loop and 2 in a southern loop. First turn, I sent a quick shock trooper, quick heavy, and a white mage (not Dacyn) around the northern loop, looping from bottom to top (start at bottom knight, end at paladin). I looped that way to clear the middle ASAP and escape the oncoming troops. Also first turn, I sent 3 shock troopers around the southern loop, looping from top to bottom. If you encounter resistance, kill it quick or run as required, and instead focus on killing the guards fast, which conveniently don't hit back. On turn 2, I recruited another keep full of recruits and immediately sent everyone else to take out the northwestern leader. Time it so you kill the northwestern leader just as the last horses are rescued. It is by no means easy, but this way I managed to lose only a few HI types while picking up all 6 horses.

[elvish_sovereign] (1.8.2 Normal) An alternate strategy for the above if you have more leveled mages than leveled HI's. It also requires that you gave the Holy Amulet to Gweddry. I sent a single quick Shock Trooper due south (recruited on the southern-most hex on the starting castle), which promptly took out the southern Revenant on turn 3. Forget about the villages, it'll only delay you. I sent Dacyn due north, a quick RM go take out the second from the bottom Revenant, and a quick HI and a WM with Gweddry to take out the middle-couple Revenants. I also recruited two HI's to stop the advance and distract the two Dark Sorcerers' troops. After Gweddry and the WM take out the third from the bottom Revenant, send that Knight south. After taking out the Revenant with the RM, send the RM, Shock Trooper, and the three Knights in the direction of the SW Dark Sorcerer. Meanwhile, Gweddry, the WM, and the HI take out the third from the top Revenant, and then get Gweddry the hell outta there with the WM. have Dacyn free the Paladin first, then have the remaining Knights, HI, and the Paladin take out the remaining Revenant and hold out in the north. As Gweddry is fleeing and th e final Revenants are being felled, break through the SW Dark Sorcerer's lines (which should be easy if you distracted them properly) with the RM and the Shock Trooper, and send the three Knights to knock him into oblivion. I finished on turn 8 with no losses, but had some near-death moments.

[Thrash] My take on justing getting the paladin and 5 knights quickly is you want to send units in parallel to attack the NW enemy and free as many of the knights at the same time. The trick is you free the knights and then kill the NW leader right after before all your troops get overwhelmed by units from the East. Time of day is critical - if you can get to the revenants before dusk, a white mage or shock trooper can kill them in one turn, after that it will take two turns or a little help (like a previously freed knight). Gweddry, even with an amulet, will probably take 3 turns to kill one, but with his one turn head start, that's OK. With one fort of recruits (2 white mages and 4 shock troopers), I was able to free 5 of the 6 and kill the NW enemy leader on turn 6. I sent 3 shock troopers and a white mage at the NW enemy, diverting one of those to freeing the 6th knight probably would have gotten me 6 out of the 6.

=== The Northern Outpost ===
* Objectives: Find the outlaw leader in the villages and kill him. Defeat the undead leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 20/20/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other
** A holy amulet is located on the south-west.
** Horseman units can now be recruited.
** Owaec joins your team after the fight is over.

This scenario is reachable both from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' and the ''Elven Alliance'' scenarios.

Here, there are two enemies that you must defeat: the undead and the outlaws. It is a good idea to create a separate task force for each.

The undead are fairly straightforward to defeat, and in any case Owaec usually does a good part of the work. To finish off the undead, it's useful to have a white mage, since Dacyn will be busy with his special spell to reveal the outlaws for this scenario. If you don't have a white mage, you can try recruiting a few mages or else go back one or more scenarios and promote a mage to white mage. In addition to the mages or white mage, recall whomever picked up the holy amulet in one of the previous scenarios and have them accompany Gweddry to the southeast. If Gweddry is the one with the holy amulet and you have a white mage, then you can supplement them with a mage. You should also send a cavalryman/horseman or quick spearman to pick up the new holy amulet in the southwest.

By contrast to the undead, the outlaws require a novel strategy. Recruit/recall fast units, e.g., cavalry and horsemen. You may supplement them by recalling quick spearmen and quick shock troopers. The challenge is that criminals will sometimes appear randomly around the villages you flag. Therefore, before flagging a village, position as many healthy units as you can immediately around it. Note that you will get a chance to kill any newly appeared outlaws before they get a move. Outlaws will not appear in the villages that Owaec flags, so don't worry about him uncovering enemies for you. Send your outlaw hunting posse up the eastern side of the map flagging one village a turn and fighting the bandits. One of the villages has the assassin that is the outlaw leader, and there are a lot of villages, so speed is of the essence.

Once your undead task force has finished the undead, form them into a second outlaw hunting posse, transferring units as needed from the first posse.

When you come across the village where the bandit leader hides, divert any available units to the battle, as the bandits have a bite.

Note: A Cavalry force (such as the one acquired in Mal-Ravanal's Capital) makes short work of the bandits. Lower level units have trouble against the bandits, especially at night.

Also note, that from this scenario on you can recruit horsemen. You might want to level up a paladin or two, for fast mobile undead removal services (and quick leader assasination).

/* governor */ Just a note: I had the misfortune of taking a group of men to a village where 5or6 enemies appeared. After taking heavy damage, I retreated my char (low on hitpoints) out of the village. When I recaptured the village the same group of enemies reappeared. Since AI enemies seem to prefer recapturing villages this can allow you to obtain easy experience for weak units a few times.

[Thrash] When I played, Oweac only recruited a couple mages, so he needed significant help as they get slaughtered quickly - I'd say 3-4 units. Also you don't really need to surround a village before flagging it, just have units in range to sweep in and attack if bandits pop out; this can save you some turns as move around as you can send one unit in to flag a village and move the rest on if nothing appears. Finally, the outlaw leader ran away when I played, so be prepared to chase him down.

=== Two Paths ===
* Objectives: Defeat either enemy leader.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 18/17/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other
** Your next scenario depends on which leader you defeat.

You must choose between going north to attack the orc leader or going north-west to attack the undead leader.

One option is going north on the very east side of the map trying to fight your enemies from solid ground and mountains while they stand on sand ground with weak defense. As your troops move very slowly on this terrain, you will likely take some heavy losses however, as your enemies keep surrounding you. Also this will presumably take too many turns to reach the orc leader in time.

Thus the preferred choice is to recall a couple of shock troopers and white mages and move them on the path to the north-west in a tight formation towards the undead leader. Once you survived the first enemy onslaught without loosing units, the rest of this scenario becomes rather easy as the remaining enemies come one by one. Make sure to keep on moving fast to the north-west to reach the undead leader before turns run out.

On hard (and version 1.8.3), what will probably work better is an all-out suicidal calvary charge to assassinate the undead leader as quickly as possible.

It's worth noting that killing the orc leader results in what appears to be a easier and more rewarding subsequent scenario (The Crossing) than killing the undead leader (Undead Crossing).

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== Undead Crossing ====
Spoiler ahead... this scenario has a surprise that will be explained below.

Recall a couple of quick swordsmen (or about-to-level quick spearmen), two white mages, a red mage or multiple regular mages, and any units with holy amulets. Shock troopers are too slow. Send these units as quickly as possible northwest through the swamp towards the eastern crossing. Meanwhile, recruit/recall calvary. The calvary should run as fast as possible along the southern board edge (so as to not attract undue attention from bats and swimming undead) and then up the western crossing. You can divert a couple of calvary and Owaec to snatch up villages and then those units can join the eastern assault.

Now for the surprise... Once you have fought off the bats and skeletons, you will find this was not your biggest challenge, as the undead leader summons two or three cuttlefish, which appear in the water between the two crossings. These always appear on the same turn number. Be very careful where to position your troops as the cuttlefish have a very nasty melee attack. You have at least three options for the crossing. Option 1 is to just try to get a couple of your calvary across each of the two crossings, while the rest of your units run like hell away from the water and swamp. Option 2 is to send across more units while tossing a spearman into the water as bait. Option 3 is to fight the cuttlefish, which is extremely hazardous. For a fight, maneuver your units to encourage the cuttlefish to separate, then use good melee troops backed by Gweddry (for leadership) and a white mage to kill them one at a time. Good luck. Make sure you leave your units enough time to cross the river and kill the undead leader before turns run out.

==== The Crossing ====
* Objectives: Get Gweddry and Owaec across the river.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/24/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other
** Special bonuses if the objective is completed while the Ogre leader is still alive.

The challenge for this scenario is crossing a wide river, where units are very vulnerable, and have very restricted mobility (particularly horses). On the northern bank of the river you will find orcs and ogres, who will fight each other given the opportunity. To the south you will find an undead leader, who will receive reinforcements by turn 8.

I had only 100 gold, so recruited some units and went straight north from turn one on. The fighting in the water was quite hard, with some orcs coming down from the north. The un-dead only appeared when I was in the middle of the river, so no encounter with them, and the ogre's helped get rid of the orcs on the north side. (Allefant)

If you have Holy Gweddry, you can (sometimes) get a 1st turn kill on the 1st undead leader, scarf up all the villages, and return to kill the 2nd undead forces before their leader can recruit anything. If you don't, the second undead leader will recruit lots of level two units. The orcs will start out across the river, but usually most of them turn back to fight the ogre reinforcements. Waiting till their first wave hits your shore and wiping them out in the water will probably leave you just enough time to cross the river and find there are only 2 or 3 enemy units left besides the leaders.

[Thrash] I don't think the above is realistic in 1.8.3. The leader is a Revenant with 47HP, both Gweddry (lvl 2) and Oweac (lvl 1) together would have to hit 100% to dish that out in one turn. He does come out to grab a village though, and Dacyn can make short work of him on turn 2.

Make sure to cover your rear flank with some expendable troops (such as Heavy Infantry) as the undead can move more quickly through the water than your units. Alternately, if you kill the first wave of undead quickly enough (by turn 3), you can make it across the river before the second wave catches you from behind.

Another strategy is to go straight into the water after killing the first undead leader using the deep water in the middle of the path to seperate the orc forces. You go to the right with Gweddry and Owaec and some support troops while letting the ogres kill many of the orcs in your way. Knights and a Paladin can hold off the orcs enough to get across while the undead behind you are not an issue.

If the ogre leader is alive at the end of the scenario, he agrees to help you, which results in the following bonuses: he joins you as a loyal unit, you get two free Ogres, you gain the ability to recruit Young Ogres, and you skip "Training the Ogres" scenario and go directly to "Xenophobia".

[Thrash] I had problems with the Ogre leader dying before I could get to him. Sending Oweac into the river on turn 1 seemed to draw enough of the orcs south to solve this problem.

[Hipparchos] Agreed this is the only way to save the ogre leader (all others are too slow). I played this several ways before deciding the easiest is to recruit/recall only units with 6+ movement (horsemen, cavalrymen, fast mages and fast spearmen) which move 2 hexes through the water. Send them immediately south to the undead keep and defeat the units there in the first few turns. Then occupy the keep and wait for the reinforcements while one horseman goes west to take villages. With no keep, the reinforcements are small and easy to defeat. Then you have no problems to your rear as your fast units catch up to Oweac and cross the river. You'll take some hits on the far bank but should get through in time to keep the ogres alive.

=== Training the Ogres ===

*This scenario was missing in 1.6.

This can be a confusing scenario to understand. Basically, your three units just have to survive. However, if you want to be able to recruit young ogres later, you need a couple of the ogres to not reach the rocky borders where they will "escape", whereby they seem to disappear into thin air. You have a couple of options for accomplishing this. Option 1 is to run. To keep ogres in the area, you wind up running in a circle, probably with Gweddry. However, running in a circle, Gweddry cannot outrun ogres and he will not survive repeated attacks from multiple ogres. Therefore, you need some of the ogres to "escape", which you can arrange by having Gweddry run close to the rocky border. Option 2 is to fight and kill some of the ogres, but this is hazardous. Or you could try a combination of these options.

Being able to recruit young ogres allows you to promote them to ogres, which do middling damage, but unfortunately can't advance beyond level 2. Ogres are especially mobile on mountains (such as in the later scenario ''Lake Vrug'') and in caves (in the scenario ''Captured''). Being of neutral alignment, ogres can be helpful at night (especially in the scenario ''Weldyn Under Attack''). Perhaps less obvious is that even young ogres are quite useful. Given their low, low price of 15 gold, they make good spam, attracting attention from the enemy and soaking up a lot of damage before they die.

=== Xenophobia ===
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug (if available from ''The Crossing'').
* Other
** A holy amulet near the orcs' keep.

This is a fun and silly level as all parties in the scenario (i.e. elves, orcs, drawves, and yourself) decide to fight each other instead of forming aliances. The scenario is not very difficult, so you can use this time to gain some experience for your units, pick up another permanent holy amulet (in the north, roughly in the middle between the dwarf and the orc keep), and train ogres (see below).

You have two obvious options: attack the elves first or the dwarves first. Don't worry, they will be distracted by the orcs. After you kill the first leader, proceed to the orcs and then finish off the remaining leader.

Attacking the elves first has the advantage that they have the richest lands, i.e., the most villages, so it means more gold for you by the end of the scenario. It has the side effect that you're more likely to face a live orc leader relative to if you had attacked the dwarves first, as the elves are pretty good at killing him.

Attacking the dwarves first has the advantage that it's probably easier, since the orc leader is more likely to die at the hands of the elves, plus the mountains make good ogre training grounds. It has the disadvantage that you have to spend time getting out of the dwarven mountains and then you will ultimately fight a lot of elves, though most of them will have come out of their forests by then.

In either case, you have a lot of ground to cover, so try to do without any non-quick shock troopers. Calvary, white mages, red mages and spearman track units (preferably quick) are all good.

Strongly consider recruiting three or four young ogres as well. Use the young ogres on the mountains in the north (and west) to hunt down any stray dwarves (and elves) whilst levelling up to ogres.

By the end of this scenario, it's very useful to have Gweddry at least on level 3, allowing you to use his leadership ability on other units like ogres (who reach their maximum at level 2). Leveling up a group of key units will also be very important for the upcoming scenario ''Captured'', where you won't be able to recruit, but a group of your most experienced veterans will have to work their way out of a cave. You may want to prepare a dragoon, a white mage, and a couple of adult ogres for then.

=== Lake Vrug ===
* Objectives: Defeat the trolls and gryphons.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 30/30/30 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug.
* Other
** An empty keep with 100 gold is located on the northwest.

This is a very confusing hide and seek scenario that could take you several pointless restarts until you have finally discover the enemy leaders.

There are three keeps, all north of the river. The troll leader has his keep on the northeast (go to the right into the mounts directly after crossing the bridge). To find the other two keeps, go west right after crossing the river; if you stay close to the southern line of mountains, you'll find the gryphon keep pretty easily. Finally, there is an empty keep going straight north from the gryphons. If you reach this empty keep with Gweddry, you'll receive 100 gold, and he and Dacyn will have a conversation about moving everyone to that base and attacking the enemies from there. However, this idea is not very practical, because by the time you reach that keep it will probably be too late to start the attack.

Gryphons are vulnerable to the impact damage of heavy infantry and shock troopers, so recall two or three, preferably quick ones. Also recall another white mage to supplement Dacyn and as many ogres/young ogres as possible, because they are probably the most useful unit for this scenario. The reason is simple: the enemy keeps are surrounded by high mountains which some of your troops cannot pass, but which the ogres handle quite easily. You might also want to recruit a horseman to scout ahead, although using that money for another mage or ogre may be a better investment.

The action for this scenario can be divided into two phases. The first phase will be surviving the first onslaught of gryphons and trolls coming your way. This will start around turn 4 with quite a number of gryphons appearing from the northwest. On hard, the onslaught will be especially difficult to handle. When you see the first gryphon swoop out of the fog, watch out! This means many others are coming behind. So, fall back away from the fog and form a defensive line that will eventually become a circle. Keep in mind that you can grab good terrain, i.e., the mountains, as gryphons are only too happy to attack you wherever you are, and your ogres and young ogres will hold up well there. Once you have wounded units, position your heavy units such as shock troopers and ogres very tighly around them, as the gryphons really have quite a large moving range and thus mercilessly slay unprotected injured units.

Just when you thought you had the gryphons wrapped up, here come the trolls across the bridge. They may be only a minor nuisance on medium or easy, but on hard it's a strain facing a large number of trolls with troops bloodied by the swarm of gryphons. Trolls are really no match for your shock troopers, however, who happily troll-crack away. Place these troopers on the grassland tiles on the edge of the river, so the trolls coming from the bridge will be forced to attack from unfavorable terrain for them (ice).

Once you have dealt with this first wave of enemies, the remaining phase consists in crossing the river, finding the enemy leaders and finishing them off, which will be much easier in comparison. Unfortunately, the shock troopers won't do you much good in this end phase. When taking the enemy keeps, use the ogres, who can move well on the high mountains, unlike most of your other units.

=== Captured ===
* Objectives: Escape through the south-west tunnel.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 50/40/30 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, two supporting units.
* Other
** No recruiting, but a group of your veterans will be available.
** A holy amulet to the south.

Gweddry starts out on autopilot, running up a tunnel to find some of his companions. These companions will consist of Dacyn, Oweac and, from your recall list, a couple of additional units—typically a mage (of any type other than white) and a level 2 or 3 loyalist soldier, if you have such units available. If you don't have them, Gweddry, Dacyn and Oweac will be on their own and facing a tough challenge. Many of the enemies you'll encounter in this cave are level two and three units.

Do not send this group back the way he came, or you will have to face some extremely mean trolls in the narrow tunnel. Instead, follow the tunnel to the north and west. You will face a few bats as you proceed. At the end of that tunnel, you will enter a throne room where you will find an enemy leader and his troops. Don't panic; the leader doesn't recruit and the troops are pretty sedate. Keep your units grouped and beware that a troll warrioir can ambush you out of the shroud from the south.

Meanwhile, when any of your units first enters the throne room, the resulting ruckus causes a group of your captured troops to plot an escape. This group of prisoners will be composed of 13 of your highest level units—or new units to complete the group if you're left with less than 13 units in your recall list, after counting your group of heroes and the two escorts in the throne room. You are well served by making sure you've got some Ogres, Mages of Light and others who do well in caves in that list.

They appear in a cavern called the "Torture Room" to the east, with about 75% of their hitpoints each—not a big problem if you had a white mage in your recall list.

These troops will face a number of assassins as they leave the Torture Room moving west. Try to get through the prison "door" of the torture room quickly; otherwise, the enemy units have an easy time keeping your entire army locked away using just a single unit blocking the door. To get through the entrance quickly, you need to have your troops back away, allowing the guard to come in so that you can get multiple attacks on him to kill him. Any ogres you have will come in handy to rush out and prevent other assassins from blocking the entrance.

Victory occurs when Gweddry moves through the exit in the southwest corner. There is quite a comfortable early finish bonus, so you might want to move him there quickly, because - believe me when I say - you're going to need every gold piece for the next scenario. You should also quickly flag the numerous villages in a cavern called "The City", a cavern southwest of the Torture Room, where you will be confronted by a troll and other enemy units. If you have a silver mage, remember that the silver mage can teleport back and forth between the Throne Room and The City, as needed. With these things in mind, it should be possible to finish with over 500 gold on medium or 300 gold on hard.

There is a holy necklace on this level in the City, at [22, 38]—to get there head south directly after getting out of the Torture Room, sending iron maulers or ogres on front to defend your other units from the guard trolls and orcs in the City. Preferably grab the holy amulet with a horseman or something similar. He will come in very hand in later scenarios (if he survives the next scenario, that is.)

If you have a large group of recallable units, loses in this scenario are not a big deal, as you're only going to be able to bring a fraction of your recall list past the next scenario, which is a contrivance set up to kill off all but a small amount of veterans (it will only let so many units over the bridge, and everyone else will be gone). So don't be afraid to play offensively to speed things up.

=== Evacuation ===
* Objectives: Destroy the bridge or defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 12/12/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer.
* Other
** Every unit not on the south side of the river when the bridge is destroyed will be lost (including units in your recall list).

This is one of those scenarios many deem "impossible", but it is by no means impossible, even on hard, given adequate gold. However, you must wrap your mind around an unpleasant truth: it may be necessary to accept heavy losses of high level troops. On the other hand, some players with strong rosters after going to Mal-Ravanal's Capital have beat this scenario on medium with minimal losses.

You should have over 400 gold and a large number of level 2 and 3 units to recall to start this scenario. The scenario is doable with 300 gold even on hard, but will result in even higher casualties.

There are two options in this scenario: you can either defeat all enemy leaders or blow up the bridge in the south. In the former case, you could suffer quite some casualties in fighting the enemy. In the latter case, all your units that are not on the south side of the river by the time you blow up the bridge are killed by the explosion. Cruelly, this includes your nonrecalled units! Whichever option you take, watch out for the very tight time limit of 12 turns. And watch out for the level 2 trolls, as they can (and frequently will) instantly kill almost any of your units. Best fight them with two white mages or a white mage accompanied by some other unit.

Of the two options, killing all the enemy leaders is preferable if you can pull it off, so that you can keep your nonrecalled troops. First, recruit two to three keeps (if you have the gold) full of your typical experienced troops like iron maulers, white mages, and so on. If you went Mal-Ravanal's Capital and so have a lot of knights, recall them too. Ogres are also helpful, if you have some left, as they are strong and you will have no use for them in later scenarios (except maybe ''Weldyn Under Attack''). After that, for cannon fodder, recall a keep full of young ogres and calvary.

Start to move your units south and attack the central enemy right away (i.e., do not wait until you have recruited all units). Split the second batch of recalls, sending half of them to the northeast and the other half to the southwest (otherwise you might not make it to all three leaders in time). Finally, send some young ogres and calvary to the northeast and southwest to distract the enemies there for two or three turns.

With all three groups of your units try to focus on attacking the enemy leaders as soon as possible, so you do not run out of time. With a bit of luck and probably some nasty casualties, you will have killed all three leaders around turns 10 to 12.

The second option - blowing up the bridge - is quite a bit easier to pull off, especially on hard or with less than 400 gold. Your opening move will be to start running the engineer, Dacyn, and Owaec to the southwest. Then recall a keep of cannon fodder: young ogres, ogres, and calvary. Send them in all directions to distract the enemy. On subsequent turns, recall the troops that you want to try to save, putting slower ones at the head of the line. However, non-quick shock troopers and iron maulers are so slow that they should be sacrificed in rear guard action. Focus on running the engineer, using other units to block for him, creating a ZOC corridor. Keep in mind that almost everyone is expendable. Use combat sparingly, just where you need to open a hole or where you see an opportunity to level up and heal.

If you finish the scenario with just the required units plus about three level 3 units, don't panic. You can indeed finish the rest of the scenarios, even on hard, starting with just a few level 3's. Note that the next scenario, ''The Drowned Plains'', is good for leveling raw recruits. However, if you have a lot of level 3's, it would certainly be easier to tackle another upcoming "impossible" scenario, namely ''Weldyn Under Attack'', so you may wish to replay ''Evacuation'' to get a better result.

WanderingHero: While this scenario is cruel, its not as asinine as it appears. You've already beaten the hardest scenarios of the campaign, so you dont have much to worry. Try saving a white mage, and maybe a Knight thats close to Paladin or a Paladin, but its hardly essential. Your heavy armors and ogres can be used to wall the enemy. Although the situation looks grim and the dialogue is grim, you actually near the end, the worst is behind you. You'll see the chequered flag soon enough.

=== The Drowned Plains ===
* Objectives: Defeat Khrakrahs.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 28/26/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer.

Khrakrahs is a level-4 Skeletal Dragon that will be found in or near the castle (located on an island in the south). In getting there, you need to proceed slowly and carefully through the swamp. That is because there are lots of fairly high level undead hidden there, waiting to ambush your troops. Don't panic. They are easy to take one at a time, and you can offer the killing blow to troops that you are eager to promote. Think twice about trying to maneuver more units around the back of the one you're trying to kill, as there may be more ambushing undead there.

The dragon wanders around near the castle but only attacks units which he can kill instantly. If only strong units come near him, he tries to flee. Because of the fog the major challenge of this scenario is finding him and then getting him surrounded so he cannot just move away again. Once you have him trapped like this, slaying him should be easy using your stronger units —preferrably using impact weapons because the dragon has a low resistance there. Magic attacks from maged are also very effective against the dragon.

This scenario is a good opportunity for all the units with holy amulets you still have with you. Use them against the ambushers. Since there's a good early finish bonus, just recruit a keep of your best anti-undead units, find and kill the dragon and reap the reward.

Note: On at least version 1.8.3, the Skeletal Dragon is buggy. It comes to you in the northeast early on and sits in your keep. [Thrash]

I saw this behavior as well, the dragon just camped and didn't even attack, just sat there. I also found him far from the castle, not too far from where I started. Same problem observed in 1.8.5. [Sojourner].

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
* Objectives: Get Gweddry to Weldyn.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II dies or turns run out.
* Turns: 24/24/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer.

The objective is simple enough; Gweddry has to reach the castle occupied by Konrad II. This is simply a matter of moving him there quickly. The end.

There is no challenge here, but with undead around you can pick up some XP with your fast moving arcane-enhanced troops (i.e., the ones that picked up holy amulets in earlier scenarios.) Try not to overrecruit or dilly-dally, though, as you need all the gold you can get for the next scenario, ''Weldyn Under Attack''.

=== The Council ===

Only plot in this. You see the inside of the castle.

=== Weldyn Under Attack ===
* Objectives: Survive until end of turns.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II dies.
* Turns: 18/18/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Grug, Engineer, Konrad II.
* Other
** By the end of this scenario, you will have to choose whether to fight Mal-Ravanal directly in a duel, or repel his invasion with all you've got. This dictates the next and final scenario you'll play for this campaign.

At scenario start, you find your keep in the center of an island. Three allied leaders also have their keeps on the island around yours. There are three enemy leaders with equal amounts of gold at their disposal. The southwestern enemy leader is the only one that recruits nightgaunts, the southeastern enemy leader is the only one that recruits bats, and the northern leader is the only one that recruits Spectres.

The time of day cycle is 3 times longer than usual in this scenario, and it starts at dusk, so the first 3 turns are at dusk, and then it stays nighttime (first and second watch) during most of the scenario, which is painful with the damage the undead will unleash.

Your strategy should be to kill off one of the leaders and his troops, so that you can take over his defensive position. It's probably easiest to take the northern keep.

The backbone of your army will be heavy infantry track units, mages, and mages of light. On the first turn, recall one of each, plus three calvary units to the rear, preferably quick. Send the calvary to backstab your allies, robbing them of their villages. They won't mind. Later, the calvary can run around to distract the enemy. Send your heavy infantry types, mages, and mages of light towards the target enemy stronghold. You should supplement them with any units with arcane attacks: arch mages, silver mages, white mages, and any units that picked up amulets in previous scenarios. Pad out your force with ogre / young ogre spam. As ogres are neutral, their attacks won't suffer in the near-permanent darkness, and they are useful on the hills to protect your flanks.

You probably will not be able to assassinate the leader before he is out of gold. When he dashes out to attack, check his gold. If he's broke, you might wish to ignore him for a turn or two while you kill off other units.

After you take over the stronghold, you may be able to recruit some more troops, if you saved some gold and/or did a good job capturing villages with your calvary. Note that saving gold is of no use for ''The Duel'', so spend it now. Next, you should start preparing for the assault waves of the other two leaders. The combined assault waves may be more than your forces can survive. Therefore, while your main force braces itself, you should send out some ogres, young ogres, calvary, and/or silver mages as distractions, mostly along the board edges. They can even get in a few kills.

For your main force, unless you have taken over the southwestern keep, you need to think about the invisible, infiltrating, backstabbing Nightgaunts that are now headed your way. Have your units form a block with their back to the board edge. Round the corners of the block towards the enemy (so that you don't have one unit face four attacks.) Keep your whole line solid and heavily wounded units buried deep inside.

In addition to Nightgaunts, you have the threat of Banebows, which can do 52 ranged damage in one turn. However, they are fairly easily killed with proper strategy. Move a mage of light adjacent to blind the Banebow (i.e., remove its +25% bonus) and provide light for your lawful unit's attack (i.e., remove its -25% adjustment.) Move a shock trooper (or similar, preferably arcane enhanced) adjacent to the banebow and mage of light. Move a general up to lend leadership to the attacker. You may kill the Banebow in one attack. Otherwise, if the Banebow is quite wounded, you can use the mage of light to finish it off.

If you lose when you try to make a stand, you could instead try splitting your forces in two, travelling along the board edges to attack the remaining two leaders. Some players have had success with this, killing the last leader by turn 14 or 15. Just remember that the objective is to survive until the end of turns, and Nightgaunts may be a problem. Killing all three leaders is a victory though and will earn you a early finish bonus of 54/turn, which is important if you go on to Weldyn Besieged.

If you have one or two silver mages available, they are quite useful in this scenario. The map is rather large so have some fast-moving units like horsemen run through enemy territory and capture individual villages. Then use the teleport ability of your silver mage to perform hit-and-run (or rather: hit-and-teleport) attacks. Make sure you do not get him killed, though, by holding out too long after attacking. Make good use of Gweddry's leadership ability (he should be a Grand Marshal by now), and of Konrad's Sceptre of Fire to get rid of the most dangerous enemies coming your way.

At the end of the scenario, an enemy messenger appears telling you that you have only fought some delegates of the ancient lich Mal-Ravanal. It challenges you to a duel with Mal-Ravanal instead of letting the armies meet for a final battle. If you accept the challenge, you get to scenario ''The Duel''. Otherwise you go to ''Weldyn Besieged''. [Thrash: In my opinion Weldyn Besieged is much tougher and you probably only want to go that route if you have a decent carry-over.]

WanderingHero: Impossible Scenario? Not bloody likely. Hard Scenario? Pfft, this is actually quite a breather level. Enemy spams skeletons, so simply spam heavy Armour ad nausem, and make good use of any veterans you have. If your ogres die, it really doesn't matter. In fact it mostly doesn't matter who wins here, so rush the enemy with Heavies and you'll likely win well before the end of turns.

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== The Duel ====
* Objectives: Defeat Mal-Ravanal.
* Lose if: Gweddry dies .
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry.
* Other
** You can only recruit for the first turn.

This is a somewhat strange scenario: you and Mal-Ravanal get to recall/recruit exactly six units each and then have to fight each other. Mal-Ravanal will recruit mostly level 3 units so this looks difficult. However, it is, in fact, quite manageable. Your goal is to attack first and hit hard—you should be able to eliminate two or three enemy units before they even get the chance to attack.

Except for Konrad II, you will have all of your units available in the recall list (including Dacyn and Owaec). Recall mages of light and other high-level arcane troops. Advance onto the battlefield, but stop just short of the enemies' range. After the enemies move closer, concentrate your attacks on a few of their units, particularly those with the strongest attacks. "Cowardly" Gweddry may be able to grant leadership bonuses to your troops, however he should probably refrain from actual fighting so he does not accidentally get killed.

Try to finish the fight quickly, as Mal-Ravanal plays unfair and every so often recruits another 3 units, albeit not so tough as the first batch of 6. If you position a weak unit within Mal-Ravanal's movement range the arrogant lich will gleefully charge out onto the battlefield and leave himself wide open for your counterattack.

==== Weldyn Besieged ====

This battle is intended as a substantial challenge, and is inadvisable with low gold or an inadequate recall list. You face off against seven enemy leaders, with the goal of finding and eliminating Mal-Ravanal among them. The liches' names aren't revealed until they are attacked, and Mal-Ravanal is more likely to be revealed later in the scenario (the names are randomly assigned when you attack). Sending fast scouts to attack all the liches is not advisable since each lich receives a boost of gold for another round of recruitment after its name is revealed.

One strategy is to recall a group of cavalry with holy amulets and paladins to circle behind the undead horde and terminate the liches. You can draw the liches out of their keeps by positioning a sacrificial horseman within their attack radius. Once the lich is out in the open, your arcane damage cavalry should have no trouble finishing the lich off in a single turn.

Meanwhile you'll need the rest of your troops to hold the central keep against the undead onslaught. If you can spare the funds, a few sacrificial troops can delay the incoming enemies on one side, giving you the opportunity to focus your firepower on the undead approaching from the other side(s). If things turn grim, retreat to the castle and make your final stand.

[Thrash: I had no success with the strategy of sending out a group of cavalry as I needed all hands on deck to defend the keep. What I found to be the key to winning was to make sure you get good hard first attacks on the approaching undead, starting with the ones from the south on turn 3 and then others on turn 4.]

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Mainline Campaigns

2013-08-16T04:32:46Z

Ericppp: Now with images..

These scenarios are included in the Wesnoth distribution. Most were written by fans of the game.
See [[ReferenceWML]] for information on how to make your own scenarios using the Wesnoth Markup Language. The following links are very likely to contain spoilers regarding the storyline.

== Heir to the Throne ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Heir_To_The_Throne/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/MCp1q.png]
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by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3 Dave]

This is the original campaign, and probably the most played. It features Konrad, fighting to overturn the rule of the dark queen Asheviere. It is 25 scenarios, no more are planned, and is considered complete.

* [[HeirToTheThrone|Walkthrough]]
* [[HtttStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Heir_to_the_Throne Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Heir_to_the_Throne Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:HttT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10322 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Heir_To_The_Throne.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Heir_To_The_Throne Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#517_YW Position in timeline]
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== A Tale of Two Brothers ==

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[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Two_Brothers/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/qDabd.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">A Tale of Two Brothers</div>
</div>

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=93 Circon]

A village is being terrorized by a black Mage. He is defeated, but the local Mage, Baran, is kidnapped. His brother, Arvith, must go rescue him. It has 4 scenarios, and is aimed at first-time players on Easy.

* [[ATaleOfTwoBrothers|Walkthrough]]
* [[A Tale Of Two Brothers Story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#A_Tale_Of_Two_Brothers Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TB1.9 Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10339 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#A_Tale_of_Two_Brothers Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#363_YW Position in timeline]
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== An Orcish Incursion ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/An_Orcish_Incursion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/nVI6O.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">An Orcish Incursion</div>
</div>

by Josh Parsons; adapted for mainline by ESR.

Erlornas is an elven noble of Wesmere during the first years after the arrival of humans and orcs on the western shore of the Great Continent. It is his fate to be the first of his people to be directly confronted by the invading orcs.

* [[AnOrcishIncursion|Walkthrough]]
* [[An_Orcish_Incursion story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#An_Orcish_Incursion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:AOI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#An_Orcish_Incursion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#8_YW Position in timeline]
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== The South Guard ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_South_Guard/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/UMJFY.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The South Guard</div>
</div>

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=872 aelius]

A young Knight, Deoran is dispatched to take command of the South Guard. This campaign has 9 or 10 scenarios, depending on the branch you take, and is aimed at beginners on the easiest difficulty.

* [[TheSouthGuard|Walkthrough]]
* [[South Guard story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_South_Guard Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TSG Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10323 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_South_Guard.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_South_Guard Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#607_YW Position in timeline]
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== Liberty ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Liberty/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/rseVU.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Liberty</div>
</div>

by scott

The chronicles of how a certain group of Wesnothians were betrayed by their ruler and decided to fight back. This made them outlaws in the crown's eyes, but hopefully heroes in ours.

There are 9 scenarios and some goodies to boot. The main focus is to provide the experience of recruiting and recalling higher level outlaw characters, which you don't normally get to do. While there is a range of difficulty in the scenarios, the overall intent is for them to be straightforward and not too difficult.

* [[Liberty|Walkthrough]]
* [[Liberty story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Liberty Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:L Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20252 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Liberty.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Liberty Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#501_YW Position in timeline]
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== Legend of Wesmere ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Legend_of_Wesmere/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/nJGZu.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Legend of Wesmere</div>
</div>

by Santi; adapted for mainline by esr and fendrin

''The tale of Kalenz, the High Lord who rallied his people after the second orcish invasion of the Great Continent and became the most renowned hero in the recorded history of the Elves.''

* [[LegendofWesmere|Walkthrough]]
* [[LegendofWesmereStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Legend_of_Wesmere Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Legend_of_Wesmere Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:LOW Dialogue]
* [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=51 Discussion threads]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Legend_of_Wesmere Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#20_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Eastern Invasion ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/FKIXO.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Eastern Invasion</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=176 Turin]

This campaign follows Gweddry, a Wesnothian Army Officer, battling against undead invaders. It has 18 scenarios, and no more are planned.

* [[TheEasternInvasion|Walkthrough]]
* [[EiStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Eastern_Invasion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:EI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10325 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Eastern_Invasion.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Eastern_Invasion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Hammer of Thursagan ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/kavI.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Hammer of Thursagan</div>
</div>

by ESR (Eric S. Raymond)

In the first years of the Northern Alliance, the dwarves of Knalga attempt to re-establish contact with their kin in the east at Kal Kartha. Many perils beset the expedition, but none so dire as the dark secret they will discover at their destination.

* [[TheHammerOfThursagan|Walkthough]]
* [[TheHammerOfThursagan story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Hammer_Of_Thursagan Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:THOT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20258 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550_YW Position in timeline]
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== Descent into Darkness ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Descent_Into_Darkness/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JTXUi.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Descent into Darkness</div>
</div>

by esci

Malin Keshar, a young mage from the town of Parthyn, attempts to defend his home from marauding orcs by enlisting the help of a necromancer named Darken Volk. He learns the forbidden art of raising and controlling the deceased and the true power of the undead, and is gradually drawn further into the secrets of necromancy.

* [[DescentIntoDarkness|Walkthough]]
* [[Descent Into Darkness story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Descent_into_Darkness Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DID Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20251 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Descent_into_Darkness.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Descent_Into_Darkness Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#389_YW Position in timeline]
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== Delfador's Memoirs ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Delfadors_Memoirs/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/PUG3x.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Delfador's Memoirs</div>
</div>

''Wesnoth seems to be slipping inexorably into chaos, as marauding orcs pour south across the Great River, and mysterious and deadly creatures roam the night. Who is the shadowy Iliah-Malal? Can you defeat him before he destroys all life in Wesnoth?''

