The Battle for Wesnoth Wiki - User contributions [en]

Mainline Campaigns

2014-12-13T01:04:39Z

Loci: /* The Eastern Invasion */ updated campaign image

{{Mainline_Campaigns/Translations}}

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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[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]
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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/trunk/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]
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* 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 ==

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[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]
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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]
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* 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/trunk/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]
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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/trunk/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]
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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/trunk/data/campaigns/Eastern_Invasion/images/campaign_image.png http://i.picresize.com/images/2014/12/12/OcYhN.png]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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''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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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]
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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/trunk/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 ==

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[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]
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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/trunk/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 ==
* [[Guide_to_UMC_Campaigns]]

[[Category:Review on Release]]
[[Category:Campaigns|*]]
[[Category:World_of_Wesnoth]]

TheEasternInvasion

2014-12-12T21:46:37Z

Loci: edit intro

:''This walkthrough has been updated for version 1.12.0.''

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 Wesnoth. As a sargeant, Gweddry has the potential to level up into a Grand Marshal, a level 4 unit that can empower his troops significantly through Leadership. You start with the support of a White Mage named Dacyn, who will be by your side throughout 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. Mages and Heavy Infantrymen will provide the backbone of your army. 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: Defend the outpost, then move Gweddry to the trapdoor.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

The best approach is to recruit heavy infantry and optionally a mage. 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.

On turn 7, Dacyn will mysteriously disappear, and you'll briefly meet Mal-Ravanal, the leader of the undead. On turn 10 (easy) or 12 (hard) the white mage returns and points out a trap door to exit the level. (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).

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. You may be able to finish with a couple of shock troopers, another white mage, or a level 2 Gweddry.

On challenging, this scenario is quite, hmm, challenging. 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, and sacrificing them if necessary to save your more valuable units.

=== 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 opposite 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 loyal 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 dies, 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 scenario, while defeating the sorcerer is easier, and takes you directly to ''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 dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 26.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

Only reachable from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' scenario, but you may 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. 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 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. 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 the 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 just 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.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Terraent.
* 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 from the ''Elven Alliance'', ''The Undead Border Patrol'', and ''Mal-Ravanal's Capital'' 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, make sure you have several healthy units 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 villages 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 assassination).

[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 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 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 dies 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, 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: Capture the ogres.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other:
** To add ogres to your army, "capture" them by ZoC-locking them.

This can be a confusing scenario to understand. Basically, your three units just have to survive. However, if you want to be able to recall ogres later, you need to "capture" them by surrounding them. Any ogre which cannot move more than one hex in every direction will be added to your recall list. Ogres which reach the rocky borders will "escape".

Ogres are especially mobile on mountains (such as in the 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''). It's best to capture at least two.

=== 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, Terraent, Grug.
* 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 alliances. The scenario is not very difficult, so you can use this time to gain some experience for your units and pick up another permanent holy amulet (in the north, roughly in the middle between the dwarf and the orc keep).

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. 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.

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 fight their way out of a cave. You may want to prepare several mages and knights.

=== Lake Vrug ===
* Objective: Defeat the trolls and gryphons, and move Dacyn to the stronghold
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, Grug.
* Other:
** The stronghold provides 100 gold.

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 mountains 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 a stronghold straight north from the gryphons, and Dacyn must reach this fortress to complete the level.

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 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 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: Rescue Gweddry, Dacyn, and Owaec, then escape through the south-west tunnel.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: Unlimited, then 16.
* Starting units: Rescue leader and two sidekicks.
* Other:
** No recruiting, but a group of your veterans will be available.
** A holy amulet to the south.

Three of your recall troops will escape from a cell and plot a rescue operation. The scenario tries to select a level 3, level 2, and level 1 unit, but it is possible to end up with many variations. This group only needs to fight an orcish grunt and a few bats as they travel west, then south. Shortly after they encounter the orcish trash heap, one of your rescuers will don a disguise to sneak past the troll guards.

The disguised unit can open a cell door to release the prisoners within. Try to select a cell containing ogres; a quick ogre has the best chance of reaching and opening another cell in the same turn. Your three heroes will also be freed, and either Dacyn or Gweddry can reach the final cell to release the last of your troops. You'll be surrounded by Troll Warriors, and unlikely to do enough damage to kill them in the first turn. Sacrifice some of your less experienced troops to block the trolls from reaching any important units.

Victory occurs when Gweddry moves through the exit in the southwest corner. There is a holy necklace in the southeast. 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 likely to kill off all but a few veterans. However, the steady stream of orc reinforcements can provide one last chance to level key units for ''Evacuation'', the next scenario.

=== Evacuation ===
* Objective: Destroy the bridge or defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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 around 300 gold and a large number of level 2 and 3 units to recall to start this scenario. The scenario is doable with less 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 3 trolls, as they can (and frequently will) instantly kill almost any of your units. Best fight them with two mages or a 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 cavalry.

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 ogres and cavalry 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 Besieged'', 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 dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 28/26/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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.

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
* Objective: Get Gweddry to Weldyn.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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 dies.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, Grug, Engineer, Konrad II.
* Other:
** At 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 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 rob your allies 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.

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 cavalry. 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, cavalry, 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 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, you must choose between challenging Mal-Ravanal to a duel (''The Duel'') or defending Weldyn against the final undead attack (''Weldyn Besieged''). ''Weldyn Besieged'' is intended as a challenging final scenario; players without a good recall list and sizable warchest will find ''The Duel'' much more accommodating.

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== The Duel ====
* Objective: Defeat Mal-Ravanal while Dacyn is nearby.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies, or Dacyn is not nearby when Mal-Ravanal is defeated.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** You can only recruit for the first turn.

This is a somewhat strange scenario: you get to recall/recruit exactly five units and then have to fight Mal-Ravanal and his six chosen troops. 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 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 while Dacyn is nearby.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II dies, any enemy unit reaches your keep, or Dacyn is not nearby when Mal-Ravanal is defeated.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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). Attacking a lich gives it a small boost of gold, but killing the wrong lich gives every other lich extra gold.

A quick scout unit can charge past the undead hordes to attack and identify a lich. Once you've found Mal-Ravanal, send Dacyn and any mounted arcane-attack units to attack. You can draw Mal-Ravanal out of the keep by positioning a sacrificial horseman nearby. Once the lich is out in the open, your arcane damage cavalry should have no trouble finishing the battle 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). Note, however, that each enemy killed causes the lich to recruit another. If things turn grim, retreat to the castle and make your final stand.

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

TheEasternInvasion

2014-12-12T21:38:21Z

Loci: update for 1.12.0

This is a discussion of The Eastern Invasion, the campaign featuring Gweddry General of Wesnoth.

''This walkthrough has been updated for version 1.12.0.''

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 through 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: Defend the outpost, then move Gweddry to the trapdoor.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 16.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

The best approach is to recruit heavy infantry and optionally a mage. 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.

On turn 7, Dacyn will mysteriously disappear, and you'll briefly meet Mal-Ravanal, the leader of the undead. On turn 10 (easy) or 12 (hard) the white mage returns and points out a trap door to exit the level. (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).

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. You may be able to finish with a couple of shock troopers, another white mage, or a level 2 Gweddry.

On challenging, this scenario is quite, hmm, challenging. 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, and sacrificing them if necessary to save your more valuable units.

=== 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 opposite 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 loyal 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 dies, 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 scenario, while defeating the sorcerer is easier, and takes you directly to ''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 dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 26.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.

Only reachable from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' scenario, but you may 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. 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 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. 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 the 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 just 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.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Terraent.
* 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 from the ''Elven Alliance'', ''The Undead Border Patrol'', and ''Mal-Ravanal's Capital'' 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, make sure you have several healthy units 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 villages 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 assassination).

[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 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 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 dies 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, 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: Capture the ogres.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec.
* Other:
** To add ogres to your army, "capture" them by ZoC-locking them.

This can be a confusing scenario to understand. Basically, your three units just have to survive. However, if you want to be able to recall ogres later, you need to "capture" them by surrounding them. Any ogre which cannot move more than one hex in every direction will be added to your recall list. Ogres which reach the rocky borders will "escape".

Ogres are especially mobile on mountains (such as in the 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''). It's best to capture at least two.

=== 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, Terraent, Grug.
* 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 alliances. The scenario is not very difficult, so you can use this time to gain some experience for your units and pick up another permanent holy amulet (in the north, roughly in the middle between the dwarf and the orc keep).

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. 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.

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 fight their way out of a cave. You may want to prepare several mages and knights.

=== Lake Vrug ===
* Objective: Defeat the trolls and gryphons, and move Dacyn to the stronghold
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 30.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, Grug.
* Other:
** The stronghold provides 100 gold.

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 mountains 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 a stronghold straight north from the gryphons, and Dacyn must reach this fortress to complete the level.

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 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 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: Rescue Gweddry, Dacyn, and Owaec, then escape through the south-west tunnel.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: Unlimited, then 16.
* Starting units: Rescue leader and two sidekicks.
* Other:
** No recruiting, but a group of your veterans will be available.
** A holy amulet to the south.

Three of your recall troops will escape from a cell and plot a rescue operation. The scenario tries to select a level 3, level 2, and level 1 unit, but it is possible to end up with many variations. This group only needs to fight an orcish grunt and a few bats as they travel west, then south. Shortly after they encounter the orcish trash heap, one of your rescuers will don a disguise to sneak past the troll guards.

The disguised unit can open a cell door to release the prisoners within. Try to select a cell containing ogres; a quick ogre has the best chance of reaching and opening another cell in the same turn. Your three heroes will also be freed, and either Dacyn or Gweddry can reach the final cell to release the last of your troops. You'll be surrounded by Troll Warriors, and unlikely to do enough damage to kill them in the first turn. Sacrifice some of your less experienced troops to block the trolls from reaching any important units.

Victory occurs when Gweddry moves through the exit in the southwest corner. There is a holy necklace in the southeast. 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 likely to kill off all but a few veterans. However, the steady stream of orc reinforcements can provide one last chance to level key units for ''Evacuation'', the next scenario.

=== Evacuation ===
* Objective: Destroy the bridge or defeat all enemies.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn or Owaec dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 12.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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 around 300 gold and a large number of level 2 and 3 units to recall to start this scenario. The scenario is doable with less 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 3 trolls, as they can (and frequently will) instantly kill almost any of your units. Best fight them with two mages or a 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 cavalry.

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 ogres and cavalry 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 Besieged'', 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 dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 28/26/24 (easy/medium/hard).
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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.

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
* Objective: Get Gweddry to Weldyn.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II dies, or turns run out.
* Turns: 24.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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 dies.
* Turns: 18.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, Grug, Engineer, Konrad II.
* Other:
** At 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 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 rob your allies 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.

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 cavalry. 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, cavalry, 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 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, you must choose between challenging Mal-Ravanal to a duel (''The Duel'') or defending Weldyn against the final undead attack (''Weldyn Besieged''). ''Weldyn Besieged'' is intended as a challenging final scenario; players without a good recall list and sizable warchest will find ''The Duel'' much more accommodating.

=== Diverging Campaign Path ===

==== The Duel ====
* Objective: Defeat Mal-Ravanal while Dacyn is nearby.
* Lose if: Gweddry or Dacyn dies, or Dacyn is not nearby when Mal-Ravanal is defeated.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn.
* Other:
** You can only recruit for the first turn.

This is a somewhat strange scenario: you get to recall/recruit exactly five units and then have to fight Mal-Ravanal and his six chosen troops. 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 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 while Dacyn is nearby.
* Lose if: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec or Konrad II dies, any enemy unit reaches your keep, or Dacyn is not nearby when Mal-Ravanal is defeated.
* Turns: Unlimited.
* Starting units: Gweddry, Dacyn, Owaec, Terraent, 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). Attacking a lich gives it a small boost of gold, but killing the wrong lich gives every other lich extra gold.

A quick scout unit can charge past the undead hordes to attack and identify a lich. Once you've found Mal-Ravanal, send Dacyn and any mounted arcane-attack units to attack. You can draw Mal-Ravanal out of the keep by positioning a sacrificial horseman nearby. Once the lich is out in the open, your arcane damage cavalry should have no trouble finishing the battle 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). Note, however, that each enemy killed causes the lich to recruit another. If things turn grim, retreat to the castle and make your final stand.

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

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T23:43:23Z

Loci: /* Items */ spacing

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* Items
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly by the scenario designer using WML. A steady stream of income can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less destabilizing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

More typically, the scenario designer can remove higher-level units to lower difficulty, and add them to raise difficulty. As an example, in '''Muff Malal Peninsula''' from HttT the AI is allowed to recruit Blood Bats on "hard", but only Vampire Bats on "normal" and "easy". Because the AI pays "full price" for their units, changing the units available doesn't significantly reduce the total power of the side, but it does limit the total power that can be brought to bear in a single turn. It can also be useful to limit defensive "bottlenecks" (weaker individual AI units allow the player to power through the defenders).

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

Villages are useful for three distinct reasons: they are defensible terrain, they grant income (and support), and they provide healing. Of those three, the first two can easily be replaced by other terrain and WML-granted income respectively. Village healing is necessary for the AI, and the player with no healers, however only two or three villages near the conflict are really useful for healing. With those limitations in mind, villages prove only slightly useful in balancing a scenario. For a subtle example, '''The Outpost''' in EI moves a village one hex closer on "easy" (putting it within convenient reach of the player's leader).