* [[DelfadorsMemoirs|Walkthrough]]
* [[DelfadorsMemoirsStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DM Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Delfadors_Memoirs.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#468_YW Position in timeline]
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== Dead Water ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Dead_Water/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/QpIvg.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Dead Water</div>
</div>

By [http://forums.wesnoth.org/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=107794 beetlenaut]

''You are Kai Krellis, a merman king, but only a child. A necromancer has arrived and is turning your subjects into undead slaves! Lead your people on a mission to convince a powerful mermaid to help you repel the invasion. The oceans near the Northern Lands are perilous, so you will need cunning and bravery to be survive, but first you need to gain the respect of your troops!''
(Intermediate Level, 10 scenarios)

*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Dead_Water Walkthrough]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Dead_Water Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Dead_Water Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DW Dialogue]
*[http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31283 Discussion Thread]
*[http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Dead_Water.html Custom units]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Dead_Water Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#626_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Sceptre of Fire ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/HmBs1.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Sceptre of Fire</div>
</div>

by turin

King Haldric of the humans strikes a deal with the young dwarf Rugnor. In exchange for ten thousand in silver, the dwarves will create a sceptre of fire for the human king.

* [[Sceptre of Fire|Walkthrough]]
* [[Sceptre of Fire story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Sceptre_of_Fire Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOF Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20255 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Sceptre_of_Fire.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Scepter_of_Fire Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#25-40_YW Position in timeline]
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== Son of the Black-Eye ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Son_Of_The_Black_Eye/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/K5pvI.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Son of the Black-Eye</div>
</div>

started by Benj, completed by Taurus

You are the orcish chieftain Kapou'e, son of the famed Black-Eye Karun who was treacherously murdered by the human-worms twenty-seven years ago. You must expel the human invaders from orcish lands and avenge your father's death. It has 18 scenarios.

* [[SonOfThe_BlackEye|Walkthrough]]
* [[Black Eye story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOTBE Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20257 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Son_of_the_Black-Eye.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#842_YW Position in timeline]
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== The Rise of Wesnoth ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JdZB3.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">The Rise of Wesnoth</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=388 Shade]

This campaign revolves around the events that brought Haldric I to the 'Great Continent' to found the Kingdom of
Wesnoth. It has 25 scenarios, and is considered complete.

* [[TheRiseOfWesnoth|Walkthrough]]
* [[TrowStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TROW Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10613 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Rise_of_Wesnoth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#5-2_BW Position in timeline]
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== Northern Rebirth ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Northern_Rebirth/images/campaign_image.jpg http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/JTXI5.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Northern Rebirth</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=100782 Taurus]

The people of Dwarven Doors rise against their orcish oppressors in a struggle that will shape the fate of the Northlands. 14 scenarios.

* [[Northern Rebirth|Walkthrough]]
* [[Northern Rebirth story|Story outline]] , [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Northern_Rebirth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:NR Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20253 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Northern_Rebirth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Northern_Rebirth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#534_YW Position in timeline]
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== Under the Burning Suns ==

<div class="thumb tright">
[http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth/branches/1.10/data/campaigns/Under_the_Burning_Suns/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2013/08/15/spPBH.png]
<div class="thumbcaption">Under the Burning Suns</div>
</div>

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=149 quartex]

Set in the distant future, where elves live in the desert. It has 11 scenarios, and is not recommended for beginners because it changes some parts of Wesnoth, including the elves stats and the day/night cycle.

* [[UnderTheBurningSuns|Walkthrough]]
* [[UtBSStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Under_the_Burning_Sun Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:UTBS Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10491 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Under_the_Burning_Suns.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Under_The_Burning_Suns Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#After_the_Fall Position in timeline]
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== See also ==
* [[UserCampaigns]]
* [[Guide_to_UMC_Campaigns]]

[[Category:Review on Release]]
[[Category:Campaigns|*]]
[[Category:Wesnoth - Mainline]]

LegendofWesmere

2013-08-16T03:45:09Z

Ericppp: /* The Chief Must Die */

General Note: Throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Strategical Note: This is a long campaign where you play elves. So take a look at the top level units: There are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans. However, they are not recruitable during the first four scenarios (since version 1.9.x) --you will still have enough opportunity to level them up, but it requires some effort.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling one (or both!) of your loyal fighters into a marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and Anduilas

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader. The keep directly to the east might seem tempting, but it will be hard to conquer, since its orcish leader will be pumping out units constantly for the first few turns.

A good alternative is going southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (warriors). Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will tend to go for the fighters when given the option. If you don't have a captain yet, level up a fighter as soon as possible, and use his leadership on your archers. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river—if you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked. Instead, send out an archer or two (preferably ''quick'' ones) to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. So you can as well kill them with some of your poisoned units as long as they have still enough health. Distribute XP carefully, units heal upon level up, rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives - and if you defended the Ka'lian well - the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work. Close in carefully - it will be very hard avoiding casualties, but when the time comes, let them be L1 fighters and not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

The behaviour of the orcs will depend directly on your ability to hold out the invasion of your fortress. If you manage to repel somewhat successfully their initial attack, the orcs will assume a defensive stance for the second part of the battle (usually triggered when Kalenz arrives). If, on the other hand, the orcs have a more successful start, they then become more aggresive and the battle becomes much more lively on the second part.

A special feature of this particular scenario --something not very common in a campaign-- is that you will control two armies simultaneously after Kalenz' arrival. You start assuming the role of El'Isomithir, ant later Kalenz joins the party and by then you will switch between your two roles. However, you won't control El'Isomithir's army anymore in the future, so don't grow too attached to it.

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where the Shyde is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by level up.

It is alternatively possible to kill the eastern leader with rangers/avengers, the AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed. In general, take your time to experiment and figure out what works best on your strategy against saurians, as you'll be seeing many more of them in the future.

Along with Cleodil, one fighter and one archer (2 on ''easy'') will be freed from their prison. All of them become loyal to your cause, so by the end of this scenario you'll have a small loyal army on your hands. Protect them well and plan carefully how you are going to level them up, since they will become the core of your troops from now on until the very end (although you will be occasionally separated from them).

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

With Cleodil on your side now, you may finally recruit shamans, as well as woses.

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try to confront them on favorable terrain and form a defensive line (against skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, and the ''slows'' attribute of shamans' ranged attacks limits the damage potential and mobility of skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (you will have only have the movement points after taking up the treasure) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with a scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is another leveling opportunity for your shamans, as there is another troll leader to kill. Also you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

On this scenario you'll be able to ask Olurf to move to a specific location inside the map (using right-click), which may be useful in case you want his help in some particularly tight spot. This is one of the ways in which you can control the behaviour of your allies (you'll see another in the next scenario). Notice, however, that this command only applies to Olurf himself, and his troops will continue to move freely as they please, often taking experience away from you.

By the end of the scenario, you will end up "hiring" Olurf --paying him 400 gold-- but if you've been careful with your finances, you probably won't miss that amount.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives: Defeat all of the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

[NOTE: This scenario gives you the option of choosing to give orders to the AI that controls your allies. Because of bug issues, I ended up playing the scenario through without using this option. The advice that follows is for playing the scenario with the AI making automatic choices.--cathyr19355]

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies.

Avoid focusing too much on the troll keep for the first few turns. If you do this, Galdrid will probably be left without much assistance inside Ka'lian, and by turn 5-6 it will probably be too late. Instead, focus on moving your army to Ka'lian as quickly as possible and continue the battle from there. Fortunately, the terrain will help you repel the trolls and orcs coming from the north and west while you move the bulk of your army.

If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units. As you kill off the aforementioned trolls and orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to Grubr's keep, then west and north again to kill the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, recruit/recall a bunch of riders and other fast-moving units, send them directly south of your keep to grab the villages on the eastern side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at Grubr's keep to take some of the pressure off the Kal'ian. Even though you have a lot of gold and can recruit a lot of units, your enemies are numerous, and the reinforcements won't show up until the third day, so don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded.

Olurf will show up on turn 12 and you'll have to choose whether to place him on the northeast, or the northwest corner. Since dwarves are quite comfortable on mountains, a good choice is the northeast corner, from which you can guide him and his troops to finish off the troll leader.

If you want to save Eradion (your elf ally on the southwest), order him to move inside Ka'lian from the first turn. Otherwise, he will probably end up being caught in the fire and experiencing a not very heroic death.

Note for directing the AI:
I tried to get both my allies to swarm the sourthern orc, they should be able to defeat him, but unfortunately the AI does not really listen to this kind of order (bug?), so once I had the trolls under control I send a select few units south through Kal'ian to help mop up the remaining orcs there. This should leave you enough time to concentrate on the nothern battle.

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. Since you just left a lot of your troops at the Ka'lian, experience may be worth your effort. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble beating this level just run north as fast as you can. You should be able to cross the river with little trouble. You probably don't even need to recruit.

If you want to claim some experience, you can form a small army --gold will be the main limitation, since the considerable treasure you had was left on Ka'lian in the previous scenario-- and then either split it into two fronts, or take it all to one of the saurian keeps first if you don't feel comfortable splitting such a small army. If you do split it, send a dwarf-heavy squad to the left (closer mountains) and an elf-heavy one to the right (more forest).

The enemy recruits some relatively low HP level 2s and 3s. You can level units quickly after killing a couple of Saurian Oracles. Of course those Oracles have strong magical attacks (especially at night) negating your high defense. Luckily for you the battles start during the day.

Focus on killing the Oracles and Augurs first. They are easy to kill and do a lot of damage. Instead of throwing 3 or 4 units at a level 3 Flanker, just slow it and rack up kills. Try and kill as many units as you can before nightfall, when the attacks become much more ferocious.

The battles will be on high defense terrain, so they will go slowly. If you recruit more than one keepful Kalenz will have a much tougher time crossing the river.

However, if you already have good units that don't need a lot of extra experience, it might be better to aim for an early finish, in order to amass a good gold reserve again. Gold will become very important by the time you reach the ''Human Alliance'' scenario.

Once you reach the river, a few sea creatures will show up (water serpents and cuttle fish), but they are usually not much of a challenge. Make use of the small islands to get Kalenz across as quickly as possible. You may also try distracting the monsters with elvish scouts.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one.

First, you have to climb to your destination (the signpost at the top northeast corner of the map) over high mountains, so the going will be very slow for your elves; watch the turn clock carefully.

Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them.

Third, among your enemies you will find level 4 Yetis (which pack quite a punch), and Gryphons (which move very quickly through any terrain). Keep your shamans ready to slow Yetis before you attack them with other units.

You may try splitting your forces, sending one group west. The other group, with Kalenz, goes directly north, deals with the nearest enemy, and continues to the signpost. This group should be large enough that you can peel off 4-6 units once you get most of the way north to take out the enemy in the far northwestern keep. Note: dwarves do well in the mountains, but don't recruit a lot of ulfserkers, not even the second-level ones—they tend to take out the unit they attack but then are very vulnerable to attacks by other units.

Another strategy could be sending your full army northwest through the forest, using a quick unit to scout the way until you encounter the Yetis (there are 3 in total), and try to dispatch them quickly, before the trolls catch up with you from the east. Then send a few units to deal with the Gryphon leader on the northwest, while your main force goes east to fight the trolls, and Kalenz goes northeast to reach the sign post. If you want to gain as much XP as possible, move Kalenz ''near'' the signpost while you fight the remaining enemies. You can win the scenario by defeating the leaders, but if things get too hairy, you can always finish by moving Kalenz to its destination.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

The drakes, commanded by Aquagar (the foe you have to defeat) are at the northwest corner, while a keep of trolls is located at the northeast. Crelanu, the wise mage you came here for, is by the lake. You can send a quick unit (e.g. Cleodil) towards that keep in the middle of the map to trigger the dialogue with Crelanu.

You may try splitting your forces, sending half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

However, it will take some time for the trolls to reach Crelanu, so you may try focusing all your power towards Aquagar to finish him as quickly as possible, and then Crelanu won't need any assistance. If you go for killing Aquagar quickly, you might manage with just a few units, so you can save some gold by not over-recruiting.

Be careful about using archers, since some of the drakes breathe fire and do more damage that way than your units can with their arrows. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential.

'''For 1.9.x'''
In this scenario, you only have to kill Aquagar. So you just focus attacking the drakes. Send some Steelclads, Pathfinders to aid Crelanu. Marksmen, Rangers, Druids, Thunderguards, Stalwarts are extremely useful here. I killed Aquagar by turn 5. ~~Knyghtmare.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is the unofficial final, the following scenarios are pretty much a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The northeast trolls will not receive reinforcements, so you should concentrate on eliminating their army first.

The most challenging aspect of this scenario is that your army has to do three things practically simultaneously: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls.

The trolls should be pretty easy to kill. Their leader doesn't have much money, so there will not be many trolls to face. Slowing with some shaman and using the forest (and mountain tiles for placing your dwarves) to your benefit leads to a quick victory. Afterwards, send the units to reinforce your other two fronts.

Your allies can hold their own against the first wave of southern attackers but after that they'll be toast. A much better course of action is to team up with them and crush the first wave. When the reinforcements come you should be in a good position to defeat the orcs (especially with your victorious anti-troll army coming to help).

The northwest orcs are numerous but should be kept in check by strong units in the bottlenecks. You'll need some tanks (Champions/Marshals or Steelclads) and healers. When the orc reinforcements arrive you may get swarmed. By this time you should have some help coming from your anti-troll army.

The first wave of reinforcements for the orcs will arrive by the end of turn 5. The second wave will come at turn 12. By the end of the battle, the number of orcs will be overwhelming, and the action will take quite some time between turns. By the second half of the battle your complete focus should probably be on protecting your ally general, who by then will be out of money, occasionally recruiting one or two fodder units, and will remain immovable on his castle keep.

On turn 9, some of the elves you had left on Ka'lian will make a come back (including your loyals!). However, they will show up a little to the west of the keep where you start this scenario. It is a strange location for them to show up, and by that point of the battle it will probably be surrounded by enemies, so keeping these reinforcements alive may be very challenging if you don't have at least some of your forces making a stand near that location. If you can save just some of them, aim for the loyal units, and sacrifice the others.

You should spend all your gold upfront --there is no much point in saving it for later. You may want to recruit a scout or two at the beginning, if you think the investment will be profitable. They can capture a village almost every turn. Don't bother leaving villages for your ally. The money is better in your hands.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Landar to level 3.

When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into an Elvish Lord (as you might remember him if you have played [[HeirToTheThrone|HttT]]). He will now possess an arcane-magical attack, which proves very useful against many enemies. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will attack you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Sylphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A few of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario. At this point, this campaign becomes a very good example of why keeping your loyal units alive is very much worth it.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units
* Other

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. So, whatever you do, do not underrecruit! (You don't need more than minimal gold in the next recruiting scenario.)

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

High casualty approach:

You have to put units in the swamp to keep the saurians out of there. The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

Low casualty approach:

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI. Constantly check the turn clock, and be as aggresive as possible during the day.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

You might feel tempted to take this scenario as an opportunity to level up some new recruits from scratch, but this may not be a good idea. After a few turns, one of your elf allies (chosen at random) will turn against you, making the battle unpredictable and risky, for not a lot of gain.

There's just a couple of extra scenarios left in this campaign, and if you feel like leveling up units for the final battle, it's better to do it in the next scenario, where you can recall Cleodil's troops again.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on.

Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep a little to the north from yours. Approximately two thirds of your non-loyal veterans, chosen at random, will go with Landar, while the remaining third will go with Uradredia.

If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily. Moreover, the objective description is not very faithful, since you don't really have to kill all enemy leaders. It suffices to move any of your units adjacent to Landar. This makes this scenario quite easy to beat. If you still have Huraldur (your loyal quick elvish rider) on your side and you have leveled him up, you can take him straight to Landar's keep, and --thanks to the vulnerable design of Landar's keep-- place him next to Landar by turn 3, finishing the scenario with a huge gold reward. Alternatively, you may try a similar strategy with a group of new scout recruits or other quick units.

However, you can take the opportunity to level up a few recruits. Particularly, now could be a good time to level up any shamans/woses from Cleodil's old recall list to their maximum. Keep in mind that you need to put Cleodil in the ''Encampment Keep'' tile so you can recall those units.

Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay Crintil's army you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Playing this scenario patiently has a nice side-effect: by killing Landar's strong veterans here, they won't be available to him in the final battle. As a consequence, if you completely wipe up his army now, he'll be stuck with just fresh level-1 and level-2 elves to recruit by then (unless you're playing on ''hard'' difficulty). Also, all of Uradredia's units will become yours, so if you have the chance to save some of his veterans in this scenario, it's worth doing it.

[On version 1.8.2, all my levelled shaman-line had also disappeared - some for my ally, other for Landar. I could only recruit some shaman about to level. And some of my warriors had gone to my ally, not to Landar. With only first level units, killing the south-east level at turn 2 or 3 is not possible... but you can still buy some second-level warriors who will do the job. After that, most of Landar's units will go toward your ally's keep, which makes you able to reach Landar and end the scenario. Careful, he will be able to deal a final blow to the unit who assaulted him ! ]

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

A relatively short and simple battle, considering this is the final scenario. Recall/recruit all worthy veterans, and don't worry about gold or grabbing villages. If you've made it this far, surely you have the necessary strategic/tactical skills necessary to deal with Landar's army. Now is the time to try risky ideas; this is the last stop for you and your army, so give them the chance to act heroically on the battle field.

A straightforward strategy involves recalling any remaining veteran troops, then recruiting an army of level 1 elves. Form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

[version 1.8.2 : on medium, you can just buy loads of level 1 warriors, and keep - most of the time - in the woods. Landar start with about the same money as you do, but doing this, you just suffocate him under numbers.]

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Mainline Campaigns

2013-08-16T01:56:32Z

Ericppp: Reordering the list of campaings to match the list given in 1.10.x

These scenarios are included in the Wesnoth distribution. Most were written by fans of the game.
See [[ReferenceWML]] for information on how to make your own scenarios using the Wesnoth Markup Language. The following links are very likely to contain spoilers regarding the storyline.

== Heir to the Throne ==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3 Dave]

This is the original campaign, and probably the most played. It features Konrad, fighting to overturn the rule of the dark queen Asheviere. It is 25 scenarios, no more are planned, and is considered complete.

* [[HeirToTheThrone|Walkthrough]]
* [[HtttStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Heir_to_the_Throne Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Heir_to_the_Throne Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:HttT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10322 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Heir_To_The_Throne.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Heir_To_The_Throne Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#517_YW Position in timeline]

== A Tale of Two Brothers ==

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=93 Circon]

A village is being terrorized by a black Mage. He is defeated, but the local Mage, Baran, is kidnapped. His brother, Arvith, must go rescue him. It has 4 scenarios, and is aimed at first-time players on Easy.

* [[ATaleOfTwoBrothers|Walkthrough]]
* [[A Tale Of Two Brothers Story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#A_Tale_Of_Two_Brothers Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TB1.9 Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10339 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#A_Tale_of_Two_Brothers Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#363_YW Position in timeline]

== An Orcish Incursion ==

by Josh Parsons; adapted for mainline by ESR.

Erlornas is an elven noble of Wesmere during the first years after the arrival of humans and orcs on the western shore of the Great Continent. It is his fate to be the first of his people to be directly confronted by the invading orcs.

* [[AnOrcishIncursion|Walkthrough]]
* [[An_Orcish_Incursion story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#An_Orcish_Incursion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:AOI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#An_Orcish_Incursion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#8_YW Position in timeline]

== The South Guard ==

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=872 aelius]

A young Knight, Deoran is dispatched to take command of the South Guard. This campaign has 9 or 10 scenarios, depending on the branch you take, and is aimed at beginners on the easiest difficulty.

* [[TheSouthGuard|Walkthrough]]
* [[South Guard story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_South_Guard Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TSG Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10323 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_South_Guard.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_South_Guard Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#607_YW Position in timeline]

== Liberty ==

by scott

The chronicles of how a certain group of Wesnothians were betrayed by their ruler and decided to fight back. This made them outlaws in the crown's eyes, but hopefully heroes in ours.

There are 9 scenarios and some goodies to boot. The main focus is to provide the experience of recruiting and recalling higher level outlaw characters, which you don't normally get to do. While there is a range of difficulty in the scenarios, the overall intent is for them to be straightforward and not too difficult.

* [[Liberty|Walkthrough]]
* [[Liberty story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Liberty Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:L Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20252 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Liberty.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Liberty Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#501_YW Position in timeline]

== Legend of Wesmere ==

by Santi; adapted for mainline by esr and fendrin

''The tale of Kalenz, the High Lord who rallied his people after the second orcish invasion of the Great Continent and became the most renowned hero in the recorded history of the Elves.''

* [[LegendofWesmere|Walkthrough]]
* [[LegendofWesmereStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Legend_of_Wesmere Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Legend_of_Wesmere Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:LOW Dialogue]
* [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=51 Discussion threads]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Legend_of_Wesmere Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#20_YW Position in timeline]

== The Eastern Invasion ==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=176 Turin]

This campaign follows Gweddry, a Wesnothian Army Officer, battling against undead invaders. It has 18 scenarios, and no more are planned.

* [[TheEasternInvasion|Walkthrough]]
* [[EiStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Eastern_Invasion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:EI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10325 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Eastern_Invasion.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Eastern_Invasion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625_YW Position in timeline]

==The Hammer of Thursagan ==

by ESR (Eric S. Raymond)

In the first years of the Northern Alliance, the dwarves of Knalga attempt to re-establish contact with their kin in the east at Kal Kartha. Many perils beset the expedition, but none so dire as the dark secret they will discover at their destination.

* [[TheHammerOfThursagan|Walkthough]]
* [[TheHammerOfThursagan story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Hammer_Of_Thursagan Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:THOT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20258 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550_YW Position in timeline]

==Descent into Darkness==

by esci

Malin Keshar, a young mage from the town of Parthyn, attempts to defend his home from marauding orcs by enlisting the help of a necromancer named Darken Volk. He learns the forbidden art of raising and controlling the deceased and the true power of the undead, and is gradually drawn further into the secrets of necromancy.

* [[DescentIntoDarkness|Walkthough]]
* [[Descent Into Darkness story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Descent_into_Darkness Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DID Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20251 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Descent_into_Darkness.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Descent_Into_Darkness Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#389_YW Position in timeline]

== Delfador's Memoirs ==

''Wesnoth seems to be slipping inexorably into chaos, as marauding orcs pour south across the Great River, and mysterious and deadly creatures roam the night. Who is the shadowy Iliah-Malal? Can you defeat him before he destroys all life in Wesnoth?''

* [[DelfadorsMemoirs|Walkthrough]]
* [[DelfadorsMemoirsStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DM Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Delfadors_Memoirs.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#468_YW Position in timeline]

== Dead Water ==
By [http://forums.wesnoth.org/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=107794 beetlenaut]

''You are Kai Krellis, a merman king, but only a child. A necromancer has arrived and is turning your subjects into undead slaves! Lead your people on a mission to convince a powerful mermaid to help you repel the invasion. The oceans near the Northern Lands are perilous, so you will need cunning and bravery to be survive, but first you need to gain the respect of your troops!''
(Intermediate Level, 10 scenarios)

*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Dead_Water Walkthrough]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Dead_Water Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Dead_Water Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DW Dialogue]
*[http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31283 Discussion Thread]
*[http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Dead_Water.html Custom units]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Dead_Water Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#626_YW Position in timeline]

==The Sceptre of Fire==
by turin

King Haldric of the humans strikes a deal with the young dwarf Rugnor. In exchange for ten thousand in silver, the dwarves will create a sceptre of fire for the human king.

* [[Sceptre of Fire|Walkthrough]]
* [[Sceptre of Fire story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Sceptre_of_Fire Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOF Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20255 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Sceptre_of_Fire.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Scepter_of_Fire Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#25-40_YW Position in timeline]

==Son of the Black-Eye==

started by Benj, completed by Taurus

You are the orcish chieftain Kapou'e, son of the famed Black-Eye Karun who was treacherously murdered by the human-worms twenty-seven years ago. You must expel the human invaders from orcish lands and avenge your father's death. It has 18 scenarios.

* [[SonOfThe_BlackEye|Walkthrough]]
* [[Black Eye story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOTBE Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20257 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Son_of_the_Black-Eye.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#842_YW Position in timeline]

== The Rise of Wesnoth==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=388 Shade]

This campaign revolves around the events that brought Haldric I to the 'Great Continent' to found the Kingdom of
Wesnoth. It has 25 scenarios, and is considered complete.

* [[TheRiseOfWesnoth|Walkthrough]]
* [[TrowStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TROW Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10613 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Rise_of_Wesnoth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#5-2_BW Position in timeline]

==Northern Rebirth==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=100782 Taurus]

The people of Dwarven Doors rise against their orcish oppressors in a struggle that will shape the fate of the Northlands. 14 scenarios.

* [[Northern Rebirth|Walkthrough]]
* [[Northern Rebirth story|Story outline]] , [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Northern_Rebirth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:NR Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20253 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Northern_Rebirth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Northern_Rebirth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#534_YW Position in timeline]

==Under the Burning Suns==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=149 quartex]

Set in the distant future, where elves live in the desert. It has 11 scenarios, and is not recommended for beginners because it changes some parts of Wesnoth, including the elves stats and the day/night cycle.

* [[UnderTheBurningSuns|Walkthrough]]
* [[UtBSStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Under_the_Burning_Sun Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:UTBS Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10491 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Under_the_Burning_Suns.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Under_The_Burning_Suns Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#After_the_Fall Position in timeline]

== See also ==
* [[UserCampaigns]]
* [[Guide_to_UMC_Campaigns]]

[[Category:Review on Release]]
[[Category:Campaigns|*]]
[[Category:Wesnoth - Mainline]]

LegendofWesmere

2013-08-16T00:41:51Z

Ericppp: Updates for the final 2 chapters

General Note: Throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Strategical Note: This is a long campaign where you play elves. So take a look at the top level units: There are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans. However, they are not recruitable during the first four scenarios (since version 1.9.x) --you will still have enough opportunity to level them up, but it requires some effort.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling one (or both!) of your loyal fighters into a marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and Anduilas

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader. The keep directly to the east might seem tempting, but it will be hard to conquer, since its orcish leader will be pumping out units constantly for the first few turns.

A good alternative is going southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (warriors). Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will tend to go for the fighters when given the option. If you don't have a captain yet, level up a fighter as soon as possible, and use his leadership on your archers. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river—if you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked. Instead, send out an archer or two (preferably ''quick'' ones) to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. So you can as well kill them with some of your poisoned units as long as they have still enough health. Distribute XP carefully, units heal upon level up, rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives - and if you defended the Ka'lian well - the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work. Close in carefully - it will be very hard avoiding casualties, but when the time comes, let them be L1 fighters and not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

The behaviour of the orcs will depend directly on your ability to hold out the invasion of your fortress. If you manage to repel somewhat successfully their initial attack, the orcs will assume a defensive stance for the second part of the battle (usually triggered when Kalenz arrives). If, on the other hand, the orcs have a more successful start, they then become more aggresive and the battle becomes much more lively on the second part.

A special feature of this particular scenario --something not very common in a campaign-- is that you will control two armies simultaneously after Kalenz' arrival. You start assuming the role of El'Isomithir, ant later Kalenz joins the party and by then you will switch between your two roles. However, you won't control El'Isomithir's army anymore in the future, so don't grow too attached to it.

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where the Shyde is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by level up.

It is alternatively possible to kill the eastern leader with rangers/avengers, the AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed. In general, take your time to experiment and figure out what works best on your strategy against saurians, as you'll be seeing many more of them in the future.

Along with Cleodil, one fighter and one archer (2 on ''easy'') will be freed from their prison. All of them become loyal to your cause, so by the end of this scenario you'll have a small loyal army on your hands. Protect them well and plan carefully how you are going to level them up, since they will become the core of your troops from now on until the very end (although you will be occasionally separated from them).

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

With Cleodil on your side now, you may finally recruit shamans, as well as woses.

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try to confront them on favorable terrain and form a defensive line (against skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, and the ''slows'' attribute of shamans' ranged attacks limits the damage potential and mobility of skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (you will have only have the movement points after taking up the treasure) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with a scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is another leveling opportunity for your shamans, as there is another troll leader to kill. Also you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

On this scenario you'll be able to ask Olurf to move to a specific location inside the map (using right-click), which may be useful in case you want his help in some particularly tight spot. This is one of the ways in which you can control the behaviour of your allies (you'll see another in the next scenario). Notice, however, that this command only applies to Olurf himself, and his troops will continue to move freely as they please, often taking experience away from you.

By the end of the scenario, you will end up "hiring" Olurf --paying him 400 gold-- but if you've been careful with your finances, you probably won't miss that amount.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives: Defeat all of the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

[NOTE: This scenario gives you the option of choosing to give orders to the AI that controls your allies. Because of bug issues, I ended up playing the scenario through without using this option. The advice that follows is for playing the scenario with the AI making automatic choices.--cathyr19355]

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies.

Avoid focusing too much on the troll keep for the first few turns. If you do this, Galdrid will probably be left without much assistance inside Ka'lian, and by turn 5-6 it will probably be too late. Instead, focus on moving your army to Ka'lian as quickly as possible and continue the battle from there. Fortunately, the terrain will help you repel the trolls and orcs coming from the north and west while you move the bulk of your army.

If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units. As you kill off the aforementioned trolls and orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to Grubr's keep, then west and north again to kill the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, recruit/recall a bunch of riders and other fast-moving units, send them directly south of your keep to grab the villages on the eastern side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at Grubr's keep to take some of the pressure off the Kal'ian. Even though you have a lot of gold and can recruit a lot of units, your enemies are numerous, and the reinforcements won't show up until the third day, so don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded.

Olurf will show up on turn 12 and you'll have to choose whether to place him on the northeast, or the northwest corner. Since dwarves are quite comfortable on mountains, a good choice is the northeast corner, from which you can guide him and his troops to finish off the troll leader.

If you want to save Eradion (your elf ally on the southwest), order him to move inside Ka'lian from the first turn. Otherwise, he will probably end up being caught in the fire and experiencing a not very heroic death.

Note for directing the AI:
I tried to get both my allies to swarm the sourthern orc, they should be able to defeat him, but unfortunately the AI does not really listen to this kind of order (bug?), so once I had the trolls under control I send a select few units south through Kal'ian to help mop up the remaining orcs there. This should leave you enough time to concentrate on the nothern battle.

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. Since you just left a lot of your troops at the Ka'lian, experience may be worth your effort. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble beating this level just run north as fast as you can. You should be able to cross the river with little trouble. You probably don't even need to recruit.

If you want to claim some experience, you can form a small army --gold will be the main limitation, since the considerable treasure you had was left on Ka'lian in the previous scenario-- and then either split it into two fronts, or take it all to one of the saurian keeps first if you don't feel comfortable splitting such a small army. If you do split it, send a dwarf-heavy squad to the left (closer mountains) and an elf-heavy one to the right (more forest).

The enemy recruits some relatively low HP level 2s and 3s. You can level units quickly after killing a couple of Saurian Oracles. Of course those Oracles have strong magical attacks (especially at night) negating your high defense. Luckily for you the battles start during the day.

Focus on killing the Oracles and Augurs first. They are easy to kill and do a lot of damage. Instead of throwing 3 or 4 units at a level 3 Flanker, just slow it and rack up kills. Try and kill as many units as you can before nightfall, when the attacks become much more ferocious.

The battles will be on high defense terrain, so they will go slowly. If you recruit more than one keepful Kalenz will have a much tougher time crossing the river.

However, if you already have good units that don't need a lot of extra experience, it might be better to aim for an early finish, in order to amass a good gold reserve again. Gold will become very important by the time you reach the ''Human Alliance'' scenario.

Once you reach the river, a few sea creatures will show up (water serpents and cuttle fish), but they are usually not much of a challenge. Make use of the small islands to get Kalenz across as quickly as possible. You may also try distracting the monsters with elvish scouts.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one.

First, you have to climb to your destination (the signpost at the top northeast corner of the map) over high mountains, so the going will be very slow for your elves; watch the turn clock carefully.

Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them.

Third, among your enemies you will find level 4 Yetis (which pack quite a punch), and Gryphons (which move very quickly through any terrain). Keep your shamans ready to slow Yetis before you attack them with other units.

You may try splitting your forces, sending one group west. The other group, with Kalenz, goes directly north, deals with the nearest enemy, and continues to the signpost. This group should be large enough that you can peel off 4-6 units once you get most of the way north to take out the enemy in the far northwestern keep. Note: dwarves do well in the mountains, but don't recruit a lot of ulfserkers, not even the second-level ones—they tend to take out the unit they attack but then are very vulnerable to attacks by other units.

Another strategy could be sending your full army northwest through the forest, using a quick unit to scout the way until you encounter the Yetis (there are 3 in total), and try to dispatch them quickly, before the trolls catch up with you from the east. Then send a few units to deal with the Gryphon leader on the northwest, while your main force goes east to fight the trolls, and Kalenz goes northeast to reach the sign post. If you want to gain as much XP as possible, move Kalenz ''near'' the signpost while you fight the remaining enemies. You can win the scenario by defeating the leaders, but if things get too hairy, you can always finish by moving Kalenz to its destination.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

The drakes, commanded by Aquagar (the foe you have to defeat) are at the northwest corner, while a keep of trolls is located at the northeast. Crelanu, the wise mage you came here for, is by the lake. You can send a quick unit (e.g. Cleodil) towards that keep in the middle of the map to trigger the dialogue with Crelanu.

You may try splitting your forces, sending half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

However, it will take some time for the trolls to reach Crelanu, so you may try focusing all your power towards Aquagar to finish him as quickly as possible, and then Crelanu won't need any assistance. If you go for killing Aquagar quickly, you might manage with just a few units, so you can save some gold by not over-recruiting.

Be careful about using archers, since some of the drakes breathe fire and do more damage that way than your units can with their arrows. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential.

'''For 1.9.x'''
In this scenario, you only have to kill Aquagar. So you just focus attacking the drakes. Send some Steelclads, Pathfinders to aid Crelanu. Marksmen, Rangers, Druids, Thunderguards, Stalwarts are extremely useful here. I killed Aquagar by turn 5. ~~Knyghtmare.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is the unofficial final, the following scenarios are pretty much a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The northeast trolls will not receive reinforcements, so you should concentrate on eliminating their army first.

The most challenging aspect of this scenario is that your army has to do three things practically simultaneously: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls.

The trolls should be pretty easy to kill. Their leader doesn't have much money, so there will not be many trolls to face. Slowing with some shaman and using the forest (and mountain tiles for placing your dwarves) to your benefit leads to a quick victory. Afterwards, send the units to reinforce your other two fronts.

Your allies can hold their own against the first wave of southern attackers but after that they'll be toast. A much better course of action is to team up with them and crush the first wave. When the reinforcements come you should be in a good position to defeat the orcs (especially with your victorious anti-troll army coming to help).

The northwest orcs are numerous but should be kept in check by strong units in the bottlenecks. You'll need some tanks (Champions/Marshals or Steelclads) and healers. When the orc reinforcements arrive you may get swarmed. By this time you should have some help coming from your anti-troll army.

The first wave of reinforcements for the orcs will arrive by the end of turn 5. The second wave will come at turn 12. By the end of the battle, the number of orcs will be overwhelming, and the action will take quite some time between turns. By the second half of the battle your complete focus should probably be on protecting your ally general, who by then will be out of money, occasionally recruiting one or two fodder units, and will remain immovable on his castle keep.

On turn 9, some of the elves you had left on Ka'lian will make a come back (including your loyals!). However, they will show up a little to the west of the keep where you start this scenario. It is a strange location for them to show up, and by that point of the battle it will probably be surrounded by enemies, so keeping these reinforcements alive may be very challenging if you don't have at least some of your forces making a stand near that location. If you can save just some of them, aim for the loyal units, and sacrifice the others.

You should spend all your gold upfront --there is no much point in saving it for later. You may want to recruit a scout or two at the beginning, if you think the investment will be profitable. They can capture a village almost every turn. Don't bother leaving villages for your ally. The money is better in your hands.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Landar to level 3.

When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into an Elvish Lord (as you might remember him if you have played [[HeirToTheThrone|HttH]]). He will now possess an arcane-magical attack, which proves very useful against many enemies. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will attack you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Sylphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A few of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario. At this point, this campaign becomes a very good example of why keeping your loyal units alive is very much worth it.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/35/30 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units
* Other

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. So, whatever you do, do not underrecruit! (You don't need more than minimal gold in the next recruiting scenario.)

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

High casualty approach:

You have to put units in the swamp to keep the saurians out of there. The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

Low casualty approach:

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI. Constantly check the turn clock, and be as aggresive as possible during the day.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

You might feel tempted to take this scenario as an opportunity to level up some new recruits from scratch, but this may not be a good idea. After a few turns, one of your elf allies (chosen at random) will turn against you, making the battle unpredictable and risky, for not a lot of gain.

There's just a couple of extra scenarios left in this campaign, and if you feel like leveling up units for the final battle, it's better to do it in the next scenario, where you can recall Cleodil's troops again.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on.

Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep a little to the north from yours. Approximately two thirds of your non-loyal veterans, chosen at random, will go with Landar, while the remaining third will go with Uradredia.

If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily. Moreover, the objective description is not very faithful, since you don't really have to kill all enemy leaders. It suffices to move any of your units adjacent to Landar. This makes this scenario quite easy to beat. If you still have Huraldur (your loyal quick elvish rider) on your side and you have leveled him up, you can take him straight to Landar's keep, and --thanks to the vulnerable design of Landar's keep-- place him next to Landar by turn 3, finishing the scenario with a huge gold reward. Alternatively, you may try a similar strategy with a group of new scout recruits or other quick units.

However, you can take the opportunity to level up a few recruits. Particularly, now could be a good time to level up any shamans/woses from Cleodil's old recall list to their maximum. Keep in mind that you need to put Cleodil in the ''Encampment Keep'' tile so you can recall those units.

Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay Crintil's army you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Playing this scenario patiently has a nice side-effect: by killing Landar's strong veterans here, they won't be available to him in the final battle. As a consequence, if you completely wipe up his army now, he'll be stuck with just fresh level-1 and level-2 elves to recruit by then (unless you're playing on ''hard'' difficulty). Also, all of Uradredia's units will become yours, so if you have the chance to save some of his veterans in this scenario, it's worth doing it.

[On version 1.8.2, all my levelled shaman-line had also disappeared - some for my ally, other for Landar. I could only recruit some shaman about to level. And some of my warriors had gone to my ally, not to Landar. With only first level units, killing the south-east level at turn 2 or 3 is not possible... but you can still buy some second-level warriors who will do the job. After that, most of Landar's units will go toward your ally's keep, which makes you able to reach Landar and end the scenario. Careful, he will be able to deal a final blow to the unit who assaulted him ! ]

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

A relatively short and simple battle, considering this is the final scenario. Recall/recruit all worthy veterans, and don't worry about gold or grabbing villages. If you've made it this far, surely you have the necessary strategic/tactical skills necessary to deal with Landar's army. Now is the time to try risky ideas; this is the last stop for you and your army, so give them the chance to act heroically on the battle field.

A straightforward strategy involves recalling any remaining veteran troops, then recruiting an army of level 1 elves. Form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

[version 1.8.2 : on medium, you can just buy loads of level 1 warriors, and keep - most of the time - in the woods. Landar start with about the same money as you do, but doing this, you just suffocate him under numbers.]

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

LegendofWesmere

2013-08-15T13:30:40Z

Ericppp: Updates for the first 3 chapters of this fun campaign

General Note: Throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Strategical Note: This is a long campaign where you play elves. So take a look at the top level units: There are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans. However, they are not recruitable during the first four scenarios (since version 1.9.x) --you will still have enough opportunity to level them up, but it requires some effort.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling one (or both!) of your loyal fighters into a marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and Anduilas

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader. The keep directly to the east might seem tempting, but it will be hard to conquer, since its orcish leader will be pumping out units constantly for the first few turns.

A good alternative is going southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (warriors). Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will tend to go for the fighters when given the option. If you don't have a captain yet, level up a fighter as soon as possible, and use his leadership on your archers. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river—if you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked. Instead, send out an archer or two (preferably ''quick'' ones) to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. So you can as well kill them with some of your poisoned units as long as they have still enough health. Distribute XP carefully, units heal upon level up, rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives - and if you defended the Ka'lian well - the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work. Close in carefully - it will be very hard avoiding casualties, but when the time comes, let them be L1 fighters and not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

The behaviour of the orcs will depend directly on your ability to hold out the invasion of your fortress. If you manage to repel somewhat successfully their initial attack, the orcs will assume a defensive stance for the second part of the battle (usually triggered when Kalenz arrives). If, on the other hand, the orcs have a more successful start, they then become more aggresive and the battle becomes much more lively on the second part.

A special feature of this particular scenario --something not very common in a campaign-- is that you will control two armies simultaneously after Kalenz' arrival. You start assuming the role of El'Isomithir, ant later Kalenz joins the party and by then you will switch between your two roles. However, you won't control El'Isomithir's army anymore in the future, so don't grow too attached to it.

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where the Shyde is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by level up.

It is alternatively possible to kill the eastern leader with rangers/avengers, the AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed. In general, take your time to experiment and figure out what works best on your strategy against saurians, as you'll be seeing many more of them in the future.

Along with Cleodil, one fighter and one archer (2 on ''easy'') will be freed from their prison. All of them become loyal to your cause, so by the end of this scenario you'll have a small loyal army on your hands. Protect them well and plan carefully how you are going to level them up, since they will become the core of your troops from now on until the very end (although you will be occasionally separated from them).

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

With Cleodil on your side now, you may finally recruit shamans, as well as woses.

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try to confront them on favorable terrain and form a defensive line (against skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, and the ''slows'' attribute of shamans' ranged attacks limits the damage potential and mobility of skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (you will have only have the movement points after taking up the treasure) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with a scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is another leveling opportunity for your shamans, as there is another troll leader to kill. Also you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

On this scenario you'll be able to ask Olurf to move to a specific location inside the map (using right-click), which may be useful in case you want his help in some particularly tight spot. This is one of the ways in which you can control the behaviour of your allies (you'll see another in the next scenario). Notice, however, that this command only applies to Olurf himself, and his troops will continue to move freely as they please, often taking experience away from you.

By the end of the scenario, you will end up "hiring" Olurf --paying him 400 gold-- but if you've been careful with your finances, you probably won't miss that amount.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives: Defeat all of the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

[NOTE: This scenario gives you the option of choosing to give orders to the AI that controls your allies. Because of bug issues, I ended up playing the scenario through without using this option. The advice that follows is for playing the scenario with the AI making automatic choices.--cathyr19355]

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies.

Avoid focusing too much on the troll keep for the first few turns. If you do this, Galdrid will probably be left without much assistance inside Ka'lian, and by turn 5-6 it will probably be too late. Instead, focus on moving your army to Ka'lian as quickly as possible and continue the battle from there. Fortunately, the terrain will help you repel the trolls and orcs coming from the north and west while you move the bulk of your army.

If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units. As you kill off the aforementioned trolls and orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to Grubr's keep, then west and north again to kill the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, recruit/recall a bunch of riders and other fast-moving units, send them directly south of your keep to grab the villages on the eastern side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at Grubr's keep to take some of the pressure off the Kal'ian. Even though you have a lot of gold and can recruit a lot of units, your enemies are numerous, and the reinforcements won't show up until the third day, so don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded.

Olurf will show up on turn 12 and you'll have to choose whether to place him on the northeast, or the northwest corner. Since dwarves are quite comfortable on mountains, a good choice is the northeast corner, from which you can guide him and his troops to finish off the troll leader.

If you want to save Eradion (your elf ally on the southwest), order him to move inside Ka'lian from the first turn. Otherwise, he will probably end up being caught in the fire and experiencing a not very heroic death.

Note for directing the AI:
I tried to get both my allies to swarm the sourthern orc, they should be able to defeat him, but unfortunately the AI does not really listen to this kind of order (bug?), so once I had the trolls under control I send a select few units south through Kal'ian to help mop up the remaining orcs there. This should leave you enough time to concentrate on the nothern battle.

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. Since you just left a lot of your troops at the Ka'lian, experience may be worth your effort. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble beating this level just run north as fast as you can. You should be able to cross the river with little trouble. You probably don't even need to recruit.

If you want to claim some experience, you can form a small army --gold will be the main limitation, since the considerable treasure you had was left on Ka'lian in the previous scenario-- and then either split it into two fronts, or take it all to one of the saurian keeps first if you don't feel comfortable splitting such a small army. If you do split it, send a dwarf-heavy squad to the left (closer mountains) and an elf-heavy one to the right (more forest).

The enemy recruits some relatively low HP level 2s and 3s. You can level units quickly after killing a couple of Saurian Oracles. Of course those Oracles have strong magical attacks (especially at night) negating your high defense. Luckily for you the battles start during the day.

Focus on killing the Oracles and Augurs first. They are easy to kill and do a lot of damage. Instead of throwing 3 or 4 units at a level 3 Flanker, just slow it and rack up kills. Try and kill as many units as you can before nightfall, when the attacks become much more ferocious.

The battles will be on high defense terrain, so they will go slowly. If you recruit more than one keepful Kalenz will have a much tougher time crossing the river.

However, if you already have good units that don't need a lot of extra experience, it might be better to aim for an early finish, in order to amass a good gold reserve again. Gold will become very important by the time you reach the ''Human Alliance'' scenario.

Once you reach the river, a few sea creatures will show up (water serpents and cuttle fish), but they are usually not much of a challenge. Make use of the small islands to get Kalenz across as quickly as possible. You may also try distracting the monsters with elvish scouts.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one.

First, you have to climb to your destination (the signpost at the top northeast corner of the map) over high mountains, so the going will be very slow for your elves; watch the turn clock carefully.

Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them.

Third, among your enemies you will find level 4 Yetis (which pack quite a punch), and Gryphons (which move very quickly through any terrain). Keep your shamans ready to slow Yetis before you attack them with other units.

You may try splitting your forces, sending one group west. The other group, with Kalenz, goes directly north, deals with the nearest enemy, and continues to the signpost. This group should be large enough that you can peel off 4-6 units once you get most of the way north to take out the enemy in the far northwestern keep. Note: dwarves do well in the mountains, but don't recruit a lot of ulfserkers, not even the second-level ones—they tend to take out the unit they attack but then are very vulnerable to attacks by other units.

Another strategy could be sending your full army northwest through the forest, using a quick unit to scout the way until you encounter the Yetis (there are 3 in total), and try to dispatch them quickly, before the trolls catch up with you from the east. Then send a few units to deal with the Gryphon leader on the northwest, while your main force goes east to fight the trolls, and Kalenz goes northeast to reach the sign post. If you want to gain as much XP as possible, move Kalenz ''near'' the signpost while you fight the remaining enemies. You can win the scenario by defeating the leaders, but if things get too hairy, you can always finish by moving Kalenz to its destination.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

The drakes, commanded by Aquagar (the foe you have to defeat) are at the northwest corner, while a keep of trolls is located at the northeast. Crelanu, the wise mage you came here for, is by the lake. You can send a quick unit (e.g. Cleodil) towards that keep in the middle of the map to trigger the dialogue with Crelanu.

You may try splitting your forces, sending half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

However, it will take some time for the trolls to reach Crelanu, so you may try focusing all your power towards Aquagar to finish him as quickly as possible, and then Crelanu won't need any assistance. If you go for killing Aquagar quickly, you might manage with just a few units, so you can save some gold by not over-recruiting.

Be careful about using archers, since some of the drakes breathe fire and do more damage that way than your units can with their arrows. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential.

'''For 1.9.x'''
In this scenario, you only have to kill Aquagar. So you just focus attacking the drakes. Send some Steelclads, Pathfinders to aid Crelanu. Marksmen, Rangers, Druids, Thunderguards, Stalwarts are extremely useful here. I killed Aquagar by turn 5. ~~Knyghtmare.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is the unofficial final, the following scenarios are pretty much a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The northeast trolls will not receive reinforcements, so you should concentrate on eliminating their army first. Your recruits/recalls need to do three things: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls.

The trolls should be pretty easy to kill. Their leader doesn't have much money, so there will not be many trolls to face. Slowing with some shaman and using the forest to your benefit lead to a quick victory. Afterwards, send the units to reinforce your other two fronts.

Your allies can hold their own against the first wave of southern attackers but after that they'll be toast. A much better course of action is to team up with them and crush the first wave. When the reinforcements come you should be in a good position to defeat the orcs (especially with your victorious anti-troll army coming to help).

The northwest orcs are numerous but should be kept in check by strong units in the bottlenecks. You'll need some tanks (Champions/Marshals or Steelclads) and healers. When the orc reinforcements arrive you may get swarmed. By this time you should have some help coming from your anti-troll army. Also, three elves will arrive along the western edge of the map. Have them come and help out.

You may want to recruit a scout or two at the beginning. Along with the horseman you get, they can capture a village almost every turn. Don't bother leaving villages for your ally. The money is better in your hands.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Landar to level 3. When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into an Elvish Lord. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will attack you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Slyphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A bunch of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units
* Other

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. So, whatever you do, do not underrecruit! (You don't need more than minimal gold in the next recruiting scenario.)

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

High casualty approach:

You have to put units in the swamp to keep the saurians out of there. The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

Low casualty approach:

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on. Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep in the far southeast. If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily.
* The AI leader southeast of your starting keep will make a severe tactical blunder, capturing the only village in range on turn 1, leaving him utterly exposed with enemies nearby. With the select group of loyal troops (and any Slyphs available for recall) and proper positioning on turn 1, it is trivial to eliminate the enemy leader on turn 2. If you can't kill him or ZoC him in turn 2, slow him. That will prevent him from getting to back to the keep to recruit. The battle is over as soon as one of your units moves next to Landar, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts (or quick units) and send them west, timing it so that they reach Landar's keep the turn after he moves his troops out of range. Reach Landar's keep and you'll have plenty of gold to finish the game.

If you don't have enough units from the shaman line for the quick kill, try this:
* Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If necessary, leave a few units at the river bank to slow the brown elf units that will pursue you; there is a village on a peninsula in the river near your keep that may be useful in this regard. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay the brown enemy you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Remember you don't have to kill all the enemies. Just kill the southeast leader and then sneak a fast unit in next to Landar.

[On version 1.8.2, all my levelled shaman-line had also disappeared - some for my ally, other for Landar. I could only recruit some shaman about to level. And some of my warriors had gone to my ally, not to Landar. With only first level units, killing the south-east level at turn 2 or 3 is not possible... but you can still buy some second-level warriors who will do the job. After that, most of Landar's units will go toward your ally's keep, which makes you able to reach Landar and end the scenario. Careful, he will be able to deal a final blow to the unit who assaulted him ! ]

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

Recall any remaining veteran troops, then recruit an army of level 1 elves. Send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

[version 1.8.2 : on medium, you can just buy loads of level 1 warriors, and keep - most of the time - in the woods. Landar start with about the same money as you do, but doing this, you just suffocate him under numbers.]

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Mainline Campaigns

2013-08-14T01:58:35Z

Ericppp: Replaced discussion URL /* Legend of Wesmere */

These scenarios are included in the Wesnoth distribution. Most were written by fans of the game.
See [[ReferenceWML]] for information on how to make your own scenarios using the Wesnoth Markup Language. The following links are very likely to contain spoilers regarding the storyline.

== Heir to the Throne ==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3 Dave]

This is the original campaign, and probably the most played. It features Konrad, fighting to overturn the rule of the dark queen Asheviere. It is 25 scenarios, no more are planned, and is considered complete.

* [[HeirToTheThrone|Walkthrough]]
* [[HtttStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Heir_to_the_Throne Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Heir_to_the_Throne Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:HttT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10322 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Heir_To_The_Throne.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Heir_To_The_Throne Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#517_YW Position in timeline]

== A Tale Of Two Brothers ==

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=93 Circon]

A village is being terrorized by a black Mage. He is defeated, but the local Mage, Baran, is kidnapped. His brother, Arvith, must go rescue him. It has 4 scenarios, and is aimed at first-time players on Easy.

* [[ATaleOfTwoBrothers|Walkthrough]]
* [[A Tale Of Two Brothers Story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#A_Tale_Of_Two_Brothers Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TB1.9 Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10339 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#A_Tale_of_Two_Brothers Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#363_YW Position in timeline]

== The South Guard ==

* by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=872 aelius]

A young Knight, Deoran is dispatched to take command of the South Guard. This campaign has 9 or 10 scenarios, depending on the branch you take, and is aimed at beginners on the easiest difficulty.

* [[TheSouthGuard|Walkthrough]]
* [[South Guard story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_South_Guard Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TSG Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10323 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_South_Guard.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_South_Guard Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#607_YW Position in timeline]

== The Eastern Invasion ==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=176 Turin]

This campaign follows Gweddry, a Wesnothian Army Officer, battling against undead invaders. It has 18 scenarios, and no more are planned.

* [[TheEasternInvasion|Walkthrough]]
* [[EiStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Eastern_Invasion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:EI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10325 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Eastern_Invasion.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Eastern_Invasion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#625_YW Position in timeline]

== Liberty ==

by scott

The chronicles of how a certain group of Wesnothians were betrayed by their ruler and decided to fight back. This made them outlaws in the crown's eyes, but hopefully heroes in ours.

There are 9 scenarios and some goodies to boot. The main focus is to provide the experience of recruiting and recalling higher level outlaw characters, which you don't normally get to do. While there is a range of difficulty in the scenarios, the overall intent is for them to be straightforward and not too difficult.

* [[Liberty|Walkthrough]]
* [[Liberty story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Liberty Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:L Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20252 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Liberty.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Liberty Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#501_YW Position in timeline]

== The Rise of Wesnoth==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=388 Shade]

This campaign revolves around the events that brought Haldric I to the 'Great Continent' to found the Kingdom of
Wesnoth. It has 25 scenarios, and is considered complete.

* [[TheRiseOfWesnoth|Walkthrough]]
* [[TrowStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Rise_Of_Wesnoth Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:TROW Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10613 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Rise_of_Wesnoth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Rise_of_Wesnoth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#5-2_BW Position in timeline]

==Northern Rebirth==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=100782 Taurus]

The people of Dwarven Doors rise against their orcish oppressors in a struggle that will shape the fate of the Northlands. 14 scenarios.

* [[Northern Rebirth|Walkthrough]]
* [[Northern Rebirth story|Story outline]] , [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Northern_Rebirth Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:NR Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20253 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Northern_Rebirth.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Northern_Rebirth Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#534_YW Position in timeline]

==Under the Burning Suns==

by [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=149 quartex]

Set in the distant future, where elves live in the desert. It has 11 scenarios, and is not recommended for beginners because it changes some parts of Wesnoth, including the elves stats and the day/night cycle.

* [[UnderTheBurningSuns|Walkthrough]]
* [[UtBSStoryLine|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Under_the_Burning_Sun Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:UTBS Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10491 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Under_the_Burning_Suns.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Under_The_Burning_Suns Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#After_the_Fall Position in timeline]

==Son of the Black Eye==

started by Benj, completed by Taurus

You are the orcish chieftain Kapou'e, son of the famed Black-Eye Karun who was treacherously murdered by the human-worms twenty-seven years ago. You must expel the human invaders from orcish lands and avenge your father's death. It has 18 scenarios.

* [[SonOfThe_BlackEye|Walkthrough]]
* [[Black Eye story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Son_of_the_Black_Eye Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOTBE Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20257 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Son_of_the_Black-Eye.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Son_Of_The_Black_Eye Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#842_YW Position in timeline]

==Sceptre of Fire==
by turin

King Haldric of the humans strikes a deal with the young dwarf Rugnor. In exchange for ten thousand in silver, the dwarves will create a sceptre of fire for the human king.

* [[Sceptre of Fire|Walkthrough]]
* [[Sceptre of Fire story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Sceptre_of_Fire Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:SOF Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20255 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Sceptre_of_Fire.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Scepter_of_Fire Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#25-40_YW Position in timeline]

==Descent into Darkness==

by esci

Malin Keshar, a young mage from the town of Parthyn, attempts to defend his home from marauding orcs by enlisting the help of a necromancer named Darken Volk. He learns the forbidden art of raising and controlling the deceased and the true power of the undead, and is gradually drawn further into the secrets of necromancy.

* [[DescentIntoDarkness|Walkthough]]
* [[Descent Into Darkness story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Descent_into_Darkness Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DID Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20251 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Descent_into_Darkness.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Descent_Into_Darkness Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#389_YW Position in timeline]

==The Hammer of Thursagan ==

by ESR (Eric S. Raymond)

In the first years of the Northern Alliance, the dwarves of Knalga attempt to re-establish contact with their kin in the east at Kal Kartha. Many perils beset the expedition, but none so dire as the dark secret they will discover at their destination.

* [[TheHammerOfThursagan|Walkthough]]
* [[TheHammerOfThursagan story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#The_Hammer_Of_Thursagan Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:THOT Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20258 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/The_Hammer_of_Thursagan.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Hammer_of_Thursagan Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#550_YW Position in timeline]

== An Orcish Incursion ==

by Josh Parsons; adapted for mainline by ESR.

Erlornas is an elven noble of Wesmere during the first years after the arrival of humans and orcs on the western shore of the Great Continent. It is his fate to be the first of his people to be directly confronted by the invading orcs.

* [[AnOrcishIncursion|Walkthrough]]
* [[An_Orcish_Incursion story|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#An_Orcish_Incursion Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:AOI Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 Discussion thread]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#An_Orcish_Incursion Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#8_YW Position in timeline]

== Legend of Wesmere ==

by Santi; adapted for mainline by esr and fendrin

''The tale of Kalenz, the High Lord who rallied his people after the second orcish invasion of the Great Continent and became the most renowned hero in the recorded history of the Elves.''

* [[LegendofWesmere|Walkthrough]]
* [[LegendofWesmereStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Legend_of_Wesmere Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Legend_of_Wesmere Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:LOW Dialogue]
* [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=51 Discussion threads]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#The_Legend_of_Wesmere Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#20_YW Position in timeline]

== Delfador's Memoirs ==

''Wesnoth seems to be slipping inexorably into chaos, as marauding orcs pour south across the Great River, and mysterious and deadly creatures roam the night. Who is the shadowy Iliah-Malal? Can you defeat him before he destroys all life in Wesnoth?''

* [[DelfadorsMemoirs|Walkthrough]]
* [[DelfadorsMemoirsStory|Story outline]], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DM Dialogue]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=25554 Discussion thread]
* [http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Delfadors_Memoirs.html Custom units]
* [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Delfador.27s_Memoirs Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#468_YW Position in timeline]

== Dead Water ==
By [http://forums.wesnoth.org/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=107794 beetlenaut]

''You are Kai Krellis, a merman king, but only a child. A necromancer has arrived and is turning your subjects into undead slaves! Lead your people on a mission to convince a powerful mermaid to help you repel the invasion. The oceans near the Northern Lands are perilous, so you will need cunning and bravery to be survive, but first you need to gain the respect of your troops!''
(Intermediate Level, 10 scenarios)

*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Dead_Water Walkthrough]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CharactersStorys#Dead_Water Characters], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/WesnothFigures#Dead_Water Biographies], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/CampaignDialogue:DW Dialogue]
*[http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31283 Discussion Thread]
*[http://units.wesnoth.org/1.10/mainline/en_US/Dead_Water.html Custom units]
*[http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_Wesnoth#Dead_Water Geographical references], [http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Timeline_of_Wesnoth#626_YW Position in timeline]

== See also ==
* [[UserCampaigns]]
* [[Guide_to_UMC_Campaigns]]

[[Category:Review on Release]]
[[Category:Campaigns|*]]
[[Category:Wesnoth - Mainline]]

LegendofWesmere

2013-08-12T10:34:08Z

Ericppp: Riders aren't available. /* Hostile Mountains */

General Note: Throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Strategical Note: This is a long campaign where you play elves. So take a look at the top level units: There are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans. However, since version 1.9.x shamans are not recruitable during the first four scenarios, adapt accordingly.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling one (or both!) of your loyal fighters into a marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and Anduilas

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader. The keep directly to the east might seem tempting, but it will be hard to conquer, since its orcish leader will be pumping out units constantly for the first few turns.

A good alternative is going to the southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing units, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (warriors). Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will prefer to go for the fighters when given the option. If you don't have a captain yet, level up a fighter as soon as possible, and use his leadership on your archers. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river—if you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked. Instead, send out an archer or two (preferably ''quick'' ones) to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. So you can as well kill them with some of your poisoned units as long as they have still enough health. Distribute XP carefully, units heal upon level up, rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives - and if you defended the Ka'lian well - the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work, close in carefully - you will inevitably lose a number of units but let it be fighters not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where the Shyde is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by level up.

It is alternatively possible to kill the eastern leader with rangers/avengers, the AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed.

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try and keep on good terrain (or at least keep the saurians out of good terrain) and form a defensive line (against skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, slow (shamans) limits the damage potential and mobility of skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (you will have only have the movement points after taking up the treasure) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with a scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is another leveling opportunity for your shamans, as there is another troll leader to kill. Also you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives: Defeat all of the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

[NOTE: This scenario gives you the option of choosing to give orders to the AI that controls your allies. Because of bug issues, I ended up playing the scenario through without using this option. The advice that follows is for playing the scenario with the AI making automatic choices.--cathyr19355]

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies. Don't do the obvious thing here—i.e., attacking the trolls first, because they're the nearest enemy—that will just get Galtrid, your ally holding the Kal'ian, killed, causing defeat. Instead, make your stand in the woods just north of the Kal'ian, taking care to assume a position that will let you defend both against the trolls and against Urug-Pir's and Mordrum's orc troops that will be coming east from the other side of the river. (If you have enough troops, this time it will be useful to move some of them to the river bank to attack the orcs while they're still in the water.) If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units. As you kill off the aforementioned trolls and orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to Grubr's keep, then west and north again to kill the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, recruit/recall a bunch of riders and other fast-moving units, send them directly south of your keep to grab the villages on the eastern side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at Grubr's keep to take some of the pressure off the Kal'ian. Even though you have a lot of gold and can recruit a lot of units, your enemies are numerous, and Olurf and his dwarves won't show up until the third day, so don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded.

Note for directing the AI:
Your south-westmost ally is too weak to survive unaided where he is. So it is a good idea to wait until he has recruited as much as he can before telling him to move his leader to Kal'ian. I tried to get both my allies to swarm the sourthern orc, they should be able to defeat him, but unfortunately the AI does not really listen to this kind of order (bug?), so once I had the trolls under control I send a select few units south through Kal'ian to help mop up the remaining orcs there. This should leave you enough time to concentrate on the nothern battle.
(At the moment, you will have to debug the scenario before playing it, since Galtrid does not recruit at all. Hopefully it won't take long until a debuged version is shipped with the game.)

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. Since you just left a lot of your troops at the Ka'lian, experience may be worth your effort. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble beating this level just run north as fast as you can. You should be able to cross the river with little trouble. You probably don't even need to recruit.

As for experience, the enemy recruits some relatively low HP level 2s and 3s. You can level units quickly after killing a couple of Saurian Oracles. Of course those Oracles have strong magical attacks (especially at night) negating your high defense. Luckily for you the battles start during the day. Recruit just one keepful of troops. Send a dwarf-heavy squad to the left (closer mountains) and an elf-heavy one to the right (more forest). If you recruit more than one keepful Kalenz will have a much tougher time crossing the river.

Focus on killing the Oracles and Augurs first. They are easy to kill and do a lot of damage. Instead of throwing 3 or 4 units at a level 3 Flanker, just slow it and rack up kills. Try and kill as many units as you can before nightfall, when the attacks become much more ferocious.

You can distract the serpent by having an Elvish Scout make his way to the western edge of the river bank. When the serpent shows up the rider can distract it with his bow.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost and defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one. First, you have to climb to your destination (the signpost at the top northeast corner of the map) over high mountains, so the going will be very slow for your elves; watch the turn clock carefully. Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them. Third, some of your enemies are level 4 Yetis. Split your forces, sending one group west. The other group, with Kalenz, goes directly north, deals with the nearest enemy, and continues to the signpost. This group should be large enough that you can peel off 4-6 units once you get most of the way north to take out the enemy in the far northwestern keep. Note: dwarves do well in the mountains, but don't recruit a lot of ulfserkers, not even the second-level ones—they tend to take out the unit they attack but then are very vulnerable to attacks by other units.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Your enemies here are drakes and trolls. This is in your favor because the scenario starts at night, when drakes are weakest. Be careful about using archers, since some of the drakes breathe fire and do more damage that way than your units can with their arrows. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential. Split your forces. Send half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep (if you don't, he may get killed before you can kill off the drakes) to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

'''For 1.9.x'''
In this scenario, you only have to kill Aquagar. So you just focus attacking the drakes. Send some Steelclads, Pathfinders to aid Crelanu. Marksmen, Rangers, Druids, Thunderguards, Stalwarts are extremely useful here. I killed Aquagar by turn 5. ~~Knyghtmare.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is the unofficial final, the following scenarios are pretty much a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The northeast trolls will not receive reinforcements, so you should concentrate on eliminating their army first. Your recruits/recalls need to do three things: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls.

The trolls should be pretty easy to kill. Their leader doesn't have much money, so there will not be many trolls to face. Slowing with some shaman and using the forest to your benefit lead to a quick victory. Afterwards, send the units to reinforce your other two fronts.

Your allies can hold their own against the first wave of southern attackers but after that they'll be toast. A much better course of action is to team up with them and crush the first wave. When the reinforcements come you should be in a good position to defeat the orcs (especially with your victorious anti-troll army coming to help).

The northwest orcs are numerous but should be kept in check by strong units in the bottlenecks. You'll need some tanks (Champions/Marshals or Steelclads) and healers. When the orc reinforcements arrive you may get swarmed. By this time you should have some help coming from your anti-troll army. Also, three elves will arrive along the western edge of the map. Have them come and help out.

You may want to recruit a scout or two at the beginning. Along with the horseman you get, they can capture a village almost every turn. Don't bother leaving villages for your ally. The money is better in your hands.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Landar to level 3. When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into an Elvish Lord. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will attack you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Slyphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A bunch of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units
* Other

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. So, whatever you do, do not underrecruit! (You don't need more than minimal gold in the next recruiting scenario.)

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

High casualty approach:

You have to put units in the swamp to keep the saurians out of there. The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

Low casualty approach:

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on. Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep in the far southeast. If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily.
* The AI leader southeast of your starting keep will make a severe tactical blunder, capturing the only village in range on turn 1, leaving him utterly exposed with enemies nearby. With the select group of loyal troops (and any Slyphs available for recall) and proper positioning on turn 1, it is trivial to eliminate the enemy leader on turn 2. If you can't kill him or ZoC him in turn 2, slow him. That will prevent him from getting to back to the keep to recruit. The battle is over as soon as one of your units moves next to Landar, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts (or quick units) and send them west, timing it so that they reach Landar's keep the turn after he moves his troops out of range. Reach Landar's keep and you'll have plenty of gold to finish the game.

If you don't have enough units from the shaman line for the quick kill, try this:
* Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If necessary, leave a few units at the river bank to slow the brown elf units that will pursue you; there is a village on a peninsula in the river near your keep that may be useful in this regard. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay the brown enemy you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Remember you don't have to kill all the enemies. Just kill the southeast leader and then sneak a fast unit in next to Landar.

[On version 1.8.2, all my levelled shaman-line had also disappeared - some for my ally, other for Landar. I could only recruit some shaman about to level. And some of my warriors had gone to my ally, not to Landar. With only first level units, killing the south-east level at turn 2 or 3 is not possible... but you can still buy some second-level warriors who will do the job. After that, most of Landar's units will go toward your ally's keep, which makes you able to reach Landar and end the scenario. Careful, he will be able to deal a final blow to the unit who assaulted him ! ]

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

Recall any remaining veteran troops, then recruit an army of level 1 elves. Send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

[version 1.8.2 : on medium, you can just buy loads of level 1 warriors, and keep - most of the time - in the woods. Landar start with about the same money as you do, but doing this, you just suffocate him under numbers.]

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

LegendofWesmere

2013-08-12T07:57:19Z

Ericppp: Updated the objective. A few more hints. /* The Uprooting */

General Note: Throughout this campaign, if your elves need to make a stand and you have a choice of options, choose the one that will put most of them in the woods. Not only will this give you the best chance of survival, it will ensure that the AI playing your allies will do useful things. This matters a lot, because many of the scenarios in this campaign involve allies you cannot control whose death results in your defeat.

Strategical Note: This is a long campaign where you play elves. So take a look at the top level units: There are two units capable of flight! One of them is a curing healer +8, the other one is level 4. Both of them can do magic, and both of them can slow their enemies! If you can team up two shydes and two sylphs, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. As if that wasn't enough, late in the campaign you'll lose access to most of your veteran troops, but not your sylphs and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans. However, since version 1.9.x shamans are not recruitable during the first four scenarios, adapt accordingly.

Loyal troops are even more valuable in this campaign than in most others, partially because they get three traits, but mainly because you'll get to keep them when your other troops are unavailable. With that in mind, you should strongly consider leveling one (or both!) of your loyal fighters into a marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==
* Objectives: Kill any of the orc leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 16/14/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and Anduilas

Like the first scenario in Heir to the Throne, this scenario begins with the hero in a forest with enemies preparing to close in on all sides. You might want to simply run away (and previously you could), but you have to kill one enemy leader. The keep directly to the east might seem tempting, but it will be hard to conquer, since its orcish leader will be pumping out units constantly for the first few turns.

A good alternative is going to the southwest, as this puts the maximum distance between you and the troops of the other orcish leaders, and only level 1 orcs will come from that corner. It also allows you to use the units of Velon more efficiently; they come under your control after they are first attacked by an orc. The villages will also become yours at that point, so you don't need to worry too much about them (except for healing units, of course).

You can only recruit fighters and archers. Use fighters to shield yourself and archers to kill the grunts (warriors). Keep loyals and leaders safe - if only one unit shields them, remember that it can be killed by a single lucky L2 orc. If you manage to level up units choose captain for fighters and marksman for archers.

== Hostile Mountains ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost or defeat the troll leader
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

The most important thing to do is get the dwarves to fight the trolls. The trolls will go to the east bank without any bait, just take care you don't lure them away or worse anger the dwarves yourself. Even after they fight with the trolls, do not go to the east bank.

Recruit fighters to die, archers to do damage. The trolls will prefer to go for the fighters when given the option. Give leadership to your archers, if you don't have one yet level a fighter to captain as soon as possible. You will need marksmen to kill trolls on mountains, so keep your archers safe (well, at least on reasonable terrain).

Do not, under any circumstances, cross the river—if you do, Olurf will attack you, and the trolls will cut both you and the dwarves to pieces. (You can have units stand in the river if necessary to reach a particular unit, but since your enemies are more powerful than your units avoid doing so if you are likely to be counterattacked.) Instead, send a rider or two out to grab the villages in the far northern reaches of the board while you move your troops onto the wooded island in the middle of the river, directly south of your keep. From here, you can help the dwarves whittle down the trolls while you slowly wend your way southwest toward the troll keep. The scenario will end if you succeed in killing the troll leader. Note: Olurf's death counts as a defeat.

There is a reason the middle island has so much forest. The western bank of the river has a narrow swath of forest surrounded by mountains and hills. This is not ideal terrain for fighting trolls. Trolls move faster than elves on hills and mountains and have comparable defense. A much better idea is to try to occupy the middle island, forcing the trolls to attack from water. Chances are you'll only be able to claim the northern tip of the island at first, so half your army will spill over to the forest on the west bank. The dwarves help by putting units in water and doing other things to distract the trolls and draw fire away from you.

It is preferable to aim to kill the troll leader rather than get to the signpost as the experience is most important.

== Ka'lian Under Attack ==
* Objectives: Survive the initial attack with Galtrid, then defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 5/7/9 initially, then 35/30/25 extra (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later.

For the first turns (original turn limit) you play the defenders of the Ka'lian. See all those Orcish Assassins in the water? Make sure they receive as much retaliation as possible when they poison your units (archers). As you can heal only 2 units per turn, make sure they can't poison your fresh recruits as well. So you can as well kill them with some of your poisoned units as long as they have still enough health. Distribute XP carefully, units heal upon level up, rarely is this more useful than in this scenario.

Don't just hit Ctrl-R to recruit; you have a massive keep so put your new units in the right place. Don't let the orcs in good defense terrain and you should be fine. Use Galtrids leadership carefully by moving him multiple times per turn to support different areas of the castle.

When Kalenz arrives - and if you defended the Ka'lian well - the orcs just pile up in the northwestern corner. Control the map, by trapping and killing the village stealing wolf riders, heal your poisoned Ka'lian defenders and let them do some work, close in carefully - you will inevitably lose a number of units but let it be fighters not your L2. You can level a number of units, but don't wait too long, you will need gold for the next scenario. (250+ carryover)

== The Elvish Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units

There are two ways to play this scenario. The most straightforward solution is to send your army en masse to the keep in the northwest first; that's where the Shyde is. Then turn east to take out the other saurian. Recruit plenty of fighters, use leadership to full extent and try to heal by level up.

It is alternatively possible to kill the eastern leader with rangers/avengers, the AI will completely ignore them once they are in the woods again. This allows to play more defensively in the west.

When fighting the saurians, there are three things to remember: 1) Don't send out isolated units, because they'll be swarmed and killed; 2) Try to keep the saurians on bad terrain 3) watch the day/night cycle (it doesn't affect your elves, but the saurians are significantly weaker by day and you can turn that fact to great advantage). Kill the Augurs as soon as possible with your fighter line. The skirmishers have a lot of movement points; make sure that wounded units are safe or meant to be sacrificed.

== The Saurian Treasury ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is much trickier than the last one because here you have to fight the saurians on terrain that's hostile to your elves (desert and swamp). Try and keep on good terrain (or at least keep the saurians out of good terrain) and form a defensive line (against skirmishers) each turn. Woses are very effective against saurians, slow (shamans) limits the damage potential and mobility of skirmishers. Kill the southern leader first.

When you've dealt with the southern leader and the treasury (the single saurian sitting on a village and not moving) you can either take an Elvish Scout to the treasury to pick up the gold and return it to the sign post (you will have only have the movement points after taking up the treasure) or just go kill the northern leader. Killing the leader is preferable. You'll get XP and any loss in gold from early finish is dwarfed by the 1800 gold you get for beating the level.

Keep an eye on the turn limit. The enemy leaders are easily lured out with a scout.

== Acquaintance in Need ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

This is another leveling opportunity for your shamans, as there is another troll leader to kill. Also you need to make sure that you neither overrecruit nor underrecruit. With too few units, you will take too long to finish your enemies (as always), while too many units won't help you in the fight, and you will need the money!

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you. The dwarves, who are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. While you finish off the first orc, you should start sending a fair amount of relatively unexperienced archers/shamans west to take on the troll. Then move north over the mountains in a broad line to take out the orcs. A broad front line will help you to quickly overrun the orcs and allow you to finish in good time. Of course, you need sufficient numbers to do this without overstretching yourself.

The dwarves will get a lot of kills/occupy the enemy quite a bit. Their high mountain defense and mobility ensure this. You may need to resign yourself to softening the orcs up and letting the dwarves get the kills.

== Elves' Last Stand ==
* Objectives: Defeat all of the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Galtrid dies or turns run out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

[NOTE: This scenario gives you the option of choosing to give orders to the AI that controls your allies. Because of bug issues, I ended up playing the scenario through without using this option. The advice that follows is for playing the scenario with the AI making automatic choices.--cathyr19355]

This is the same map as in Kal'ian Under Attack, but with many more enemies. Don't do the obvious thing here—i.e., attacking the trolls first, because they're the nearest enemy—that will just get Galtrid, your ally holding the Kal'ian, killed, causing defeat. Instead, make your stand in the woods just north of the Kal'ian, taking care to assume a position that will let you defend both against the trolls and against Urug-Pir's and Mordrum's orc troops that will be coming east from the other side of the river. (If you have enough troops, this time it will be useful to move some of them to the river bank to attack the orcs while they're still in the water.) If you're careful, you can use the heavy fighting to level units. As you kill off the aforementioned trolls and orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to Grubr's keep, then west and north again to kill the remaining enemies. Meanwhile, recruit/recall a bunch of riders and other fast-moving units, send them directly south of your keep to grab the villages on the eastern side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at Grubr's keep to take some of the pressure off the Kal'ian. Even though you have a lot of gold and can recruit a lot of units, your enemies are numerous, and Olurf and his dwarves won't show up until the third day, so don't get sloppy about formation and protecting the wounded.