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. One typical use is via the [http://www.wesnoth.org/macro-reference.xhtml#file:side-utils.cfg LIMIT_CONTEMPORANEOUS_RECRUITS] [[Macro]], which prevents the AI from over-recruiting one specific type of unit. As another example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T23:41:47Z

Loci: /* Distribution of villages */ update

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T23:11:23Z

Loci: /* AI recruitment list */ update

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* Items
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly by the scenario designer using WML. A steady stream of income can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less destabilizing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

More typically, the scenario designer can remove higher-level units to lower difficulty, and add them to raise difficulty. As an example, in '''Muff Malal Peninsula''' from HttT the AI is allowed to recruit Blood Bats on "hard", but only Vampire Bats on "normal" and "easy". Because the AI pays "full price" for their units, changing the units available doesn't significantly reduce the total power of the side, but it does limit the total power that can be brought to bear in a single turn. It can also be useful to limit defensive "bottlenecks" (weaker individual AI units allow the player to power through the defenders).

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. One typical use is via the [http://www.wesnoth.org/macro-reference.xhtml#file:side-utils.cfg LIMIT_CONTEMPORANEOUS_RECRUITS] [[Macro]], which prevents the AI from over-recruiting one specific type of unit. As another example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T22:54:01Z

Loci: /* WML effects */ update

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* Items
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly by the scenario designer using WML. A steady stream of income can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less destabilizing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. One typical use is via the [http://www.wesnoth.org/macro-reference.xhtml#file:side-utils.cfg LIMIT_CONTEMPORANEOUS_RECRUITS] [[Macro]], which prevents the AI from over-recruiting one specific type of unit. As another example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T08:30:01Z

Loci: /* AI income */ sp

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* Items
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly by the scenario designer using WML. A steady stream of income can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less destabilizing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. For example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T08:29:24Z

Loci: /* AI income */ edit

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* Items
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly by the scenario designer using WML. A steady stream of income can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less unstablizing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. For example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T08:13:03Z

Loci: /* Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth */

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* Items
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly be the scenario designer. It can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less unbalancing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. For example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T08:12:05Z

Loci: /* Items */ /* WML effects */ add

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly be the scenario designer. It can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less unbalancing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

====Items====
Items can modify the attributes of one of the player's units, often providing an extra advantage. Some typical items are "Holy Water" (changes melee weapons to ''arcane'' damage) and "Storm Trident" (adds ranged ''fire'' attack), while WML allows for very detailed customization. Even adding a few hitpoints, an extra movement point, or resistance to a specific type of damage can sway the balance of a close engagement.

====WML effects====
This is sort of a catch-all entry. For example, '''Unexpected Appearance''' in EI uses WML to force the ''chance-to-hit'' to 100% at the beginning of the scenario (to prevent the player from losing if the RNG is mildly uncooperative). Making significant and unexplained modifications to the behavior players have come to expect in Wesnoth should be avoided, but used sparingly WML offers exceptionally fine-grained control for balancing a stubborn scenario.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T07:55:24Z

Loci: /* AI income */ add

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====AI income====
Income provides a steady stream of gold, allowing the AI to mount a continued offensive. Income can be generated from villages, or supplied directly be the scenario designer. It can help provide a more balanced challenge, instead of deciding the battle directly upon the first engagement. Extra income is generally less unbalancing than larger amounts of starting gold, making it a good candidate for fine-tuning scenario balance.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T07:45:32Z

Loci: /* Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth */

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* AI income
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day
* WML effects

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T07:43:14Z

Loci: /* Player's recall list */ update

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====
A player's recall list is vital to the balance of the scenario, however the designer has little control of it. Because recalled troops are available at a ''significant'' discount, they can easily turn the tide of battle, especially against lower-level enemies. Unfortunately, as with the player's starting gold, the recall list is generally unbalanced: the accomplished players will have multiple high-level units, while the struggling players will have few. The situation is further complicated by another wrinkle: playing on "hard" often provides significantly more experience points than playing on easy, with the result that the "hard" recall list often has more high-level units than the "easy" list.

At the beginning of a campaign, it is reasonable to assume few recalled troops (and those that are generally aren't too unbalancing). At the end of a mid-length campaign it is reasonable to assume that most of a player's troops will be level 3 and balance accordingly. In the middle of the campaign, however, it is nearly impossible to find a balance that suits all players. Some campaigns try to limit the player's recall list (such as '''Evacuation''' in EI), however they are rarely entirely successful (and often annoy players).

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T07:27:35Z

Loci: /* Time limitations */ update

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Increasing the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to make turn-costing mistakes and still be victorious.

Extremely tight turn limits should be avoided. Because of the random nature of battle in Wesnoth, the player cannot guarantee that their four level-3 units will be able to take out the enemy leader in a single turn. Restricting the time limit to that level is equivalent to requiring good rolls from the RNG: something the player has no control over. In general, the time limit should serve to ''motivate'' the player, not as the driving challenge of the scenario.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T07:14:20Z

Loci: /* Player's recruitment list */ update

==Introduction==

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

===A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem===

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

===Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth===

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

* Terrain
* Player's starting gold
* AI's starting gold
* Player's recriutment list
* AI's recriutment list
* Player's recall list
* Time limitations
* Keep sizes
* AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
* Distribution of villages
* Unexpected reinforcements
* Time of day

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

===Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario===

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

====Terrain====
If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

====Player's starting gold====
If the player has more gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own; with sufficient starting gold the player can employ a swarm of cheap units to distract and overwhelm the AI forces. Balancing gold becomes difficult in campaigns because of gold carryover, which often has the exact opposite of the desired effect: struggling players will start with less gold (usually the minimum), while accomplished players will have a sizable treasury. This severely limits the designer's ability to balance the scenario by adjusting the player's starting gold.

====AI starting gold====
The easiest, and often first choice to balance a scenario, the AI starting gold primarily controls the size of the initial AI "rush". While adjusting this value clearly influences the difficulty of the scenario in a rather straightforward manner, it is often difficult to properly balance a scenario with gold alone. The relationship between AI starting gold and difficulty is not linear--a few more enemy units can make the first engagement impossible, while a few less can lead to a boring rout. Wesnoth was designed to balance well with equal gold, but unfortunately limitations of the AI generally require a significant gold advantage just to level the playing field.

Setting the AI gold too high will require the player to perform perfectly, or in some cases, even better than perfect (meaning extreme luck with the RNG). Reducing the AI gold, however, does significantly reduce the difficulty of most scenarios (but try to avoid removing all the challenge). Unfortunately, due to the variation in player starting gold in a campaign, finding the optimal AI starting gold amount is nearly impossible.

====Player's recruitment list====
If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially if I don't know the game well.

While adjusting the player's recruitment list can prevent new players from recruiting "poor" units, that effect quickly levels off. Even a moderately inexperienced player quickly learns that heavy infantry "beat" skeleton archers. On the other hand, disallowing the best units can create a new tactical challenge. Either way, though, the player's recruitment list is a defining characteristic of the scenario, and usually does not lend itself to balancing due to limited options and lack of fine-grained control.

====AI recruitment list====
Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

====Player's recall list====

====Time limitations====
The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Elongating the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to turn-costing make mistakes and still be victorious.

====Keep sizes====
The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

====AI Parameters====
The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

====Distribution of villages====
Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

====Unexpected reinforcements====
Reinforcements, either friendly or hostile, can significantly complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that the player must accommodate with already deployed troops. Unfortunately, reinforcements often become [[tomato surprise]]s, meaning the best course of action for the player is to replay the scenario with foreknowledge of the "surprise". To avoid that result, reinforcements should generally be either foreshadowed, appear early in the scenario, or appear in moderation.

As an example, the scenario '''Crossroads''' in HttT introduces enemy enemy reinforcements that randomly appear in hill tiles. These reinforcements are explained near the beginning of the scenario, and the enemy units appear in moderation (a few at a time, and only when the player moves onto hill terrain). The scenario '''Drowned Plains''' in EI uses the same code, but adjusts the type of ambushing units depending on the difficulty level. On the other side, many scenarios give the player a few friendly units near the beginning, with the number and type adjusted for difficulty.

====Time of day====
Time of day can be an interesting factor (assuming the map is not a cave and the armies aren't entirely neutral). While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing the initial time of day can have a significant impact on the outcome of a battle. In particular, the time of day when the first AI rush is engaged can be crucial. On smaller maps, the time of day for the first engagement is practically dictated by the scenario designer. On a large or open battlefield, the player can arrange for a more favorable first encounter, so the initial time of day is not nearly as important. Note that these effects are most pronounced when the two armies are of opposite alignment.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T06:57:18Z

Loci: /* AI starting gold */ update

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T06:34:17Z

Loci: /* Player's starting gold */ update

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T06:14:10Z

Loci: /* Unexpected reinforcements */ update

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T05:56:29Z

Loci: /* Time of day */ update

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T05:35:39Z

Loci: /* Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth */ +bullets

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T05:30:32Z

Loci: section-ize

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T05:18:54Z

Loci: add counterpoint on keep size

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

1. '''A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem'''

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

2. '''Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth'''

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

a) Terrain
b) Player's starting gold
c) AI's starting gold
d) Player's recriutment list
e) AI's recriutment list
f) Player's recall list
g) Time limitations
h) Size of player's keep
i) Size of AI's keep
j) AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
k) Distribution of villages
l) Unexpected reinforcements
m) Time of day

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

3. '''Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario'''

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

''a)'' If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

''b)'' If the player has a lot of gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own, so if the player's starting gold is much higher that the AI's starting gold he can employ a swarm of cheap units. Note that this does not simplify the tactical problem, it only allows more mistakes to be made.

''c)'' If the AI's starting gold is much higher than the players, the player will be unable to make any tactical mistakes and still win the scenario. I'll talk more about this in a moment.

''d)'' If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially
if I don't know the game well.

''e)'' Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can
simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

''g)'' The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Elongating the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to turn-costing make mistakes and still be victorious.

''h&i)'' The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

Note that these parameters generally only have a significant influence on the first few turns--rarely will players (or AI) have sufficient gold to recruit a full keep of replacement troops (and almost never will they be able to do so on multiple turns in a row). In those first few turns, a smaller AI keep can "spread out" the initial rush, making it easier for the player to defend (but this effect can disappear entirely if the AI improves). The only time keep size is critical to the players is when they are limited to 'X' rounds of recruitment (either because their keep is forcibly removed or they are required to begin moving their leaders towards an objective). In short, while keep size can have an effect in some specific circumstances, it is generally not very useful for balancing scenarios.

''j)'' The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

''k)'' Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

''l)'' Enemy reinforcements complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that you have to figure out how to deal with after you've deployed your troops. (Which should be possible so the player doesn't just re-play the scenario with knowledge of the reinforcements.)

''m)'' Time of day is an interesting factor. While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing when the cycle starts can be a significant influence, timing when (by ToD) the battle begins. On a large or open battlefield, the player has more control over that, depending on their skill.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

BuildingScenariosBalancing

2012-10-02T05:17:56Z

Loci: rm line breaks in formatting

I'm writing this wiki article to talk about some things that came up as I was balancing a couple of the scenarios in the South Guard Campaign. I'm going to respond to something that PDF wrote but that I think is a pretty common idea. I don't mean to single him out:

The PDF wrote:
"Adding a difficulty level does not necessarily requires much balancing;
you can, for example, just add or remove gold."

I'm going to argue that that is fundamentally a flawed way to balance campaigns, and should only be used in conjunction
with other balancing methods.

1. '''A Wesnoth scenario as a tactical problem'''

Each scenario in Wesnoth presents a tactical problem. The problem is generally phrased something like this: "Kill the enemy leader in so much time while keeping your leader alive," and its most common variation being: "Move your leader to this hex in said amount time with out letting him die." Of course, there are subtleties to these tactical problems. Because of the bonus gold at the end you want to finish in less then the stated time. And since you can recall experienced units for harder scenarios you may not want your vetrans to die, and of course there might be other units that you have or want to keep alive. There may also be certain units you must kill in order to succeed. At its core however, each scenario is a relatively simple tactical problem.

2. '''Factors that influence the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth'''

I am going to briefly list the factors (that I perceive) which affect the difficulty of a tactical problem in Wesnoth. This list is probably not exhaustive, so if there's something I've missed, post it and I'll add it to the list. They are in no particular order:

a) Terrain
b) Player's starting gold
c) AI's starting gold
d) Player's recriutment list
e) AI's recriutment list
f) Player's recall list
g) Time limitations
h) Size of player's keep
i) Size of AI's keep
j) AI Parameters (more on this in a minute)
k) Distribution of villages
l) Unexpected reinforcements
m) Time of day

Note that the AI's starting gold is one factor among many.

3. '''Varying the difficulty of a tactical problem presented to the player in a scenario'''

Considering the above factors, it is easy (if time consuming for the designer) to present tactical problems of differing difficulty in a single scenario. For most of the above factors, I'll give and example and explain in a sentence how if affects the tactical problem:

''a)'' If the map is predominantly a terrain that favors either the player's forces or the ai's forces, it will have a huge effect on the difficulty of the battle. For example, a player whose units are broadly loyalists will have a disasterous time trying to root Elves out of woods. The terrain is, however, generally fixed by the nature of the scenario (i.e. the designer can't really make a whole new map for each difficulty level). I would submit, however, that 80% of the actual
fighting in a typical scenario occurs in less than 10% of the hexes. It is possible to change only one or two hexes and have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the battle if you can identify those "chokepoint" hexes.

This can either be done my having three different maps (which I suspect is more work) or by using the WML tag [terrain].
For example, the code:

#ifdef EASY
[terrain]
x=4
y=5
letter=Ce
[/terrain]
#endif

will turn the hex at (4,5) into an encampment.

''b)'' If the player has a lot of gold he can make more tactical mistakes because he can recruit more troops to replace the ones he's lost. Additionally, quantity has a quality all of its own, so if the player's starting gold is much higher that the AI's starting gold he can employ a swarm of cheap units. Note that this does not simplify the tactical problem, it only allows more mistakes to be made.

''c)'' If the AI's starting gold is much higher than the players, the player will be unable to make any tactical mistakes and still win the scenario. I'll talk more about this in a moment.

''d)'' If the player can only recruit units that will be effective against the enemy's forces, then the tactical problem is simplified. If I can only recruit heavy infantry to face a force of skeleton archers, then I have a less difficult tactical decision to make than if I can recruit heavy infantry and spearmen. Especially
if I don't know the game well.