Note for directing the AI:
Your south-westmost ally is too weak to survive unaided where he is. So it is a good idea to wait until he has recruited as much as he can before telling him to move his leader to Kal'ian. I tried to get both my allies to swarm the sourthern orc, they should be able to defeat him, but unfortunately the AI does not really listen to this kind of order (bug?), so once I had the trolls under control I send a select few units south through Kal'ian to help mop up the remaining orcs there. This should leave you enough time to concentrate on the nothern battle.
(At the moment, you will have to debug the scenario before playing it, since Galtrid does not recruit at all. Hopefully it won't take long until a debuged version is shipped with the game.)

== Council of Hard Choices ==

Story only.

== Bounty Hunters ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz across the river
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

The only thing you gain from defeating the saurians is experience. Since you just left a lot of your troops at the Ka'lian, experience may be worth your effort. Nonetheless, if you are having trouble beating this level just run north as fast as you can. You should be able to cross the river with little trouble. You probably don't even need to recruit.

As for experience, the enemy recruits some relatively low HP level 2s and 3s. You can level units quickly after killing a couple of Saurian Oracles. Of course those Oracles have strong magical attacks (especially at night) negating your high defense. Luckily for you the battles start during the day. Recruit just one keepful of troops. Send a dwarf-heavy squad to the left (closer mountains) and an elf-heavy one to the right (more forest). If you recruit more than one keepful Kalenz will have a much tougher time crossing the river.

Focus on killing the Oracles and Augurs first. They are easy to kill and do a lot of damage. Instead of throwing 3 or 4 units at a level 3 Flanker, just slow it and rack up kills. Try and kill as many units as you can before nightfall, when the attacks become much more ferocious.

You can distract the serpent by having an Elvish Scout make his way to the western edge of the river bank. When the serpent shows up the rider can distract it with his bow.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost and defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/28/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

There are three tricky elements about this one. First, you have to climb to your destination (the signpost at the top northeast corner of the map) over high mountains, so the going will be very slow for your elves; watch the turn clock carefully. Second, the "fog of war" applies so you won't know much about your enemies until you actually bump into them. Third, some of your enemies are level 4 Yetis. Split your forces, sending one group west. The other group, with Kalenz, goes directly north, deals with the nearest enemy, and continues to the signpost. This group should be large enough that you can peel off 4-6 units once you get most of the way north to take out the enemy in the far northwestern keep. Note: dwarves do well in the mountains, but don't recruit a lot of ulfserkers, not even the second-level ones—they tend to take out the unit they attack but then are very vulnerable to attacks by other units.

== Battle of the Book ==
* Objectives: Defeat Aquagar the drake wizard
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil or Olurf dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/34/38 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Your enemies here are drakes and trolls. This is in your favor because the scenario starts at night, when drakes are weakest. Be careful about using archers, since some of the drakes breathe fire and do more damage that way than your units can with their arrows. A good mix of impact and ranged fighters is essential. Split your forces. Send half of your troops east along the road first to Crelanu's keep (if you don't, he may get killed before you can kill off the drakes) to save him and kill the troll leader (whose keep is close by). Take the remaining troops west to kill the drake leader.

'''For 1.9.x'''
In this scenario, you only have to kill Aquagar. So you just focus attacking the drakes. Send some Steelclads, Pathfinders to aid Crelanu. Marksmen, Rangers, Druids, Thunderguards, Stalwarts are extremely useful here. I killed Aquagar by turn 5. ~~Knyghtmare.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== News from the Front ==

Story only.

== Human Alliance ==
* Objectives: Survive until the end of turns
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Aldar (the human leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/20/22 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

This scenario is the unofficial final, the following scenarios are pretty much a sequel, and easier too.

The enemy is in three places: the northwest, the northeast (trolls) and the southwest. The northeast trolls will not receive reinforcements, so you should concentrate on eliminating their army first. Your recruits/recalls need to do three things: contain the northwest orcs (this is not that hard due to favorable terrain), aid your human allies to the south, and eliminate the trolls.

The trolls should be pretty easy to kill. Their leader doesn't have much money, so there will not be many trolls to face. Slowing with some shaman and using the forest to your benefit lead to a quick victory. Afterwards, send the units to reinforce your other two fronts.

Your allies can hold their own against the first wave of southern attackers but after that they'll be toast. A much better course of action is to team up with them and crush the first wave. When the reinforcements come you should be in a good position to defeat the orcs (especially with your victorious anti-troll army coming to help).

The northwest orcs are numerous but should be kept in check by strong units in the bottlenecks. You'll need some tanks (Champions/Marshals or Steelclads) and healers. When the orc reinforcements arrive you may get swarmed. By this time you should have some help coming from your anti-troll army. Also, three elves will arrive along the western edge of the map. Have them come and help out.

You may want to recruit a scout or two at the beginning. Along with the horseman you get, they can capture a village almost every turn. Don't bother leaving villages for your ally. The money is better in your hands.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==
* Objectives: Kill the orc chief then return to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 32/32/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz and Landar

You get no keep, and no chance to recruit, in this one. The only units you have are Kalenz and Landar, and their only task is to assassinate the Orc Sovereign (in the middle) and then return to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes (invisible, 80% dodge) for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Landar to level 3. When Kalenz takes the potion he changes into an Elvish Lord. You should easily be able to get him to level up during this scenario.

You should have plenty of turns. The only units that will attack you are the Wolf Rider line. They don't pose much threat thanks to Landar's bow and your 80% dodge. Go to the orc leader, kill him and return to the signpost. There is no point in grabbing villages as you get no income from them. There is also no point in finishing early so go ahead and level Kalenz.

== Breaking the Siege ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf or Uradredia (the elf leader) dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar, Cleodil, Olurf and any surviving loyal units

Stick to recruiting units with lots of mobility, since the map is large and mostly snow-covered, hampering most of your unit types (don't even bother to recruit dwarves—they won't get to the scene of the action in time to strike any blows). Slyphs and Shydes are best, of course.

It is essential that you reach your ally quickly. Otherwise he might be dead before you even see him. Despite the fact that fog of war is turned on for this scenario, it's pretty simple to figure out from the geography which keep belongs to your ally (the one in the middle of the forest). You will want to finish this level quickly or/and to grab as soon as possible all the villages to have lots of gold for the next scenario (on medium you'll probably want at least 500 gold). Send some fast units north to keep your ally alive and send the rest straight west. The western units can sweep up after taking out the southern orc boss. A bunch of Direwolf Riders come as reinforcements when you get to close to the southern orc, so be careful. Alternatively just send everyone north and fan out from there.

With good units this level shouldn't be tough to beat. Just make sure you beat it in good standing for the next scenario.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy units and destroy all enemy villages
* Lose if: Kalenz, Landar dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Landar and any surviving loyal units
* Other

This is the same map as The Saurian Treasury, but with most of the terrain snow-covered. Since you're fighting the saurians again, most of the advice from that scenario still applies. Mobility is not a great issue, even though one of the enemy keeps is near the top northeastern corner of the map, because by the time you can dispose of your southern enemy he will have already sent most of his troops south after you. Numbers are an issue, however. So, whatever you do, do not underrecruit! (You don't need more than minimal gold in the next recruiting scenario.)

The best place to make a stand is probably near the patch of forest in the middle (high casualty approach) or the forest with the big ice plain in front of it (low casualty approach).

High casualty approach:

You have to put units in the swamp to keep the saurians out of there. The only poor-defense terrain for the saurians is the ice, so keep them on it. The Oracles/Soothsayers will use their ranged attack on your melee units and the Skirmishers/Flankers will use their melee attack on your archers. You will take heavy losses but this is actually good (more on that in a second).

I like to send Kalenz and a couple of fast units (Scouts/Riders) along the northern forest and then have them cut across the top of the map. This accomplishes three things: one, you torch some out of the way villages; two, you can distract the northern saurians long enough to keep your main force (in the middle of the map) in control; three, you can move them over to kill the northern leader at the end.

There is a weird twist to this level. After this the elvish civil war breaks out. All your units except loyal ones defect and serve Landar. So, see that Elvish Champion racking up the kills? Next time he's in battle he will be killing ''your'' units. After the tide of the battle has turned try and get the non-loyal high level units killed (attack those last two Oracles with ranged attack, etc).

If you have enough gold your main worries will be getting to the villages in time (scouts come in handy), getting to the northern leader in time and leaving as few good units for the civil war as possible.

Low casualty approach:

1.10.1 (hard): It is not necessary to get your units killed consciously and this scenario is possible with fairly low gold (220 gold for me) by recruiting mainly veterans and exploiting the horrible saurian movement / defence on ice (low casualty approach). As the turn limit isn't very long, it is useful to send some rangers/avengers behind the saurian lines to start burning villages, as soon as they hide in a forest they are invisible to the AI.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==
* Objectives: Move Kalenz to the signpost
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 20/16/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

There's no need to recruit - Kalenz can make it to the signpost with just the units you're given.

== Northern Battle ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders or survive for six days
* Lose if: Kalenz, Cleodil or Uradredia dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/36/32 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and Anduilas

This is the same map as Breaking the Siege, but since it's not winter, most of the board is grassland and woods, and much easier for your elves to fight on. Landar, now one of your enemies, will be in the far southwest, while another enemy elf has a keep in the far southeast. If you have been building a formidable "air force" (shaman line) you can beat this level very easily.
* The AI leader southeast of your starting keep will make a severe tactical blunder, capturing the only village in range on turn 1, leaving him utterly exposed with enemies nearby. With the select group of loyal troops (and any Slyphs available for recall) and proper positioning on turn 1, it is trivial to eliminate the enemy leader on turn 2. If you can't kill him or ZoC him in turn 2, slow him. That will prevent him from getting to back to the keep to recruit. The battle is over as soon as one of your units moves next to Landar, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts (or quick units) and send them west, timing it so that they reach Landar's keep the turn after he moves his troops out of range. Reach Landar's keep and you'll have plenty of gold to finish the game.

If you don't have enough units from the shaman line for the quick kill, try this:
* Because of Landar's betrayal and the loss of most of your veterans, you will be working mostly with first level units. Consequently, don't try to take on either enemy on the naked grasslands where their keeps lie; recruit as much as you can, then head for your ally's keep in the north central region of the board, taking as many villages during the process as possible. If necessary, leave a few units at the river bank to slow the brown elf units that will pursue you; there is a village on a peninsula in the river near your keep that may be useful in this regard. If you need to, make a stand in and about your ally's keep, though depending upon how well you delay the brown enemy you may be able to pick off your enemy a few at a time in the forest long enough to survive until the end of the scenario.

Remember you don't have to kill all the enemies. Just kill the southeast leader and then sneak a fast unit in next to Landar.

[On version 1.8.2, all my levelled shaman-line had also disappeared - some for my ally, other for Landar. I could only recruit some shaman about to level. And some of my warriors had gone to my ally, not to Landar. With only first level units, killing the south-east level at turn 2 or 3 is not possible... but you can still buy some second-level warriors who will do the job. After that, most of Landar's units will go toward your ally's keep, which makes you able to reach Landar and end the scenario. Careful, he will be able to deal a final blow to the unit who assaulted him ! ]

If you have some experienced woses (highly resistant against pierce damage!), you can as well crush all the traitors frontally - as long as you engage them outside the forest - for an early finish and large bonus.

== End of War ==
* Objectives: Defeat Landar
* Lose if: Kalenz or Cleodil dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24/21/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Kalenz, Cleodil and any surviving loyal units

Recall any remaining veteran troops, then recruit an army of level 1 elves. Send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle at the edge of the forest to maximize the difference in defense (70% vs. 40%, while trying to hold the shore is only 40% vs. 20%). The forest defense bonus also means that your level 1 troops stand a good chace of surviving at least one round of two level 2 attacks (which they are unlikely to survive on open ground). If any enemy elves make it into the forest the best approach is to use magic attacks to smoke them out (a slyph works wonders). Once Landar's army has been dealt with, sweep your troops down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

[version 1.8.2 : on medium, you can just buy loads of level 1 warriors, and keep - most of the time - in the woods. Landar start with about the same money as you do, but doing this, you just suffocate him under numbers.]

Again experienced woses dominate your enemies outside of forests.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

Liberty

2013-08-12T03:41:05Z

Ericppp: /* The Grey Woods */

Footpads are the core unit for this campaign. High defense, mixed attacks, and low cost makes them handy in all events. You get Harper, a loyal Footpad in all scenarios, and assume the role of Baldras, a Bandit; level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

Notice that, during the first two scenarios of this campaign, your units will not be exactly Footpads, Thugs and Poachers. They will be instead ''Peasant Youths'', ''Villagers'' and ''Peasant Hunters''. The main difference of these counterparts is that they have a neutral alignment, so you need to adjust your strategies accordingly in case you're accustomed to the Time of Day cycle for chaotic units. From the third scenario onwards, your army will become regular (chaotic) units.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; Footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. None of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of Thugs and Poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the Footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a Huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=== The Raid ===
* Objectives: Defeat the goblins
* Lose if: The goblins reach the village or Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 24/18/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras, Harper and other bandits

You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight; your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running straight up the board and into the town of Dallben (if this happens you lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement range. Using Footpads for this purpose is a good idea, given their high defense.

Running Harper and one other Footpad north works well. Provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north, where you get a couple of thugs for free (3 on ''Easy'') and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run. These guards will show up if the enemy gets too close to Dallben anyway, but since the goblins will try very aggressively to get into town, it's better to support them with extra footpads to keep them out.

=== Civil Disobedience ===
* Objectives: Defeat the army captain
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 14/13/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defense when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defense in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with Poachers and Footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two Poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a Footpad or Thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Relana die or time runs out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper

The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with Footpads and Outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two Footpads to go on an extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're doing this. The saurians are much weaker than the orcs so concentrate your forces against the orcs. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

Notice that, after the stark realization reached by Baldras at the end of the previous scenario, your army has turned now into standard chaotic units (Footpads, Thugs, etc.).

=== Unlawful Orders ===
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere's general
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Lord Maddock die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/22/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Detach two Footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more and closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few Thugs, a couple of Footpads and perhaps 2 Poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an Outlaw and Footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===
* Objectives: Get Baldras to the signpost (preferably without being seen)
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: You will be seen if you end your turn within visual range of an enemy unit
The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack and all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then southeast until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

If you still need to level either Harper or Baldras, go ahead and kill one or two of the soldiers when you are right near the signpost.

=== The Grey Woods ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Lich and the other two enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 50/44/42 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper

This is a fairly straightforward search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the southeast, southwest and northeast corners.

Helicrom's troops will help you soaking much of the damage from the enemies, and then you can move on your troops to take the final blows. The first enemy your joined army will encounter is probably the Necromancer at the southwest. You may send a couple of Footpads/Outlaws there to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below, on the southwest corner. Your main force, Footpads plus a few Thugs/Bandits should head northeast and have a quick fight with the second Necromancer and its troops. After you're finished with him, head south to the final enemy, a Lich.

This map is an excellent place to level up some Footpads to L2 or even L3. Just keep in mind that your allies will have no problem stealing away some of your XP, so try to finish off your enemies as quick as possible.

At the end, you will be asked to choose between three different "prizes" from Helicrom:

# 500 gold
# The ability to recruit Thieves, Rogue Mages and Shadow Mages (the last two being specific to this campaign)
# Have Helicrom's army as an ally for the final battle

Of these, the gold is probably the least favorable one (unless you're ''really'' tight on money by this point, which is not very likely). The better choice between the new recruits, or the reinforcements for the final battle depends on your playing style. On ''easy'', the choice is probably not very important, but on harder difficulties, the third choice will make the final battle much more manageable. On the other hand, the new units provide an interesting tactical challenge: Shadow Mages (level 2) and Shadow Lords (level 3) have ranged-cold, magical attacks, and the ''leadership'' trait.

If you want the challenge, the second option may provide you with the most fun. Otherwise, the third option will make the final scenario significantly easier.

=== The Hunters ===
* Objectives: Defeat all the enemy forces
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/31/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The trick in this one is that your Outlaws fight better in mountains than Heavy Infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

[Comments by Bumblebee] Another trick is that Outlaws are good in the forest, and enemies from the castle have a long way to go before they reach it, so they don't reach the forest together. After Heavy Infantry platoon is taken care of, prepare to meat the first wave of attackers in the forest (some Trappers or Poachers with pierce attack are helpful, Shadow Mages are surprisingly effective too). Send few quick units to the north to take villages. In my game at medium, two Footpads and a watchman were enough to draw two riders to the north, trap them on the narrow forest road for several turns and finally kill them (there are villages to heal in and plenty of space to retreat). As soon as enemies of the first wave have found their eternal home in the forest, counterattack. Take villages, protect wounded, swarm in the dark. Don't recruit too many units in this mission because you will need money for the next one.

=== Glory ===
* Objectives: Destroy all four towers
* Lose if: Baldras dies or time runs out
* Turns: 48/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: Move a unit onto the trap door to destroy a tower
The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress (and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight north and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the west and south entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods southwest of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the Footpads, Outlaws and Fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and Footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush Footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

[Comments by Bumblebee] A different strategy is to avoid direct fight as much as possible and remember you lead guerilla fighters. Recall all quick L2 and L3 units (with at least 6 or 7 moves per turn), recall all ''quick'' L1 Footpads, some poachers and a couple of Thieves or Rogues are helpful too. Spend the first day taking villages and moving your forces, let riders and orcs kill some defenders. Don't send too many units on eastern flank, or they will lure orcs, and orcs will fight mostly you instead of garrison. When army reinforces arrive, retreat if they notice you. Kill pursuers one by one. Let reinforces meet orcs.

Meanwhile, put quick units near every tower. Southern, western and northern sides of the fortress are relatively safe for that. Don't put units too close to bridges and entrances, or they will draw defenders' attention. Let riders and orcs fight and lure enemy forces away from the towers. When a tower is empty for a moment, sneak into it. Quick Footpads can reach entrance to catacombs from outside in one turn if way is free. When riders and orcs are dead, simulate night attacks on the bridge opposite to the towers you want to take. I had to sacrifice some units at the southern bridge before guards left one of the northern towers. I finished at turn 16 at medium.

[Comments by KingElk] Similar to bumblebee, but more specific. This worked on normal difficulty, I'm not sure if it would work on hard. First, recall any Outlaws/Fugitives, or Rangers (I had one ranger (L3 Poacher) and it came in handy fending some of the enemies off, and it is fast.) As the above states, any units with 6/7 moves per turn. Do NOT recall anything else, even if its L3. After, with any leftover gold, recruit Outlaws until you are out of money. Move your entire army (and leader) along the dead west part of the map, until you reach the west entrance. Do NOT fight the army coming from the south gate. They might get a few shots at you but you will beat the scenario before they swing around their main army to trap you in the west (your northwest ally will fend them off for 3+ turns). Split your Outlaws and send 3-5 to the north gate, and the remaining shoved into the west gate. You will probably meet resistance in the west, but the only entrance you need to reach from the west gate is the southwest one. From the north, split again and attempt to reach the northwest and northeast objectives in one turn if possible. As a bonus, if your Outlaw has one extra movement point when it takes an objective, it still has that after and can move onto a castle for 70% defense. The southwest objective can be taken by pushing through the west gate. After those three are down, squeeze some Outlaws from the north or west to the southeast, at any cost. In all likelihood, the northeast Outlaw will have little resistance because of the orc/human fighting. Your leader can head northwest to the corner of the map for safety, don't use him for fighting. NOTE: You don't need the extra ally that was offered earlier in the campaign, or the extra gold. I made the mistake of getting Rogue Mages, but it didn't matter.

[Comments by Hipparchos] Similar to KingElk, but even faster in my experience: recall/recruit all quick troops then it's "student body left" as you march north along the west side of the map. Hugging the edge isn't necessary (and slows you down a bit), just stay about 4 hexes away from the city walls and you won't attract any defenders (which is what you want). Avoid all enemy contact and combat, and ignore villages, as your goal is the NORTH gate! You must accept Helicrom's help, then fall in behind his lines as his horsemen attack the city and attract the guards away from the western walls while the orcs attract the guards away from the eastern walls. I also send a single sacrificial unit east to distract and delay the Wesnoth reinforcements. And sometimes the west gate is left unguarded for a turn, so it's a good idea to drop off an outlaw nearby to exploit that. By the time you're at the north gate, it should be unguarded. The city is fast-moving pavement, so you should be able to rush enough units in through the north gate to take all four towers in one or two turns. The game's AI makes the enemy seek out weaker units to attack, which means they will mostly leave you alone as you take their rear. The entire scenario takes me 12 turns this way at normal difficulty.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Liberty]]

Liberty

2013-08-12T03:35:11Z

Ericppp: Reworded to provide a more neutral point of view /* The Grey Woods */

Footpads are the core unit for this campaign. High defense, mixed attacks, and low cost makes them handy in all events. You get Harper, a loyal Footpad in all scenarios, and assume the role of Baldras, a Bandit; level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

Notice that, during the first two scenarios of this campaign, your units will not be exactly Footpads, Thugs and Poachers. They will be instead ''Peasant Youths'', ''Villagers'' and ''Peasant Hunters''. The main difference of these counterparts is that they have a neutral alignment, so you need to adjust your strategies accordingly in case you're accustomed to the Time of Day cycle for chaotic units. From the third scenario onwards, your army will become regular (chaotic) units.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; Footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. None of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of Thugs and Poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the Footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a Huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=== The Raid ===
* Objectives: Defeat the goblins
* Lose if: The goblins reach the village or Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 24/18/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras, Harper and other bandits

You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight; your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running straight up the board and into the town of Dallben (if this happens you lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement range. Using Footpads for this purpose is a good idea, given their high defense.

Running Harper and one other Footpad north works well. Provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north, where you get a couple of thugs for free (3 on ''Easy'') and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run. These guards will show up if the enemy gets too close to Dallben anyway, but since the goblins will try very aggressively to get into town, it's better to support them with extra footpads to keep them out.

=== Civil Disobedience ===
* Objectives: Defeat the army captain
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 14/13/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defense when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defense in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with Poachers and Footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two Poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a Footpad or Thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Relana die or time runs out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper

The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with Footpads and Outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two Footpads to go on an extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're doing this. The saurians are much weaker than the orcs so concentrate your forces against the orcs. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

Notice that, after the stark realization reached by Baldras at the end of the previous scenario, your army has turned now into standard chaotic units (Footpads, Thugs, etc.).

=== Unlawful Orders ===
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere's general
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Lord Maddock die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/22/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Detach two Footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more and closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few Thugs, a couple of Footpads and perhaps 2 Poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an Outlaw and Footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===
* Objectives: Get Baldras to the signpost (preferably without being seen)
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: You will be seen if you end your turn within visual range of an enemy unit
The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack and all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then southeast until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

If you still need to level either Harper or Baldras, go ahead and kill one or two of the soldiers when you are right near the signpost.

=== The Grey Woods ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Lich and the other two enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 50/44/42 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper

This is a fairly straightforward search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the southeast, southwest and northeast corners.

Helicrom's troops will help you soaking much of the damage from the enemies, and then you can move on your troops to take the final blows. The first enemy your joined army will encounter is probably the Necromancer at the southwest. You may send a couple of Footpads/Outlaws there to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below, on the southwest corner. Your main force, Footpads plus a few Thugs/Bandits should head northeast and have a quick fight with the second Necromancer and its troops. After you're finished with him, head south to the final enemy, a Lich.

This map is an excellent place to level up some Footpads to L2 or even L3. Just keep in mind that your allies will have no problem stealing away some of your XP, so try to finish off your enemies as quick as possible.

At the end, you will be asked to choose between three different "prizes" from Helicrom:

# 500 gold
# The ability to recruit Thieves, Rogue Mages and Shadow Mages (the two latter being specific to this campaign)
# Have Helicrom's army as an ally for the final battle

Of these, the gold is probably the least favorable one (unless you're ''really'' tight on money by this point, which is not very likely). The better choice between the new recruits, or the reinforcements for the final battle depends on your playing style. On ''easy'', the choice is probably not very important, but on harder difficulties, the third choice will make the final battle much more manageable. On the other hand, the new units provide an interesting tactical challenge: Shadow Mages (level 2) and Shadow Lords (level 3) have ranged-cold, magical attacks, and the ''leadership'' trait.

If you want the challenge, the second option may provide you with the most fun. Otherwise, the third option will make the final scenario significantly easier.

=== The Hunters ===
* Objectives: Defeat all the enemy forces
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/31/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The trick in this one is that your Outlaws fight better in mountains than Heavy Infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

[Comments by Bumblebee] Another trick is that Outlaws are good in the forest, and enemies from the castle have a long way to go before they reach it, so they don't reach the forest together. After Heavy Infantry platoon is taken care of, prepare to meat the first wave of attackers in the forest (some Trappers or Poachers with pierce attack are helpful, Shadow Mages are surprisingly effective too). Send few quick units to the north to take villages. In my game at medium, two Footpads and a watchman were enough to draw two riders to the north, trap them on the narrow forest road for several turns and finally kill them (there are villages to heal in and plenty of space to retreat). As soon as enemies of the first wave have found their eternal home in the forest, counterattack. Take villages, protect wounded, swarm in the dark. Don't recruit too many units in this mission because you will need money for the next one.

=== Glory ===
* Objectives: Destroy all four towers
* Lose if: Baldras dies or time runs out
* Turns: 48/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: Move a unit onto the trap door to destroy a tower
The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress (and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight north and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the west and south entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods southwest of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the Footpads, Outlaws and Fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and Footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush Footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

[Comments by Bumblebee] A different strategy is to avoid direct fight as much as possible and remember you lead guerilla fighters. Recall all quick L2 and L3 units (with at least 6 or 7 moves per turn), recall all ''quick'' L1 Footpads, some poachers and a couple of Thieves or Rogues are helpful too. Spend the first day taking villages and moving your forces, let riders and orcs kill some defenders. Don't send too many units on eastern flank, or they will lure orcs, and orcs will fight mostly you instead of garrison. When army reinforces arrive, retreat if they notice you. Kill pursuers one by one. Let reinforces meet orcs.

Meanwhile, put quick units near every tower. Southern, western and northern sides of the fortress are relatively safe for that. Don't put units too close to bridges and entrances, or they will draw defenders' attention. Let riders and orcs fight and lure enemy forces away from the towers. When a tower is empty for a moment, sneak into it. Quick Footpads can reach entrance to catacombs from outside in one turn if way is free. When riders and orcs are dead, simulate night attacks on the bridge opposite to the towers you want to take. I had to sacrifice some units at the southern bridge before guards left one of the northern towers. I finished at turn 16 at medium.

[Comments by KingElk] Similar to bumblebee, but more specific. This worked on normal difficulty, I'm not sure if it would work on hard. First, recall any Outlaws/Fugitives, or Rangers (I had one ranger (L3 Poacher) and it came in handy fending some of the enemies off, and it is fast.) As the above states, any units with 6/7 moves per turn. Do NOT recall anything else, even if its L3. After, with any leftover gold, recruit Outlaws until you are out of money. Move your entire army (and leader) along the dead west part of the map, until you reach the west entrance. Do NOT fight the army coming from the south gate. They might get a few shots at you but you will beat the scenario before they swing around their main army to trap you in the west (your northwest ally will fend them off for 3+ turns). Split your Outlaws and send 3-5 to the north gate, and the remaining shoved into the west gate. You will probably meet resistance in the west, but the only entrance you need to reach from the west gate is the southwest one. From the north, split again and attempt to reach the northwest and northeast objectives in one turn if possible. As a bonus, if your Outlaw has one extra movement point when it takes an objective, it still has that after and can move onto a castle for 70% defense. The southwest objective can be taken by pushing through the west gate. After those three are down, squeeze some Outlaws from the north or west to the southeast, at any cost. In all likelihood, the northeast Outlaw will have little resistance because of the orc/human fighting. Your leader can head northwest to the corner of the map for safety, don't use him for fighting. NOTE: You don't need the extra ally that was offered earlier in the campaign, or the extra gold. I made the mistake of getting Rogue Mages, but it didn't matter.

[Comments by Hipparchos] Similar to KingElk, but even faster in my experience: recall/recruit all quick troops then it's "student body left" as you march north along the west side of the map. Hugging the edge isn't necessary (and slows you down a bit), just stay about 4 hexes away from the city walls and you won't attract any defenders (which is what you want). Avoid all enemy contact and combat, and ignore villages, as your goal is the NORTH gate! You must accept Helicrom's help, then fall in behind his lines as his horsemen attack the city and attract the guards away from the western walls while the orcs attract the guards away from the eastern walls. I also send a single sacrificial unit east to distract and delay the Wesnoth reinforcements. And sometimes the west gate is left unguarded for a turn, so it's a good idea to drop off an outlaw nearby to exploit that. By the time you're at the north gate, it should be unguarded. The city is fast-moving pavement, so you should be able to rush enough units in through the north gate to take all four towers in one or two turns. The game's AI makes the enemy seek out weaker units to attack, which means they will mostly leave you alone as you take their rear. The entire scenario takes me 12 turns this way at normal difficulty.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Liberty]]

Liberty

2013-08-12T03:06:04Z

Ericppp: Point out the change in alignment /* A Strategy of Hope */

Footpads are the core unit for this campaign. High defense, mixed attacks, and low cost makes them handy in all events. You get Harper, a loyal Footpad in all scenarios, and assume the role of Baldras, a Bandit; level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

Notice that, during the first two scenarios of this campaign, your units will not be exactly Footpads, Thugs and Poachers. They will be instead ''Peasant Youths'', ''Villagers'' and ''Peasant Hunters''. The main difference of these counterparts is that they have a neutral alignment, so you need to adjust your strategies accordingly in case you're accustomed to the Time of Day cycle for chaotic units. From the third scenario onwards, your army will become regular (chaotic) units.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; Footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. None of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of Thugs and Poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the Footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a Huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=== The Raid ===
* Objectives: Defeat the goblins
* Lose if: The goblins reach the village or Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 24/18/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras, Harper and other bandits

You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight; your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running straight up the board and into the town of Dallben (if this happens you lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement range. Using Footpads for this purpose is a good idea, given their high defense.

Running Harper and one other Footpad north works well. Provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north, where you get a couple of thugs for free (3 on ''Easy'') and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run. These guards will show up if the enemy gets too close to Dallben anyway, but since the goblins will try very aggressively to get into town, it's better to support them with extra footpads to keep them out.

=== Civil Disobedience ===
* Objectives: Defeat the army captain
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 14/13/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defense when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defense in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with Poachers and Footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two Poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a Footpad or Thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Relana die or time runs out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper

The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with Footpads and Outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two Footpads to go on an extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're doing this. The saurians are much weaker than the orcs so concentrate your forces against the orcs. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

Notice that, after the stark realization reached by Baldras at the end of the previous scenario, your army has turned now into standard chaotic units (Footpads, Thugs, etc.).

=== Unlawful Orders ===
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere's general
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Lord Maddock die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/22/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Detach two Footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more and closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few Thugs, a couple of Footpads and perhaps 2 Poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an Outlaw and Footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===
* Objectives: Get Baldras to the signpost (preferably without being seen)
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: You will be seen if you end your turn within visual range of an enemy unit
The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack and all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then southeast until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

If you still need to level either Harper or Baldras, go ahead and kill one or two of the soldiers when you are right near the signpost.

=== The Grey Woods ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Lich and the other two enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 50/44/42 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
This is a fairly easy search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the southeast, southwest and northwest corners.

You could almost ignore the southeast village, Helicrom's troops will take care of it; just send say an Outlaw and a Footpad to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below the southeast enemy. Your main force, Footpads plus a few Thugs/Bandits should head southwest across the bridge and have a quick fight with the green Lich's forces that have made it out. Continue on to kill him, and then head south to the other Lich. It is an excellent place to level up some Footpads to L2 or even L3. While I am not over judicious with my use of the "fodder" units, I still came out with about 8 or 9 L2+ units.

At the end, choose to have Helicrom join you in battle (you only get this choice if Helicrom is alive). You probably don't need the gold and being able to recruit Rogue Mages isn't that helpful (they don't heal). It makes the last scenario (while frustrating because your allies get in your way) pretty easy.

=== The Hunters ===
* Objectives: Defeat all the enemy forces
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/31/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The trick in this one is that your Outlaws fight better in mountains than Heavy Infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

[Comments by Bumblebee] Another trick is that Outlaws are good in the forest, and enemies from the castle have a long way to go before they reach it, so they don't reach the forest together. After Heavy Infantry platoon is taken care of, prepare to meat the first wave of attackers in the forest (some Trappers or Poachers with pierce attack are helpful, Shadow Mages are surprisingly effective too). Send few quick units to the north to take villages. In my game at medium, two Footpads and a watchman were enough to draw two riders to the north, trap them on the narrow forest road for several turns and finally kill them (there are villages to heal in and plenty of space to retreat). As soon as enemies of the first wave have found their eternal home in the forest, counterattack. Take villages, protect wounded, swarm in the dark. Don't recruit too many units in this mission because you will need money for the next one.

=== Glory ===
* Objectives: Destroy all four towers
* Lose if: Baldras dies or time runs out
* Turns: 48/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: Move a unit onto the trap door to destroy a tower
The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress (and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight north and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the west and south entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods southwest of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the Footpads, Outlaws and Fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and Footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush Footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

[Comments by Bumblebee] A different strategy is to avoid direct fight as much as possible and remember you lead guerilla fighters. Recall all quick L2 and L3 units (with at least 6 or 7 moves per turn), recall all ''quick'' L1 Footpads, some poachers and a couple of Thieves or Rogues are helpful too. Spend the first day taking villages and moving your forces, let riders and orcs kill some defenders. Don't send too many units on eastern flank, or they will lure orcs, and orcs will fight mostly you instead of garrison. When army reinforces arrive, retreat if they notice you. Kill pursuers one by one. Let reinforces meet orcs.

Meanwhile, put quick units near every tower. Southern, western and northern sides of the fortress are relatively safe for that. Don't put units too close to bridges and entrances, or they will draw defenders' attention. Let riders and orcs fight and lure enemy forces away from the towers. When a tower is empty for a moment, sneak into it. Quick Footpads can reach entrance to catacombs from outside in one turn if way is free. When riders and orcs are dead, simulate night attacks on the bridge opposite to the towers you want to take. I had to sacrifice some units at the southern bridge before guards left one of the northern towers. I finished at turn 16 at medium.

[Comments by KingElk] Similar to bumblebee, but more specific. This worked on normal difficulty, I'm not sure if it would work on hard. First, recall any Outlaws/Fugitives, or Rangers (I had one ranger (L3 Poacher) and it came in handy fending some of the enemies off, and it is fast.) As the above states, any units with 6/7 moves per turn. Do NOT recall anything else, even if its L3. After, with any leftover gold, recruit Outlaws until you are out of money. Move your entire army (and leader) along the dead west part of the map, until you reach the west entrance. Do NOT fight the army coming from the south gate. They might get a few shots at you but you will beat the scenario before they swing around their main army to trap you in the west (your northwest ally will fend them off for 3+ turns). Split your Outlaws and send 3-5 to the north gate, and the remaining shoved into the west gate. You will probably meet resistance in the west, but the only entrance you need to reach from the west gate is the southwest one. From the north, split again and attempt to reach the northwest and northeast objectives in one turn if possible. As a bonus, if your Outlaw has one extra movement point when it takes an objective, it still has that after and can move onto a castle for 70% defense. The southwest objective can be taken by pushing through the west gate. After those three are down, squeeze some Outlaws from the north or west to the southeast, at any cost. In all likelihood, the northeast Outlaw will have little resistance because of the orc/human fighting. Your leader can head northwest to the corner of the map for safety, don't use him for fighting. NOTE: You don't need the extra ally that was offered earlier in the campaign, or the extra gold. I made the mistake of getting Rogue Mages, but it didn't matter.

[Comments by Hipparchos] Similar to KingElk, but even faster in my experience: recall/recruit all quick troops then it's "student body left" as you march north along the west side of the map. Hugging the edge isn't necessary (and slows you down a bit), just stay about 4 hexes away from the city walls and you won't attract any defenders (which is what you want). Avoid all enemy contact and combat, and ignore villages, as your goal is the NORTH gate! You must accept Helicrom's help, then fall in behind his lines as his horsemen attack the city and attract the guards away from the western walls while the orcs attract the guards away from the eastern walls. I also send a single sacrificial unit east to distract and delay the Wesnoth reinforcements. And sometimes the west gate is left unguarded for a turn, so it's a good idea to drop off an outlaw nearby to exploit that. By the time you're at the north gate, it should be unguarded. The city is fast-moving pavement, so you should be able to rush enough units in through the north gate to take all four towers in one or two turns. The game's AI makes the enemy seek out weaker units to attack, which means they will mostly leave you alone as you take their rear. The entire scenario takes me 12 turns this way at normal difficulty.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Liberty]]

Liberty

2013-08-12T02:57:16Z

Ericppp: Clarify that the unorthodox units are for the first couple of scenarios only

Footpads are the core unit for this campaign. High defense, mixed attacks, and low cost makes them handy in all events. You get Harper, a loyal Footpad in all scenarios, and assume the role of Baldras, a Bandit; level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

Notice that, during the first two scenarios of this campaign, your units will not be exactly Footpads, Thugs and Poachers. They will be instead ''Peasant Youths'', ''Villagers'' and ''Peasant Hunters''. The main difference of these counterparts is that they have a neutral alignment, so you need to adjust your strategies accordingly in case you're accustomed to the Time of Day cycle for chaotic units. From the third scenario onwards, your army will become regular (chaotic) units.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; Footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. None of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of Thugs and Poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the Footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a Huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=== The Raid ===
* Objectives: Defeat the goblins
* Lose if: The goblins reach the village or Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 24/18/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras, Harper and other bandits

You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight; your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running straight up the board and into the town of Dallben (if this happens you lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement range. Using Footpads for this purpose is a good idea, given their high defense.