''e)'' Restricting the enemy to a certain class of units (i.e. melee-only, ranged-only, impact-attacks-only) can
simplify the tactical problem immensely. Consider an enemy who can only recruit thieves and thugs facing a predominantly loyalist force, who can recruit Bowmen and Spearmen. Bowmen are very good against thugs and thieves because they have a strong ranged attack. If the enemy can also recruit poachers and footpads, the tactical problem becomes more difficult because the player must balance the effectiveness of the Bowmen against the thieves and thugs with their (relative) weakness against footpads and poachers.

''g)'' The turn limit controls to what extent the player is allowed to waste turns not directly accomplishing his mission. In the most difficult case scenario, a player must move his leader across the map and only enough turns are allotted such that if he ever moves in any other direction, time will run out. Elongating the turn limit allows an inexperienced player to turn-costing make mistakes and still be victorious.

''h&i)'' The size of a player's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. The size of the enemy's keep determines at what rate he can recruit troops. Divide one by the other and you get a relative-recruitment-rate (assuming both have lots of gold). If the relative recruitment rate favors the player, the tactical problem should be easier because he can replenish losses more easily than the AI player. If the AI player's keep is larger, then any losses by the human player will be that much more difficult to replace.

''j)'' The AI parameters are perhaps the best way to alter a tactical problem. [[AiWML]] is a particularly important read for a scenario designer. I'd draw attention to aggression and [target] in particular. attack_depth is also very nice. These parameters are especially important for building scenarios with tactical problems that are fundamentally different from the basic kill-his-leader ones.

''k)'' Using the [terrain] WML tag you can easily alter the distribution of villages in a scenario. Move the distribution towards the player, and things get easier. Move it towards the enemy, and they get harder.

''l)'' Enemy reinforcements complicate the tactical problem. They are a surprise that you have to figure out how to deal with after you've deployed your troops. (Which should be possible so the player doesn't just re-play the scenario with knowledge of the reinforcements.)

''m)'' Time of day is an interesting factor. While you are normally not free to change the cycle, changing when the cycle starts can be a significant influence, timing when (by ToD) the battle begins. On a large or open battlefield, the player has more control over that, depending on their skill.

== See Also ==

* [[BuildingScenarios]]
* [[ReferenceWML]]

[[Category:Create]]

EiStoryLine

2012-08-26T01:11:14Z

Loci: Updated storyline

== The Eastern Invasion ==

Scenario 1-The Outpost: The Southern Outpost is under attack by an advance element of the undead invasion. Gweddry defends the outpost until Dacyn discovers a trapdoor, and they manage to escape.

Scenario 2-The Escape Tunnel: Gweddry navigates through the caves, with trolls blocking him. He is pursued by undead, and aided by dwarves.

Scenario 3-An Unexpected Appearance: Gweddry exits the cave and finds himself surrounded by enemies. He captures a nearby fort and summons his troops, breaking free to either the west or east.

Scenario 4A-An Elven Alliance: (to the west) Gweddry meets elven allies in the forest. He must defeat a band of mountain orcs to travel northward.

Scenario 4B-The Undead Border Patrol: (to the east) Gweddry enters enemy territory and the undead confront him. He has to defeat a necromancer that is blocking his escape, or defeat a lich to continue eastward...

Scenario 4C-Mal-Ravinal's Capital: Gweddry delves further into enemy territory, meeting a group of lichs led by Mal-Ravanal. He defeats one of the undead leaders and escapes.

Scenario 5-Northern Outpost: Owaec, leader of the northern outpost, joins Gweddry. They save the local villagers from bandits and undead, then continue northward. Owaec commands horsemen of the clans, so Gweddry can now recruit those units.

Scenaio 6-Two Paths: Gweddry must choose between a northern path guarded by orcs and a western path guarded by undead.

Scenario 7A-The Crossing: (to the north) Gweddry reaches a river that forms a boundary with the northern lands. he is chased by undead, blocked by orcs, and aided by ogres. Gweddry and Owaec must cross the river.

Scenario 7B-Undead Crossing: (to the west) Gweddry is forced to cross the river when his party encounters swamps ahead. He must defeat the enemy leader to secure the crossing, but the necromancer has a few tricks.

Scenario 8-Training the Ogres: Gweddry finds Ogres in the northern lands, and tries to get them to join him. He, Dacyn and Owaec have to keep them from escaping into the mountains before the rest of his troops arrive.

Scenario 9-Xenophobia: Gweddry meets a group of dwarves and a group of elves and asks them for help. They are narrowminded, saying everyone who is not a {dwarf/elf} is an enemy. Orcs arrive, and there is a free-for-all. Gweddry must defeat all enemy leaders.

Scenario 10-Lake Vrug: Gweddry leads his band towards an island on Lake Vrug. They have to cross to the island while being attacked by trolls and gryphons. Dacyn investigates an old library while Gweddry defeats the enemy leaders. Unfortunately, the party is then captured by troll warriors.

Scenario 11-Captured: Gweddry's band is held prisoner by a bunch of orcs. Gweddry, Owaec, Dacyn and two others sneak through a crack in the cave wall, and have to find the rest of their troops and escape the caves. At the same time, Gweddry's troops try to fight their way free from their cells.

Scenario 12-Evacuation: The orcs chase Gweddry to the great river and surround him. He must lead his troops across the bridge then destroy it to stop the orcs from following.
Everyone left on the northern side dies.

Scenario 13-The Drowned Plains: Gweddry leads his troops into Owaec's homeland, which has been corrupted by the undead. Their objective here is to defeat the undead dragon Khrakrahs and capture the Null Stone.

Scenario 14-Approaching Weldyn: Gweddry must fight his way through the undead surrounding the capital of Wesnoth and reach the king, who welcomes him.

"Scenario" 15-The Council: Gweddry, Dacyn and Owaec have a council with the King and his adviser. Dacyn reveals the history of Mal-Ravanal, then they discuss strategies to defeat the undead. Their conference is interrupted by an undead attack...

Scenario 16-Weldyn Under Attack: Gweddry is put in charge of the Weldyn's defenses and must repel a large assault on the city during one long, magically-extended night. At the end, Gweddry must choose which strategy he will use to confront Mal-Ravanal.

Scenario 17A-The Duel: Dacyn challenges Mal-Ravanal to a "duel". Gweddry and Mal-Ravanal each select up to 6 units and battle for control of Wesnoth. Mal-Ravanal, however, has arranged the battlefield in his favor...

Scenario 17B-Weldyn Besieged: Gweddry commands his army in a full attack against the undead horde, hoping to identify and defeat Mal-Ravanal in the chaos of battle.

"Scenario" 18-Epilogue: Gweddry and company meet with the King and the story is concluded.

== See Also ==

* [[WesnothStoryline]]

[[Category:Campaigns]]
[[Category:Campaigns - Story Material]]

TheEasternInvasion

2012-05-14T02:30:50Z

Loci: /* The Duel */ update

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.''

'''Warning: spoilers ahead!'''

This is a campaign where 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.

=== The Outpost ===

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

Don't bother recalling Heavy Infantry, as they go too slow in caves. Go for a group of mostly Mages, and a couple of Spearmen. (One keep of units in total should easily be enough.)

The map is quite small. Bypass the fights that you can until you have the bulk of your units in the safety of the dwarf leader's keep area. When you are just moving Gweddry along, be opportunistic and get some experience. Move your units to the east until you encounter trolls and reach a crossroads. A couple of dwarves will kindly become your allies and keep off the trolls for a few turns.

There is a holy amulet to the north (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 River Crossing, where you can get an easy first turn kill against the undead leader and take his castle. Note that the leader is very hard to kill anyway.

As soon as you have got the holy amulet start to move all your units south without bothering about the trolls or the undead, which appear after a number of turns from the direction of your keep.

The undead, trolls and dwarves will all fight each other, so after having moved all your units south position one Spearman at the end of the cave 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 accompanied by a Mage and a Spearman (to fight individual trolls coming your way).

Before moving Gweddry to the end of the cave (which ends the level) send the Mage to the east past the funny signpost warning you of the troll hole. In the cave the Mage discovers 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

What you do in this scenario depends on which way you want to go. 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 ====

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.

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 on turn 7, ignore it unless you have a cavalryman still down there. 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 <i>The Northern Outpost</i>.

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 ===

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. You will 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 has gone AWOL 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 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 ===
This is a fairly tough level (played in V 1.4.5 on medium difficulty) which took several attempts to get through. In V 1.4.5 you have 16 turns (unlike 12 as in earlier versions) and can 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 ====

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.

Note: Owaec can move only one hex a turn in the water.

Important: 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".
(shadowblack)

[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.

=== 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 ===

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.

(Future spoiler: This is your last chance to level non-leader units you will play two scenarios ahead in Captured. For instance, you may want to prepare a dragoon, a white mage, and a couple of adult ogres for that scenario.)

=== Lake Vrug ===
This is a very confusing hide and seek scenario that could take you several pointless restarts until you have finally discover the enemy leaders. To spare you the frustration, here is a spoiler...

Spoiler: there are three enemy keeps, all north of the river. One is to the very northeast (go to the right into the mounts directly after crossing the bridge), one is between the path leading west and the river bank just before the path turns northwards, and one is in the very north at the end of the path. The orc leader resides in the first keep, the gryphon leader in the second, and the third is empty.

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 recall as many ogres as possible, supplemented by young ogres. (Most of 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.

Apart from finding the keeps, the main challenge in this scenario is surviving the first onslaught of gryphons, which starts 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, ''panic!'' Generally where there is one gryphon, there are more gryphons. 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.

Unfortunately, the shock troopers won't do you much good in the 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 ===

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, one Red Mage, Longbowman, Master Bowman, Arch Mage, Silver Mage, or Great Mage, plus one Swordsman, Pikeman, Javelineer, Royal Guard, or Halberdier. If you don't have any of those units, Gweddry, Dacyn and Oweac will be on their own and facing a tough challenge.

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. Beware that a troll can ambush you out of the shroud, though.

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. Already wounded, they appear in a cavern called the "Torture Room" to the east. 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.

[Thrash] From looking at the WML I believe the captured troops will consist of the 13 highest level troops from your recall list. 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.

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 coordinates x=22, y=38. Preferably grab it with a horseman or something similar. He will come in very hand in later scenarios (if he survives the next scenario, that is.)

Note: Most of the orcs are level two and three units.

=== Evacuation ===
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.

Note: 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 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 levelling 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.

=== The Drowned Plains ===
The Skeletal Dragon 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 impact weapons because the dragon has a low resistance there).

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. Mages magic attacks very effective against the dragon. Since there's a good early finish bonus, just recruit a keep of high mages/paladins/etc, surround and kill the dragon and reap the reward. [Sojourner].

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
The objective is to "get Gweddry to Weldyn", which means that Gweddry has to reach one of the seven castle hexes. 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, Konrad II, engineer

Brace yourself. This is the most difficult scenario of the campaign to this point. You already survived one scenario that many have found impossible, namely ''Evacuation'', so you can survive this one too. Rest assured, the scenario is winnable on hard with ~500 gold even without very many high level troops.

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. 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.

Hint: 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.

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.]

===Diverging Campaign Path===
==== The Duel ====
* Objectives: Defeat Mal-Ravanal
* Lose if: Gweddry dies
* Turns: infinite
* Starting units: Gweddry
* Other
** Maximum six recruits/recalls for you.
** Starting gold is 200.

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.

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]]

TheEasternInvasion

2012-05-14T01:54:12Z

Loci: /* Weldyn Under Attack */ sp

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.''

'''Warning: spoilers ahead!'''

This is a campaign where 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.

=== The Outpost ===

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

Don't bother recalling Heavy Infantry, as they go too slow in caves. Go for a group of mostly Mages, and a couple of Spearmen. (One keep of units in total should easily be enough.)

The map is quite small. Bypass the fights that you can until you have the bulk of your units in the safety of the dwarf leader's keep area. When you are just moving Gweddry along, be opportunistic and get some experience. Move your units to the east until you encounter trolls and reach a crossroads. A couple of dwarves will kindly become your allies and keep off the trolls for a few turns.

There is a holy amulet to the north (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 River Crossing, where you can get an easy first turn kill against the undead leader and take his castle. Note that the leader is very hard to kill anyway.

As soon as you have got the holy amulet start to move all your units south without bothering about the trolls or the undead, which appear after a number of turns from the direction of your keep.

The undead, trolls and dwarves will all fight each other, so after having moved all your units south position one Spearman at the end of the cave 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 accompanied by a Mage and a Spearman (to fight individual trolls coming your way).

Before moving Gweddry to the end of the cave (which ends the level) send the Mage to the east past the funny signpost warning you of the troll hole. In the cave the Mage discovers 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

What you do in this scenario depends on which way you want to go. 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 ====

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.

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 on turn 7, ignore it unless you have a cavalryman still down there. 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 <i>The Northern Outpost</i>.

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 ===

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. You will 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 has gone AWOL 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 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 ===
This is a fairly tough level (played in V 1.4.5 on medium difficulty) which took several attempts to get through. In V 1.4.5 you have 16 turns (unlike 12 as in earlier versions) and can 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 ====

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.

Note: Owaec can move only one hex a turn in the water.

Important: 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".
(shadowblack)

[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.

=== 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 ===

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.

(Future spoiler: This is your last chance to level non-leader units you will play two scenarios ahead in Captured. For instance, you may want to prepare a dragoon, a white mage, and a couple of adult ogres for that scenario.)

=== Lake Vrug ===
This is a very confusing hide and seek scenario that could take you several pointless restarts until you have finally discover the enemy leaders. To spare you the frustration, here is a spoiler...

Spoiler: there are three enemy keeps, all north of the river. One is to the very northeast (go to the right into the mounts directly after crossing the bridge), one is between the path leading west and the river bank just before the path turns northwards, and one is in the very north at the end of the path. The orc leader resides in the first keep, the gryphon leader in the second, and the third is empty.

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 recall as many ogres as possible, supplemented by young ogres. (Most of 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.

Apart from finding the keeps, the main challenge in this scenario is surviving the first onslaught of gryphons, which starts 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, ''panic!'' Generally where there is one gryphon, there are more gryphons. 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.

Unfortunately, the shock troopers won't do you much good in the 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 ===

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, one Red Mage, Longbowman, Master Bowman, Arch Mage, Silver Mage, or Great Mage, plus one Swordsman, Pikeman, Javelineer, Royal Guard, or Halberdier. If you don't have any of those units, Gweddry, Dacyn and Oweac will be on their own and facing a tough challenge.

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. Beware that a troll can ambush you out of the shroud, though.

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. Already wounded, they appear in a cavern called the "Torture Room" to the east. 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.

[Thrash] From looking at the WML I believe the captured troops will consist of the 13 highest level troops from your recall list. 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.

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 coordinates x=22, y=38. Preferably grab it with a horseman or something similar. He will come in very hand in later scenarios (if he survives the next scenario, that is.)

Note: Most of the orcs are level two and three units.

=== Evacuation ===
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.

Note: 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 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 levelling 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.

=== The Drowned Plains ===
The Skeletal Dragon 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 impact weapons because the dragon has a low resistance there).

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. Mages magic attacks very effective against the dragon. Since there's a good early finish bonus, just recruit a keep of high mages/paladins/etc, surround and kill the dragon and reap the reward. [Sojourner].

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
The objective is to "get Gweddry to Weldyn", which means that Gweddry has to reach one of the seven castle hexes. 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, Konrad II, engineer

Brace yourself. This is the most difficult scenario of the campaign to this point. You already survived one scenario that many have found impossible, namely ''Evacuation'', so you can survive this one too. Rest assured, the scenario is winnable on hard with ~500 gold even without very many high level troops.

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. 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.

Hint: 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.

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.]

===Diverging Campaign Path===
==== The Duel ====
* Objectives: Defeat Mal-Ravanal
* Lose if: Gweddry dies
* Turns: infinite
* Starting units: Gweddry
* Other
** Maximum six recruits/recalls for you.
** Starting gold is 200.

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 managable.

Recall mostly mages of light and other high-level arcane troops. Set them up in a line of 4 units backed up by 2 units at the edge of your starting stockade. "Cowardly" Gweddry should stand in the back up line so he does not accidentaly get killed.

Then wait for Mal-Ravanal's troops to reach you, but try to be the first to attack (which may require a step or two backwards and then advancing again.) Try to finish them off quickly, as Mal-Ravanal plays unfair and every so often recruits another 3 units, albeit not so tough as the first batch of 6.

Mal-Ravanal stays holed up in a little tunnel until your forces come near, when he will pop out and attack one of your units.

Spoiler: After killing Mal-Ravanal the campaign ends with a final scene of Gweddry and his companions being honoured by the king.

==== 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]]

TheEasternInvasion

2012-05-14T01:51:59Z

Loci: /* Weldyn Besieged */ remove outdated information; update

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.''

'''Warning: spoilers ahead!'''

This is a campaign where 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.

=== The Outpost ===

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

Don't bother recalling Heavy Infantry, as they go too slow in caves. Go for a group of mostly Mages, and a couple of Spearmen. (One keep of units in total should easily be enough.)

The map is quite small. Bypass the fights that you can until you have the bulk of your units in the safety of the dwarf leader's keep area. When you are just moving Gweddry along, be opportunistic and get some experience. Move your units to the east until you encounter trolls and reach a crossroads. A couple of dwarves will kindly become your allies and keep off the trolls for a few turns.

There is a holy amulet to the north (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 River Crossing, where you can get an easy first turn kill against the undead leader and take his castle. Note that the leader is very hard to kill anyway.

As soon as you have got the holy amulet start to move all your units south without bothering about the trolls or the undead, which appear after a number of turns from the direction of your keep.

The undead, trolls and dwarves will all fight each other, so after having moved all your units south position one Spearman at the end of the cave 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 accompanied by a Mage and a Spearman (to fight individual trolls coming your way).

Before moving Gweddry to the end of the cave (which ends the level) send the Mage to the east past the funny signpost warning you of the troll hole. In the cave the Mage discovers 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

What you do in this scenario depends on which way you want to go. 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 ====

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.

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 on turn 7, ignore it unless you have a cavalryman still down there. 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 <i>The Northern Outpost</i>.

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 ===

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. You will 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 has gone AWOL 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 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 ===
This is a fairly tough level (played in V 1.4.5 on medium difficulty) which took several attempts to get through. In V 1.4.5 you have 16 turns (unlike 12 as in earlier versions) and can 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 ====

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.

Note: Owaec can move only one hex a turn in the water.

Important: 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".
(shadowblack)

[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.

=== 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 ===

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.

(Future spoiler: This is your last chance to level non-leader units you will play two scenarios ahead in Captured. For instance, you may want to prepare a dragoon, a white mage, and a couple of adult ogres for that scenario.)

=== Lake Vrug ===
This is a very confusing hide and seek scenario that could take you several pointless restarts until you have finally discover the enemy leaders. To spare you the frustration, here is a spoiler...

Spoiler: there are three enemy keeps, all north of the river. One is to the very northeast (go to the right into the mounts directly after crossing the bridge), one is between the path leading west and the river bank just before the path turns northwards, and one is in the very north at the end of the path. The orc leader resides in the first keep, the gryphon leader in the second, and the third is empty.

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 recall as many ogres as possible, supplemented by young ogres. (Most of 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.

Apart from finding the keeps, the main challenge in this scenario is surviving the first onslaught of gryphons, which starts 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, ''panic!'' Generally where there is one gryphon, there are more gryphons. 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.

Unfortunately, the shock troopers won't do you much good in the 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 ===

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, one Red Mage, Longbowman, Master Bowman, Arch Mage, Silver Mage, or Great Mage, plus one Swordsman, Pikeman, Javelineer, Royal Guard, or Halberdier. If you don't have any of those units, Gweddry, Dacyn and Oweac will be on their own and facing a tough challenge.

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. Beware that a troll can ambush you out of the shroud, though.

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. Already wounded, they appear in a cavern called the "Torture Room" to the east. 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.

[Thrash] From looking at the WML I believe the captured troops will consist of the 13 highest level troops from your recall list. 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.

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 coordinates x=22, y=38. Preferably grab it with a horseman or something similar. He will come in very hand in later scenarios (if he survives the next scenario, that is.)

Note: Most of the orcs are level two and three units.

=== Evacuation ===
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.

Note: 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 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 levelling 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.

=== The Drowned Plains ===
The Skeletal Dragon 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 impact weapons because the dragon has a low resistance there).

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. Mages magic attacks very effective against the dragon. Since there's a good early finish bonus, just recruit a keep of high mages/paladins/etc, surround and kill the dragon and reap the reward. [Sojourner].

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
The objective is to "get Gweddry to Weldyn", which means that Gweddry has to reach one of the seven castle hexes. 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, Konrad II, engineer

Brace yourself. This is the most difficult scenario of the campaign to this point. You already survived one scenario that many have found impossible, namely ''Evacuation'', so you can survive this one too. Rest assured, the scenario is winnable on hard with ~500 gold even without very many high level troops.

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. 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.

Hint: 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.

At the end of the scenario, an enemy messenger appears telling you that you have only fought some delegates of the ancient lich Mal-Ravenal. It challenges you to have a duel with Mal-Ravenal 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.]

===Diverging Campaign Path===
==== The Duel ====
* Objectives: Defeat Mal-Ravanal
* Lose if: Gweddry dies
* Turns: infinite
* Starting units: Gweddry
* Other
** Maximum six recruits/recalls for you.
** Starting gold is 200.

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 managable.

Recall mostly mages of light and other high-level arcane troops. Set them up in a line of 4 units backed up by 2 units at the edge of your starting stockade. "Cowardly" Gweddry should stand in the back up line so he does not accidentaly get killed.

Then wait for Mal-Ravanal's troops to reach you, but try to be the first to attack (which may require a step or two backwards and then advancing again.) Try to finish them off quickly, as Mal-Ravanal plays unfair and every so often recruits another 3 units, albeit not so tough as the first batch of 6.

Mal-Ravanal stays holed up in a little tunnel until your forces come near, when he will pop out and attack one of your units.

Spoiler: After killing Mal-Ravanal the campaign ends with a final scene of Gweddry and his companions being honoured by the king.

==== 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]]

Download

2010-07-08T03:40:22Z

Loci: /* See also */ rm ad cruft

Welcome to the Battle for Wesnoth downloads page. The BFW project team only officially releases the source code. Binary packages are only provided by community volunteers and hosted here. Torrents are also unofficial.

If the latest binaries are not currently available for your OS, please check back in a few days to see if they have been placed here. Packagers have been informed of the release, please be patient. In the meantime, read the [[FAQ#A_new_version_is_out.2C_but_where_is_the_download_for_.5BWindows.2C_Mac_OS.2C_etc..5D.3F|FAQ]].

__NOTOC__
Jump to: [[Download#Stable_.281.8_branch.29|Stable Branch]] | [[Download#Stable_.28older_versions.29|Stable Branch (older versions)]] | [[Download#Development_.281.7_branch.29|Development Branch]]

== Stable (1.8 branch) ==
The stable files are meant to be used as a stable and rather balanced version of the game. Each version of the 1.8 branch is compatible to each other.

Version 1.8.3 is the latest stable version. This version is recommended for most players since the 1.8 online multiplayer community is very large and user-made campaign server has a robust content selection.

==== Source code ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.8.3.tar.bz2/download Current Version] (1.8.3, 285.1 MB)
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.8.2.tar.bz2/download Previous Version] (1.8.2, 284.9 MB)
* [[CompilingWesnoth|Compiling Guide]] - how to compile the source code

==== MS Windows ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.8.3-win32.exe/download Current Version] (1.8.3, 265.8 MB)
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.8.2-win32.exe/download Previous Version] (1.8.2, 265.8 MB)

==== Mac OS X (10.4+) ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/Wesnoth_1.8.3.dmg/download Current Version] (1.8.3, 289.3MB)
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/Wesnoth_1.8.2.dmg/download Previous Version] (1.8.2, 289.2 MB)

==== GNU/Linux ====
* There are binaries for many different GNU/Linux Distributions. Not all are always up to date with the current release. Please have a look at the [[WesnothBinariesLinux|Linux binary page]] for more information about the binaries for your Distribution.

==== OpenPandora ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.8.3-1.pnd/download Current Version] (1.8.3, 285.2 MB)

==== Miscellaneous ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.8.3.tar.bz2.md5/download md5sum for current source code]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/Download_Xdeltas#Stable_Version_1.8.x Xdelta for the source code]
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/ SourceForge page for current and all previous versions]

== Stable (older versions) ==
Several operating systems do not offer a binary of the latest stable release. Here is a list of the latest known (stable version) binaries for various systems. For those older versions there often is no (official) multiplayer or addon server available anymore.

==== (Open)Solaris ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-solaris-i386-1.4.5.pkg.bz2/download Older Version] (1.4.5, 145.6 MB), not compatible with 1.6.x

==== AmigaOS4 ====
* [http://os4depot.net/index.php?function=showfile&file=game/strategy/wesnoth.lha Older Version] (1.4.7, 140 MB), not compatible with 1.6.x

==== OS/2 & eComStation ====
* [http://download.smedley.info/wesnoth-1.4.5-os2-20080828.zip Older Version] (1.4.5, 160 MB), not compatible with 1.6.x

==== RISC OS ====
*[http://www.riscos.info/packages/arm/Games/wesnoth_1.4.5-1.zip Older version] (1.4.5-1, 140MB), not compatible with 1.6.x

==== Syllable ====
* [http://downloads.syllable.org/Syllable/i586/applications/contributed/Battle-for-Wesnoth/Battle-for-Wesnoth-1.2.6.application Older Version] (1.2.6, 60.8 MB), not compatible with 1.6.x

== Development (1.7 branch) ==
Version 1.7.x was the previous development version.
At the moment the stable 1.8.x branch offers all the new features known from 1.7.x. The next development release will take some more time and be known as 1.9.x. In the mean time, people familiar with SVN can follow its development by checking [[WesnothSVN]].

==== Source code ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.7.15.tar.bz2/download Current Version] (1.7.15-1.8rc1, 270.4 MB)
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.7.14.tar.bz2/download Previous Version] (1.7.14-1.8beta7, 264.8 MB)

* [[CompilingWesnoth|Compiling Guide]] - how to compile the source code

==== MS Windows ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.7.15-1.8rc1-win32.exe/download Current Version] (1.7.15-1.8rc1, 253.1 MB)
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.7.14-1.8beta7-win32.exe/download Previous Version] (1.7.14-1.8beta7, 247.6 MB)

==== Mac OS X (10.4+) ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/Wesnoth_1.7.15.dmg/download Current Version] (1.7.15-1.8rc1, 275.3 MB)
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/Wesnoth_1.7.14.dmg/download Previous Version] (1.7.14-1.8beta7, 269.4 MB)

==== GNU/Linux ====
* There are binaries for many different GNU/Linux Distributions. Not all are always up to date with the current release. Please have a look at the [[WesnothBinariesLinux|Linux binary page]] for more information about the binaries for your Distribution.