Running Harper and one other Footpad north works well. Provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north, where you get a couple of thugs for free (3 on ''Easy'') and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run. These guards will show up if the enemy gets too close to Dallben anyway, but since the goblins will try very aggressively to get into town, it's better to support them with extra footpads to keep them out.

=== Civil Disobedience ===
* Objectives: Defeat the army captain
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 14/13/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defense when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defense in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with Poachers and Footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two Poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a Footpad or Thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Relana die or time runs out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with Footpads and Outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two Footpads to go on an extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're doing this. The saurians are much weaker than the orcs so concentrate your forces against the orcs. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

=== Unlawful Orders ===
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere's general
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Lord Maddock die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/22/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Detach two Footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more and closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few Thugs, a couple of Footpads and perhaps 2 Poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an Outlaw and Footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===
* Objectives: Get Baldras to the signpost (preferably without being seen)
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: You will be seen if you end your turn within visual range of an enemy unit
The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack and all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then southeast until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

If you still need to level either Harper or Baldras, go ahead and kill one or two of the soldiers when you are right near the signpost.

=== The Grey Woods ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Lich and the other two enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 50/44/42 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
This is a fairly easy search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the southeast, southwest and northwest corners.

You could almost ignore the southeast village, Helicrom's troops will take care of it; just send say an Outlaw and a Footpad to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below the southeast enemy. Your main force, Footpads plus a few Thugs/Bandits should head southwest across the bridge and have a quick fight with the green Lich's forces that have made it out. Continue on to kill him, and then head south to the other Lich. It is an excellent place to level up some Footpads to L2 or even L3. While I am not over judicious with my use of the "fodder" units, I still came out with about 8 or 9 L2+ units.

At the end, choose to have Helicrom join you in battle (you only get this choice if Helicrom is alive). You probably don't need the gold and being able to recruit Rogue Mages isn't that helpful (they don't heal). It makes the last scenario (while frustrating because your allies get in your way) pretty easy.

=== The Hunters ===
* Objectives: Defeat all the enemy forces
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/31/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The trick in this one is that your Outlaws fight better in mountains than Heavy Infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

[Comments by Bumblebee] Another trick is that Outlaws are good in the forest, and enemies from the castle have a long way to go before they reach it, so they don't reach the forest together. After Heavy Infantry platoon is taken care of, prepare to meat the first wave of attackers in the forest (some Trappers or Poachers with pierce attack are helpful, Shadow Mages are surprisingly effective too). Send few quick units to the north to take villages. In my game at medium, two Footpads and a watchman were enough to draw two riders to the north, trap them on the narrow forest road for several turns and finally kill them (there are villages to heal in and plenty of space to retreat). As soon as enemies of the first wave have found their eternal home in the forest, counterattack. Take villages, protect wounded, swarm in the dark. Don't recruit too many units in this mission because you will need money for the next one.

=== Glory ===
* Objectives: Destroy all four towers
* Lose if: Baldras dies or time runs out
* Turns: 48/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: Move a unit onto the trap door to destroy a tower
The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress (and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight north and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the west and south entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods southwest of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the Footpads, Outlaws and Fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and Footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush Footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

[Comments by Bumblebee] A different strategy is to avoid direct fight as much as possible and remember you lead guerilla fighters. Recall all quick L2 and L3 units (with at least 6 or 7 moves per turn), recall all ''quick'' L1 Footpads, some poachers and a couple of Thieves or Rogues are helpful too. Spend the first day taking villages and moving your forces, let riders and orcs kill some defenders. Don't send too many units on eastern flank, or they will lure orcs, and orcs will fight mostly you instead of garrison. When army reinforces arrive, retreat if they notice you. Kill pursuers one by one. Let reinforces meet orcs.

Meanwhile, put quick units near every tower. Southern, western and northern sides of the fortress are relatively safe for that. Don't put units too close to bridges and entrances, or they will draw defenders' attention. Let riders and orcs fight and lure enemy forces away from the towers. When a tower is empty for a moment, sneak into it. Quick Footpads can reach entrance to catacombs from outside in one turn if way is free. When riders and orcs are dead, simulate night attacks on the bridge opposite to the towers you want to take. I had to sacrifice some units at the southern bridge before guards left one of the northern towers. I finished at turn 16 at medium.

[Comments by KingElk] Similar to bumblebee, but more specific. This worked on normal difficulty, I'm not sure if it would work on hard. First, recall any Outlaws/Fugitives, or Rangers (I had one ranger (L3 Poacher) and it came in handy fending some of the enemies off, and it is fast.) As the above states, any units with 6/7 moves per turn. Do NOT recall anything else, even if its L3. After, with any leftover gold, recruit Outlaws until you are out of money. Move your entire army (and leader) along the dead west part of the map, until you reach the west entrance. Do NOT fight the army coming from the south gate. They might get a few shots at you but you will beat the scenario before they swing around their main army to trap you in the west (your northwest ally will fend them off for 3+ turns). Split your Outlaws and send 3-5 to the north gate, and the remaining shoved into the west gate. You will probably meet resistance in the west, but the only entrance you need to reach from the west gate is the southwest one. From the north, split again and attempt to reach the northwest and northeast objectives in one turn if possible. As a bonus, if your Outlaw has one extra movement point when it takes an objective, it still has that after and can move onto a castle for 70% defense. The southwest objective can be taken by pushing through the west gate. After those three are down, squeeze some Outlaws from the north or west to the southeast, at any cost. In all likelihood, the northeast Outlaw will have little resistance because of the orc/human fighting. Your leader can head northwest to the corner of the map for safety, don't use him for fighting. NOTE: You don't need the extra ally that was offered earlier in the campaign, or the extra gold. I made the mistake of getting Rogue Mages, but it didn't matter.

[Comments by Hipparchos] Similar to KingElk, but even faster in my experience: recall/recruit all quick troops then it's "student body left" as you march north along the west side of the map. Hugging the edge isn't necessary (and slows you down a bit), just stay about 4 hexes away from the city walls and you won't attract any defenders (which is what you want). Avoid all enemy contact and combat, and ignore villages, as your goal is the NORTH gate! You must accept Helicrom's help, then fall in behind his lines as his horsemen attack the city and attract the guards away from the western walls while the orcs attract the guards away from the eastern walls. I also send a single sacrificial unit east to distract and delay the Wesnoth reinforcements. And sometimes the west gate is left unguarded for a turn, so it's a good idea to drop off an outlaw nearby to exploit that. By the time you're at the north gate, it should be unguarded. The city is fast-moving pavement, so you should be able to rush enough units in through the north gate to take all four towers in one or two turns. The game's AI makes the enemy seek out weaker units to attack, which means they will mostly leave you alone as you take their rear. The entire scenario takes me 12 turns this way at normal difficulty.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Liberty]]

Liberty

2013-08-11T03:01:11Z

Ericppp: Updated to current state /* The Raid */

''Peasant Youths'' (units similar to Footpads) are the core unit for this campaign. High defense, mixed attacks, and low cost makes them handy in all events. You get Harper, a loyal Peasant Youth in all scenarios, and assume the role of Baldras, a ''Village Elder'' (a unit similar to a Bandit); level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

Notice that in this campaign most of your units will be very similar to standard Footpads, Thugs and Poachers, but with an important difference: their counterparts in this campaign (Peasant Youths, Villagers and Peasant Hunters) have a neutral alignment, so you need to adjust your strategies accordingly in case you're accustomed to the Time of Day cycle for chaotic units.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; Footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. None of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of Thugs and Poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the Footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a Huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=== The Raid ===
* Objectives: Defeat the goblins
* Lose if: The goblins reach the village or Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 24/18/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras, Harper and other bandits

You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight; your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running straight up the board and into the town of Dallben (if this happens you lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement range. Using Footpads for this purpose is a good idea, given their high defense.

Running Harper and one other Footpad north works well. Provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north, where you get a couple of thugs for free (3 on ''Easy'') and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run. These guards will show up if the enemy gets too close to Dallben anyway, but since the goblins will try very aggressively to get into town, it's better to support them with extra footpads to keep them out.

=== Civil Disobedience ===
* Objectives: Defeat the army captain
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 14/13/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defense when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defense in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with Poachers and Footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two Poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a Footpad or Thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Relana die or time runs out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with Footpads and Outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two Footpads to go on an extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're doing this. The saurians are much weaker than the orcs so concentrate your forces against the orcs. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

=== Unlawful Orders ===
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere's general
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Lord Maddock die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/22/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Detach two Footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more and closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few Thugs, a couple of Footpads and perhaps 2 Poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an Outlaw and Footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===
* Objectives: Get Baldras to the signpost (preferably without being seen)
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: You will be seen if you end your turn within visual range of an enemy unit
The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack and all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then southeast until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

If you still need to level either Harper or Baldras, go ahead and kill one or two of the soldiers when you are right near the signpost.

=== The Grey Woods ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Lich and the other two enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 50/44/42 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
This is a fairly easy search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the southeast, southwest and northwest corners.

You could almost ignore the southeast village, Helicrom's troops will take care of it; just send say an Outlaw and a Footpad to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below the southeast enemy. Your main force, Footpads plus a few Thugs/Bandits should head southwest across the bridge and have a quick fight with the green Lich's forces that have made it out. Continue on to kill him, and then head south to the other Lich. It is an excellent place to level up some Footpads to L2 or even L3. While I am not over judicious with my use of the "fodder" units, I still came out with about 8 or 9 L2+ units.

At the end, choose to have Helicrom join you in battle (you only get this choice if Helicrom is alive). You probably don't need the gold and being able to recruit Rogue Mages isn't that helpful (they don't heal). It makes the last scenario (while frustrating because your allies get in your way) pretty easy.

=== The Hunters ===
* Objectives: Defeat all the enemy forces
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/31/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The trick in this one is that your Outlaws fight better in mountains than Heavy Infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

[Comments by Bumblebee] Another trick is that Outlaws are good in the forest, and enemies from the castle have a long way to go before they reach it, so they don't reach the forest together. After Heavy Infantry platoon is taken care of, prepare to meat the first wave of attackers in the forest (some Trappers or Poachers with pierce attack are helpful, Shadow Mages are surprisingly effective too). Send few quick units to the north to take villages. In my game at medium, two Footpads and a watchman were enough to draw two riders to the north, trap them on the narrow forest road for several turns and finally kill them (there are villages to heal in and plenty of space to retreat). As soon as enemies of the first wave have found their eternal home in the forest, counterattack. Take villages, protect wounded, swarm in the dark. Don't recruit too many units in this mission because you will need money for the next one.

=== Glory ===
* Objectives: Destroy all four towers
* Lose if: Baldras dies or time runs out
* Turns: 48/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: Move a unit onto the trap door to destroy a tower
The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress (and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight north and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the west and south entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods southwest of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the Footpads, Outlaws and Fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and Footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush Footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

[Comments by Bumblebee] A different strategy is to avoid direct fight as much as possible and remember you lead guerilla fighters. Recall all quick L2 and L3 units (with at least 6 or 7 moves per turn), recall all ''quick'' L1 Footpads, some poachers and a couple of Thieves or Rogues are helpful too. Spend the first day taking villages and moving your forces, let riders and orcs kill some defenders. Don't send too many units on eastern flank, or they will lure orcs, and orcs will fight mostly you instead of garrison. When army reinforces arrive, retreat if they notice you. Kill pursuers one by one. Let reinforces meet orcs.

Meanwhile, put quick units near every tower. Southern, western and northern sides of the fortress are relatively safe for that. Don't put units too close to bridges and entrances, or they will draw defenders' attention. Let riders and orcs fight and lure enemy forces away from the towers. When a tower is empty for a moment, sneak into it. Quick Footpads can reach entrance to catacombs from outside in one turn if way is free. When riders and orcs are dead, simulate night attacks on the bridge opposite to the towers you want to take. I had to sacrifice some units at the southern bridge before guards left one of the northern towers. I finished at turn 16 at medium.

[Comments by KingElk] Similar to bumblebee, but more specific. This worked on normal difficulty, I'm not sure if it would work on hard. First, recall any Outlaws/Fugitives, or Rangers (I had one ranger (L3 Poacher) and it came in handy fending some of the enemies off, and it is fast.) As the above states, any units with 6/7 moves per turn. Do NOT recall anything else, even if its L3. After, with any leftover gold, recruit Outlaws until you are out of money. Move your entire army (and leader) along the dead west part of the map, until you reach the west entrance. Do NOT fight the army coming from the south gate. They might get a few shots at you but you will beat the scenario before they swing around their main army to trap you in the west (your northwest ally will fend them off for 3+ turns). Split your Outlaws and send 3-5 to the north gate, and the remaining shoved into the west gate. You will probably meet resistance in the west, but the only entrance you need to reach from the west gate is the southwest one. From the north, split again and attempt to reach the northwest and northeast objectives in one turn if possible. As a bonus, if your Outlaw has one extra movement point when it takes an objective, it still has that after and can move onto a castle for 70% defense. The southwest objective can be taken by pushing through the west gate. After those three are down, squeeze some Outlaws from the north or west to the southeast, at any cost. In all likelihood, the northeast Outlaw will have little resistance because of the orc/human fighting. Your leader can head northwest to the corner of the map for safety, don't use him for fighting. NOTE: You don't need the extra ally that was offered earlier in the campaign, or the extra gold. I made the mistake of getting Rogue Mages, but it didn't matter.

[Comments by Hipparchos] Similar to KingElk, but even faster in my experience: recall/recruit all quick troops then it's "student body left" as you march north along the west side of the map. Hugging the edge isn't necessary (and slows you down a bit), just stay about 4 hexes away from the city walls and you won't attract any defenders (which is what you want). Avoid all enemy contact and combat, and ignore villages, as your goal is the NORTH gate! You must accept Helicrom's help, then fall in behind his lines as his horsemen attack the city and attract the guards away from the western walls while the orcs attract the guards away from the eastern walls. I also send a single sacrificial unit east to distract and delay the Wesnoth reinforcements. And sometimes the west gate is left unguarded for a turn, so it's a good idea to drop off an outlaw nearby to exploit that. By the time you're at the north gate, it should be unguarded. The city is fast-moving pavement, so you should be able to rush enough units in through the north gate to take all four towers in one or two turns. The game's AI makes the enemy seek out weaker units to attack, which means they will mostly leave you alone as you take their rear. The entire scenario takes me 12 turns this way at normal difficulty.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Liberty]]

Liberty

2013-08-11T02:37:10Z

Ericppp: Explain the particularities of this campaign's units

''Peasant Youths'' (units similar to Footpads) are the core unit for this campaign. High defense, mixed attacks, and low cost makes them handy in all events. You get Harper, a loyal Peasant Youth in all scenarios, and assume the role of Baldras, a ''Village Elder'' (a unit similar to a Bandit); level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

Notice that in this campaign most of your units will be very similar to standard Footpads, Thugs and Poachers, but with an important difference: their counterparts in this campaign (Peasant Youths, Villagers and Peasant Hunters) have a neutral alignment, so you need to adjust your strategies accordingly in case you're accustomed to the Time of Day cycle for chaotic units.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; Footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. None of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of Thugs and Poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the Footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a Huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=== The Raid ===
* Objectives: Defeat the goblins
* Lose if: The goblins reach the village or Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 24/18/14 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras, Harper and other bandits
You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight;
your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running
straight up the board and into the village (if this happens you
lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement
range. Spend your loyal Footpads, you won't get to keep more than two
of them after you leave the village.

Running Harper and one other Footpad north works well; provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north (where you get a couple of thugs for free) and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run.

=== Civil Disobedience ===
* Objectives: Defeat the army captain
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 14/13/12 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defense when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defense in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with Poachers and Footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two Poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a Footpad or Thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Relana die or time runs out
* Turns: 35/30/25 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with Footpads and Outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two Footpads to go on an extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're doing this. The saurians are much weaker than the orcs so concentrate your forces against the orcs. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

=== Unlawful Orders ===
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere's general
* Lose if: Baldras, Harper or Lord Maddock die or time runs out
* Turns: 30/22/16 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
Detach two Footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more and closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few Thugs, a couple of Footpads and perhaps 2 Poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an Outlaw and Footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===
* Objectives: Get Baldras to the signpost (preferably without being seen)
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 34/30/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: You will be seen if you end your turn within visual range of an enemy unit
The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack and all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then southeast until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

If you still need to level either Harper or Baldras, go ahead and kill one or two of the soldiers when you are right near the signpost.

=== The Grey Woods ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Lich and the other two enemy leaders
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 50/44/42 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
This is a fairly easy search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the southeast, southwest and northwest corners.

You could almost ignore the southeast village, Helicrom's troops will take care of it; just send say an Outlaw and a Footpad to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below the southeast enemy. Your main force, Footpads plus a few Thugs/Bandits should head southwest across the bridge and have a quick fight with the green Lich's forces that have made it out. Continue on to kill him, and then head south to the other Lich. It is an excellent place to level up some Footpads to L2 or even L3. While I am not over judicious with my use of the "fodder" units, I still came out with about 8 or 9 L2+ units.

At the end, choose to have Helicrom join you in battle (you only get this choice if Helicrom is alive). You probably don't need the gold and being able to recruit Rogue Mages isn't that helpful (they don't heal). It makes the last scenario (while frustrating because your allies get in your way) pretty easy.

=== The Hunters ===
* Objectives: Defeat all the enemy forces
* Lose if: Baldras or Harper die or time runs out
* Turns: 36/31/26 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
The trick in this one is that your Outlaws fight better in mountains than Heavy Infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

[Comments by Bumblebee] Another trick is that Outlaws are good in the forest, and enemies from the castle have a long way to go before they reach it, so they don't reach the forest together. After Heavy Infantry platoon is taken care of, prepare to meat the first wave of attackers in the forest (some Trappers or Poachers with pierce attack are helpful, Shadow Mages are surprisingly effective too). Send few quick units to the north to take villages. In my game at medium, two Footpads and a watchman were enough to draw two riders to the north, trap them on the narrow forest road for several turns and finally kill them (there are villages to heal in and plenty of space to retreat). As soon as enemies of the first wave have found their eternal home in the forest, counterattack. Take villages, protect wounded, swarm in the dark. Don't recruit too many units in this mission because you will need money for the next one.

=== Glory ===
* Objectives: Destroy all four towers
* Lose if: Baldras dies or time runs out
* Turns: 48/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Baldras and Harper
* Other: Move a unit onto the trap door to destroy a tower
The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress (and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight north and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the west and south entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods southwest of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the Footpads, Outlaws and Fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and Footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush Footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

[Comments by Bumblebee] A different strategy is to avoid direct fight as much as possible and remember you lead guerilla fighters. Recall all quick L2 and L3 units (with at least 6 or 7 moves per turn), recall all ''quick'' L1 Footpads, some poachers and a couple of Thieves or Rogues are helpful too. Spend the first day taking villages and moving your forces, let riders and orcs kill some defenders. Don't send too many units on eastern flank, or they will lure orcs, and orcs will fight mostly you instead of garrison. When army reinforces arrive, retreat if they notice you. Kill pursuers one by one. Let reinforces meet orcs.

Meanwhile, put quick units near every tower. Southern, western and northern sides of the fortress are relatively safe for that. Don't put units too close to bridges and entrances, or they will draw defenders' attention. Let riders and orcs fight and lure enemy forces away from the towers. When a tower is empty for a moment, sneak into it. Quick Footpads can reach entrance to catacombs from outside in one turn if way is free. When riders and orcs are dead, simulate night attacks on the bridge opposite to the towers you want to take. I had to sacrifice some units at the southern bridge before guards left one of the northern towers. I finished at turn 16 at medium.

[Comments by KingElk] Similar to bumblebee, but more specific. This worked on normal difficulty, I'm not sure if it would work on hard. First, recall any Outlaws/Fugitives, or Rangers (I had one ranger (L3 Poacher) and it came in handy fending some of the enemies off, and it is fast.) As the above states, any units with 6/7 moves per turn. Do NOT recall anything else, even if its L3. After, with any leftover gold, recruit Outlaws until you are out of money. Move your entire army (and leader) along the dead west part of the map, until you reach the west entrance. Do NOT fight the army coming from the south gate. They might get a few shots at you but you will beat the scenario before they swing around their main army to trap you in the west (your northwest ally will fend them off for 3+ turns). Split your Outlaws and send 3-5 to the north gate, and the remaining shoved into the west gate. You will probably meet resistance in the west, but the only entrance you need to reach from the west gate is the southwest one. From the north, split again and attempt to reach the northwest and northeast objectives in one turn if possible. As a bonus, if your Outlaw has one extra movement point when it takes an objective, it still has that after and can move onto a castle for 70% defense. The southwest objective can be taken by pushing through the west gate. After those three are down, squeeze some Outlaws from the north or west to the southeast, at any cost. In all likelihood, the northeast Outlaw will have little resistance because of the orc/human fighting. Your leader can head northwest to the corner of the map for safety, don't use him for fighting. NOTE: You don't need the extra ally that was offered earlier in the campaign, or the extra gold. I made the mistake of getting Rogue Mages, but it didn't matter.

[Comments by Hipparchos] Similar to KingElk, but even faster in my experience: recall/recruit all quick troops then it's "student body left" as you march north along the west side of the map. Hugging the edge isn't necessary (and slows you down a bit), just stay about 4 hexes away from the city walls and you won't attract any defenders (which is what you want). Avoid all enemy contact and combat, and ignore villages, as your goal is the NORTH gate! You must accept Helicrom's help, then fall in behind his lines as his horsemen attack the city and attract the guards away from the western walls while the orcs attract the guards away from the eastern walls. I also send a single sacrificial unit east to distract and delay the Wesnoth reinforcements. And sometimes the west gate is left unguarded for a turn, so it's a good idea to drop off an outlaw nearby to exploit that. By the time you're at the north gate, it should be unguarded. The city is fast-moving pavement, so you should be able to rush enough units in through the north gate to take all four towers in one or two turns. The game's AI makes the enemy seek out weaker units to attack, which means they will mostly leave you alone as you take their rear. The entire scenario takes me 12 turns this way at normal difficulty.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Liberty]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-10T07:41:20Z

Ericppp: Expanded with information about benefits for the next scenario /* Pebbles in the Flood */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard, composed of loyal Elvish Rangers. The size of the bodyguard will be of 4, 3 or 2 units for the easy/medium/hard difficulty levels respectively. These rangers are fast and powerful in the forest, and they possess the ''ambush'' ability, which helps you set up traps for the enemy. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush just to trigger this early.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. Note, however, that any units with the ''quick'' trait would probably be more useful in the next scenario, fighting along with Deoran, so you may want to avoid recalling them here.

None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, and you may try to form an alliance with them. You also gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer gold to the Trolls (you're required to pay 100/150/200 gold on easy/medium/hard, respectively), they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Spam fodder units to screen Ethiliel. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

You may also use a distraction tactic. Move your units south, while Ethiliel goes north, staying out of the enemy move zones. Remember to protect Dorean with weaker units. Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin. Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions. The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario. The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns. The following table describes these benefits; the column on the right explains your reward for holding the undead for at least the number of turns in the left column.

{|
!Turns
!Benefits
|-
|6
|An ''Encampment (Castle)'' location on the northern bank of the river.
|-
|7
|A Heavy Infantryman occupies the above encampment.
|-
|8
|A new Encampment (Castle) location.
|-
|9
|A Heavy Infantryman occupies the above encampment.
|-
|10
|Two additional villages.
|-
|11
|Two additional villages.
|-
|12
|Two additional ''Castle'' locations.
|-
|13
|A new Encampment (Castle) location, occupied by a Lieutenant.
|-
|14
|A new Encampment (Castle) location, occupied by a Spearman.
|-
|15
|A new Encampment (Castle) location, occupied by a Bowman.
|-
|16
|A new Encampment (Castle) location, occupied by a Heavy Infantryman.
|-
|17
|An ''illuminating campfire''. This is a special terrain modifier that irradiates light for a large radius around it, providing all those locations with the same effect as the ''illuminates'' ability of certain units (like Mages of Light).
|-
|18
|A new illuminating campfire.
|-
|19
|A new illuminating campfire.
|-
|20
|A new illuminating campfire.
|-
|21
|A new Encampment (Castle), south of the river.
|-
|22
|A new Encampment (Castle).
|-
|> 22
|20 additional gold per turn, above 22.
|}

In addition to this, one of the key elements for the next scenario is the help you receive from the ''Council of Westin'', composed by an Arch Mage, a Red Mage, a Silver Mage and two White Mages. If you happen to maintain Sir Gerrick alive for 24 turns here, the full Council will be with you from the start. Otherwise, you will start with just the Silver Mage, and the rest of the Council will arrive in turn number (25 - number_of_turns_lasted).

Unlocking all the benefits can be quite a challenge (at least on ''Normal'' and ''Hard'' difficulties), but with some effort it shouldn't be too hard to hold out for at least 12 turns, which gives you those two extra Castle locations. They are quite useful to start recruiting in larger numbers from the beginning.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

HeirToTheThrone

2013-08-06T18:22:09Z

Ericppp: Rewritten to provide more "walkthroughy" info /* Scenario 19A - Snow Plains */

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad. It contains spoilers.

Some of the information in this walkthrough is outdated, as the campaign has seen some changes over the years without the respective updates of the walkthrough. It is generally valid and useful, however.

The suggestions herein are based on the "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty levels. It should be possible to win the "Easy" difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]] and perhaps also. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

There is a [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=39 subforum] for providing feedback on the scenarios of this campaign, with each scenario having its individual thread, where you can post feedback, read other players' comments and sometimes get your questions answered. Note, however, that some of the posts date back to 2004... remember to mind the post dates. The scenario forum threads also have the occasional replay attached to a post (the 'replay' savegame that gets created whenever you complete a scenario).

There are also some personal walkthrough forum posts, such as [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough]. Finally, [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough to "Heir to the Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations and commentary, to the first six scenarios.

'''Warning - spoilers ahead!'''

== Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged ==
Scenario objectives: Both Konrad and Delfador must survive, and Konrad must escape to the signpost in the northwest corner of the map.

The orcs as well as your allies will levy a great many troops, you'll soon find yourself between the lines in a huge battle. All those units slugging it out can take quite some time, you may want to try two options on the Preferences dialog, "Accelerated Speed" or maybe even "Skip AI Moves".

This scenario is a "runner" scenario; on turn one, recruit a castle full of fresh recruits, and immediately make a break for it! If you're new to Wesnoth, getting Konrad out of there in one piece will be difficult enough and may require you to start over a couple of times. Hint: don't keep your units all lumped around Konrad, as a large host will attract the enemies' attention.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. Either way, you should send Delfador and most of your army straight north. This is a ruse, the sole purpose is to lure the enemy towards the road while Konrad (with only one or two level-1 bodyguards) makes his way towards the exit. There's no chance of winning, your troops should perform a skirmishing retreat westwards into the forest.

Other than getting Konrad on his way, the inofficial objective of this scenario is to gain some experience for your troops. Experience is gained by fighting; once a level of experience is reached, your units will "level up" and become more powerful units. Killing an opponent will give much more experience than just fighting, so you should try to arrange it in such a way that the unit you want to upgrade gets to deliver the coup de grace.

Now a few words about the units at your disposal. In-game, you cannot check the data of unknown units; if you want to take a peek anyway, check the [http://www.wesnoth.org/units/ Wesnoth Unit Tree].

* Fighters and Archers. Melee and ranged, all elvish warriors are capable of both, it's more a matter of emphasis than an actual distinction. When they level up, most should become Heroes and Rangers, repectively; you'll only need one or two Captains, and probably are better off without any Marksmen: spellcasters will serve the same purpose much better.

* Shamans are minor healers. As a rule of thumb, you should never enter into any scenario without at least one healer. Leveling up a Shaman is somewhat tricky, as they can do only very little damage. If you use stronger units to knock an enemy unit's HP down, you can move your shamans up from behind the lines to administer the finishing blow. As difficult as it is to level up a shaman, it is well worth the hassle. Druids will be standard healers, you want one (and possibly only one) of those as soon as possible. A Sorceress cannot heal at all, but is a powerful spellcaster. At their higest level, both will learn to fly and become very mobile.

* Scouts may seem weak, but there's more to them than meets the eye. While most riders suffer severe penalties in difficult terrain, the elvish variant can cross rivers, swamps and even mountains rather quickly and will usually even receive a reasonable defense modifier. Insofar, they're less like horsemen and more like fast infantry. Whether you employ them in numbers is a matter of taste, however, you should always remember that you have these extremely mobile units at your disposal.

* Konrad, your leader, starts most scenarios at a keep where he may recruit some troops, but that doesn't mean that he should stay there forever: Being always on the map, he may just as well make himself useful. Getting him to level two will earn him a bow as well as the "leadership" ability, both will come in handy time and again.

* Delfador, the Elder Mage, is insanely powerful (at least compared to your other troops for the time being). Mages usually aren't very sturdy, but at level 5 he has so many hit points that you don't have to worry too much about him – he'll survive quite a few counterattacks. Don't overcommit him, but the first few scenarios depend on his abilities to instantly slay nearly any opponent and soaking up some damage that would otherwise kill several of your (still minor) units.

Remember to use the CTRL-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move. Be careful with your heroes and constantly think of their safety.

Early finish bonus: 32 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Scenario 2 - Blackwater Port ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns (9 on Hard), or kill the enemy leader.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel, a loyal Horseman. The importance of loyalty is explained in [http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/CampaignStrategies#The_importance_of_loyalty Campaign Strategies].

'''Horsemen'''
:Now that's cavalry as we know it. Their charges can be truly devastating if somewhat suicidal, as your ally will demonstrate soon. Employing charge attacks takes a little getting used to, as it differs so much from ordinary melee. Keep an eye on the "Damage Calculations" until you get the knack of it.<br>

Back to topic: If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or who have specific traits that you need. Hole up in the forest on your side of the road (so the enemy has to stand on the plains to face you). Feel free to seize a few villages from your ally, he won't complain. If you have a unit to spare, you may even take the villages next his castle. Matter of fact, this is a prudent move – after all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw some orcs south, reducing the pressure on your actual army and giving you more freedom to shape the battle. However, be careful to not let him get pinned down and killed.

Sir Kaylan will send one or two horsemen to the enemy lines to assist you. Although these horsemen are not under your direct control, they can serve as a distraction if you manoeuver your forces properly, taking the brunt during the enemy's turn to attack.

The first night will be tough, be prepared to lose some units; but if you use the terrain to your advantage, you should have enough of an army left to launch a serious counterattack during the next day. The momentum should keep you going even through the next night and you may soon find yourself besieging the enemy keep. However, the actual objective is merely to survive – if everything fails, you may still retreat behind the swordsmen guarding Sir Kaylans fortress.

There is an early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader, however, it will probably be small. In other words: rushing it won't be worthwhile, instead you should play it safe: manoeuver carefully and try to get some experience to those units that need it most. By the end of this scenario, you really ought to have a Druid – that's absolutely vital. Next in line should be an elvish Fighter (make him a Captain) and Konrad, anything else is optional. But the more the merrier as they say.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Scenario 3 - Isle of Alduin ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and magi.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn, especially saurians, because these pesky units can kill weakened units in the rear. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with magi. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember magi work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to leveling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably magi and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

A note about playing with Magi: They are weak units, but become important later in the game. Over the next few levels, you'll want to level at least two Magi to White Magi for later in the game; they have an arcane (or holy) attack which does incredible amounts of damage to the undead. Fire Magi can eventually level up to level 4 Great Magi, which are walking killing machines, and Fire Magi do decent damage to most other units, especially trolls and skeletons. Magi are weak, however, so they need to be guarded by stronger units. Don't let the enemy have more than one attack position on them.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Scenario 4 - Bay of Pearls ==
Scenario objectives: Kill one or both enemy leaders.

Opening moves: On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on: by the end of your very first turn, you should have five mermen in the water.

Watch out: there's one cage far out at sea that's easily overlooked. The first Merman you set free tells you as much, but if you skip the message... Anyway, it is guarded by two nagas. Send two or (at most) three Mermen up there and *do not* fight it out: get the cage first, then kill the nagas with the help of the mermen from that cage. It holds at least four Mermen, on of them an Initiate. The latter may become a healer, try to get her experienced as soon as possible.

Even further north than the last cage there's a trident in the water. It will confer a powerful ranged attack to its bearer. Have a "quick" merman pick it up (who should eventually become a Hoplite).

The remaining mermen should try to hold the sea leaders' recruits at bay. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal. Don't push too hard, especially not at night when your attacks are weak. Keeping your loyal mermen alive is more important than the possession of a village, and things will look much better on the next day. If that doesn't suffice, the troops from the deep-sea cage may lend a hand.

It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so eventually your need to do this. The Storm Trident and the Initiate both have magic attacks (70% to-hit regardless of terrain) and should go a long way... you better attack him during the day, even if it means that you need to wait for a few turns.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and wolves. Your decision is how far west to engage the enemy, though really, you have little choice: You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. Some wolves may reach you in the night, but the bulk of his army won't arrive until daybreak. Press hard during the day, and there will be little left of his army when the night comes.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, your loyal mage, and an elven fighter to level-2 (if you haven't already).

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose (and get an early finish bonus).

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up many units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players or those who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise may wish to consider the sea route to the Isle of the Damned, where you will find a loyal White Mage who *might* join you... if you meet some very tough winning conditions. Either choice will be a battle against undead.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 5A - Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 5B - Isle of the Damned ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leaders, or survive for 27 turns.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Urlaf, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

While your new units might seem weaker than your old troops, they are chaotic like their undead opponents and Thugs and Footpads deal useful impact damage. Use the Footpads effectively to hold your line and the Thugs to deal the main portion of the damage.

Mermen can be used successfully to harass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though - their pierce damage does very little to the undead, especially at night. Mermen are also useful to hold the many isolated villages scattered throughout the map.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated. There are only a few ways to achieve the early finish. One involves recalling mermen from the previous scenario, including the one with the magical trident, and sending them to kill the southern lich, while land troops attack the other.

The other two center on Moremirmu. Get Moremirmu early, and send him along with a few footmen and thugs north, and use other units to draw fire. Meanwhile, secure the rest of the center of the map from the south. If Moremirmu can finish off the first Lich in time, send that group south -- it takes 10 turns to reach the other Lich, so you'll need to accomplish this by Turn 16! The alternative is to simultaneously send a large force south with Konrad, lure the Lich onto bad ground and surround it.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== Scenario 6 - The Siege of Elensefar ==
Scenario objectives: Kill both enemy leaders.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way - but casualties will probably be lower than if you do it the slow way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that the undead are well on their way to join the orcs occupying the city. Speed is a factor.

Konrad will receive some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties. Also, don't forget that mages can't take a lot of abuse, especially from melee attacks. You will have to figure out how to use your less effective elvish units and horsemen to shield your mages.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Scenario 7 - Crossroads ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the north-eastern enemy leader.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

Note: The first two villages on the screen that you will likely attempt to grab trigger an Elvish Fighter and Elvish Archer to join your party and warn you about the hills. Keep in mind that they, too, are Loyal troops.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== Scenario 8 - The Princess of Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Subdue Li'sar to win

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

[hipparchos] Patience is the key here. I send a couple of L2 horsemen north to take the northern villages, then cover your left flank. A couple of mermen swing south to take the southern ones, then cover your right flank. (The storm-trident merman stays on the village next to the mineshaft will deal with the Duellists.) But I put the bulk of my army on the west bank of the river, ''without crossing it''. Let the enemy come to you, because they will be much easier to defeat when they're standing in the river, and that's especially true as the Princess recruits L2 defenders later in the scenario. The bridge is the northern end of your main line, and Delfador can defend it easily with one other strong unit. Only after all the Princess's defenders have been defeated do you cross the river and take her keep.

== Scenario 9 - The Valley of Death ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

You'll be facing many level-2 undead. They're all dangerous but two kinds require special attention:
* Spectres (level2 ghosts) are fast in every terrain, somewhat hard to hit, resistant to all common kinds of damage, and have a draining attack. Attacking them in melee is not recommendend, killing them with arrows will eventually work but takes many arrows. They are vulnerable to arcane spells and fireballs, though.
* Walking Corpses: they're slow, they're weak, they're fragile. Usually nothing to worry about, but this time they're many. Hordes. Night of the Living Dead. A strong fighter will easily slay them, but that can become his downfall: an attacking corpse that gets killed makes room for the next corpse to move in and attack... and the next, and the next, and each one gets a few blows. Even a Paladin or Champion will eventually be overwhelmed, taking around ten or fifteen zombies with him. Whether you consider this to be a good exchange is up to you. Incidentally, something similar can happen between Paladins and level-1 Skeletons.

The castle you start in is a well-defensible position, but all enemies arrive at about the same time. Once surrounded, you'll have very little wiggle room or inside tiles for your wounded units to retreat to. Filling the moat with Mermen might work a bit better, but their tridents won't impress the skeletons.

You should consider attacking the southern enemy, then hole up in his castle and the surrounding hills. This increases the distance to the others: their troops will reach you later and they will be strung out, so you don't have to fight them all at once.

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes -- but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen (or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

[edit: Viper] On medium, I found that I could only make this strategy work by save/loading <b>and</b> by using knights or better for the Litches (as horsemen could not do the job in a single turn even hitting on every attack).

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Scenario 10 - Gryphon Mountain ==
* Scenario objectives: Defeat the Mother Gryphon and the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 24 gold / turn
* Other: The actual completion condition is defeating only the enemy leader.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robert, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and four sleeping Gryphons.

You kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will -- and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

== Scenario 11 - The Ford of Abez ==
Scenario objectives: Move Konrad to the north side of the river

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. Killing the Princess is meant to be impossible: she has plenty of troops as is, and if you actually get near her there will be numerous high-quality reinforcements. Do not even try to attack her, it will be a waste of good troops for no gain. Instead, fill the river with mermen: this is an excellent opportunity to get many of them leveled up.

But first things first: your task is to get Konrad across the river. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. All will happily fight each other if they ever meet, but with your army standing right between them in the middle of the river... it will pretty much seem as if everyone was out to get you.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. If you have some of the flying elvish units, they move and fight equally well over land or water. Wait for the Orcs and Humans to get into the water where the mermen have excellent defence while the landlubbers do not.

Even if you have the money, don't recruit for more than two turns, otherwise Konrad might not even make it into the river. The scenario ends as soon as he makes it to the other side (off the beach and onto flat ground) -- by the time he gets there, there will be few orcs left on that shore, Kalenz and Delfador can well deal with them. If you recruit any land troops at all (healers perhaps?), make sure they have at least two moves in shallow water.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your mermen some XP, and you don't really need the early finish bonus.

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8716 forum discussion]

== Scenario 12 - Northern Winter ==
*Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50 (as of 1.8.3 on medium difficulty turns = 40)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a random soldier
*Early finish bonus: 47 / turn
*Other:
**Snow falls on turns 6 and 10, making the tundra patches larger.
<br />
This is a relatively simple scenario. The enemy will mostly raise level-1 wolf riders and orcish archers, plus the occasional level-2 Ogre or Troll. You can field a similar mix of mostly fresh recruits plus a few veterans. Throughout the scenario, the wolves will attempt to seize villages, often bypassing your forces: a few Elvish Scouts behind your lines will come in handy. Alternatively, your loyal Thieves can play hide-and-seek just as well. Don't overrecruit, though: there's only so many units you can actually bring to bear on the enemy. You've got enough time to win this twice, so you may chose to take it slow and milk this battle for experience. You'll still end this with more than enough gold in your coffers.

== Scenario 13 - The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objectives: Move Konrad to entrance of the Dwarfen Kingdom
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 26 / 20 / 15
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, one experienced Rider, one outlaw unit (if you have any)

You may defeat all enemy leaders if you feel like it, but this won't end the scenario. The sole winning condition is to get Konrad to the entrance of the Dwarven Kingdom. Actually, there are two entrances: the "Great Gates", clearly labeled as such, and a less conspicious side entrance in the north-eastern corner. Only one of these is open, the other is blocked from the inside (determined at random).

You start the scenario with one rider who suggests to scout ahead: that's a good idea, even though you may chose another unit for the task (the game picks the most experienced). If you happen to have a ''quick'' Lancer, it could be a good idea to use it for this purpose, but anyone reaching an entrance will tell you whether it's open or not.

Alternatively, if you played the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about his uncle who used to have business with the dwarves, hiding in a village along the way (at position [18,24], you'd probably seize it anyway). The uncle is a loyal bandit who joins your troops; he also tells you which entrance to chose, main gate or mine tunnels. It pays off to actually read that dialog.

The most minimalistic approach is to recruit one castle full of cavalry and RUN. The enemies have to cover some distance and cross difficult terrain in order to get in you way -- if Konrad starts running on turn one, he can move past them practically unopposed. It falls to the cavalry to bring up the rear: let them form a line somewhere near the Pillars of Thunedain while Konrad, Delfador and the other walkers keep going. Holding the line for a single turn is enough, then the riders may follow Konrad, leaving the pursuers behind and unable to catch up again (except for the wolves, but there shouldn't be many).

You can still follow this basic principle if you recruit for two turns, adding a healer or two and perhaps some Rangers (their ambushes will stop many opponents). If you recruit for more than two turns, this will become a rather normal battle: your rearguard can no longer disengage, but will have to keep on fighting. There's nothing wrong with that, you can gain quite some experience that way, just don't forget the actual objective.

It's useful to know that moving any unit close to the small lake near the main entrance (any position inside the square between [10, 10] and [15, 15]) will cause an aquatic monster to appear. It will attack anything that moves (including orcs and trolls) and poisons its victims, so watch out.

Konrad needs to get into the mines. Scenario ends with early finish bonus as soon he does so.

== Scenario 14 - Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objectives: Find the dwarves
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 19
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Secret pasage in southeastern part of the tunnel
** A very short and straightforward map

In principle, this is quite simple. You cannot recruit and just have to walk down that corridor until you find the dwarves -- you can't possibly miss them. You will be attacked by a few bats. They may hurt, that's all. This is mostly a lesson: see how slow Kalenz is in the caves? Notice his abysmal terrain defense? Clearly, this is no place for elves.

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southwest. Just stick to the wall, step by step, and you'll eventually find it. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty spider: watch out! It's a level-3 beast that poisons and slows.

After you're done with the bats, you can just sit there and wait until your men are healed again. There is no turn limit, after all. Once you found the secret door, do not get in. Step back a bit and the spider will rush out where you can attack her three to one. You should be able to kill her in a single turn, don't worry about getting poisoned -- you won't die from poison and there are no other enemies left. However, if you fail to kill her quickly... you saved the game, didn't you?

== Scenario 15 - The Lost General ==
* Objectives: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 64(!)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing both enemy leaders

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recalling, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a Gryphon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

Tip: If you make dwarf leader to survive (and actually reveal him), Dwarvish Guardsman will become available.

Note: If you recall/recruit a merman and send it to the pond, then have it go to the whirlpool, it will arrive in a hidden cavern with a friendly ulfserker. Once your merman returns to the whirlpool through the other end, it will carry the ulf with it.

== Scenario 16 - Hasty Alliance ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

The way I did it was to recruit a keep of thieves (the cheapest unit) and move Delfador and Kalenz out of the way. Then my allies were able to send help over so that I could get 'real' units on my second turn without suffering casualties. One thief survived and I got a Rogue with 36/56 XP by the end of the scenario! -CountPenguin

== Scenario 17 - The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objectives: Capture the Sceptre of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** 300 gold gift from Li'sar
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus
** Randomly generated map

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the Sceptre is.

There's three or four enemy leaders, depending on difficulty. The map is randomly generated; there's no telling how many villages there are and where... but more often than not, it's something like 25 villages and most will be placed where you can seize them early. The scenario certainly feels as if you're in for a major underground struggle, but the enemy leaders have little money to begin with and -usually- they won't have much of an income either.

Usually there's two large tunnels going north, and quite often you meet little resistance in one, and quite a lot in the other -- though the latter still doesn't qualify as tough. You can gain quite some XP in the contested tunnel, just form a shieldwall with (mostly) guardians, play it safe, and you can level up some 4-8 dwarves. It's a good idea to station Kalenz here, his faerie fire will help a lot against the occasional lvl-3 Troll.

Meanwhile, The Princess, Delfador, one healer and several of your better dwarves should move up the less contested corridor and scout the map. The Scepter usually is somewhere about 2/3rds up the map. You may encounter the occasional enemy... it's alright to buzz off in all directions, but make sure that everyone has a line of retreat and may receive support within a turn or two.

The scenario ends as soon as Konrad or the Princess gets to the scepter. You may delay this a bit in order to milk a few more XP, but there's not that many more to be gained by then. All things considered, it's better to let Li'sar have the scepter -- she'll be with you until the end, she has no ranged attack, and while Konrad will often be held back by recruiting, Li'sar can be in the frontline from turn one.

Note: When the earth rumbles, something actually happens. There are lava chasms in various places, and these grow when there is a rumble, so keep your units away.

== Scenario 18 - A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objectives: Defeat either of the leaders
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill either leader
* Other:
** The next two scenarios are three different routes to the Elven kingdom, depending on the enemy leader you kill:
*** Northern (Orcish) leader: [[#Scenario 19A - Snow Plains | The Snow Plains]] where you can get the Flaming Sword (15-4, magical), followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** Southern (Undead) leader: [[#Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread|The Swamp Of Dread]] where you can get the Void Armor (high resistance to blade, pierce, impact) , followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** If you take a merman east on the river to the edge of the map, you will brave [[Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria|Cliffs of Thoria]] which (used to be) an insanely difficult battle where you can find a loyal Sergeant (may become a level-4 leader). It will be followed by [[Scenario 20B - Underground Channels|Underground Channels]].
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts
** First real chance to level gryphons

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

Going south is the easiest way: the Orcs coming from the north may only cross the river at the bridge, a choke-point that's easy to block. In fact, a determined attack may defeat the undead before the bulk of the Orcs even makes it to the bridge. Fighting the Orcs in the hills will take longer while the undead can walk through deep water or fly over it, crossing the river wherever they like.

Going south will also the most prudent choice when considering the possible goodies: currently, Li'sar goes into battle wearing lingerie. While a magic sword or a loyal leader might come in handy, you don't need them as badly as the Princess needs a suit of armor.

The undead need to be dealt with even if you don't want to kill their leader. Delfador, Kalenz and Li'sar all have undead-killing ranged attacks (you ''did'' give her the scepter, didn't you?) — add two more Mages (one of them a healer) and three dwarfish Steelclads as bodyguards. Recruit those on turn one and move them to a position where they may receive the Chocobones' attack by dusk. You need at least steelclads in order to survive their charge. However, after the Chocobones are gone the remaining undead ought to be manageable even if you don't throw any more troops that way (though you may do so if you're after the undead and want this to be finished quickly). You may need a few turns' rest before you can tackle the Death Knight, but eventually your spellcasters should dispose of him quickly.

In order to hold back the Orcs, a few elves plus a healer are enough to secure your end of the bridge; the Orcs will be reluctant to attack even level-1 archers during the day, and if you employ more and better troops (like, level-3 loyalists in the woods and a few mermen in the water) the Orcs may not even attack at night. There's not much experience to be gained that way, though. If you want to actually fight the Orcs, you should get to the other side and meet them there. There's plenty of mountains, an excellent opportunity to get some more experience to your dwarves (you will have good use for high-level Dwarves later on). Dwarves, Gryphons and Orcs all have high defense in the mountains, so fighting will be slow.

It will be a long walk to the northern leader even after you rubbed out his army. You might consider an assassination: send like 4-6 suicidal gryphons to his keep. Bonus points if you have a Silver Mage (teleport!). Of course, you can assassinate him without defeating his host first. just wait until his army is too far away to turn back and help him.

Talking about Gryphons... this is the first time that you can really use them. Gryphons alone won't really impress the Orcs, not even when supported by leaders and healers (they're level-1 units, after all). They may however seize a few villages, harass and distract the enemy, track down wounded units and so on. You should certainly get a few.

They must have changed this scenario. As of v 1.9.5 at medium level it's absurdly easy. I recruited just one keep (two paladins, two mages of light, and two griffons). Then charged for the undead leader (South) and wiped him and his evil minions out by the end of turn 9. The griffons didn't even get in the fight. The Orcs hadn't even reached the river bridge. ~ Sojourner, 4/16/11.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 19A - Snow Plains ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 43 / 40 / 37
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill the leader
* Other:
** Obtain the Flaming Sword
** Li'sar will tell you she does not like her mother

The main feature of this scenario, as its name suggests, is the terrain. Both armies will be slowed down by the snow. You may try recalling thieves and elves, who are not slowed down as much as other types of units. Another good choice is horsemen (Knights, Paladins, Lancers), which will have a field day, given that the enemy tends to scatter some of its units throughout the map where they will be sitting targets.

You can find the Flaming Sword ---a remarkable weapon of type melee-fire, magical, and with damage 15-4--- on the great tree at [29,9]. You can equip it to one of your fighter heroes (Konrad, Kalenz, Li'sar) or any unit from the Elvish Fighter line, or to Paladins. A good idea is to give it to the unit you like to use the most in your front lines (but not to the same person with the Sceptre of Fire).

The Orcish leader will have a good flow of income, so once you gain control of the map, you can milk the battle for experience, in case any of your units need it.

=== Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread ===
*Objective: Defeat the main enemy leader (Lich Lord at the SW corner)
*Bonus Objectives: Defeat all the minor enemy leaders (4 Death Knights)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 30 (on medium as of 1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
*Early finish bonus: 26/turn (on Medium difficulty)
*Other:
**Void Armor from one of the enemy leaders

The swamp of dread isn't all that dreadful. This is a 5-castle map and there are lots of undead, but they are mostly levels 0 and 1 - nothing like Princess' Revenge. The terrain is unfavorable (swamp and sand, but hampers the Undead as much as you; and if you have a preference for Gryphons or Merman, the mobility advantage will be yours.

The swamp is good terrain for your Mermen. Those with attacks that hurt the undead (the ones with Storm Tridents, Netcasters, Priestesses...) or any level 3 unit can make quite a difference. However, be aware that the campaign is coming to an end and you'll probably have little use for Mermen in the following battles; so while the Mermen may well lend a hand, any experience they gain will effectively be wasted. (However, the next two levels do include rivers, so if you really insist you could still use Mermen later.)

One of the Death Knights (chosen randomly) drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (50% blade, 40% impact and 40% pierce, instead of whatever previous values they had). Since Li'sar is very vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor. You might consider keep her in the center at first so she doesn't have to walk across the whole map if the armor appears at the other end. Note, however, that by the time you get the armor you're probably close to clearing the level anyway, so better to think of it as an end-of-scenario perk rather than an intermediary objective playing the scenario.

Some of the Lich's power seems to be tied to the death knights; killing all four will hurt the Lich for about half its hit-points.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10269 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria ===
*Objective: Make it to the (Eastern) far side of the level
*Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50 (on medium as of 1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar & a strong Merman.
*Early finish bonus: 27 per turn
*Other:
**Loyal Sergeant on SE corner island

After a little spat between Kalenz and the merman you use to go east, you'll head for the Cliffs of Thoria. You'll find a long water level full of derelict vessels of the Queen. You'll also meet a Drake. After some conversation you discover that the Queens' forces attacked the Drakes, and now the Drakes will stop you from going forward. Since you have to move forward, you'll have to fight them.

There are a number of small islands on this map with Drake bases. Each base will produce one Drake every turn until one of your units occupies the base. This means that although the drakes may run out of money, they will never run out of reinforcements. In order to win this, you need to kill them faster than they spawn new recruits. No easy task.

Further, if you find that you can't win in a direct assault and want to bypass the drakes by going through the swamps, you'll discover very powerful undead enemies guarding the shoreline. They won't move, but any casualty will be immediately replaced by a new unit. Clearly, that area is cursed. Just avoid the dark blue water. It's impossible to get into the swamps, any attempt will be a waste of time.

Tip: Compared to the other two choices, this map is insanely hard. While there is an opportunity to pick up a wonderful loyal unit, you may wish to skip the challenge unless you have at least 800 gold and a sufficient number of leveled-up mermen. Note: as of version 1.10.x, this map has been made significantly easier, though you only get a loyal Sergeant, not a General.)

If you're going to insist on playing this map, hire many gryphons and Merfolk and move as fast as you can and just take the heavy losses. Since each base creates a unit every turn, to destroy a base you have to kill the unit occupying it and immediately move onto the base in that turn. Since Merfolk can't move onto mountains, you'll need gryphons for that. Getting the first two or three bases quickly is absolutely vital.

With a somewhat longer perspective, spend all your money as long as you have it: you will inevitably run out of funds during this scenario. Drakes are vulnerable to piercing and arcane damage, so elvish arrows can be useful, as can your healers as spellcasters. Don't get too many landlubbers though, most of the fighting will happen in or over the water. Level-1 mermen will either die quickly or level up; high-level mermen will wreak havoc on the drakes. However, you need a good many level-2 mermen to begin with. Rookies alone cannot maintain the constant pressure you need, and the turn limit is short enough as it is.

When you finally make it to the far side, you'll be told that the waterfall is impassable: you need Konrad to reach the marked "cave entrance" in the middle of the northern edge of the map. Start walking early, he'll take a while.

A loyal leader can be found on the island at the South-Eastern corner of the map. He's badly hurt, keeping him alive may be tricky... better to discover him only on he very last moment. (Not so in 1.10.x: with the level being made easier, you have time to clear the surroundings and level him up using the undead.)

Comment: The decreased difficulty combined with the easily available XP in shape of the undead guards unbalances the rest of the campaign badly. If this is not intended, choose another road.

== Divergent Campaign Paths ==

=== Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves ===
* Objectives:
* Konrad must reach the Lintanir forest, at the East of the map, and hold that position until a turn is over.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 18
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

You reach this scenario from either [[Scenario 19A - Snow Plains]] or [[Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread]].

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

However, even in the fog you can see the terrain, including the enemy keeps. The Orcs start in the North central part of the map, while the humans begin in the South-East. What you can't see are the large hosts of level-3 units standing near their respective camps: these are the armies, and *they will not move* unless someone walks into their striking range. Getting at an enemy leader will be difficult indeed, but if you're content with moving past the armies you'll only have to cope with the level-2 vanguards seeking each other.

You start with up to 3 loyal units which can move six or more hexes per turn (provided you kept this many alive), in addition to the 4 heroes (Konrad, Li'sar, Kalenz and Deflador). You many recruit an additional encampment of more troops (i.e. 6 more); it's probably best to get only riders, be they human, elf or gryphon. Most of them should be level-2 at least. If you want to bring a healer, get the fastest on your roster (a quick Elvish flyer, perhaps?) and make sure it's spawned at the right side of your keep.

There is some dialogue to remind you that the winning condition is to move Konrad into the forest, while keeping Li'sar, Delfador and Kalenz alive; everyone else is "not important". During the game, some Elvish riders will show up and happily demonstrate how sacrificing a single unit can keep many others safe; they do it so well that you probably don't need to sacrifice any units of your own, but now you know how it works.

The dialogue makes you expect a large battle between Humans and Orcs, but no one tells you that the Elves (who have a keep in the woods) will also recruit a large force, and attack anyone in sight; you'll probably see your first Human warriors much later than you'd expect and find that they're busy enough fighting the elves. So you only really have to deal with the Orcs; once you're confident that they can't get at Konrad anymore, he can move on pretty much on his own. Your troops may turn around and fight the remaining Orcs, or join the Elves and steal a few kills there, or whatever. Have Konrad stop short of the forest to give your troops more time for fighting if you feel like it.

Delfador will tell you when Konrad enters the domain of the Elves, but the scenario won't end then: you need to finish your turn and let everyone else have one last chance to attack your troops. If Konrad is still alive at the beginning of your next turn, you've won.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10270 forum discussion].

===Scenario 20B - Underground Channels ===
* Objectives: Find the exit from the underground and move Konrad to it.
* Lose if: Death of Kalenz, Li'sar, Delfador, Konrad, or turns run out
* Turns: 70
* Starting units: Delfador, Kondrad, Li'sar and Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 54 per turn

You start at the far South West of a large map, consisting of mostly cave, river and swamp areas. In the North West is a friendly Wose leader who will send a few level one Woses, and at the far North East is the entrance, and some friendly elvish units. In the middle is an ancient Lich who recruits level 2 and 3 undead, and in the South East is a small group of Saurians.

This level is relatively easy, especially with the high-level Mermen you should have from the Cliffs of Thoria. You can recruit on keep of level 2 and 3 Mermen and Dwarves, and either run North and then East for a quick finish, bypassing most enemies, go East and then North, farming some experience from the Saurians, or slowly kill every enemy on the map before continuing. Be careful if you choose to fight the undead though, as the ancient Lich can kill most of your units in one turn, and his recruits, though not numerous, are powerful. If you choose to fight the undead, the mermen who got the tridents in previous scenarios, as well as any Mermaid Priestesses or Diviners will be extremely useful.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=20315 forum discussion].

== Scenario 21 - The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Scenario 22 - Return to Wesnoth ==
*Objective: Kill the three enemy leaders: 2 Loyalist Generals, 1 Orcish Warlord
*Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 28 (on medium as of v1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar & a strong Merman.
*Early finish bonus: 27 (?) per turn

Three Halbardiers appear as enemy reinforcements in the lower southeastern corner of the map when you slay the nearest general, Josephus (just South of your encampment). The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack.

You can use the forests to your advantage: Elven troops are best in forest, while the Loyalists and Orcs are seriously slowed by the trees. On the other hand, nobody said your enemies will be that interested in frolicking in the forest when they have more accessible enemies outside of it.

How about Gryphons? Your enemies will be recruiting level-2 and level-3 units, and the Halbardiers are level-3, so relying on a force of Gryphon riders, or even Gryphon masters, will probably not work out too well. However, a pair of Gryphons (especially quick ones) can work great for village captures, doubling as an effective diversion, especially with respect to the Halbardiers. Watch these heavy-hitters comically wading through the thick brush of the South-East forest as you fly circles around them.

Your enemies aren't very rich, so while their recruits are powerful - they're also few in numbers. This means their defensive formations will have gaps. Add the fact that, except for the Goblin Knights, your enemies are on the slow side, and you find that using mounted units could be opportune. The downside for these is the Halbardiers' first strike: A lancer or Knight taking ~38 damage before touching his enemy is not a pretty sight. Take these out with your heroes instead (Delfador, Kalenz and whoever has the scepter), or units with ranged attacks.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10272 forum discussion]

== Scenario 23 - Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Either:
** Defeat all 4 enemy leaders (Grand Knights), or
** Kill (25/35/50) enemy units in total (on Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 54 Gold per turn (on Medium difficulty)

This is a large map against mostly Knights, Lancers, and Bowmen. The map is mostly open plains, which is an ideal battlefield for mounted units. The easiest way to complete the scenario is to keep all your units in one group and take them en mass to the enemy. Fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. Units with pierce attacks (Archers, Shydes, Knights) will deal high damage to the mounted enemy units (which have low pierce resistance).

Expect heavy losses from the charge attacks, but don't fret, because this is the second-to-last scenario. You'll want to finish this scenario quickly to get a nice gold bonus for the next level.

Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of Dwarves or Elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a relatively safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the South-Eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the South flank.

If you want to defeat all the clan leaders before killing the maximum allowed number of units (which ends the scenario), recruit a castle of Healers, then recruit a good force of Gryphon Riders. Grab as many villages as is safe, and then position your Gryphons on the deep water in the lake. The next castleful of recruits is your main army and two more Gryphon Rides. March this South, take out the South-Eastern leader, then send the two Gryphons to the group in the lake.

As soon as the majority of the North-Western leader's troops move away from him, assassinate him with your Gryphons. He should die in 1-2 rounds of attacks, assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the South-East, recruit a couple of castles' worth of Gryphon Riders and send them west to take on the South-West (Black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your Gryphons cross the river on the offensive, the AI usually moves troops back in to defend with. You should be able to outrun these. Converge all the Gryphons you have left on the middle leader (Purple). I won around turn 25, giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

An alternative strategy for defeating the enemy leaders relies on Li'sar being equipped with both the Scepter of Fire and the Void Armor. This makes her very difficult to hit and very effective against the mounted units (they have no ranged attacks, plus, if they try to lance her they're up against 26-4). What's more, the AI will tend to ignore her: Individual units will tend to not approach her, and groups will go after her escort if she has any. This means she can mount an effective attack together with a very small escort on the South-Eastern leader right away; and after that, the escort can pretty much leave her to go after the Black leader in the South-West alone. In the mean time, A force of Knights or Gryphons might go forward to dispatch the North-Western leader. Then whoever i's left converges on Bayar in the West.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10273 forum discussion].

== Scenario 24 - The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere (thus claiming the throne for Li'sar)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46 gold per turn (and what's that good for, exactly?)

One good strategy for this scenario is to set up a defensive line around your fort, and let the enemy come to you. You'll want to make sure the units on your front line can survive the beating they receive for at least one turn, after which you rotate them with freshly healed units. Don't attack the attackers if it means your unit won't have enough HP to survive the next thrashing. Three or Four healers will be needed behind the lines, and keep them fully occupied (remember that healers will heal every unit adjacent to them for 8 HP. They're like walking sets of 6 villages).

For front-line units, Dwarvish Guardsman, even Level-1, are excellent; they'll take a good beating but not lose too many HP because of their steadfast attribute, on top of their basic resistance to Pierce (read: lance) attacks. Because they don't lose many HP, they'll also heal quickly. Only attack the enemy if no HP will be lost. Guardsmen can throw a spear at the attacker on every turn if the attacker has no ranged attack.

Other units that are good for the front line are any unit with more than 50 HP. Elvish Marshals will make your Dwarvish Guardsmen or Stalwarts even more awesome. Dwarvish Lords have an incredible 79HP and can dish it out back to the enemy. Unfortunately, after a good thrashing, these units will take a long time to heal back up because of the large number of HP lost.

If you have any Assassins, rotate them up and down the line, poisoning enemy units. The enemies have very few villages available to them in your vicinity, so with three Assassins you can poison half the army until the enemies have a bunch of level three units walking around with 1HP each.

Once the enemy has no army left, you can just wander up to Asheviere and discuss her resignation over a cup of hot tea. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill. Or you could surround her with Elvish Shamans and get the last little bit of fun juice out of this game.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: Recruit six of them, right on Turn 1, and send them South. You'll
easily elude the forces of the Eastern general and reach the river (or just past it). Moving in for the kill, however, might prove more difficult than you think - unless you've used an effective distraction. Sending out six-packs of Knight recruits each turn works well. Asheviere herself will not have many troops surrounding her for protection, and might actually be stupid enough to leave her castle to attack your Gryphons. One has to wonder how she's held on to the throne this long with such a poor sense of judgement. You'll probably want to approach her from the South-West, as right South of her is the bridge on which the loyal Weldyn troops will be coming to get you.

Using this strategy it is possible to win within 6-7 turns, without any significant losses. If, however, you've not distracted well enough, Asheviere may divert up to half of her forces to get your Gryphons. But in this case, again - congratulations, you've won: You should have still about 20 living Knights to storm the city with, while too many of her troops are stuck finishing their roast Gryphon sandwiches.

Of course, in both of the above cases you would be relying on a good bonus from [[Test of the Clans]], which should be enough to win this scenario in any which way.

Another humorous brute-force way to win this battle is by relying purely on the diversion tactic mentioned above: An all-Knight rush. Knights are quite possibly the only Level-2 unit you can ever recruit in the mainline campaigns; with roughly 1,500 Gold from the plains battle, just send out loads of Knights to massacre the enemy with suicidal attacks. Just make sure to keep your heroes out of harm's way... It'll be a very bloody, but relatively short, win.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10271 forum discussion].

== Scenario 25 - Epilogue ==

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]][[Category:Campaigns - Heir to the Throne]]

HeirToTheThrone

2013-08-06T02:40:53Z

Ericppp: A few additional notes /* Scenario 13 - The Dwarven Doors */

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad. It contains spoilers.

Some of the information in this walkthrough is outdated, as the campaign has seen some changes over the years without the respective updates of the walkthrough. It is generally valid and useful, however.

The suggestions herein are based on the "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty levels. It should be possible to win the "Easy" difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]] and perhaps also. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

There is a [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewforum.php?f=39 subforum] for providing feedback on the scenarios of this campaign, with each scenario having its individual thread, where you can post feedback, read other players' comments and sometimes get your questions answered. Note, however, that some of the posts date back to 2004... remember to mind the post dates. The scenario forum threads also have the occasional replay attached to a post (the 'replay' savegame that gets created whenever you complete a scenario).

There are also some personal walkthrough forum posts, such as [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough]. Finally, [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough to "Heir to the Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations and commentary, to the first six scenarios.

'''Warning - spoilers ahead!'''

== Scenario 1 - The Elves Besieged ==
Scenario objectives: Both Konrad and Delfador must survive, and Konrad must escape to the signpost in the northwest corner of the map.

The orcs as well as your allies will levy a great many troops, you'll soon find yourself between the lines in a huge battle. All those units slugging it out can take quite some time, you may want to try two options on the Preferences dialog, "Accelerated Speed" or maybe even "Skip AI Moves".

This scenario is a "runner" scenario; on turn one, recruit a castle full of fresh recruits, and immediately make a break for it! If you're new to Wesnoth, getting Konrad out of there in one piece will be difficult enough and may require you to start over a couple of times. Hint: don't keep your units all lumped around Konrad, as a large host will attract the enemies' attention.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. Either way, you should send Delfador and most of your army straight north. This is a ruse, the sole purpose is to lure the enemy towards the road while Konrad (with only one or two level-1 bodyguards) makes his way towards the exit. There's no chance of winning, your troops should perform a skirmishing retreat westwards into the forest.

Other than getting Konrad on his way, the inofficial objective of this scenario is to gain some experience for your troops. Experience is gained by fighting; once a level of experience is reached, your units will "level up" and become more powerful units. Killing an opponent will give much more experience than just fighting, so you should try to arrange it in such a way that the unit you want to upgrade gets to deliver the coup de grace.

Now a few words about the units at your disposal. In-game, you cannot check the data of unknown units; if you want to take a peek anyway, check the [http://www.wesnoth.org/units/ Wesnoth Unit Tree].

* Fighters and Archers. Melee and ranged, all elvish warriors are capable of both, it's more a matter of emphasis than an actual distinction. When they level up, most should become Heroes and Rangers, repectively; you'll only need one or two Captains, and probably are better off without any Marksmen: spellcasters will serve the same purpose much better.

* Shamans are minor healers. As a rule of thumb, you should never enter into any scenario without at least one healer. Leveling up a Shaman is somewhat tricky, as they can do only very little damage. If you use stronger units to knock an enemy unit's HP down, you can move your shamans up from behind the lines to administer the finishing blow. As difficult as it is to level up a shaman, it is well worth the hassle. Druids will be standard healers, you want one (and possibly only one) of those as soon as possible. A Sorceress cannot heal at all, but is a powerful spellcaster. At their higest level, both will learn to fly and become very mobile.

* Scouts may seem weak, but there's more to them than meets the eye. While most riders suffer severe penalties in difficult terrain, the elvish variant can cross rivers, swamps and even mountains rather quickly and will usually even receive a reasonable defense modifier. Insofar, they're less like horsemen and more like fast infantry. Whether you employ them in numbers is a matter of taste, however, you should always remember that you have these extremely mobile units at your disposal.

* Konrad, your leader, starts most scenarios at a keep where he may recruit some troops, but that doesn't mean that he should stay there forever: Being always on the map, he may just as well make himself useful. Getting him to level two will earn him a bow as well as the "leadership" ability, both will come in handy time and again.

* Delfador, the Elder Mage, is insanely powerful (at least compared to your other troops for the time being). Mages usually aren't very sturdy, but at level 5 he has so many hit points that you don't have to worry too much about him – he'll survive quite a few counterattacks. Don't overcommit him, but the first few scenarios depend on his abilities to instantly slay nearly any opponent and soaking up some damage that would otherwise kill several of your (still minor) units.

Remember to use the CTRL-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move. Be careful with your heroes and constantly think of their safety.

Early finish bonus: 32 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Scenario 2 - Blackwater Port ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns (9 on Hard), or kill the enemy leader.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel, a loyal Horseman. The importance of loyalty is explained in [http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/CampaignStrategies#The_importance_of_loyalty Campaign Strategies].

'''Horsemen'''
:Now that's cavalry as we know it. Their charges can be truly devastating if somewhat suicidal, as your ally will demonstrate soon. Employing charge attacks takes a little getting used to, as it differs so much from ordinary melee. Keep an eye on the "Damage Calculations" until you get the knack of it.<br>

Back to topic: If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or who have specific traits that you need. Hole up in the forest on your side of the road (so the enemy has to stand on the plains to face you). Feel free to seize a few villages from your ally, he won't complain. If you have a unit to spare, you may even take the villages next his castle. Matter of fact, this is a prudent move – after all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw some orcs south, reducing the pressure on your actual army and giving you more freedom to shape the battle. However, be careful to not let him get pinned down and killed.

Sir Kaylan will send one or two horsemen to the enemy lines to assist you. Although these horsemen are not under your direct control, they can serve as a distraction if you manoeuver your forces properly, taking the brunt during the enemy's turn to attack.

The first night will be tough, be prepared to lose some units; but if you use the terrain to your advantage, you should have enough of an army left to launch a serious counterattack during the next day. The momentum should keep you going even through the next night and you may soon find yourself besieging the enemy keep. However, the actual objective is merely to survive – if everything fails, you may still retreat behind the swordsmen guarding Sir Kaylans fortress.

There is an early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader, however, it will probably be small. In other words: rushing it won't be worthwhile, instead you should play it safe: manoeuver carefully and try to get some experience to those units that need it most. By the end of this scenario, you really ought to have a Druid – that's absolutely vital. Next in line should be an elvish Fighter (make him a Captain) and Konrad, anything else is optional. But the more the merrier as they say.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Scenario 3 - Isle of Alduin ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and magi.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn, especially saurians, because these pesky units can kill weakened units in the rear. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with magi. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember magi work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to leveling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably magi and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

A note about playing with Magi: They are weak units, but become important later in the game. Over the next few levels, you'll want to level at least two Magi to White Magi for later in the game; they have an arcane (or holy) attack which does incredible amounts of damage to the undead. Fire Magi can eventually level up to level 4 Great Magi, which are walking killing machines, and Fire Magi do decent damage to most other units, especially trolls and skeletons. Magi are weak, however, so they need to be guarded by stronger units. Don't let the enemy have more than one attack position on them.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Scenario 4 - Bay of Pearls ==
Scenario objectives: Kill one or both enemy leaders.

Opening moves: On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on: by the end of your very first turn, you should have five mermen in the water.

Watch out: there's one cage far out at sea that's easily overlooked. The first Merman you set free tells you as much, but if you skip the message... Anyway, it is guarded by two nagas. Send two or (at most) three Mermen up there and *do not* fight it out: get the cage first, then kill the nagas with the help of the mermen from that cage. It holds at least four Mermen, on of them an Initiate. The latter may become a healer, try to get her experienced as soon as possible.

Even further north than the last cage there's a trident in the water. It will confer a powerful ranged attack to its bearer. Have a "quick" merman pick it up (who should eventually become a Hoplite).

The remaining mermen should try to hold the sea leaders' recruits at bay. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal. Don't push too hard, especially not at night when your attacks are weak. Keeping your loyal mermen alive is more important than the possession of a village, and things will look much better on the next day. If that doesn't suffice, the troops from the deep-sea cage may lend a hand.

It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so eventually your need to do this. The Storm Trident and the Initiate both have magic attacks (70% to-hit regardless of terrain) and should go a long way... you better attack him during the day, even if it means that you need to wait for a few turns.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and wolves. Your decision is how far west to engage the enemy, though really, you have little choice: You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. Some wolves may reach you in the night, but the bulk of his army won't arrive until daybreak. Press hard during the day, and there will be little left of his army when the night comes.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, your loyal mage, and an elven fighter to level-2 (if you haven't already).

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose (and get an early finish bonus).

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up many units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players or those who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise may wish to consider the sea route to the Isle of the Damned, where you will find a loyal White Mage who *might* join you... if you meet some very tough winning conditions. Either choice will be a battle against undead.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 5A - Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 5B - Isle of the Damned ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leaders, or survive for 27 turns.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Urlaf, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

While your new units might seem weaker than your old troops, they are chaotic like their undead opponents and Thugs and Footpads deal useful impact damage. Use the Footpads effectively to hold your line and the Thugs to deal the main portion of the damage.

Mermen can be used successfully to harass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though - their pierce damage does very little to the undead, especially at night. Mermen are also useful to hold the many isolated villages scattered throughout the map.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated. There are only a few ways to achieve the early finish. One involves recalling mermen from the previous scenario, including the one with the magical trident, and sending them to kill the southern lich, while land troops attack the other.

The other two center on Moremirmu. Get Moremirmu early, and send him along with a few footmen and thugs north, and use other units to draw fire. Meanwhile, secure the rest of the center of the map from the south. If Moremirmu can finish off the first Lich in time, send that group south -- it takes 10 turns to reach the other Lich, so you'll need to accomplish this by Turn 16! The alternative is to simultaneously send a large force south with Konrad, lure the Lich onto bad ground and surround it.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== Scenario 6 - The Siege of Elensefar ==
Scenario objectives: Kill both enemy leaders.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way - but casualties will probably be lower than if you do it the slow way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that the undead are well on their way to join the orcs occupying the city. Speed is a factor.

Konrad will receive some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties. Also, don't forget that mages can't take a lot of abuse, especially from melee attacks. You will have to figure out how to use your less effective elvish units and horsemen to shield your mages.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Scenario 7 - Crossroads ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the north-eastern enemy leader.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

Note: The first two villages on the screen that you will likely attempt to grab trigger an Elvish Fighter and Elvish Archer to join your party and warn you about the hills. Keep in mind that they, too, are Loyal troops.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== Scenario 8 - The Princess of Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Subdue Li'sar to win

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

[hipparchos] Patience is the key here. I send a couple of L2 horsemen north to take the northern villages, then cover your left flank. A couple of mermen swing south to take the southern ones, then cover your right flank. (The storm-trident merman stays on the village next to the mineshaft will deal with the Duellists.) But I put the bulk of my army on the west bank of the river, ''without crossing it''. Let the enemy come to you, because they will be much easier to defeat when they're standing in the river, and that's especially true as the Princess recruits L2 defenders later in the scenario. The bridge is the northern end of your main line, and Delfador can defend it easily with one other strong unit. Only after all the Princess's defenders have been defeated do you cross the river and take her keep.

== Scenario 9 - The Valley of Death ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

You'll be facing many level-2 undead. They're all dangerous but two kinds require special attention:
* Spectres (level2 ghosts) are fast in every terrain, somewhat hard to hit, resistant to all common kinds of damage, and have a draining attack. Attacking them in melee is not recommendend, killing them with arrows will eventually work but takes many arrows. They are vulnerable to arcane spells and fireballs, though.
* Walking Corpses: they're slow, they're weak, they're fragile. Usually nothing to worry about, but this time they're many. Hordes. Night of the Living Dead. A strong fighter will easily slay them, but that can become his downfall: an attacking corpse that gets killed makes room for the next corpse to move in and attack... and the next, and the next, and each one gets a few blows. Even a Paladin or Champion will eventually be overwhelmed, taking around ten or fifteen zombies with him. Whether you consider this to be a good exchange is up to you. Incidentally, something similar can happen between Paladins and level-1 Skeletons.