==== Miscellaneous ====
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/wesnoth/wesnoth-1.7.15.tar.bz2.md5/download md5sum for current source code]
* [http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/Download_Xdeltas#Development_Version_1.7.x Xdelta for the source code]
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wesnoth/files/ SourceForge page for current and all previous versions]
* [http://downloads.sourceforge.net/wesnoth/Mac_Compile_Stuff_1.5.3.tar.bz2/download MacCompileStuff for 1.5.3]

== License ==
''Main article: [[Wesnoth:Copyrights]]

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the [http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU General Public License version 2], as published by the [http://www.fsf.org Free Software Foundation].
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

== See also ==
* [http://changelog.wesnoth.org Changelog]
* [[WesnothBinaries| More binaries]]
* [[WesnothSVN]] - bleeding edge version from SVN

[[Category:Building and Installing]]

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T23:49:01Z

Loci: /* Legend of Wesmere */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, 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 sylves and shydes. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

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 grand marshal. His leadership skills will prove invaluable when you are stuck with a level 1 army.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as one of your units moves close to Landar's encampment, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts 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.

== End of War ==

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.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T23:30:23Z

Loci: /* End of War */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as one of your units moves close to Landar's encampment, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts 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.

== End of War ==

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.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T23:29:06Z

Loci: /* End of War */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as one of your units moves close to Landar's encampment, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts 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.

== End of War ==

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). Then sweep down to the enemy keep to deliver the coup de grace.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T22:21:27Z

Loci: /* Northern Battle */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as one of your units moves close to Landar's encampment, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts 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.

== End of War ==

This one is fought on the same map as Northern Battle. Chances are that you will have a lot of gold by this point. You won't have many veterans (whether you leveled any or not) but that doesn't matter because your opponent will be recruiting a lot of second level units and is likely to run out of gold before you can. Recruit heavily (you'll need to in order to defeat the enemy's more powerful units), send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle on the bank of the river to give yourself the best chance of killing the initial waves of units in the water. Then sweep down to the enemy keep at the southwestern corner of the map to deliver the coup de grace.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T22:20:22Z

Loci: /* Northern Battle */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as one of your troops moves close to Landar's encampment, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts 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.

== End of War ==

This one is fought on the same map as Northern Battle. Chances are that you will have a lot of gold by this point. You won't have many veterans (whether you leveled any or not) but that doesn't matter because your opponent will be recruiting a lot of second level units and is likely to run out of gold before you can. Recruit heavily (you'll need to in order to defeat the enemy's more powerful units), send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle on the bank of the river to give yourself the best chance of killing the initial waves of units in the water. Then sweep down to the enemy keep at the southwestern corner of the map to deliver the coup de grace.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T22:18:28Z

Loci: /* Northern Battle */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as one of your troops moves close to Landar's encampment, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts and send them west, timing it so that they reach Landar's keep the turn after he moves his troops out of range. March a scout up to Landar's keep and you've got plenty of gold to finish the game.

== End of War ==

This one is fought on the same map as Northern Battle. Chances are that you will have a lot of gold by this point. You won't have many veterans (whether you leveled any or not) but that doesn't matter because your opponent will be recruiting a lot of second level units and is likely to run out of gold before you can. Recruit heavily (you'll need to in order to defeat the enemy's more powerful units), send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle on the bank of the river to give yourself the best chance of killing the initial waves of units in the water. Then sweep down to the enemy keep at the southwestern corner of the map to deliver the coup de grace.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

LegendofWesmere

2008-12-03T21:53:12Z

Loci: /* Northern Battle */

= Legend of Wesmere =

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 sylves, you get a magically hard hitting, regenerating, slowing air force that can ZoC-lock an enemy. So it really pays to level shamans, level shamans and level shamans.

== The Uprooting ==

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 can't beat the enemy leaders (you have too little gold and only first level units) and you're not expected to try. Recruit just enough units to screen Kalenz and Landar (about a keep or a keep and a half's worth) and run everybody to the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Try to send at least one rider to grab villages, including one to the north of your ally's keep—if the orcs attack him before the scenario ends, you will inherit the ally's units (and you'll keep them for future recall if you run them south to join the rest of your army).

== Hostile Mountains ==

Because your units will be mostly first level, you need as many of them as you can afford to survive this scenario. Archers will be the most useful to recall/recruit because the trolls do not have a ranged attack. 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.

== Kal'ian Under Attack ==

Take careful note of this map; you'll be fighting on it again later. Make your stand in the woods just to the southeast of your keep and to the immediate north of the Kal'ian. Use Elvish Shamans to slow powerful units, and recruit lots of archers. Send some riders to grab villages—it should be relatively low-risk and the gold will be useful for the next scenario. Although it looks tempting to try to form up your lines at the edge of the river, you're not close enough to get there before the orcs come over in numbers. If you manage your troops correctly, you can level a number of them which is a very good idea to get through the next few scenarios.

== The Elvish Treasury ==

Send your army en masse to the keep in the northeast first; that's where the Shyde and the gold are. Then turn west to take out the other saurian. 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 not to position any units where a saurian can attack them from swampy ground; and 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).

== The Saurian Treasury ==

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). Do NOT send a lone unit north to try to grab the treasury; it will just get swarmed and killed. Instead, send your troops west en masse to take out the leader in the blue keep. If you need to leave Kalenz behind to recruit, make sure he has at least a couple of units to help screen/defend him. Once you've killed the blue saurian leader, move north, en masse, to take the treasury and dispose of the other saurian leader. Note: You should have a boatload of gold after you win this scenario.

== Acquaintance in Need ==

Start with the green enemy, who's the closest one to you—the dwarves, which are your allies for this scenario, should provide substantial help in doing so. Then move north, tackling the other two enemy keeps as you reach them. Keep your eye on the turn clock, since a lot of the board consists of mountains and will be tough going for your elven troops.

== Elves' Last Stand ==

[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 the brown and orange orc troops that will be coming west 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 trolls and the brown and orange orcs, move the main body of your army south through the Kal'ian to the turquoise keep, then east 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 western side of the board; if they make it far enough south, you can aim them at the turquoise orc'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-east 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 enogh 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 ==

More saurians. However, this time, it's not your job to wipe them out (which is fortunate, because their keeps are located in high mountains where your elves are very slow). Your only task is to get Kalenz over to the other side of the river. The river is fordable throughout most of its length, but infested with enemy creatures. Fortunately, the creatures will attack the saurians too, and you can turn that fact to your advantage. Recruit a castle or two (at most) of primarily riders and fighters (dwarves aren't very useful on this terrain), run north as fast as you can, aiming for the island in the center of the river—used carefully, that will allow you to get Kalenz over the water without having to park him in the river for any longer than a turn.

[CMaster]: I disagree. With four healers, a bunch of sorceror line elves and the dwarves who showed up at the Ka'lian, it is perfectly possible to defeat both enemy leaders simultaneously. Run Kalenz north once you got enough troops recalled, he can cross the river unaided (at least on medium difficulty). Just make sure he reaches the forrest on the western isle before the sea monsters appear.

== Cliffs of Thoria ==

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 ==

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.

== Revelations ==

Story only.

== Ancient Alliance ==

Your human ally is sufficiently strong that he can deal with the enemies on the south side of the river while you move north with your troops to take out the northwestern enemy first. Take your stands in such a fashion that the enemy must attack you from the water whenever possible. After you've killed the green (northwestern) leader, move directly east to the northeastern keep to take out that leader. At this point, be prepared to detach some units south to come to your ally's aid. When the northeast leader is gone, move the rest of your army south to help your ally mop up stray units and kill the remaining leaders.

== The Treaty ==

Story only.

== The Chief Must Die ==

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 and reach the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Your units will have special attributes for this scenario only that will make this fairly easy, particularly if you have managed to get Kalenz and Landar to level 3. Take the most direct route to the Orc (he's in the large keep in the center of the map), fight only the units that attack you, and get out as quickly as you can. If you can grab a few villages on the way in or out, all the better.

== Breaking the Siege ==

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). 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. Send part of your forces straight north to deal with the orcs in the north central keep, while sending the rest of your army directly west, then north.

== Hour of Glory ==

Story only.

== Costly Revenge ==

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 northwestern 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. Still, you will want to have a few fast troops in reserve to ensure that you can kill the northwestern leader before time runs out.

== Council Ruling ==

Story only.

== Elvish Assassins ==

This is another running game, on the same map as the first scenario; since Landar has betrayed Kalenz, most elves' hands have turned against our hero. The Landar and Olurf units gone, and so is most of your recall list. Recruit enough units to screen Kalenz and Cleodil and run for the signpost at the southwestern corner of the map. Because most of the units ranged against you will be second level or higher, this will take a bit of ingenuity unless you can recruit a lot of units for guard duty.

== Northern Battle ==

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. However, 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.

Alternative Strategy:

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. With a scout or two sent due south to draw the enemy troops out of their encampment (and away from your valuable troops), you can attack decisively if you have enough troops, or hold the enemy's encampment and let his troops wander north or attack your defensive position. This battle's over as soon as your troops attack Landar, so let him march his troops north to attack your ally. Recruit a squad of scouts and send them west, timing it so that they reach Landar's keep the turn after he runs out of gold. One attack later and you've got plenty of gold to finish the game.

== End of War ==

This one is fought on the same map as Northern Battle. Chances are that you will have a lot of gold by this point. You won't have many veterans (whether you leveled any or not) but that doesn't matter because your opponent will be recruiting a lot of second level units and is likely to run out of gold before you can. Recruit heavily (you'll need to in order to defeat the enemy's more powerful units), send out riders to grab villages early, and form up your line of battle on the bank of the river to give yourself the best chance of killing the initial waves of units in the water. Then sweep down to the enemy keep at the southwestern corner of the map to deliver the coup de grace.

== Epilogue ==

Story only.

SpellingMistakes

2008-12-03T05:43:50Z

Loci: /* The Legend of Wesmere */

This page is meant to be a list of mistakes in campaigns and other texts in the en_US development version of the game.

==An Orcish Incursion==

==Descent into Darkness==

==Eastern Invasion==

==Heir to the Throne==

==Liberty==

==Northern Rebirth==

==Sceptre of Fire==

==Son of the Black Eye==

==The Hammer of Thursagan==

==The Legend of Wesmere==

"retried" should be "retrieved" in 05_Saurian_Treasury.cfg, and that sentence would benefit from a "that" as so:

"Turnabout is fair play. Now that we've retrieved the gold let us fare swiftly back to Wesmere."

In 17_Breaking_the_siege.cfg, the line

"Or thanks to you, Kalenz, son of Kliada. Our troops are at your command."

should start with "Only" instead of "Or".

==The Rise of Wesnoth==

==The South Guard==

==Two Brothers==

==Under the Burning Suns==

==Editor==

==Tutorial==

==Manual==

==Manpages==

==1.6 Announcement==

==Other (ingame help, ...)==

==Translation code bugs==

==Unofficial campaigns==

===Invasion from the unknown===

[[Category:Troubleshooting and Bugs]]

TheEasternInvasion

2008-12-02T04:06:50Z

Loci: /* Weldyn Besieged */

This is a discussion of The Eastern Invasion, the campaign featuring Gweddry General of Wesnoth.

''Note by Crus4a7E: I played this campaing in V 1.4.5 (medium difficulty) using this walkthrough. As most parts did not quite seem to reflect the current state of the campain anymore, I felt obliged to contribute a number of updates to most scenarios' walkthroughs. Nevertheless, please feel free to further improve this walkthrough in particular for those scenarios I have not played and thus not updated. Overall the campain now seems well-balanced and is fun to play.''

The following descriptions are aimed at the "medium" difficulty level (as "easy" lets you get away with sloppiness and "hard" is for people who are comfortable with Advanced Tactics). Please improve these and add your own for later levels.

'''Warning: spoilers ahead!'''

==Scenarios==
=== The Outpost ===

It is probably best to recruit 5 heavy infantry and 1 mage on this scenario. The heavy infantry can flag the villages surrounding you by turn 3, turn 2 if they're quick, and the mage can flag the northern forest village on turn 2 if quick.

Sending 2 HI(heavy infantry) south, to the revenants, is a good idea because you can usually get both of them a 2nd level kill without having either die. The other ones should stand and fight against the enemies coming at you from the north and east. Use the HI most of time, and use the mage when they are in forest and it can get a killing blow. By the end of the scenario, you should have 2-3 shock troopers and 1 half-advanced mage.

It is sometimes a good idea to recruit another mage on turn 10 or so, since you will probably end the scenario with less than 100 gold anyway, so you save money by buying in advance. (mathematically this does make sense). Also, you can get them about 10 experience along the way.

==== Alternative Strategy ====
The above strategy did not work for me despite of several attempts. Whenever I recruited only 5 HI or tried to send 2 HI southwards to capture villages I got slaughtered around turns 10 to 12 by the latest. (Played with V 1.4.5 on medium difficulty) Thus below I describe an alternative strategy which worked rather painlessly for me.

Remark: In V 1.4.5 all of the villages surrounding the player's keep are already flagged at the start. Only in the very south (south of the river) are a couple of unflagged villages.

Recruit one keep full of HI in turn 1 (no mage, as there is little use in it in this scenario and we are short of money). In turn 2, move the HI to build a straight line northeast and east of your castle (the line should be inside the castle walls whereever possible to use its high defence rating but other than that as straight as possible to only allow two enemy units at a time to attack any of your HI). Then wait about 2 to 3 turns until the enemy forces start to attack and you have enough money to recruit about another 3 HI. Use them to reinforce your line.

Then just hold out 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 to much about keeping the original line intact. Instead try to level 2 or 3 HI to Shock Troopers. The enemy forces quickly cease to be any danger to your forces.

Also around turn 12 the white mage re-arrives and points out a trap door you should use. The trap door is located near your castle and clearly visible unless any unit stands on it. So if you do not see it right away, just move your units around a little.

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 I finished with 2 shock troopers and several well-levelled HI. Also your leader and the white mage should have gained a little experience.

==== Alternative Strategy #2 ====
An alternative strategy to consider is to recruit as late as possible and to start fighting when the sun is up. Somehow you will be able to decide when to engage in the battle, as the enemy will let you stay in your castle without bothering you.

At turn #4, recruit 1 Mage and 5 Heavy Infantrymen (HI). The trick is not to move a single unit and somehow, no one attacks you. I did the test multiple times and I always started the first fight when I decided it was time (i.e. during the day light). A variation of the strategy that does not work is to start recruiting only when the sun is up; somehow the enemy attacks your leader.

Turn #7, this is dawn and now you can start attacking. My goal is to finish any fight with my Mage or the Leader to get them to level 2 and 3 as soon as possible. White Mages always make my life easier during Campaigns. I also recruit 2 HI, 1 Cavalryman to go get some villages, and 1 Mage.

You will end up with 1 HI or your Leader at level 2 and your Mages should be half way to Level 2.

=== Escape Tunnel ===
Remark: The following applies to V 1.4.5 medium difficulty.

Don't bother recalling HI, they go too slow in caves. Go for a group of mostly mages, and a couple of spearmen. (One keep of units in total should easily be enough.)

Move your units to the east until you encounter trolls and reach a crossroads. A couple of dwarfts will kindly become your allies and keep off the trolls for a few turns. Send a quick spearman to the north where he can pick up a holy amulet (unlike in other campaigns this holy amulet is permanent!). As soon as you have got the holy amulet start to move all your units south without bothering about the trolls or the undead which appear after a number of turns from the direction of your keep.

The undead, trolls and dwarves will all fight each other, so after having moved all your units south position one healthy spearman at the end of the cave 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 accompanied by a mage and a spearman (to fight individual trolls coming your way).

Before moving Gweddry to the end of the cave (which ends the level) send the mage to the east past the funny signpost warning you of the troll hole. In the cave the mages discovers a chest containing a troll treasure amounting to 200 gold.

Following this strategy you should earn a decent early finish bonus plus the 200 extra gold, so you finish with well over 300 gold.

Remark: 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 River Crossing, where you can get an easy 1st turn kill against the undead leader and take his castle. Note that the leader is very hard to kill anyway.

=== An Unexpected Appearance ===

What you do in this scenario depends on which way you want to go. Going east is harder, 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.

Obviously, first kill Mal-Tar. To do this, shoot him with Dacyn and attack him with Gweddry's melee. It probably won't kill him the first turn, so second turn kill the vampire bat he recruits with Dacyn and finish Mal-Tar off with Gweddry.

Then, recall 2 shock troopers and 1 half-advanced heavy infantry on the side of the castle you are going (so if you are attacking eastward, recall them on the 3 eastern castle hexes). This gives them a headstart in that direction.
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.

Recall any mages with a lot of XP and the spearman you gave the holy amulet in the previous scenario, then go whichever way you are going. You might want to recruit one throw-away cavalryman to go north, since he gives you income and draws away enemies that otherwise would attack your main force from behind.

===Diverging Campaign Path===
==== Elven Alliance ====

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.

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 on turn 7, ignore it unless you have a cavalryman still down there. In that case, use it to fight the assassin. Keep pressing up. By turn 9, the orcish leader should be dead.

==== 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).

===== 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 <i>The Northern Outpost</i>.

The reason to go here is to acquire a cavalry force of one Paladin and five Knights. To do this kill six of the Death Knight's troops. The first kill gets you a Paladin. Each succeeding kill gets you one more Knight. They all appear in or around the village southeast of your castle. To end the scenario, have your cavalry force kill the southwest Necromancer while holding your castle from the assault. This can be done by turn 14 giving you a sizeable bonus. You might send expendable cavalrymen north and southeast to distract the enemies, but it won't do much.

As of 1.0.2 it's the Bone Shooters that must be killed to release knights. On the first kill you will get a Paladin as well as the Knight. These seem to all appear around the same village. Maybe they group around the Paladin. Each unit pops in with full moves. If you can use some of them to kill other Bone Shooters, you end up with a substantial cavalry force very quickly.

On easy at least, in 1.0.2, my opponents summoned no Bone Shooters, only Revenants. It took a while for them to arrive, and I could have killed the NW Necromancer, but I waited it out. I still got paladins and knights for killing Revenants. (vfb)

As of version 1.5.4 the cavalry (not apparently loyal) are earned by killing the Death Knight's troops. There are a total of one Paladin and five Knights available, but the number of Knights available is reduced by one for each of your troops that die *after you get the Paladin*. You might want to make sure any expendable troops are "expended" by the time the Death Knight's troops reach your line--units on their own won't last too long with all the ghosts flying around.

=== The Northern Outpost ===

Reachable both from ''The Undead Border Patrol'' and the ''Elven Alliance'' scenarios.

There are two enemies in this scenario that you must defeat - the undead and the outlaws. The undead are fairly straightforward to defeat, and in any case Owaec usually does a good part of the work. Recall a number of shock troopers, a white mage and the spearman who picked up the holy amulet in one of the previous scenarios. I addition recruit one mage.

Then send Gweddry to the holy amulet in the south west accompanied by the mage. The spearman and the white mage go straight southwards and help Owaec with the undead. Your shock troopers go to the east and surround one of the villages over there without flagging it. (As they are quite slow-moving, having them already over there saves you time later on.) Once Gweddry picked up the holy amulet, send him and the mage to finish off the undead leader together with your spearman. (Note: Your spearman is very effective against the undead and will likely level up.) That was the easy part.

The main challenge is the criminals. They appear randomly in the villages you flag (one of the villages has assasin that is outlaw leader), but not in those Owaec flags. So don't worry about him uncovering enemies for you. Since when you capture a village the outlaws surround it, you should surround each village before you capture it, so the enemy surrounds you. This makes it so they can't gang up on one of your units with more than 3 people. Also, when you capture a village, try to kill as many enemies as you can before they get a turn.

Send your your entire force up on the eastern side of the map flagging one village a turn and fighting the bandits. Once you come across the village where the bandid leader hides, concentrate your attacks on him as the bandits are quite strong.

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. Slower moving units also have a disadvantage in searching the villages.

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.

=== Two Paths ===
This is a fairly tough level (played in V 1.4.5 on medium difficulty) which took several attempts to get through. In V 1.4.5 you have 16 turns (unlike 12 as in earlier versions) and can choose between going north to attack the orc leader or going north-east 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-east in a thigh 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-east to reach the undead leader before turns run out.

=== Diverging Campaign Path===
==== Undead Crossing ====
Fighting the undead in this scenario is not the actual problem as they are quite weak. Recall a keep full of shock troopers, white mages and the spearman with the holy amulet (who has likely levelled up by now). Use your faster units to capture the villages in the south-east and move your shock troopers directly to the river crossing.

Once you fought of the bats and skeletons (which the above units should handle quite easily), the undead leader summons two cuttlefish which appear in the water between the two crossings. Be very careful where to position your troops as the cuttlefish have a very nasty melee attack. Fight them with a pair of shock troopers accompanied by Gweddry (to give them leadership) and a white mage for healing.

Make sure you leave your units enough time to cross the river and kill the undead leader before turns run out.

==== The Crossing ====

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.

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.

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.

Note: Owaec can move only one hex a turn in the water.

=== Training the Ogres ===

This can be a confusing scenario to understand. Basically, you are fighting the ogres while also trying not to let them reach the rocky borders where they will "escape" (or disappear). Understand how the AI works and that units will attack the weakest units who are closest to leveling.

Whenever I tried to attack the ogres or surround them or using any other intuitive strategy, I always ended up getting my white mage killed by turn 3 at the latest.

Thus try the following which makes keeping all 4 ogres on the green very easy (although I still do not understand why the AI behaves as it does...): Move the white mage and the horseman to the very north outside the moving range of the ogres. Position Gweddry on one of the hills in the west just inside their moving range. For the first two turns the ogres hardly move. Then they start to attack Gweddry which he should be able to withstand. By turn 5 when Gweddry's health starts to wear down, the scenario is over already with all four ogres still on the green and all of your units alive.

(It's a bit of a digression, but the AI in this case is failing to realize that, though each Ogre has an individually unfavorable attack on Gweddry, all four attacking together would be rather more favorable. So, the AI decides to form a defensive line and wait for the sun to set, when Gweddry's 25% bonus disappears and their attacks are more favorable. Note that this technique generally only works for units with full health on defensible terrain, and may disappear entirely if the AI is improved to consider joint attacks.)

It is unclear to me however, what the benefit of all four ogres surviving is though.

Note: Whether or not to use ogres is a matter of playing style. Once they level up, Ogres are quite a tough unit that deals middling damage, but unfortunately can't advance beyond level 2. Their upside is that they move at normal speed on hills and cave floor, which makes them your most mobile unit in at least one scenario (''Captured''). And as they are of neutral alignment, they can sometimes be handy to have around at nighttime.

=== Xenophobia ===

In V 1.4.5 on medium difficulty is a very easy and fun level as all parties in the scenario (i.e. elves, orcs, drawves, and yourself) decide to fight each other instead of forming aliances. Thus you can use this level 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) e.g. by a shock trooper, and as the actual ogre training camp (see below).

Recall a keep full of shock troopers and send them straight to the north as they are very slow moving. Then recall one or two white mages and recruit about two to four young ogres. Send all of your units straight north to kill the dwarf leader who unwisely sends all his troops for the orcs right at the start and then misses the money to recruit any more troops to defend his keep.

By the time I reached the dwarf leader, the orcs had already killed the elvish leader, so there was two down and only one to go. Use the young ogres on the mountains in the north to fight the remaining dwarves whilst levelling up to ogres.

By the time you killed the dwarf leader, there should be hardly any enemy troops left, so go straight towards the orc leader and earn a decent early finish bonus. And don't forget to pick up the holy amulet on the way.

The main strategy in this scenario is staying out of the fighting as much as possible, picking off the weaker sides, and in general letting your enemies kill themselves. One successful strategy is to delay moving from your keep for 5-6 turns. Let the other factions weaken each other before you move off. (Although that reduces your early finish bonus, so do not do this if your troops are strong enough.)

By the end of the scenario you should have one or two ogres which comes in quite handy in the next scenarios.

=== Lake Vrug ===
This is a very confusing hide and seek sceario which is not actually hard, but likely takes you several pointless restarts until you have finally discovered the enemy leaders. (Spoiler: there are three enemy keeps, all north of the river. One is to the very north west (go to the right into the mounts directly after crossing the bridge), one is between the path leading east and the river bank just before the path turns northwards, and one is in the very north at the end of the path. The orc leader resides in the first keep, the gryphon leader in the second, and the third is empty.

Recall two or three shock troopers, two white mages and then recall/recruit as many ogres as possible. (Most of the enemy keeps are surrounded by high mountains which most of your troops cannot pass, but which the ogres handle quite easily.) You might also want to recruit a horseman to scout ahead.

The only challenge in this scenario (apart from finding the keeps) is surviving the first onslaught of gryphoons which starts around turn 4 with quite a number of gryphoons appearing from the north-east. Position your heavy units like shock troopers and ogres very tighly around wounded units as the gryphons and dragons really have quite a large moving range and ignore zones of control and thus mercilessly slay away unprotected injured units. To fight them use heavy melee troops like shock troopers.

As you start to cross the bridge a couple of trolls attack. They are really no match for your shock troopers, however, who happy troll-crack away.

When taking the enemy keeps, use the ogres who can move on the high mountains unlike most of your other units.

=== Captured ===

You start out by running up a tunnel to find some of your companions. If you go back down that way or you will have to face some extremely mean trolls in the narrow tunnel. Instead, follow the tunnel to the north and west and face a few bats as you proceed. At the end of that tunnel, you will enter a throne room where there is a leader and some enemy troops.

Upon entering the throne room, a group of your wounded troops will appear in a cavern called the "Torture Room" to the east. They will face a number of assassins and trolls as they leave the Torture Room moving west. (Hint: Try to get through the prison "door" of the torture room quickly as otherwise the enemy units have an easy time keeping your entire army locked away with only one unit at a time, i.e. the unit standing at the door, being able to take part in the fighting.)

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 in order to put some money on savings for later scenarios. It should be possible to finish with over 500 gold without making haste, however. You should also flag the numerous villages in a cavern called "The City", a cavern southwest of the Torture Room.

There is a holy necklace on this level, at coordinates x=12, y=2. Preferrably grab it with a horseman or someting similar. He will come in very hand in later scenarios.

Note: Most of the orcs are level two and three units.

=== Evacuation ===
This scenario is a little frusting. Not so much because of its difficulty (it is hard but managable with enough high-level recalls and lots of money), but because you ''will'' take some heavy losses of high-level troops.

Note: You should have over 400 gold and a large number of level 2 and 3 units to recall to start this scenario.

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 will have to accept quite some casualties in fighting the enemy; In the latter case, all your units which are not on the south side of the river by the time you blow up the bridge (including not recalled units, meanly!) are killed by the explosion. In both cases you have to watch out for the very tight time limit of 12 turns.

I went for option 2 (killing all leaders). First recruit two to tree keeps full of your typical experienced troops like iron maulers, white mages, and so on. Ogres are also helpful, if you have some left, as they are strong and you will have no use for them in later scnearios. After that recall a keep full of young ogres as cannon fodder.

Start to move you units south and attack the central enemy right away (i.e. do not wait until you have recruited all units). The last recalls before the young ogres split and send half of them to the north-east and the other half to the south-west (otherwise you might not make it to all three leaders in time). Finally, send some young ogres to the north-east and south-west to distract the enemies there for two or three turns.

With all three groops of your units try to focus on attacking the enemy leaders as soon as possible so you do not run out of time. Apart from that, watch out for the level 2 trolls, particularly, 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.

With a bit of luck and probably some nasty casualties you will have killed all three leaders around turns 10 to 12.