The castle you start in is a well-defensible position, but all enemies arrive at about the same time. Once surrounded, you'll have very little wiggle room or inside tiles for your wounded units to retreat to. Filling the moat with Mermen might work a bit better, but their tridents won't impress the skeletons.

You should consider attacking the southern enemy, then hole up in his castle and the surrounding hills. This increases the distance to the others: their troops will reach you later and they will be strung out, so you don't have to fight them all at once.

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes -- but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen (or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

[edit: Viper] On medium, I found that I could only make this strategy work by save/loading <b>and</b> by using knights or better for the Litches (as horsemen could not do the job in a single turn even hitting on every attack).

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Scenario 10 - Gryphon Mountain ==
* Scenario objectives: Defeat the Mother Gryphon and the enemy leader.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 24 gold / turn
* Other: The actual completion condition is defeating only the enemy leader.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robert, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and four sleeping Gryphons.

You kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will -- and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

== Scenario 11 - The Ford of Abez ==
Scenario objectives: Move Konrad to the north side of the river

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. Killing the Princess is meant to be impossible: she has plenty of troops as is, and if you actually get near her there will be numerous high-quality reinforcements. Do not even try to attack her, it will be a waste of good troops for no gain. Instead, fill the river with mermen: this is an excellent opportunity to get many of them leveled up.

But first things first: your task is to get Konrad across the river. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. All will happily fight each other if they ever meet, but with your army standing right between them in the middle of the river... it will pretty much seem as if everyone was out to get you.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. If you have some of the flying elvish units, they move and fight equally well over land or water. Wait for the Orcs and Humans to get into the water where the mermen have excellent defence while the landlubbers do not.

Even if you have the money, don't recruit for more than two turns, otherwise Konrad might not even make it into the river. The scenario ends as soon as he makes it to the other side (off the beach and onto flat ground) -- by the time he gets there, there will be few orcs left on that shore, Kalenz and Delfador can well deal with them. If you recruit any land troops at all (healers perhaps?), make sure they have at least two moves in shallow water.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your mermen some XP, and you don't really need the early finish bonus.

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8716 forum discussion]

== Scenario 12 - Northern Winter ==
*Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50 (as of 1.8.3 on medium difficulty turns = 40)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a random soldier
*Early finish bonus: 47 / turn
*Other:
**Snow falls on turns 6 and 10, making the tundra patches larger.
<br />
This is a relatively simple scenario. The enemy will mostly raise level-1 wolf riders and orcish archers, plus the occasional level-2 Ogre or Troll. You can field a similar mix of mostly fresh recruits plus a few veterans. Throughout the scenario, the wolves will attempt to seize villages, often bypassing your forces: a few Elvish Scouts behind your lines will come in handy. Alternatively, your loyal Thieves can play hide-and-seek just as well. Don't overrecruit, though: there's only so many units you can actually bring to bear on the enemy. You've got enough time to win this twice, so you may chose to take it slow and milk this battle for experience. You'll still end this with more than enough gold in your coffers.

== Scenario 13 - The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objectives: Move Konrad to entrance of the Dwarfen Kingdom
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 26 / 20 / 15
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, one experienced Rider, one outlaw unit (if you have any)

You may defeat all enemy leaders if you feel like it, but this won't end the scenario. The sole winning condition is to get Konrad to the entrance of the Dwarven Kingdom. Actually, there are two entrances: the "Great Gates", clearly labeled as such, and a less conspicious side entrance in the north-eastern corner. Only one of these is open, the other is blocked from the inside (determined at random).

You start the scenario with one rider who suggests to scout ahead: that's a good idea, even though you may chose another unit for the task (the game picks the most experienced). If you happen to have a ''quick'' Lancer, it could be a good idea to use it for this purpose, but anyone reaching an entrance will tell you whether it's open or not.

Alternatively, if you played the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about his uncle who used to have business with the dwarves, hiding in a village along the way (at position [18,24], you'd probably seize it anyway). The uncle is a loyal bandit who joins your troops; he also tells you which entrance to chose, main gate or mine tunnels. It pays off to actually read that dialog.

The most minimalistic approach is to recruit one castle full of cavalry and RUN. The enemies have to cover some distance and cross difficult terrain in order to get in you way -- if Konrad starts running on turn one, he can move past them practically unopposed. It falls to the cavalry to bring up the rear: let them form a line somewhere near the Pillars of Thunedain while Konrad, Delfador and the other walkers keep going. Holding the line for a single turn is enough, then the riders may follow Konrad, leaving the pursuers behind and unable to catch up again (except for the wolves, but there shouldn't be many).

You can still follow this basic principle if you recruit for two turns, adding a healer or two and perhaps some Rangers (their ambushes will stop many opponents). If you recruit for more than two turns, this will become a rather normal battle: your rearguard can no longer disengage, but will have to keep on fighting. There's nothing wrong with that, you can gain quite some experience that way, just don't forget the actual objective.

It's useful to know that moving any unit close to the small lake near the main entrance (any position inside the square between [10, 10] and [15, 15]) will cause an aquatic monster to appear. It will attack anything that moves (including orcs and trolls) and poisons its victims, so watch out.

Konrad needs to get into the mines. Scenario ends with early finish bonus as soon he does so.

== Scenario 14 - Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objectives: Find the dwarves
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 19
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Secret pasage in southeastern part of the tunnel
** A very short and straightforward map

In principle, this is quite simple. You cannot recruit and just have to walk down that corridor until you find the dwarves -- you can't possibly miss them. You will be attacked by a few bats. They may hurt, that's all. This is mostly a lesson: see how slow Kalenz is in the caves? Notice his abysmal terrain defense? Clearly, this is no place for elves.

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southwest. Just stick to the wall, step by step, and you'll eventually find it. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty spider: watch out! It's a level-3 beast that poisons and slows.

After you're done with the bats, you can just sit there and wait until your men are healed again. There is no turn limit, after all. Once you found the secret door, do not get in. Step back a bit and the spider will rush out where you can attack her three to one. You should be able to kill her in a single turn, don't worry about getting poisoned -- you won't die from poison and there are no other enemies left. However, if you fail to kill her quickly... you saved the game, didn't you?

== Scenario 15 - The Lost General ==
* Objectives: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 64(!)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing both enemy leaders

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recalling, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a Gryphon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

Tip: If you make dwarf leader to survive (and actually reveal him), Dwarvish Guardsman will become available.

Note: If you recall/recruit a merman and send it to the pond, then have it go to the whirlpool, it will arrive in a hidden cavern with a friendly ulfserker. Once your merman returns to the whirlpool through the other end, it will carry the ulf with it.

== Scenario 16 - Hasty Alliance ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

The way I did it was to recruit a keep of thieves (the cheapest unit) and move Delfador and Kalenz out of the way. Then my allies were able to send help over so that I could get 'real' units on my second turn without suffering casualties. One thief survived and I got a Rogue with 36/56 XP by the end of the scenario! -CountPenguin

== Scenario 17 - The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objectives: Capture the Sceptre of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** 300 gold gift from Li'sar
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus
** Randomly generated map

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the Sceptre is.

There's three or four enemy leaders, depending on difficulty. The map is randomly generated; there's no telling how many villages there are and where... but more often than not, it's something like 25 villages and most will be placed where you can seize them early. The scenario certainly feels as if you're in for a major underground struggle, but the enemy leaders have little money to begin with and -usually- they won't have much of an income either.

Usually there's two large tunnels going north, and quite often you meet little resistance in one, and quite a lot in the other -- though the latter still doesn't qualify as tough. You can gain quite some XP in the contested tunnel, just form a shieldwall with (mostly) guardians, play it safe, and you can level up some 4-8 dwarves. It's a good idea to station Kalenz here, his faerie fire will help a lot against the occasional lvl-3 Troll.

Meanwhile, The Princess, Delfador, one healer and several of your better dwarves should move up the less contested corridor and scout the map. The Scepter usually is somewhere about 2/3rds up the map. You may encounter the occasional enemy... it's alright to buzz off in all directions, but make sure that everyone has a line of retreat and may receive support within a turn or two.

The scenario ends as soon as Konrad or the Princess gets to the scepter. You may delay this a bit in order to milk a few more XP, but there's not that many more to be gained by then. All things considered, it's better to let Li'sar have the scepter -- she'll be with you until the end, she has no ranged attack, and while Konrad will often be held back by recruiting, Li'sar can be in the frontline from turn one.

Note: When the earth rumbles, something actually happens. There are lava chasms in various places, and these grow when there is a rumble, so keep your units away.

== Scenario 18 - A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objectives: Defeat either of the leaders
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill either leader
* Other:
** The next two scenarios are three different routes to the Elven kingdom, depending on the enemy leader you kill:
*** Northern (Orcish) leader: [[#Scenario 19A - Snow Plains | The Snow Plains]] where you can get the Flaming Sword (15-4, magical), followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** Southern (Undead) leader: [[#Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread|The Swamp Of Dread]] where you can get the Void Armor (high resistance to blade, pierce, impact) , followed by [[Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves|Home of the North Elves]].
*** If you take a merman east on the river to the edge of the map, you will brave [[Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria|Cliffs of Thoria]] which (used to be) an insanely difficult battle where you can find a loyal Sergeant (may become a level-4 leader). It will be followed by [[Scenario 20B - Underground Channels|Underground Channels]].
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts
** First real chance to level gryphons

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

Going south is the easiest way: the Orcs coming from the north may only cross the river at the bridge, a choke-point that's easy to block. In fact, a determined attack may defeat the undead before the bulk of the Orcs even makes it to the bridge. Fighting the Orcs in the hills will take longer while the undead can walk through deep water or fly over it, crossing the river wherever they like.

Going south will also the most prudent choice when considering the possible goodies: currently, Li'sar goes into battle wearing lingerie. While a magic sword or a loyal leader might come in handy, you don't need them as badly as the Princess needs a suit of armor.

The undead need to be dealt with even if you don't want to kill their leader. Delfador, Kalenz and Li'sar all have undead-killing ranged attacks (you ''did'' give her the scepter, didn't you?) — add two more Mages (one of them a healer) and three dwarfish Steelclads as bodyguards. Recruit those on turn one and move them to a position where they may receive the Chocobones' attack by dusk. You need at least steelclads in order to survive their charge. However, after the Chocobones are gone the remaining undead ought to be manageable even if you don't throw any more troops that way (though you may do so if you're after the undead and want this to be finished quickly). You may need a few turns' rest before you can tackle the Death Knight, but eventually your spellcasters should dispose of him quickly.

In order to hold back the Orcs, a few elves plus a healer are enough to secure your end of the bridge; the Orcs will be reluctant to attack even level-1 archers during the day, and if you employ more and better troops (like, level-3 loyalists in the woods and a few mermen in the water) the Orcs may not even attack at night. There's not much experience to be gained that way, though. If you want to actually fight the Orcs, you should get to the other side and meet them there. There's plenty of mountains, an excellent opportunity to get some more experience to your dwarves (you will have good use for high-level Dwarves later on). Dwarves, Gryphons and Orcs all have high defense in the mountains, so fighting will be slow.

It will be a long walk to the northern leader even after you rubbed out his army. You might consider an assassination: send like 4-6 suicidal gryphons to his keep. Bonus points if you have a Silver Mage (teleport!). Of course, you can assassinate him without defeating his host first. just wait until his army is too far away to turn back and help him.

Talking about Gryphons... this is the first time that you can really use them. Gryphons alone won't really impress the Orcs, not even when supported by leaders and healers (they're level-1 units, after all). They may however seize a few villages, harass and distract the enemy, track down wounded units and so on. You should certainly get a few.

They must have changed this scenario. As of v 1.9.5 at medium level it's absurdly easy. I recruited just one keep (two paladins, two mages of light, and two griffons). Then charged for the undead leader (South) and wiped him and his evil minions out by the end of turn 9. The griffons didn't even get in the fight. The Orcs hadn't even reached the river bridge. ~ Sojourner, 4/16/11.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Scenario 19A - Snow Plains ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 43
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill the leader
* Other:
** Li'sar will tell you she does not like her mother

Konrad will find the Flaming Sword (15-4 melee, fire, magical) hidden under the great tree in the northeast near the enemy keep. It will take Konrad a while to slog through the snow, forest, and hills, so you'll have to think about how many turns he will recall units. Dwarves will do well in the mountains, as will the flying gryphons.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

=== Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread ===
*Objective: Defeat the main enemy leader (Lich Lord at the SW corner)
*Bonus Objectives: Defeat all the minor enemy leaders (4 Death Knights)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 30 (on medium as of 1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar.
*Early finish bonus: 26/turn (on Medium difficulty)
*Other:
**Void Armor from one of the enemy leaders

The swamp of dread isn't all that dreadful. This is a 5-castle map and there are lots of undead, but they are mostly levels 0 and 1 - nothing like Princess' Revenge. The terrain is unfavorable (swamp and sand, but hampers the Undead as much as you; and if you have a preference for Gryphons or Merman, the mobility advantage will be yours.

The swamp is good terrain for your Mermen. Those with attacks that hurt the undead (the ones with Storm Tridents, Netcasters, Priestesses...) or any level 3 unit can make quite a difference. However, be aware that the campaign is coming to an end and you'll probably have little use for Mermen in the following battles; so while the Mermen may well lend a hand, any experience they gain will effectively be wasted. (However, the next two levels do include rivers, so if you really insist you could still use Mermen later.)

One of the Death Knights (chosen randomly) drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (50% blade, 40% impact and 40% pierce, instead of whatever previous values they had). Since Li'sar is very vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor. You might consider keep her in the center at first so she doesn't have to walk across the whole map if the armor appears at the other end. Note, however, that by the time you get the armor you're probably close to clearing the level anyway, so better to think of it as an end-of-scenario perk rather than an intermediary objective playing the scenario.

Some of the Lich's power seems to be tied to the death knights; killing all four will hurt the Lich for about half its hit-points.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10269 forum discussion].

=== Scenario 19C - The Cliffs of Thoria ===
*Objective: Make it to the (Eastern) far side of the level
*Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50 (on medium as of 1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar & a strong Merman.
*Early finish bonus: 27 per turn
*Other:
**Loyal Sergeant on SE corner island

After a little spat between Kalenz and the merman you use to go east, you'll head for the Cliffs of Thoria. You'll find a long water level full of derelict vessels of the Queen. You'll also meet a Drake. After some conversation you discover that the Queens' forces attacked the Drakes, and now the Drakes will stop you from going forward. Since you have to move forward, you'll have to fight them.

There are a number of small islands on this map with Drake bases. Each base will produce one Drake every turn until one of your units occupies the base. This means that although the drakes may run out of money, they will never run out of reinforcements. In order to win this, you need to kill them faster than they spawn new recruits. No easy task.

Further, if you find that you can't win in a direct assault and want to bypass the drakes by going through the swamps, you'll discover very powerful undead enemies guarding the shoreline. They won't move, but any casualty will be immediately replaced by a new unit. Clearly, that area is cursed. Just avoid the dark blue water. It's impossible to get into the swamps, any attempt will be a waste of time.

Tip: Compared to the other two choices, this map is insanely hard. While there is an opportunity to pick up a wonderful loyal unit, you may wish to skip the challenge unless you have at least 800 gold and a sufficient number of leveled-up mermen. Note: as of version 1.10.x, this map has been made significantly easier, though you only get a loyal Sergeant, not a General.)

If you're going to insist on playing this map, hire many gryphons and Merfolk and move as fast as you can and just take the heavy losses. Since each base creates a unit every turn, to destroy a base you have to kill the unit occupying it and immediately move onto the base in that turn. Since Merfolk can't move onto mountains, you'll need gryphons for that. Getting the first two or three bases quickly is absolutely vital.

With a somewhat longer perspective, spend all your money as long as you have it: you will inevitably run out of funds during this scenario. Drakes are vulnerable to piercing and arcane damage, so elvish arrows can be useful, as can your healers as spellcasters. Don't get too many landlubbers though, most of the fighting will happen in or over the water. Level-1 mermen will either die quickly or level up; high-level mermen will wreak havoc on the drakes. However, you need a good many level-2 mermen to begin with. Rookies alone cannot maintain the constant pressure you need, and the turn limit is short enough as it is.

When you finally make it to the far side, you'll be told that the waterfall is impassable: you need Konrad to reach the marked "cave entrance" in the middle of the northern edge of the map. Start walking early, he'll take a while.

A loyal leader can be found on the island at the South-Eastern corner of the map. He's badly hurt, keeping him alive may be tricky... better to discover him only on he very last moment. (Not so in 1.10.x: with the level being made easier, you have time to clear the surroundings and level him up using the undead.)

Comment: The decreased difficulty combined with the easily available XP in shape of the undead guards unbalances the rest of the campaign badly. If this is not intended, choose another road.

== Divergent Campaign Paths ==

=== Scenario 20A - Home of the North Elves ===
* Objectives:
* Konrad must reach the Lintanir forest, at the East of the map, and hold that position until a turn is over.
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 18
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

You reach this scenario from either [[Scenario 19A - Snow Plains]] or [[Scenario 19B - Swamp Of Dread]].

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

However, even in the fog you can see the terrain, including the enemy keeps. The Orcs start in the North central part of the map, while the humans begin in the South-East. What you can't see are the large hosts of level-3 units standing near their respective camps: these are the armies, and *they will not move* unless someone walks into their striking range. Getting at an enemy leader will be difficult indeed, but if you're content with moving past the armies you'll only have to cope with the level-2 vanguards seeking each other.

You start with up to 3 loyal units which can move six or more hexes per turn (provided you kept this many alive), in addition to the 4 heroes (Konrad, Li'sar, Kalenz and Deflador). You many recruit an additional encampment of more troops (i.e. 6 more); it's probably best to get only riders, be they human, elf or gryphon. Most of them should be level-2 at least. If you want to bring a healer, get the fastest on your roster (a quick Elvish flyer, perhaps?) and make sure it's spawned at the right side of your keep.

There is some dialogue to remind you that the winning condition is to move Konrad into the forest, while keeping Li'sar, Delfador and Kalenz alive; everyone else is "not important". During the game, some Elvish riders will show up and happily demonstrate how sacrificing a single unit can keep many others safe; they do it so well that you probably don't need to sacrifice any units of your own, but now you know how it works.

The dialogue makes you expect a large battle between Humans and Orcs, but no one tells you that the Elves (who have a keep in the woods) will also recruit a large force, and attack anyone in sight; you'll probably see your first Human warriors much later than you'd expect and find that they're busy enough fighting the elves. So you only really have to deal with the Orcs; once you're confident that they can't get at Konrad anymore, he can move on pretty much on his own. Your troops may turn around and fight the remaining Orcs, or join the Elves and steal a few kills there, or whatever. Have Konrad stop short of the forest to give your troops more time for fighting if you feel like it.

Delfador will tell you when Konrad enters the domain of the Elves, but the scenario won't end then: you need to finish your turn and let everyone else have one last chance to attack your troops. If Konrad is still alive at the beginning of your next turn, you've won.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10270 forum discussion].

===Scenario 20B - Underground Channels ===
* Objectives: Find the exit from the underground and move Konrad to it.
* Lose if: Death of Kalenz, Li'sar, Delfador, Konrad, or turns run out
* Turns: 70
* Starting units: Delfador, Kondrad, Li'sar and Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: 54 per turn

You start at the far South West of a large map, consisting of mostly cave, river and swamp areas. In the North West is a friendly Wose leader who will send a few level one Woses, and at the far North East is the entrance, and some friendly elvish units. In the middle is an ancient Lich who recruits level 2 and 3 undead, and in the South East is a small group of Saurians.

This level is relatively easy, especially with the high-level Mermen you should have from the Cliffs of Thoria. You can recruit on keep of level 2 and 3 Mermen and Dwarves, and either run North and then East for a quick finish, bypassing most enemies, go East and then North, farming some experience from the Saurians, or slowly kill every enemy on the map before continuing. Be careful if you choose to fight the undead though, as the ancient Lich can kill most of your units in one turn, and his recruits, though not numerous, are powerful. If you choose to fight the undead, the mermen who got the tridents in previous scenarios, as well as any Mermaid Priestesses or Diviners will be extremely useful.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=20315 forum discussion].

== Scenario 21 - The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Scenario 22 - Return to Wesnoth ==
*Objective: Kill the three enemy leaders: 2 Loyalist Generals, 1 Orcish Warlord
*Bonus Objectives: Rescue the loyal Sergeant
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Li'sar or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 28 (on medium as of v1.10.3)
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar & a strong Merman.
*Early finish bonus: 27 (?) per turn

Three Halbardiers appear as enemy reinforcements in the lower southeastern corner of the map when you slay the nearest general, Josephus (just South of your encampment). The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack.

You can use the forests to your advantage: Elven troops are best in forest, while the Loyalists and Orcs are seriously slowed by the trees. On the other hand, nobody said your enemies will be that interested in frolicking in the forest when they have more accessible enemies outside of it.

How about Gryphons? Your enemies will be recruiting level-2 and level-3 units, and the Halbardiers are level-3, so relying on a force of Gryphon riders, or even Gryphon masters, will probably not work out too well. However, a pair of Gryphons (especially quick ones) can work great for village captures, doubling as an effective diversion, especially with respect to the Halbardiers. Watch these heavy-hitters comically wading through the thick brush of the South-East forest as you fly circles around them.

Your enemies aren't very rich, so while their recruits are powerful - they're also few in numbers. This means their defensive formations will have gaps. Add the fact that, except for the Goblin Knights, your enemies are on the slow side, and you find that using mounted units could be opportune. The downside for these is the Halbardiers' first strike: A lancer or Knight taking ~38 damage before touching his enemy is not a pretty sight. Take these out with your heroes instead (Delfador, Kalenz and whoever has the scepter), or units with ranged attacks.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10272 forum discussion]

== Scenario 23 - Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Either:
** Defeat all 4 enemy leaders (Grand Knights), or
** Kill (25/35/50) enemy units in total (on Easy/Medium/Hard difficulty)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 54 Gold per turn (on Medium difficulty)

This is a large map against mostly Knights, Lancers, and Bowmen. The map is mostly open plains, which is an ideal battlefield for mounted units. The easiest way to complete the scenario is to keep all your units in one group and take them en mass to the enemy. Fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. Units with pierce attacks (Archers, Shydes, Knights) will deal high damage to the mounted enemy units (which have low pierce resistance).

Expect heavy losses from the charge attacks, but don't fret, because this is the second-to-last scenario. You'll want to finish this scenario quickly to get a nice gold bonus for the next level.

Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of Dwarves or Elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a relatively safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the South-Eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the South flank.

If you want to defeat all the clan leaders before killing the maximum allowed number of units (which ends the scenario), recruit a castle of Healers, then recruit a good force of Gryphon Riders. Grab as many villages as is safe, and then position your Gryphons on the deep water in the lake. The next castleful of recruits is your main army and two more Gryphon Rides. March this South, take out the South-Eastern leader, then send the two Gryphons to the group in the lake.

As soon as the majority of the North-Western leader's troops move away from him, assassinate him with your Gryphons. He should die in 1-2 rounds of attacks, assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the South-East, recruit a couple of castles' worth of Gryphon Riders and send them west to take on the South-West (Black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your Gryphons cross the river on the offensive, the AI usually moves troops back in to defend with. You should be able to outrun these. Converge all the Gryphons you have left on the middle leader (Purple). I won around turn 25, giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

An alternative strategy for defeating the enemy leaders relies on Li'sar being equipped with both the Scepter of Fire and the Void Armor. This makes her very difficult to hit and very effective against the mounted units (they have no ranged attacks, plus, if they try to lance her they're up against 26-4). What's more, the AI will tend to ignore her: Individual units will tend to not approach her, and groups will go after her escort if she has any. This means she can mount an effective attack together with a very small escort on the South-Eastern leader right away; and after that, the escort can pretty much leave her to go after the Black leader in the South-West alone. In the mean time, A force of Knights or Gryphons might go forward to dispatch the North-Western leader. Then whoever i's left converges on Bayar in the West.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10273 forum discussion].

== Scenario 24 - The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere (thus claiming the throne for Li'sar)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46 gold per turn (and what's that good for, exactly?)

One good strategy for this scenario is to set up a defensive line around your fort, and let the enemy come to you. You'll want to make sure the units on your front line can survive the beating they receive for at least one turn, after which you rotate them with freshly healed units. Don't attack the attackers if it means your unit won't have enough HP to survive the next thrashing. Three or Four healers will be needed behind the lines, and keep them fully occupied (remember that healers will heal every unit adjacent to them for 8 HP. They're like walking sets of 6 villages).

For front-line units, Dwarvish Guardsman, even Level-1, are excellent; they'll take a good beating but not lose too many HP because of their steadfast attribute, on top of their basic resistance to Pierce (read: lance) attacks. Because they don't lose many HP, they'll also heal quickly. Only attack the enemy if no HP will be lost. Guardsmen can throw a spear at the attacker on every turn if the attacker has no ranged attack.

Other units that are good for the front line are any unit with more than 50 HP. Elvish Marshals will make your Dwarvish Guardsmen or Stalwarts even more awesome. Dwarvish Lords have an incredible 79HP and can dish it out back to the enemy. Unfortunately, after a good thrashing, these units will take a long time to heal back up because of the large number of HP lost.

If you have any Assassins, rotate them up and down the line, poisoning enemy units. The enemies have very few villages available to them in your vicinity, so with three Assassins you can poison half the army until the enemies have a bunch of level three units walking around with 1HP each.

Once the enemy has no army left, you can just wander up to Asheviere and discuss her resignation over a cup of hot tea. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill. Or you could surround her with Elvish Shamans and get the last little bit of fun juice out of this game.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: Recruit six of them, right on Turn 1, and send them South. You'll
easily elude the forces of the Eastern general and reach the river (or just past it). Moving in for the kill, however, might prove more difficult than you think - unless you've used an effective distraction. Sending out six-packs of Knight recruits each turn works well. Asheviere herself will not have many troops surrounding her for protection, and might actually be stupid enough to leave her castle to attack your Gryphons. One has to wonder how she's held on to the throne this long with such a poor sense of judgement. You'll probably want to approach her from the South-West, as right South of her is the bridge on which the loyal Weldyn troops will be coming to get you.

Using this strategy it is possible to win within 6-7 turns, without any significant losses. If, however, you've not distracted well enough, Asheviere may divert up to half of her forces to get your Gryphons. But in this case, again - congratulations, you've won: You should have still about 20 living Knights to storm the city with, while too many of her troops are stuck finishing their roast Gryphon sandwiches.

Of course, in both of the above cases you would be relying on a good bonus from [[Test of the Clans]], which should be enough to win this scenario in any which way.

Another humorous brute-force way to win this battle is by relying purely on the diversion tactic mentioned above: An all-Knight rush. Knights are quite possibly the only Level-2 unit you can ever recruit in the mainline campaigns; with roughly 1,500 Gold from the plains battle, just send out loads of Knights to massacre the enemy with suicidal attacks. Just make sure to keep your heroes out of harm's way... It'll be a very bloody, but relatively short, win.

See also the [http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=10271 forum discussion].

== Scenario 25 - Epilogue ==

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]][[Category:Campaigns - Heir to the Throne]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-03T09:14:47Z

Ericppp: /* Vengeance */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard, composed of loyal Elvish Rangers. The size of the bodyguard will be of 4, 3 or 2 units for the easy/medium/hard difficulty levels respectively. These rangers are fast and powerful in the forest, and they possess the ''ambush'' ability, which helps you set up traps for the enemy. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush just to trigger this early.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. Note, however, that any units with the ''quick'' trait would probably be more useful in the next scenario, fighting along with Deoran, so you may want to avoid recalling them here.

None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, and you may try to form an alliance with them. You also gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer gold to the Trolls (you're required to pay 100/150/200 gold on easy/medium/hard, respectively), they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Spam fodder units to screen Ethiliel. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

You may also use a distraction tactic. Move your units south, while Ethiliel goes north, staying out of the enemy move zones. Remember to protect Dorean with weaker units. Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin.
Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions.
The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario.
The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns.
After 6 turns you start getting more starting units, more starting villages and better fortifications.
These benefits are maxed out after 22 turns.
The council will be at your side if you last 24 turns or longer. Any less and they will arrive in (24 - number_of_turns_lasted) turns.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-03T09:10:35Z

Ericppp: No longer necessary to wait until a unit is killed to trigger the victory condition /* Vengeance */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard, composed of loyal Elvish Rangers. The size of the bodyguard will be of 4, 3 or 2 units for the easy/medium/hard difficulty levels respectively. These rangers are fast and powerful in the forest, and they possess the ''ambush'' ability, which helps you set up traps for the enemy. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush just to trigger this early.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. Note, however, that any units with the ''quick'' trait would probably be more useful in the next scenario, fighting along with Deoran, so you may want to avoid recalling them here.

None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, and you may try to form an alliance with them. You also gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer gold to the Trolls (you're required to pay 100/150/200 gold on easy/medium/hard, respectively), they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Spam fodder units to screen her. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

You may also use a distraction tactic. Move your units south, while Ethiliel goes north, staying out of the enemy move zones. Remember to protect Dorean with weaker units. Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin.
Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions.
The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario.
The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns.
After 6 turns you start getting more starting units, more starting villages and better fortifications.
These benefits are maxed out after 22 turns.
The council will be at your side if you last 24 turns or longer. Any less and they will arrive in (24 - number_of_turns_lasted) turns.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-03T06:39:08Z

Ericppp: Added suggestion to leave quick units for the next scenario /* Tidings, Good and Ill */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard, composed of loyal Elvish Rangers. The size of the bodyguard will be of 4, 3 or 2 units for the easy/medium/hard difficulty levels respectively. These rangers are fast and powerful in the forest, and they possess the ''ambush'' ability, which helps you set up traps for the enemy. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush just to trigger this early.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. Note, however, that any units with the ''quick'' trait would probably be more useful in the next scenario, fighting along with Deoran, so you may want to avoid recalling them here.

None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, and you may try to form an alliance with them. You also gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer gold to the Trolls (you're required to pay 100/150/200 gold on easy/medium/hard, respectively), they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Just get one of the free Spearmen killed as soon as possible, which will activate the victory condition of moving Ethiliel to the Great Tree. Spam fodder units to screen her. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin.
Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions.
The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario.
The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns.
After 6 turns you start getting more starting units, more starting villages and better fortifications.
These benefits are maxed out after 22 turns.
The council will be at your side if you last 24 turns or longer. Any less and they will arrive in (24 - number_of_turns_lasted) turns.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-03T06:32:22Z

Ericppp: More info about the cost to get the trolls' help /* Into the Depths */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard, composed of loyal Elvish Rangers. The size of the bodyguard will be of 4, 3 or 2 units for the easy/medium/hard difficulty levels respectively. These rangers are fast and powerful in the forest, and they possess the ''ambush'' ability, which helps you set up traps for the enemy. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush just to trigger this early.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, and you may try to form an alliance with them. You also gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer gold to the Trolls (you're required to pay 100/150/200 gold on easy/medium/hard, respectively), they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Just get one of the free Spearmen killed as soon as possible, which will activate the victory condition of moving Ethiliel to the Great Tree. Spam fodder units to screen her. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin.
Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions.
The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario.
The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns.
After 6 turns you start getting more starting units, more starting villages and better fortifications.
These benefits are maxed out after 22 turns.
The council will be at your side if you last 24 turns or longer. Any less and they will arrive in (24 - number_of_turns_lasted) turns.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-02T23:51:57Z

Ericppp: Expanded info about Ethiliel's bodyguard /* Vale of Tears */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard, composed of loyal Elvish Rangers. The size of the bodyguard will be of 4, 3 or 2 units for the easy/medium/hard difficulty levels respectively. These rangers are fast and powerful in the forest, and they possess the ''ambush'' ability, which helps you set up traps for the enemy. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush just to trigger this early.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, but even if you choose not to ally with them, you gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer the Trolls 200 gold, they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Just get one of the free Spearmen killed as soon as possible, which will activate the victory condition of moving Ethiliel to the Great Tree. Spam fodder units to screen her. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin.
Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions.
The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario.
The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns.
After 6 turns you start getting more starting units, more starting villages and better fortifications.
These benefits are maxed out after 22 turns.
The council will be at your side if you last 24 turns or longer. Any less and they will arrive in (24 - number_of_turns_lasted) turns.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

TheSouthGuard

2013-08-02T20:57:48Z

Ericppp: Added info about the village at 15,12 /* Born To The Banner */

The walkthrough is based (mostly) on medium difficulty.

== Born To The Banner ==
* Objectives: Defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/24 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting Gold: 120/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Moreth

The recommended course in the beginning here is to head to the River Fort, which is just out of range. Before leaving, however, note that you can recruit here. You can only recruit Peasants for now, and will be able to get better units soon. In general you should save your money for the Bowmen and Spearmen to come, but it might be nice to bring in a single Peasant now for a special mission. After that, everybody should head towards a village. You might as well park Deoran at 16, 8 and move Moreth towards 24, 8. Turn 2 you reach the River Fort and are rewarded by an Infantry Lieutenant joining your forces. Sir Gerrick will be able to supply your troops with weapons and armor to make Bowmen and Spearmen. Now you can send Deoran back to the keep to recruit in earnest. If you recruited the Peasant last turn, send him towards the 'village' in the river at 6, 10. This might be considered a little bit of spoiler, but you will find a pleasant surprise there. Actually, if you are making a concerted effort to flag all villages [You ARE, aren't you?] you will eventually find this, but you might not be aware that this is a village. Besides, if you get there too late it won't help this scenario...

On turn three Deoran should be back in the keep recruiting Bowmen. Bring in the some Spearmen, but the bulk of your forces for now should be Bowmen. This is because the Urza mostly recruits Thugs, which have no ranged attack. Once you've discovered your enemy's weakness, you're halfway to defeating them. Even with your Spearmen, you'll want to stick to thrown spears at night against the Thugs unless your target is wounded enough that you are likely to finish it off. Your other forces are too skimpy to accomplish anything now, so have them continue to capture unallied villages. One keep worth of troops [four units] is likely not enough to last all the way to the Urza, so go ahead and stay for another round of recruiting. By turn 5[or earlier on Hard difficulty] you will be nearly out of money, but will have a decent size force along the northern bank of the river. It's okay to run out of money this early in a scenario, as you'll be earning more income from your villages every turn. This is now night-time, during which your [lawful] forces will be weaker and the bandits [chaotic] will be stronger. Short of suicide, the reasonable thing to do is to assume a defensive stance until the sun rises.

By now your troops will be somewhat scattered. You might want to get used to tapping the "n" key several times before ending your turn. "n" brings the focus to next unit that has any movement points left. This way it will be easy to find those units you might have forgotten. Most of your units should be arranged in a line [more of a crescent, really] from the River Fort going east. Moreth [the Pikeman/Spearman/Peasant(depending on difficulty level) who joined you at the start] might have gotten all the way to the village at 22, 12. If so, he could be safe there, unless you see several enemy units moving his way. Another gamble would be moving the Peasant down to 5, 16 and send the Mermen, if any, into the middle of the swamp. This could be enough of a distraction to split up the Bandit army marching towards the river fort. These are the only of your troops that will be somewhat safe south of the river.

Normal advice is to put leaders and healers in the 'second line' behind the front line. You don't have any healers yet, but Sir Gerrick can help lead. Depending upon what difficulty level you selected upon starting the campaign, Deoran is probably only first level. Note that leadership only applies to units that are lower in level than the leader. A first level leader can only lead Peasants and other zero level troops. Sir Gerrick will be able to direct the fire of your Bowmen to better effect and will also be able to exert his influence on Deoran. It will be a priority for you to get Deoran enough experience to advance to the next level without getting him killed. Ideally you'd also like to minimize the number of times he becomes wounded bad enough to have to pull away from the battle and retreat to a village for healing. Usually this is accomplished by having your other troops soften up a target such that your leader can get the kill. You don't have to attack every character every turn, particularly if it looks like you'll take more damage than you'll dish out.

On turn 7 the daylight comes: your counterattacks will have more effect, and you should be crossing the river in force on turn 8. When you capture the village at 15, 12 you will receive a surprise. On ''easy'', you'll be rewarded with Aleron, a Longbowman who is loyal to you. On ''medium'', Aleron will be a Peasant, and on ''hard'' you'll find an enemy Footpad instead.

In game terms, a loyal unit will work for you for free [has no upkeep]. If you have Aleron as a Peasant, you might think to yourself: he is only a level 0, there's no upkeep cost anyway. Big deal, right? Well, it is. You should make every effort to keep those loyal troops alive, and those should be the ones that reach the highest levels. If Aleron becomes a Royal Guard or Master Bowman [units which normally cost you 3 gold per turn to supply], he will still be loyal and still cost you nothing. Moreth and the Mermen are loyal as well, so keep them alive. That means don't throw Mermen away on land attacks. Keep them in the river or swamps where they are better adapted. After you have crossed the river, leave them behind as a rear guard.

As you press towards the Urza, the majority of your troops will be funneled along the road south. A few should come along the edge of the hills in order to attack the enemy keep from due north. The idea here is to get the enemy to split up his forces, or you'll have an unguarded area to attack. By turn 9 you should be in more defensible terrain [forest, hills or mountains] as night will be falling again. Hopefully you will have dispatched the majority of the baddies in the battle by the river, but a lucky strike by some bandits could still cripple you. By the way [this is a matter of playing style] I usually pull a unit back for healing once its health bar turns yellow or red. There are times when you have to sacrifice a unit to achieve some bigger goal, but you'll never get your units to level up if they get killed before they get enough experience...