[Garion] In 1.0, I recruited a lot of Cavalry for fodder, spacing them 1 hex apart to establish a ZOC corridor from my castle to the bridge. They got chewed up very quickly, but they bought me enough time to get out. Use a few Shock Troopers to guard your rear against the Blue enemy; they're too slow to escape anyway. Remember to recall your slowest units closest to the bridge, to minimize the time they spend in transit. I was able to evacuate 2 Holy Cavaliers, 2 Paladins, a Great Mage, the three heroes, a quick Iron Mauler, 2 White Mages, and a Mage of Light.

[Vladevil] In 1.2.6 what worked best for me was recruiting only fodder for 2 turns, then running away with all the main characters. I let Owaec and the mage first and Gweddry last since he can take some hits. All in all I was finished on the 6th turn without losing any valuable troops.

=== The Drowned Plains ===
The Skeletal Dragon will be found in or near the castle (located on an island in the south-east). In getting there, there is a chance the undead (three units mostly level two and an occasional level three) will spring out of the ground near the unit you just moved. Therefore less units are better. Advanced mages, paladins, and other fast-moving units with arcane weapons work well here. To withstand the initial dragon attack you will need very strong units (with more than 50 HP). In order to discover the dragon despite the fog units with a large moving range (and thus large visible area) like horseman are helpful.

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 impact weapons because the dragon has a low resistance there).

=== Approaching Weldyn ===
This scenario is fairly easy, but also fun to play. The essence to success is being very fast.

Recall 6 to 8 fast-moving units with arcane attacks. This should be any fast unit who has picked up a holy amulet in earlier scenarios like horsemen or spearmen plus some level 2 or level 3 mages. Completely forget about heavy infantry or other slow-moving troops of similar kind. Move all your units to the eastern enemy and try to kill him by turn 3 or 4 by the latest. This should be easy, as he is still very weak.

Then rush over to the western enemy. It will be night by now so not a good time for attacking. If you have a very strong and fast unit (like a dragoon) try to position it on the enemies keep. This trick stops the enemy leader from recruiting more troops despite having plenty of money left. Once your other troops arrive and daylight breaks you should have an easy time finishing of this enemy leader and those of his troops which you ally has not yet killed.

Then attack the third leader in the south-west in the same manner. If you hurry, you should be able to finish by turn 9 and gain a good early finish bonus.

=== The Council ===

Only plot in this. You see the inside of the castle.

=== Weldyn Under Attack ===
This is an interesting scenario where once again choosing the right strategy is the key to success. Also watch out for the time, as you have only 18 turns to finish.

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: a weak one in the very north, and two equally strong ones in the south-east and south-west, respectively. It stays nighttime (first and second watch) during the entire scenario which is somewhat uncomfortable, but not a big problem.

Start by recalling all high-level units with arcane attacks (6-8 units max). Then recruit two keeps full of mages. Send your troops straight north and finish of the enemy leader. He is quite weak and even moves onto your island so this should be painlessly accomplished by turn 3.

Then split your troops: one half moves onto the western shore (along the very border of the map), the other half onto the eastern shore (same). To get across the river use the bridges in the north-west and the north-east, respectively. Let some of the mages stay behind and capture the villages on the island so you do not loose money. The may also assist you allies so they do not fall so quickly and keep the enemy busy.

The rest of the scenario is straight-forward: move both your troops southwards straight towards the enemy keeps and kill the leaders. As they have sent most of their troops onto the island where they are busy happily slaying away your allies, this should be no challenge for your troops. Watch out for the nightgaunts, though, which tend to ambush you or rush for weak units without you seeing them coming.

If all goes right you should have killed the remaining two enemy leaders around turns 14 or 15.

Hint: If you have one or two silver mages available (e.g. the engineer unit you joined you in the Escape scneario, if he has levelled by now) this is quite useful in this scenario. The map is rather large so have some fast-moving units like horseman 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 to weaken your enemy before attacking with your main force. Make sure you do not get him killed, though, by holding out too long after attacking.

After killing all enemy leaders, an enemy messenger appears telling you that you have only fought some delegates of the ancient lich Mal-Ravenal. It challenges you to have a duel with Mal-Ravenal instead of letting the armies meet for a final battle. If you accept the challenge, you get to scenario "The Duel". Otherwise you get to "Weldyn Besieged".

===Diverging Campaign Path===
==== The Duel ====
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-Ravenal will recruit mostly level 3 units so this looks difficult. In fact, it is quite managable, however.

Recall mostly mages of light and other high-level arcance troops. Set them up in a line of 4 units backed up by 2 units at the edge of one of the forsts near your keep. (Your leader should stand in the back up line so he does not accidentaly get killed.)

Then wait for his troops to reach you, but make sure you are the first to attack. By the time you meet it will be close to nightfall. Do not hesitate to attack, however, as Mal-Ravanal plays unfair and recruits another 3 units on every first watch.

In your first attack you should be able to kill two enemy units. Try to have at least 5 of your units survive the first round of enemy attacks. Then kill the remaining enemy units near you and move over to Mal-Ravenal straight away who hides by himself on the very border of the map in the mountains. Again, do not wait for daylight, as you can reach him before his reinforcements get to you, so you should have an easy time killing him with your remaining units.

Spoiler: After killing Mal-Ravanal the campaign ends with a final scene of Gweddry and his companions being honoured by the king.

==== Weldyn Besieged ====

On versions prior to 1.5.6 the siege is laughably easy to break; just recall a keep full of your best troops and rush Mal-Ravanal in the south.

As of 1.5.6 this battle should prove a more substantial challenge. Now the liches' names aren't revealed until they are attacked, and Mal-Ravanal is more likely to be revealed later in the scenario. 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.

A workable 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.

[[Category:Campaigns]]

SpellingMistakes

2008-12-01T21:03:49Z

Loci: /* The Legend of Wesmere */

This page is meant to be a list of mistakes in campaigns and other texts in the en_US development version of the game.

==An Orcish Incursion==

==Descent into Darkness==

==Eastern Invasion==

==Heir to the Throne==

==Liberty==

==Northern Rebirth==

==Sceptre of Fire==

==Son of the Black Eye==

==The Hammer of Thursagan==

==The Legend of Wesmere==

"retried" should be "retrieved" in 05_Saurian_Treasury.cfg, and that sentence would benefit from a "that" as so:

"Turnabout is fair play. Now that we've retrieved the gold let us fare swiftly back to Wesmere."

==The Rise of Wesnoth==

==The South Guard==

==Two Brothers==

==Under the Burning Suns==

==Editor==

==Tutorial==

==Manual==

==Manpages==

==1.6 Announcement==

==Other (ingame help, ...)==

==Translation code bugs==

==Unofficial campaigns==

===Invasion from the unknown===

[[Category:Troubleshooting and Bugs]]

Northern Rebirth

2008-11-18T10:21:42Z

Loci: /* To The Mines */

==Strategy Guide for Northern Rebirth==

(Doesn't yet cover the optional Evil-Tallin branch you can start from Clearing The Mines. That is still under development.)

===Breaking the Chains===

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. If any stray orcs come your way, surround and kill them and try to level a few units. Your units require no upkeep until they level, so if you play it right you should soon have a sizable force. When you are ready, march them out as a whole - isolated units will get slaughtered, so keep everyone together - and take out the orcish leaders one at a time.

Also, beware of the tunnel entrance to the northeast. 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===

There has been a major strategy change on this one so stay sharp. The strategy up till now has been to immediately send forces up the northern and southern tunnels to take out the trolls. However, they since have gotten their act together so now that will be far too costly and time consuming. What you need to do is recruit as many units as fast as you can, form up into a tight compact formation and head directly east. At this point all hell will break loose in a three way fight between trolls, skeletons and your forces to the east, while to the west you will have more level 1 trolls hounding you all the way. Cut your way east as quickly as you can, but it is essential to keep a tight formation, leaving as little exposure as possible. You will lose a lot of men - I myself lose about two thirds of my force every time - but try to pull as many men out of the mess as possible.

An alternate strategy is to recruit two or three rounds of mainly footpads and dash east. Position the footpads in the abundant defensible positions to make a corridor. With a 70% defense on any favorable terrain, your footpads will likely survive at least a couple enemy unit attacks. To draw the trolls away from your troops and into the skeletons, send severely weakened units to stand by the undead; the trolls will follow to finish the unit, and the skeletons will swarm the trolls.

Move east until you reach the keep of the orange troll leader. The situation at this point is somewhat unpredictable due to the chaotic eviolution of the scenario, but the general idea is to take out the troll leader and regroup, and heal in the little patch of villages to the north. You may want to send a few units up the tunnel further north, and then slip into the little room to the east and steal some more villages. The skeletons are usually too busy with the blue and green trolls at this point to offer much resistance. If your troops aren't up to the task of taking out the trolls immediately, you can head down the south tunnel for a more favorable matchup against the undead with dwarven assistance.

To the south there is a tunnel which may be spewing more skeletons, or - if you are lucky - dwarves. You want to get Tallin down that tunnel and into the dwarven keep that lies at the end. It's a bit of a walk so make sure you have at least 10 turns remaining. If the tunnel is still spewing skeletons, you will have to push through them and take out the leader before reaching the dwarves.

After you reach the dwarves, assuming you aren't going to take out all the enemy leaders, you can help yourself to their villages and run out the clock for a much needed boost of gold going into "Clearing the Mines". I was able to earn 25+ gold per turn for about 40 turns while holding off the undead with a small army of footpads.

There is also a Arch-Mage that you can get at the beginning of this scenario who would provide you with much assistance - both now and later on. To get him, you will have to initially recruit 3 or 4 footpads and have them immediately dash up to the northern troll hole. They should be able to reach the village on the outside of the caves before the trolls clog the tunnel. Have the footpads cover the mage all the way back to your main force and continue on as described above. Realistically though he is just a liability during your mad dash through the central battlefield, and a several-turn delay waiting for him will increase battlefield congestion significantly. He'll join you at the end of the scenario regardless, so it isn't necessary to seek him out.

===To The Mines===

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 wolfriders nipping around your flanks and don't leave any units isolated.

Alternatively, recruit a keep full of "targets"--poachers, woodsmen, peasants--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 on poor terrain 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===

Another tough one which has recently been re-balanced. This is going to be a long tough fight against enemies with far greater numbers then your own. Superior tactics and the strength of your men will be the only thing that will keep you from being wiped of the board.

In the new version, you probably won't have enough gold to finance two proper strike groups as you did in the past. If you can - swell. If not don't give up hope for there is still a way. Recruit one large group with practically all of your most powerful units. Dwarves are favored, for their better defense on cave floors, the resistances and ability to advance to level 3. Send this group to the east, take out the Draug stationed there and take control of the storeroom.

In the meantime, leave yourself a little gold, and maybe one or two higher level units, as well as Tallin, to recruit a smaller force to hold the keep. This force will come under heavy attack, and for most of the game the northern passage will be plugged closed with hordes of walking corpses, bats and skeletons. Hold out as best as you can, even if you have to retreat all the way to the keep. You have a slight advantage there as you have some sunlight shining through which the skeletons generally don't like. If all goes well with the eastern team, and the are able to take control of the storeroom, you should soon be having some gold coming in so you can recruit yourself some reinforcements.

Just as you think you have everything under control, things will take an ugly turn. At turn 21, you a horde of Ghouls and Necrophages will rise out of the canal. You are just going to have to endure as best you can. In the meantime, get your eastern force - regrouped and healed at the storeroom - to move north and take out the next Draug stationed there, and then move on further to take out Malifor. It will by no means be easy, but you have another group of villages behind the purple Draug which will help you heal and get some more income rolling in. You will also have to leave a force at the storeroom to hold the villages there - especially against the ghouls which may be no easy feat. If you are able to manage, send some backup from home base to help them hold out.

Once you take out Malifor, things should be a little easier. As more of his units die out, the tide will start to gradually turn and what follows is a general mop up of the remaining leaders.

===The Pursuit===

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).

Initially then, by turn 2 you should have Tallin on the camp and recruit 4 thugs and recall 2 steelclads. Use these to plug the passages east and west - these passages are short, each leading into a chamber with a recruiting death knight (RDK) who pumps out skeletons steadily. So you need to bottle them up immediately, and seize as much ground as you can (fighting up these corridors is one of the challenges of the first part of the level, so any ground seized now is useful). The nearest 2 revenants from the N passage will come down to attack you, but Camerin and the units you just recruited can deal with them easily.

Next turn, recruit a strike force to go down the SW passage - this is the target for phase 1 of this level. At least 2 dwarf lords are needed, since it's a one-wide passage, and in places you have only 1 tile to advance into & 3 revenants can attack you at once. It's vital to beat this area quickly, since there are 2 white mages and one elvish druid down here, and you need their healing ability asap. I would keep Camerin out of this area, though (too many fights with you having 1 unit vs 2 revenants); he should clear the first part of the N passage, which should be easy with a dwarvish fighter and a couple of thugs to help (put a thug in a fortified tile, and the 2 revenants above will come down and attack, but probably not kill him; once out of their fortified tiles, they are easy prey).

There are RDKs down the SW, NW, NE passages, but they have very low income so they just cause the odd stray unit to arrive from these passages every now and then; just keep a few units spare in the junction, and use Tallin, to deal with these as they arrive. Don't try to plug the NW, NE entrances, you might draw out the Draugs that are stationed a bit further up these passages - leave these until later. As soon as you have released 2 healers from the SW, run one back to the junction and start healing your injured units properly.

Once the healers in the SW are free, and the first stretch of the N passage is done, begin work in earnest on the E and W passages. Don't bother trying to advance tile-by-tile - if you have a unit at a 1-wide point, the enemy will simply fill both tiles in front, and even if you kill one of them, you can't advance to take the space. Fall back to where it's 2-wide, wait until the enemy has only 1 unit in the next 2-wide bit of the passage, and then you have a chance to blitz them - the enemy at the 1-wide bit you can easily kill with 2 thugs, and then a steelclad takes the space and has a good chance of killing the single enemy in the next 2-wide bit. Then rush in a unit to occupy it, and you've made a lot of ground in 1 turn. Take care to level up any thugs with good traits, as marauders are excellent shock troops vs undead.