By turn 11 or so, you should have captured all the villages on the map. On turn 12 I would expect to see some of your units in the enemy keep. The keep is the best defensive terrain; also, the more of its area you fill up, the fewer fresh troops the enemy can recruit. By turn 13 your troops could be attacking the Urza himself, and daylight is coming. With luck you can finish him off on turn 14. Since the enemy keep is mostly surrounded by forest it gets kind of fussy juggling all your troops around so as to rest the wounded, bring your attackers where they will do the most good [Bowmen against Thugs, Spearmen against Poachers, or either against Footpads], and get the most from your leaders. If it not obvious, you can have Sir Gerrick direct several attacks, move him, direct more attacks, etc. Optimally he should finish his turn by attacking. Ideally you'd like the killing blow against the Urza to be delivered by Sir Gerrick or [better] Deoran. That way he can accumulate enough experience to eventually advance.

== Proven By The Sword ==
* Objectives: Capture the Citadel of Westin and defeat Bandit leader
* Lose if: Deoran or Sir Gerrick die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 130/100/85
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick

Similar to the last go round, this scenario comes in two parts: first is seizing control of the Westin Keep, second is actually defeating the enemy. I would initially recall Moreth and Aleron [the loyal ground troops] and one Bowman who has accumulated good experience. You are sitting in a temporary keep right now, fill it up and go capture a village. You don't want to hang around, but it would be risky to send Deoran into the city alone. Turn 2 send Deoran back to the keep to recall/recruit more troops. Again you'll want a mix of types, but Bowmen should still predominate. Meanwhile send the first batch of troops south to handle the Footpads that are coming your way. Sir Gerrick could either head down with them or accompany the other bunch into the city.

Here I'll give a few words about a few of the criminals: Footpads and Thieves are "elusive" units, which means that they are extremely agile and quite fast. If they are on halfway defensible terrain, you'll have a pathetic 30% chance to hit them. However, they are weak to blades and piercing weapons, so if you do hit them, you do more damage. The other thing to watch out for is the 'backstab' ability that the Thieves possess: they can stab for double damage if an allied unit is on the other side of their target. You have to keep you units close enough together that they can't break through and surround you.

By turn 4 Deoran and his retinue should cross the bridge and face down the criminals in the city. If it takes you longer than that, the Urza's forces will have reinforced the city and you'll have a *much* harder time crossing the river. After Deoran has captured the city [i.e., is at the hex 22, 16; labeled 'Westin'], the citizens of the city will give him 5 more loyal troops: 4 more peasants and a White Mage. Minister Hylas is an extremely important figure in this campaign, and is currently the only of your troops who will be very effective against the undead that you will soon face. e also bears the blue badge that all significant characters wear. Deoran should recruit/recall again here, possibly including bringing back the loyal Mermen, then go on the attack. The Peasants will be kind of difficult to keep alive against the criminals they face, so perhaps send a few of them around to capture the blue villages. However, in this scenario I had a Peasant upgrade to Bowman and again to Longbowman.

Now the Urza begins playing hardball: he won't capture any of your villages. If one of his troops comes upon a village held by you, they will destroy it. It is up to you if you need the money bad enough to keep troops behind and defend the villages. The important thing is to take all villages away from him to reduce how many recruits he can send against you. Of course, we should also think of the happiness of our citizens, as well... Once you have Minister Hylas on your side, the Urza reveals all the tricks up his sleeve: he can recruit Undead. The Undead Skeletons are a real nuisance, as they are highly resistant to attacks by piercing and bladed weapons [exactly the kind that all of your troops, except Minister Hylas, possess].

If you're curious, select a Skeleton and look at the description. Depending upon how the version of Wesnoth you are using was compiled, usually this is accomplished by pressing the 'd' key or right-clicking and selecting 'Unit Description'. You will see that the Skeletons are vulnerable to fire and impact weapons, and particularly weak against arcane attacks. You don't have any fire attacks yet, and the only impact attack you have is Minister Hylas' very weak melee staff. His arcane 'Lightbeam' spell, though, is extremely powerful against these foul creatures, however:

* The Skeletons' -50% resistance to this attack means you will deliver much better damage to them. During broad daylight this totals up to a maximum 51 points of damage every turn.

* Three strikes make it quite reliable, and two hits will bring down a Skeleton from full health at daytime.

* The Lightbeam is a magical attack. This means that it does not matter if they're hiding in mountains, a village or whatever; you still have a 70% chance to hit them.

* The majority of the Skeletons have no ranged attack. There is no better attack for you than an attack with no risk of counterattack...

With the exception of Minister Hylas, your only other option for an effective anti-Skeleton unit would be a Merman Netcaster, which you could get if you manage to level up your loyal Hunter from the previous mission. This can be done by feeding him 1 or 2 kills in the previous mission and allowing him to take down a second level bandit unit once you've arrived in Westin. He has impact weaponry in both melee and ranged, and his ranged attack's 'Slow' ability can paralyze a Skeleton in the river. Having a Netcaster would significantly ease your river-crossing effort.

Anyway, by turn 8 you can have cleared the west bank of the river and will be lined up ready to wade across. As before, wait for dawn to start the attack and you should be able to beat you way through during the day. Since the water is such an impediment to travel, you might risk putting units into the river along row 24. Even though they are exposed there [typically 20% defense means they would be hit 80% of the time], enemies would themselves have to step into the water to attack you there. Since it typically takes 3 to 4 movement points to pass through water, a unit standing [for example] on 18, 23 would run out of points before getting to dry land. It's much better to end your turn on the shore.

If it takes longer to clear out the city, or if the resistance in the south is particularly stiff, then better wait on your side of the river and let them attack you from the water. By turn 14 you should have reduced their numbers enough to make it across. Some of the bad guys will try to ford the eastern stream [hexes 26, 22 to 29, 23]. I would send a handful of troops [assisted by the Mermen] down the east bank of the river to prevent those from getting behind you.

After you've crossed the river again, the rest is quite straightforward: get through the forest to the enemy keep, and beat them down. I should mention that while Minister Hylas is healing all of your troops that are near him, nobody is healing Minister Hylas. Since he is so critical, you'll have to retreat him if he gets banged up too bad. It takes some juggling since he is your only effective undead fighter. However, he can't fight them if he's dead...

== A Desperate Errand ==
* Objectives: Move Deoran to the elvish city
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick or Minister Hylas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 120/105/75
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas

There is a marker at 17,7 indicating where Deoran should head, though it is partly obscured by the large tree in front of it. You don't need lots of troops for this scenario, maybe just two or three keeps worth at most. On the first turn I would just bring back the loyals, perhaps one of them a Merman. Don't head to the target yet, as on turn two Jarek[a Cavalier, Dragoon, or Cavalryman depending on difficulty level] will arrive and you will gain the ability to recruit Cavalrymen. Buy one or two to screen Deoran, and then perhaps bring back another Merman. Deoran and the other mounted troops can immediately cross the river heading North, while the others head West. When there are no enemies in the immediate area, the cavalry can capture villages while still remaining somewhat close to Deoran. He should just make a beeline towards the elven keep. As enemies get closer he should be a little more conservative in his movement; not ending his turn in a forest, for example.

By about turn six or seven the walking and swimming types should be in the neighborhood of the village at 12, 24 while the Vampire Bats will be catching up with the horsey set having just crossed the river again. You should be able to hold 12, 24 though expect to see some fierce attempts to wrest the village from you. It would be possible to send a Merman to the village at 4, 23, though i wouldn't recommend you send anybody you really like there, as they're likely to get slaughtered. Still, it might be worthwhile to send a throwaway [read: non-loyal] Merman there to take the heat off the main force around 12, 24. Note that the scenario objectives say nothing about defeating the Urza. Your foot troops need only engage him to keep him out of Deoran's hair, and you're home free. Of course if you are able to finish him off, then good for you.

Note that on Easy difficulty, you'll only be facing a few bandits, while on the harder difficulties, first level Skeletons will also join them. So remember to keep Minister Hylas and perhaps a Netcaster around to help your main force combat them. As for the bandits, your regular troops[ideally, Cavalrymen, Swordsmen and Longbowmen by now] can easily handle 'em.
Note that Cavalrymen are impressively tough against the blade and impact weapons used by Thugs, Footpads and Thieves, and their own blades can slice these units to pieces. Try to level them up and they'll be useful later, and also try not to allow Poachers and Skeleton Archers to shoot them, as they are weak to arrows.

== Vale of Tears ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies and move Ethiliel to Mebrin's village
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 40/32/28 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek

I might initially recall a single keep worth of troops, as another five bodies might be overkill on top the now large retinue around Deoran. On the other hand, you'll have to fight Skeletons again, so expect to lose a few. As always, Minister Hylas can take down one every turn. Ethiliel can put her 'Ensnare' attack to good use as well. It uses impact damage and, like the Merman Netcaster, has the beneficial effect of Slowing down the target. If she hits, the target will only deliver half damage for the remaining of this round and the beginning of next. It's best to use her to attack an axe-wielding Skeleton, then quickly finish it off with your melee fighters. You'll have to rein in the temptation to have Deoran or any of the mounted fighters charge in ahead of the others, that could be a form of suicide. If you keep your troops shoulder-to-shoulder [in a line] that'll reduce the ability of the enemy to gang up on any one character. Of course, you can afford to take more risks after there are only a few skeletons left. There will also be times when you choose to expose some of your troops in order to surround and defeat an enemy.

If you have chosen Hard difficulty, though, this part of the mission becomes significantly harder as the enemy can recruit second level Revenants and Bone Shooters instead of the normal first level skellies you've been facing so far. The basic tactics remain the same, but the Bone Shooters can be problematic as you cannot us Minister Hylas on them because of their strong retaliation fire, and because their powerful arrows are extremely effective against your Cavalry and Deoran. However, you should have leveled up Gerrick by now, and his Slowing impact shield-bash attack combined with leadership-boosted melee Swordsmen ought to be able to contain the Shooters. If you keep your important units(loyals, leveled-up troops, etc.) alive, this could be an opportunity to gain large amounts of experience as each second level unit gives you double the XP as a first level unit would.

When your first unit dies, Ethiliel summons her bodyguard of 2 loyal Elvish Rangers, who are fast and powerful in the forest. You might want to recruit a Peasant to go on a suicide rush for this purpose.

After you have finished off Mal A'kai you can use his keep to replenish your forces for the next battle. A useful shortcut at this point might be to send Ethiliel due South after she's done bashing Skeletons. Hopefully won't really need her help to deal with the villains in the woods, Also, the sooner you send her off to Mebrin's village, the sooner you can complete the second objective for this scenario. If she circles around the eastern side of the lake she can make the village [31, 32] in about a half dozen turns.

Meanwhile the villains should mostly be so spread out as to be easy prey. Just regular first level bandit scum. Slice them to pieces, and you win.

== Choice In The Fog ==
* Objectives: Defeat all enemies
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/40/35 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 150/125/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Ethiliel, and Jarek
* Other: You must side with either the Elves or the Bandits when you first sight the bandit keep

The title is a precise summation of this scenario, but more about that later. Right now, you're surrounded by fog that only lets you see as far as you can move in the next turn. One possible [though expensive] means of dealing with this is to make sure that every squad of yours has a fast moving unit like Cavalrymen with them. However, cavalry fight at a disadvantage in the woods, which is mostly what you'll be dealing with here. Elves are much better in the forest, and therein lies the choice I mentioned earlier. You won't be forced to chose yet, but you may as well think about it: your decision will affect the type of recruits you are about to gather. As of now, Ethiliel will allow you to recruit Elvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans. The Shaman is the only healing unit you'll get other than Ethiliel and Minister Hylas in the whole campaign, and also has a Slowing attack which can come in handy against strong opponents. If you choose to ally with the Bandits, you will then be allowed to recruit units that are strong against Undead. If you're going to go that way, then don't bother recruiting any elves, as you will not be keeping them long.

So recruit a keep's worth of mixed troops. You might need more, depending upon how you choose. Your objective now is simply to explore. I don't think it will be too much of a spoiler to tell you that there are a handful of sites to ford the river, but only one bridge. I usually send freshly-recruited Elves and loyal Mermen along the river, since it's a long way across the map. Minister Hylas and the rest of the humans, including fast-moving Dragoons, should march south along the road and across the bridge. Of course, if you're going with the elves, you may as well reinforce them with some Elvish Fighters and a Shaman or two as well. Your northern Elves will eventually encounter some resistance about three quarters of the way across. After you've cleared the northern bank, prepare to cross the river and meet them on their own turf.

Meanwhile, the others should keep heading south and will eventually run into hordes of Soulless zombies. While they are quite weak individually, wave after wave of them can eventually wear down even the strongest hero. The unique plague attack of the Walking Corpses and Soulless means that any living creature they kill will be brought back as one of their own. Keep your fighters close to Minister Hylas, and rotate them as necessary. As level zero creatures, Walking Corpses don't exert a Zone of Control. In practical terms, it means that they can't slow your movement. Just remember you are in no hurry, and eventually you will beat them at their own game. Even if they hurry it is unlikely that they could meet up with their brethren for the battle against the Skeletons on the east side. The leader of the Walking Corpses is a level one Soulless called Gruth.

A faster alternate strategy for the western front would involve sending Etheliel's bodyguard Rangers straight south across the bridge and through the forest at maximum speed. Using their 'Ambush' stealth ability to get past the Soulless hordes unnoticed, they can quickly reach and assassinate Gruth and cut off the supply of zombie reinforcements. After that, the Rangers would join up with the rest of the southern force and help clear out the remaining enemies.

On the eastern front, you will face bandits and such again. Eventually sordid secrets will be revealed, and you will be forced to choose between them and the Elves. If you chose Bandits, your elven allies will IMMEDIATELY disappear. This may leave some of your units exposed to counterattack from the undead, so beware. After so choosing, Urza Afalas and all his surviving bandits will become yours to command, and you will be able to use his keep to recruit more Thugs and Footpads. Both are well suited to cracking skeletal skulls with their impact weapons. If you choose to stay with the Elves, of course you'll have the Shamans and fast Fighters to console you as you fight your way through the bandits, and plus, you also get to keep Ethiliel and her bodyguards. By the time you are through with them, the Skeletons will probably be making their way up from their keep on the southeast corner of the map.

Just keep bashing away, and eventually you will win through to the big baddie: Mal M'Brin, who, in terms of number of units, is actually quite weak and easy to defeat. This name might sound vaguely familiar, but I won't go into that now. Just keep in mind that it is tougher than the other two leaders put together. Its magic attack can hit you for a basic 36 points [Dawn/Dusk] of ranged magical cold damage, while its melee attack does 24 points of arcane. It's worse than that, however, as the melee attack can drain hit points from the target to regain Mal's hit points. Just keep hammering away at it, and hold Deoran back so he can get the final whack. It turns out that this is merely an apparition of the real Mal M'Brin, and the actual one is hiding in tunnels beneath his keep.

After this scenario, there will be a branch: If you chose to stay with the elves, you'll lead Sir Gerrick back to Wesnoth to deliver news of the undead in a scenario that's almost a pushover, and then you'll try to hunt out Mal inside his caves. If you chose to go with the bandits, then you'll try to return to Wesnoth, but the remaining undead, under the real Mal M'Brin, will follow you. The first fork is much less difficult.

If you are going to side with the elves, delay meeting the bandits for a while. That way they and the undead will weaken one another. Conversely, if you are going to side with the bandits, get there ASAP; once Urza Afalas joins you, his recruits are yours. Along those lines, don't kill too many bandits before allying with them.

== Diverging campaign path - Elf branch ==
=== Tidings, Good and Ill ===
* Objectives: Move Sir Gerrick to the north of the woods and defeat the Naga Queen
* Lose if: Sir Gerrick dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18 (all difficulties)
* Starting Gold: 100
* Starting Units: Sir Gerrick and an Elvish Ranger

Recruit some Elvish Fighters, and push northwards. If you had leveled any Heroes or Druids on the previous mission, bring them along too. None of your opponents will be any match for you. Make sure you have a healer, i.e, a Shaman or a Druid. If you don't already have a Druid, though, try to level up your Shaman. Also try to use Gerrick's leadership whenever you can.

Try and fight the enemies one at a time; deal with the first batch of Saurians, then stay a little to the left and take out the Ogre. Then move right and kill the Nagas, luring them on to land and, preferably, Slowing the Myrmidon with a Shaman/Druid or with Gerrick's shield bash. After that, take out the Dark Adepts in the north. Remember to encounter the enemies on your terms, as and when you are best prepared.

=== Into the Depths ===
* Objectives: Root out the source of the undead
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 50/45/40 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

One of the few genuinely tough scenarios in this campaign, mainly because you're fighting underground with Loyalist humans and Elves. The Loyalists are lawful and get -25% damage penalties, and the Elves get very poor evasion and are heavily slowed down. Recall your blade-armed units, like Royal Guards, at the start, along with any other loyal troops, and then maybe some Elvish Fighters for fodder and a Shaman or two for healing/slowing support. Avoid Cavalry - they completely suck in caves. Also, try for units with 6 moves(ones with the 'quick' trait), as they'll be able to cover and extra hex every turn through the caves compared to 5-move units. If you've leveled Minister Hylas into a Mage of Light, he'll be very useful here, supporting your lawful human troops with his Illumination ability and blasting Undead with his boosted Lightbeams.

At the start, you face an "Eyestalk" creature with a powerful draining ranged attack, and a regular Revenant nearby. The Eyestalk is difficult and dangerous to take down using ranged attackers, but it is easily dispatched by blade-armed units as it is weak against them. The reason I advised bringing blades down here is simple: they're the most useful damage type you have in this dungeon. Although far inferior to impact when facing Skeletons and Ghouls, it is nevertheless a good deal better than piercing damage, which is your only other option. Your archers are still relatively useful against Ghost-type Undead, though.

You will encounter a fork soon, one heading south and the other continuing east, with skeletons and ghouls pressing from both sides. Heading south will bring you into contact with the Trolls, but even if you choose not to ally with them, you gain access to a bridge that gives you a shorter route to Mal M'Brin's castle than the fork going east.

If you choose to offer the Trolls 200 gold, they ally with you and also grant you a shortcut to Mal M'Brin's castle. The scenario is extremely easy if you fight alongside the Trolls. Once you've payed, simply move your army towards the bomb and let the Trolls duke it out against the pursuing Undead. Take their villages if you want. Then, once you reach the bomb, detonate it and storm into Mal M'Brin's chamber. He'll have some Undead and Dark Adepts in the region, but you ought to be able to fight them off without much trouble. When that's done, take out M'Brin, and you win.

If you want to try to fight the trolls, offer them freedom. They don't want that. They'll turn it down, and you can barrage them with Elvish Fighters. However, fighting against the Trolls is not advisable - even if you don't have enough gold to buy their help, offer them gold anyway and you can pay later once you collect that amount. Or even if you don't pay them at all, you still keep them neutrally aligned and none of your business, instead of turning them against yourself.

=== Return to Kerlath ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran into Kerlath Province
* Lose if: Deoran, Minister Hylas or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: 22/20/18 (easy/medium/hard)
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, and Ethiliel

This is a straightforward level, a walk in the park to put it simply. Recall your high-level units, and then slaughter the bandits. They are relatively strung out and have only first level units interspersed with a few level twos. They should be easy pickings for your army by this point.

Just keep moving Deoran north, and level any units that still need a bit more experience. When you cross the bridge and meet the Wesnoth lieutenant, you win.

=== Vengeance ===
* Objectives: Keep the elves from sacking Westin, then move Ethiliel to the Great Tree
* Lose if: Deoran or Ethiliel die or turns run out
* Turns: No limit
* Base Starting Gold: 125/100/80
* Starting Units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Sir Gerrick and Ethiliel and several defenders

Another simple mission, once you know how to play it. Just get one of the free Spearmen killed as soon as possible, which will activate the victory condition of moving Ethiliel to the Great Tree. Spam fodder units to screen her. It's even easier to do this if she's a Shyde by now, since she can flank north through the hills at full speed. Do not kill the enemy Elves - it will just cause more, stronger Elves to appear near the Great Tree, exactly where you do not want them.

Once Ethiliel reaches the tree, you win the mission and the campaign.

== Diverging campaign path - Bandit branch ==
=== Long March ===
* Objectives: Move Deoran across the river
* Lose if: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas or Urza Afalas die or turns run out
* Turns: 30/25/20 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Sir Gerrick, Minister Hylas, Afalas and Jarek

Just follow Urza Afalas for a standard scenario unless you want a challenge, in which case head north and fight. The end result is the same.

Actually, the above is a matter of opinion. In earlier versions, following the suggestion of the Urza would allow you to sneak around the edges of the map with relatively few contacts with the enemy. As of version 1.3.14 and above, many users find that this scenario is so hard that they end up going back to "Choice in the Fog" and choosing to side with the elves. In the newer versions, the amount and level of enemies that come hunting you down will provide plenty of challenge even if all your important characters are fully leveled up. For starters, this scenario resembles "Crossroads" from the Heir to the Throne campaign in that every time you step off the path you are likely to create several new elves to harass you. Staying on the path makes you an easy target for the hordes of undead and elves that each want your blood. The only reprieve you'll have is that the elves and undead are equally willing to destroy each other, though in my experience this rarely worked in my favor.

The good thing is that the victory condition is fairly simple: Deoran is the only unit that needs to cross the river. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to let you know that only a Naga awaits you on the South bank of the river, so it's perfectly okay to send him out alone once you've dealt with it. At this point, it would be better if the rest of your team hunker down together in a classic hedgehog defense. The less you move, the fewer elves attack you. Also, you may want to avoid the valley with the three villages in it - setting foot in there summons a large Elven ambush. Actually, the northmost of the three villages is safe to rest in.

There are some elves that will come out even if you keep to the path. The ambushes happen when you stray. You can use this to your advantage by recruiting a Peasant or two. Have them hang back behind the party. When you start to see undead, have the peasants sprint south into the forest/off the path. They will trigger an ambush. Since the undead are south and the triggered ambush is south, hopefully the elves and undead will attack one another (or at least ZOC each other). Besides that, stay to the path. The elves you encounter on the path are weaker than the elves who ambush you.

=== Pebbles in the Flood ===
* Objectives: Hold out as long as possible
* Lose if: n/a
* Turns: n/a
* Starting units: Sir Gerrick, Urza Afalas and several defenders

Deoran leaves Sir Gerrick behind to hold the undead at a border fort while he and Minister Hylas prepare at Westin.
Urza Afalas stays with Gerrick to atone for his prior transgressions.
The objective is to keep Sir Gerrick alive as long as possible.

The longer you hold out, the better the set up is in the next scenario.
The milestones are lasting 6, 22, or 24 turns.
After 6 turns you start getting more starting units, more starting villages and better fortifications.
These benefits are maxed out after 22 turns.
The council will be at your side if you last 24 turns or longer. Any less and they will arrive in (24 - number_of_turns_lasted) turns.

When Gerrick dies, the scenario is over (you 'win'). You cannot kill all the units as Mal M'Brin cannot be hit (in this scenario only).

You will be fighting all undead, so recruit Footpads and Thugs. You can't recall any units (they are all with Deoran, not Gerrick).

=== The Tides of War ===
* Objectives: Defeat Mal M'Brin
* Lose if: Deoran dies or turns run out
* Turns: 60/60/60 (easy/medium/hard)
* Starting units: Deoran, Minister Hylas, Jarek and some defenders

With Gerrick and his band of defenders defeated, the undead arrive at Westin. Deoran has fortified the city and recruited some defenders (how much of both depends on the previous scenario). Minister Hylas has summoned the Council of Westin. The Council consists of a Silver Mage, a Red Mage, two White Mages and an Arch Mage. The Silver Mage, Minister Mefel arrives at the beginning. Depending on how well you did in the last level, the rest of the Council may or may not be with him.

This level is not that difficult and is easy once the Council arrives. Recruit fodder Footpad after fodder Footpad. Secure the two crossings. Note that Draugs are Level 3, so killing a single one can almost level up an intelligent Footpad on its own. When the Council arrives, push towards Mal M'Brin. All the heroes except Deoran can die.

Try and keep your Silver Mage alive. Also when the Red Mage levels up, turn it into a Silver Mage. They will be very helpful when the time comes to kill Mal M'Brin who, as an Ancient Lich, is quite robust.

[[Category:Campaigns - The South Guard]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]

AnOrcishIncursion

2013-08-02T05:59:34Z

Ericppp: Be more clear about the gold bonus for this scenario /* Wasteland */

If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to hone your skills, try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

Each scenario has an individual forum thread where you can provide feedback to the authors. You can find these [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=20249 here].

=== Defend the Forest ===
* Objectives: Defeat Urugha, the enemy leader
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and an Elvish Rider

This is a simple 'Kill the enemy leader' scenario. The main objective in the first couple scenarios in this campaign is to develop your shaman line recruits, so you should recruit a fairly even mix of fighters, archers, and shamans. Normally as Rebels you would recruit many more fighters, but in this campaign you can be assured of lots of forest, so you don't need quite as many of them. As always, plan your starting recruits so that you can get the most villages quickly (many require a quick archer to reach expediently, unfortunately).

The battle is quickly over. Watch for the enemy Grunts as they have the highest damage dealing potential, and some Wolf Riders may try to steal your village. Try to milk the enemy leader for XP at the end, especially on your Shamans. If he's slowed, he's not much of a threat, even at night. Finish early for a nice bonus.

=== Assassins ===
* Objectives: Defeat Ghalrsa, the enemy leader
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and another unit
Hopefully you're entering this scenario with a good hunk of XP on your units, if not level 2s already. Your primary goal is to get a Druid quickly in this scenario - the AI uses Orcish Assassins, which will poison you. A Druid will make this far less painful than if you were relying solely on your Shamans.

It is up to you where to make your stand, but try to get the enemy to fight from the river. Even if you lose a unit or two, the return damage he will deal hitting them in the river is quite tremendous and will greatly weaken their forces. Especially on the higher levels of difficulty, consider recruiting quite a bit more than one castleful for this scenario as the enemy will have units aplenty. This enemy leader isn't quite so easy to milk so finish it as quickly as possible.

=== Wasteland ===

* Objectives: Defeat Gnargha, the Orcish Warlord
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and another unit

This is an interesting scenario - no villages. Check your income in the top: it's all you're going to get. The next scenario is possible with minimum starting gold but painful, especially if you don't have leveled troops that you're willing to lose. This is slightly offset by the gold bonus you will (hopefully) get at the end of the scenario. This scenario is as much an exercise in gold management as anything else. Keep in mind that some troops may level and try to stay under your income as much as possible with your upkeep. Multiple level 1s may be better than your leveled units in some cases. A Druid, of course, is a necessity with the lack of villages.

Establish your units in the middle "island" of forest. With some healers behind your line you should easily absorb the wave of attackers then take out the leader.

When you finish, you will get a gold bonus, and its amount will be in inverse proportion to the number of units the enemy recruited throughout the scenario (the less units he gets to recruit, the more money for you), so it is probably best to avoid a long fight.

=== Valley of Trolls ===
* Objectives: Defeat the two Troll leaders
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas and another unit

Largely regarded as the first truly difficult scenario by many beginners, this has stumped many by either waves of Troll Whelps or truly scary adult Trolls, depending on your difficulty. What may not be obvious to you is that the troll AI has been set up to NOT USE the two mountain hexes that border their caves, but only the path through the middle. Once you realize this it is far easier to setup a nice bottleneck for them.

The troops from the shaman line should make good use of their slow attack. A slowed troll is much more survivable.

Good luck! Try to eliminate the blue troll quickly so that the teal one will be a sole target.

[stupidjaguar] I agree with all of the above. The scenario becomes much easier if you use the Sorceress line and Elornas, because of the Trolls' vulnerabilities to arcane damage. Slow them with Shamen and Druids, then take them out with faerie fire.

[cph] Maybe the bottleneck approach above works for the Easy skill, but I don't think it's suitable for Challenging. Instead, it's a divide-and-conquer level. Send a scout west over the river to grab villages and distract the west trolls, and throw the rest of your forces in a quick knock-out against the east trolls. Remember to recall some L2 or near-to-levelling up units with good ranged damage: you want to be able to take out trolls in 1 or two turns. It would help to level up Erlornas before you get here, as he does more ranged damage at L3.

=== Linaera the Quick ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leaders
* Lose if: Erlornas or Linaera die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas, another unit, Linaera and three Mages

This is a fun scenario lending you a very handy unit, the Silver Mage. Be careful not to lose her and use her as a surprise attacker. The AI does not understand that a Silver Mage can appear from any of your villages, so when she's not teleporting around the map grabbing more villages for you keep her on a village so that she's handy to aid in a strike on an unsuspecting AI unit.

You may start off with low gold after last scenario, so start off slow, especially on higher difficulty levels. Let them come to you instead of you rushing them. You have plenty of time to take the rest of the map once the first wave has pummeled you.

[comments by elvish_sovereign] If your low on gold (which you might be because of the previous scenario), try this strategy if you need some quick cash. Depending on the amount of gold you have, get one or two scouts. Recruit fighters with the rest of your gold. Place Linaera on one of the villages you start with. The orc leader will start recruiting and sending units down to attack you. Use your fighters to lure the enemy units first south and then west. When all of the enemy units are attacking your fighters, use your scout(s) to rush up north and aim to grab the village at 9,5: the village right above the enemy leader. Once your scout leaves that village teleport Linaera to the village and kill the leader. Try not to let the scout(s) die because they also can shoot the leader with their bow(s). This way I finished the scenario (on hard) on turn 6, giving me loads of gold for the next scenario.

=== A Detour Through the Swamp ===

* Objectives: Defeat Keremal the Lich
* Lose if: Erlornas or Linaera die or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas, Linaera and any surviving Mages

Pretty simple 'kill the enemy leader' scenario again. This campaign has a lot of them. Be careful of the undead at night - they pack a serious punch, but they're much less scary in the daytime. Your best unit will be your Mages. The final boss is a toughy. The only thing you really have that can hurt him is your Mages, with Linaera being by far the best as a Silver Mage (she resists the Lich attack quite a bit!). Get in a gang around him and then try to finish him off in one turn. If that fails, try again. You'll probably have heavy casualties finishing him if you're new to fighting Liches, and beware using melee attacks on him (he'll heal when he hits you), even if his ranged attack is truly terrifyingly powerful. Again, slowing the Lich will help a lot.

[comments by scorchgeek]
Erlornas and Elvish Sorceresses also do heavy damage to undead. I sacrificed all my mages in the previous scenario and at first thought I would have to go back and repeat it, but as I had 2 Sorceresses, I did fine in the end.

[comments by Mountain_King]
If you decide to do a shamans-only challenge on this campaign, this scenario is loads easier. Sorceresses + Shamans make quick work of even revenants. Don't be afraid to bring Erlornas to use his faerie fire either. You should have an enchantress or two at this point, which when combined with Linaera will take out the lich very easily.

=== Showdown ===
* Objectives: Defeat the Orcish Sovereign
* Lose if: Erlornas dies or turns run out
* Turns: 24
* Starting units: Erlornas, Linaera, another unit and 4 Elvish Rangers

Another kill the enemy leader, but with a twist: you get 4 loyal Rangers to sneak around the backside for an assassination! If you have any rangers of your own, send them along to and use the rest of your forces as a diversion to the southwest. If played well you can actually just destroy his army at the moment, but it's always fun to pop out of the trees and surround the bewildered AI.

[[Category: Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - An Orcish Incursion]]

ATaleOfTwoBrothers

2013-08-02T00:38:10Z

Ericppp: Added information about guards/passwords /* Guarded Castle */

This is an easy campaign that is mainly intended to introduce new players to the mechanics of the game.

== Rooting Out a Mage ==
* Objectives: Defeat Mordak, the evil mage
* Lose if: Arvith dies or turns run out
* Turns: 18/18 (easy/hard)
* Starting units: Arvith and lots of loyal units
You start with a lot of units and they are all loyal. This will be helpful later, so try not to get them all slaughtered. If you send 3 horsemen north and the rest of your force northwest along the river, you may be able to ambush the mage. Pay attention to the time of day; the undead will chew you up at night.

On easy level you should be able to win this first scenario with the troops you get at start, without recruiting. Hang back enough that the undead can't reach you at night, then attack at dawn. Attack the Dark Adepts with Spearmen and the Bats with Bowmen; attack the Skeletons with Footpads; use your Horsemen on already-wounded units to finish them off.

On hard, you're probably going to need some reinforcements. It's best to recruit some expendable troops to place in harm's way to protect the loyal troops that you start with--their loyalty will prove helpful later, especially when they level up. You might have an opportunity to send in your Horsemen and take out Mordak around halfway through, but I'd recommend you spend the extra turns leveling up a couple units to get blade attacks (Horsemen to Knights or Spearmen to Swordsmen). A second level Footpad or two will also prove helpful in the third scenario.

== The Chase ==
* Objectives: Get through the woods to the kidnappers, then defeat the Dark Adept
* Lose if: Arvith dies or turns run out
* Turns: 28/24 (easy/hard)
* Starting units: Arvith and a horseman
* Other: Remember the passwords

The elves are too aggressive for their own good. Keep your units in line- or V-shaped formations with one or both ends anchored on a village; Elvish Scouts/Riders will charge in by ones or twos and you should be able to swarm them with foot units.

Again, avoid fighting the undead at the north map edge at night. Let your main body catch up with your cavalry and surround them. When you prevail, make a note of the passwords.

On hard, a good strategy is to recruit lots of Spearmen to wound the Elvish Riders, and finish them off with your leader or another Knight. Ideally, you'll have a Paladin by the time you hit the undead in the next scenario.

It might be a good idea to sacrifice some units as a distraction, but make sure you move enough troops north to take out the undead leader, which will be guarded by two skeletons (''easy mode'') or two revenants (''hard mode'').

While attacking undead at night is often foolhardy, in this case you only need to take out the Dark Adept leader, and he's a sucker for blasting units at night. If you march a couple expendable units to the edge of his range, he'll probably oblige, leaving himself open to your retaliation. Even at night cavalry make quick work of a Dark Adept.

On ''easy'', an Iron Mauler named Brena will show up at the end of the scenario and ask to join your party. Iron Maulers are powerful level-3 units with a very strong melee attack and good physical defense, but they lack a ranged attack, and are slow (base movement of 4). Whether it's best to accept him or not depends on your playing style, but if you think you can live with his very limited speed, letting Brena join up is probably for the best. If you do accept him, he will be available in the next scenario as a loyal unit. If you refuse his offer, he will give you 70 pieces of gold. Regardless of the choice you make, you will be given the ability to recruit Heavy Infantryman units.

== Guarded Castle ==

* Objectives: Rescue Baran (defeat the sorcerer to get the key, then unlock Baran's cell)
* Lose if: Arvith dies or turns run out
* Turns: 30/24 (easy/hard)
* Starting units: Arvith
* Other:
** Use the passwords from the previous scenario
** Chest with gold in northeast of castle

Early on in this scenario you will be asked for a password on two occasions. If you give the correct passwords, you will be left alone to prepare your troops undisturbed. However, if you're up to the challenge, and want to earn some extra experience for your units, you can deliberately give the wrong passwords, and then you'll fight the guards that asked you for them. If you decide to fight the first group of guards, you will be visited by the second group on turn 6, otherwise the second group will come at turn 3, in case you want to use this information for planning your strategy a little better.

One castleful of recruits should be enough to win. Experiment with Heavy Infantry, they do well against orcs and undead. Resist the temptation to grab the village nearest the castle gate before you've brought your main mass of troops to it; the orcs like attacking any unit isolated there, especially at night. If you put forward a strong battle line on the hills before the gate during the day, you can bluff the orcs into not attacking, leaving you free to march up and take the defensible castle squares and gain a significant advantage.

Once inside the castle, split your troops into two large groups; take one west and the other east. Arvith should be in the westward group, as his brother is imprisoned in that direction. But don't miss the chest of gold to the northeast. You'll need to kill the sorcerer before Arvith can free his brother. Also note that the scenario is nice enough to give you several more turns after you defeat the sorcerer.

On hard you won't have any Heavy Infantry to hide behind. The only impact damage available are Footpads, and while their high defense can survive a number of attacks, they always seem to get unlucky and die to three or four hits in a row. I guess I'm saying you'll want to bring extra, along with a Paladin and a few level 2 troops. If you can manage to keep a Footpad alive long enough to level up he'll prove quite helpful in dispatching the skeletons, and a good defensive unit to hide behind at night in the final scenario.

While you're wearing down the defenses at the gate, if you send a Footpad or two off to one side inside the castle you can draw most of the skeletons over to that side. This leaves a opening on the other side for your faster units (Footpads and cavalry) to break for the sorcerer's chamber. Once you've dealt with the sorcerer, you should have time to mop up the enemies skeletons (and grab the treasure chest) while Arvith rescues his brother.

== Return to the Village ==
* Objectives: Find out what is happening in the village then defeat the Orcish Warlord
* Lose if: Arvith or Baran die or turns run out
* Turns: 26/24 (easy/hard)
* Starting units: Arvith and BjArvith

There is no need to conserve gold in the last scenario, so recall all of your veterans. Run a small group northeastward over the mountains where two houses cluster; this will distract the orcs while you take most of your forces straight north up the road to the village, circle eastward, and then hit their from the north.

Pick off as many stragglers as you can before the main assault. Goblin riders, which have more movement than the grunts, can often be lured into attacking a forward unit of yours in such a way that your Spearmen and cavalry can swarm them.

On hard, you're faced with a small map, an endless stream of enemies, and a mostly worthless ally. As it's the last scenario, bring out your best units and as many expendable troops as you can afford (Spearmen work well, as do Bowmen if you can protect them) then head north in tight formation. Don't worry too much about holding the villages; your troops are better utilized fighting through to the enemy leader than chasing Wolf Riders across the map. You should easily overwhelm the enemy's scouts and join up with your ally.

Break a wave or two of enemy troops by concentrating your attacks and maintaining a defensive formation (and relying on your ally to send random units out to die distracting the enemy). Once the enemy is only able to field two units a turn, take the offensive. Forge south in the daytime, defend overnight outside the fort, then attack the enemy leader at daybreak. You might lose some units in an all-out assault so it's wise to keep your "key" units at the edge of the fray until victory is assured.

[[Category:Campaigns - Walkthroughs]]
[[Category:Campaigns - A Tale Of Two Brothers]]