Meanwhile, begin phase 2 of the level - there are long passages around from the far end of the SW passage, and from the SE passage, which are worth exploring. The SE passage is mostly flooded, so choose some quick units - the elvish druid, a fast thug or two, maybe Krash, and at least one other tough melee unit - there's an L3 sea monster to fight on the way round. If you want to use the back door to Malifor's study, send at least 2 quick dwarf lords (or possibly QR steelclads); personally, I'm not sure the back door is worth having a dwarf lord out of action for 20-30 turns getting there, and any weaker unit will simply be killed by Malifor in the first combat round. The main thing for this group to do is to get the friendly spectre (send a quick unit round to the left on first entering the water) and the 2 villages here.

For the SW passage, send at least 1 healer, 1 dwarf lord and maybe 2 steelclads (I send Krash this way, but perhaps the SW would be better for him). It's a long way round, but you get some allies and emerge in the back of the Treasury (NW passsage) where you get to fight a lot of revenants. Once this group enters the back door of the treasury, attack up the NW passage from the junction at the same time with some thugs, dwarf steelclads & Camerin. Together the two attacks should secure the main part of the treasury without too much trouble, and Camerin should finish off the various death knights easily enough. Marvel at the insane amount of wealth contained therein.

Before the SW party gets around there, you should have finished off at least one of the E or W RDKs - Camerin is useful to help break through, and to deal with any units on fortified tiles. Most of the villages are in these 2 areas, so grab them. There's also a stash of holy water bottles in the E area, but I found these to be no use, since every unit I recruited was using impact attacks anyway, so the improvement is minimal; not worth diverting units for, IMO.

Once you can spare the units (and are sure you won't need to do any more recruiting), send a group of maybe 7 units (1 healer/curer, 2 cheap thugs (or maybe poachers), Tallin, and a few good L2 units) up the N passage into the Great Chamber. Any units that aren't good against undead should be first choice, since the enemy up here is L3 giant spiders (e.g. I had a thunderguard from the initial recall, who was dead weight vs undead, but handy vs the spiders). Once you enter the chamber, the passage gets sealed behind you - back out of the chamber immediately, put your thugs in the fortified tiles by the 1-wide entrance; use them to lure the spiders one at a time, then pound them with Tallin and your good units. It will take a while. Once you are down to 2-3 spiders left, storm the main chamber, then bottle up the spider's castle to the E, while Tallin goes west to get the all-powerful Rod of Justice.

Once the Treasury (NW passage) and E & W RDKs are beaten, these forces can regroup and attack the NE passage (Malifor's study) - phase 3. Get past the draugs, quickly (Camerin should blast through them fast enough) and occupy the junction at the end of the passage - this divides up the different RDKs, so you can deal with them separately. By this point, you have Camerin and some L3 thugs, who can easily smash their way down even a 1-wide passage against the L1 skeletons, so it shouldn't take long to clean up here. Push though to the entrance to Malifor's study, and then wait until you are in good position - dwarf lords only in the front rank - before throwing open the doors.

Depending on the progress of your various teams, you might have Tallin's team available to come in as well via the N entrance to the study (from behind the spider's keep), and might have your team from the SE passage, if you gave it a high-level dwarf or two so it can survive the attacks of Malifor and his liches. Once you live through the first combat round, it should be easy - rotate L3 thugs into the front to kill the liches in 1 round, reform front line with dwarves inside the room. You need to kill Malifor with a white mage. (You could keep Tallin's group back in the Great Chamber - this seems to be where Malifor goes to if he dies by the sword, - and have another go at killing him with a mage there).

Alternative approaches - forget about the long passages SW and SE? Just send Krash and the druid down to fetch the spectre and run back the way they came, since you only get 1 extra village by going through the water, and it takes so long to get heavy infantry round there to Malifor, it might just be a waste. The back door to the Treasury is useful, but it can equally be beaten by frontal assault with Camerin & heavy infantry, and again saves having troops out of action while they march round (although you do miss out on the free extra units in the back passage). Probably the level is faster if you skip these, and you don't lose out on a lot of XP.

===Old Friend===

This is meant to be an easy campaign, 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 & 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's possible to beat the nearer two orcs with relative ease on the easiest difficulty. But not advisable. When you get too close to either of them, Rakshas triggers the appearance of Goblin Knights on all the mountain tiles in the centre of the map. This level is not possible to win by beating the leaders in the time available. But it's well worth sallying forth anyway, because you get a chance to level a lot of troops relatively easily.

===Settling Disputes===

Tactics in this one are pretty straightforward but time is scant; your
biggest issue may be getting to the enemy keep in the southeast with
enough time left to take out defenders before the clock runs out.
There's a ford in the middle of the map, and the enemy will slide
trolls and ogres over it to try to cause trouble in your rear; if you
mean to prevent this, it's best to place some blocking troops right on
the shoreline where they can hit enemies still in the water.

===Elvish Princess===

In this one it's best to go straight at Bitterhold with a small group of hardened veterans -- you need to be in there fast (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.

The Spectre, Krash and one other fast unit 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.

===Introductions===

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 northwest corner.
There is nothing interesting in any of the side passages.

===Stolen Gold===

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. Recall
nine or ten veterans, go there and laager 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 & their forces have moved over to attack in the W, 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 E, 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.)

Alternate strategy: this works well on easy, though I've not tried it on harder levels. 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 Hunstman can be useful. Then move Tallin (who should be Level 4 by this stage) towards the blue leader as well. The Blue leader will take the village to the SE of his camp on turn 1. With Tallin's 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.

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.

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. This changes slightly in v1.5.0, as the WMs resurrect next to each other, rather than the start point. 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 co 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.

===Eastern Fortress===

The mistake to avoid in this scenario is exposing level 1 drakes to
being swarmed by the wolfriders and assassins that head north. Keep
your drakes in line, close the gap between the east end of the drake
line and the west flank of the human troops, and anchor the west flank
of the drake line on a board edge. Recruit lots of drakes so you can
cycle injured ones out of the line before they get killed. Use mages
and the Rod of Justice to blast the defenders off the walls; you'll
need at least six units of heavy infantry to follow through.

[cph] I prefer a totally different approach. 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.

[IoN] I use the same technique as cph 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.

===Get the Gold===

Don't recruit a lot for this one; if you have enough level 2 and 3 units
to fill your starting camp, you can probably take out the orc leader with
those. Krash and friends aren't likely to be able to fly over in time to
do much.

===Showdown===

Pull out all the stops, because this is it. You'll want to draw the
Orc Warlords 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).

[IoN] I had a ridiculous amount of gold at this point (Tallin had well over 5000, Anita over 3000, Krash over 4000), so I decided to try the amusing tactic of swarming with thugs from Tallin's side, Burners from Krash's side, and Heroes from Anita's side; recruiting one castle full every turn until I ran out of gold. While it took a while, it worked like a charm. I also recalled my veterans to defend the keep just in case, but that turned out to be superfluous.

===Epilogue===

This is just a plot wrap-up.

[[Category:Campaigns]]

Northern Rebirth

2008-11-18T10:08:39Z

Loci: /* Infested Caves */

==Strategy Guide for Northern Rebirth==

(Doesn't yet cover the optional Evil-Tallin branch you can start from Clearing The Mines. That is still under development.)

===Breaking the Chains===

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. If any stray orcs come your way, surround and kill them and try to level a few units. Your units require no upkeep until they level, so if you play it right you should soon have a sizable force. When you are ready, march them out as a whole - isolated units will get slaughtered, so keep everyone together - and take out the orcish leaders one at a time.

Also, beware of the tunnel entrance to the northeast. 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===

There has been a major strategy change on this one so stay sharp. The strategy up till now has been to immediately send forces up the northern and southern tunnels to take out the trolls. However, they since have gotten their act together so now that will be far too costly and time consuming. What you need to do is recruit as many units as fast as you can, form up into a tight compact formation and head directly east. At this point all hell will break loose in a three way fight between trolls, skeletons and your forces to the east, while to the west you will have more level 1 trolls hounding you all the way. Cut your way east as quickly as you can, but it is essential to keep a tight formation, leaving as little exposure as possible. You will lose a lot of men - I myself lose about two thirds of my force every time - but try to pull as many men out of the mess as possible.

An alternate strategy is to recruit two or three rounds of mainly footpads and dash east. Position the footpads in the abundant defensible positions to make a corridor. With a 70% defense on any favorable terrain, your footpads will likely survive at least a couple enemy unit attacks. To draw the trolls away from your troops and into the skeletons, send severely weakened units to stand by the undead; the trolls will follow to finish the unit, and the skeletons will swarm the trolls.

Move east until you reach the keep of the orange troll leader. The situation at this point is somewhat unpredictable due to the chaotic eviolution of the scenario, but the general idea is to take out the troll leader and regroup, and heal in the little patch of villages to the north. You may want to send a few units up the tunnel further north, and then slip into the little room to the east and steal some more villages. The skeletons are usually too busy with the blue and green trolls at this point to offer much resistance. If your troops aren't up to the task of taking out the trolls immediately, you can head down the south tunnel for a more favorable matchup against the undead with dwarven assistance.

To the south there is a tunnel which may be spewing more skeletons, or - if you are lucky - dwarves. You want to get Tallin down that tunnel and into the dwarven keep that lies at the end. It's a bit of a walk so make sure you have at least 10 turns remaining. If the tunnel is still spewing skeletons, you will have to push through them and take out the leader before reaching the dwarves.

After you reach the dwarves, assuming you aren't going to take out all the enemy leaders, you can help yourself to their villages and run out the clock for a much needed boost of gold going into "Clearing the Mines". I was able to earn 25+ gold per turn for about 40 turns while holding off the undead with a small army of footpads.

There is also a Arch-Mage that you can get at the beginning of this scenario who would provide you with much assistance - both now and later on. To get him, you will have to initially recruit 3 or 4 footpads and have them immediately dash up to the northern troll hole. They should be able to reach the village on the outside of the caves before the trolls clog the tunnel. Have the footpads cover the mage all the way back to your main force and continue on as described above. Realistically though he is just a liability during your mad dash through the central battlefield, and a several-turn delay waiting for him will increase battlefield congestion significantly. He'll join you at the end of the scenario regardless, so it isn't necessary to seek him out.

===To The Mines===

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 wolfriders nipping around your flanks and don't leave any units isolated.

===Clearing The Mines===

Another tough one which has recently been re-balanced. This is going to be a long tough fight against enemies with far greater numbers then your own. Superior tactics and the strength of your men will be the only thing that will keep you from being wiped of the board.

In the new version, you probably won't have enough gold to finance two proper strike groups as you did in the past. If you can - swell. If not don't give up hope for there is still a way. Recruit one large group with practically all of your most powerful units. Dwarves are favored, for their better defense on cave floors, the resistances and ability to advance to level 3. Send this group to the east, take out the Draug stationed there and take control of the storeroom.

In the meantime, leave yourself a little gold, and maybe one or two higher level units, as well as Tallin, to recruit a smaller force to hold the keep. This force will come under heavy attack, and for most of the game the northern passage will be plugged closed with hordes of walking corpses, bats and skeletons. Hold out as best as you can, even if you have to retreat all the way to the keep. You have a slight advantage there as you have some sunlight shining through which the skeletons generally don't like. If all goes well with the eastern team, and the are able to take control of the storeroom, you should soon be having some gold coming in so you can recruit yourself some reinforcements.

Just as you think you have everything under control, things will take an ugly turn. At turn 21, you a horde of Ghouls and Necrophages will rise out of the canal. You are just going to have to endure as best you can. In the meantime, get your eastern force - regrouped and healed at the storeroom - to move north and take out the next Draug stationed there, and then move on further to take out Malifor. It will by no means be easy, but you have another group of villages behind the purple Draug which will help you heal and get some more income rolling in. You will also have to leave a force at the storeroom to hold the villages there - especially against the ghouls which may be no easy feat. If you are able to manage, send some backup from home base to help them hold out.

Once you take out Malifor, things should be a little easier. As more of his units die out, the tide will start to gradually turn and what follows is a general mop up of the remaining leaders.

===The Pursuit===

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).

Initially then, by turn 2 you should have Tallin on the camp and recruit 4 thugs and recall 2 steelclads. Use these to plug the passages east and west - these passages are short, each leading into a chamber with a recruiting death knight (RDK) who pumps out skeletons steadily. So you need to bottle them up immediately, and seize as much ground as you can (fighting up these corridors is one of the challenges of the first part of the level, so any ground seized now is useful). The nearest 2 revenants from the N passage will come down to attack you, but Camerin and the units you just recruited can deal with them easily.

Next turn, recruit a strike force to go down the SW passage - this is the target for phase 1 of this level. At least 2 dwarf lords are needed, since it's a one-wide passage, and in places you have only 1 tile to advance into & 3 revenants can attack you at once. It's vital to beat this area quickly, since there are 2 white mages and one elvish druid down here, and you need their healing ability asap. I would keep Camerin out of this area, though (too many fights with you having 1 unit vs 2 revenants); he should clear the first part of the N passage, which should be easy with a dwarvish fighter and a couple of thugs to help (put a thug in a fortified tile, and the 2 revenants above will come down and attack, but probably not kill him; once out of their fortified tiles, they are easy prey).

There are RDKs down the SW, NW, NE passages, but they have very low income so they just cause the odd stray unit to arrive from these passages every now and then; just keep a few units spare in the junction, and use Tallin, to deal with these as they arrive. Don't try to plug the NW, NE entrances, you might draw out the Draugs that are stationed a bit further up these passages - leave these until later. As soon as you have released 2 healers from the SW, run one back to the junction and start healing your injured units properly.

Once the healers in the SW are free, and the first stretch of the N passage is done, begin work in earnest on the E and W passages. Don't bother trying to advance tile-by-tile - if you have a unit at a 1-wide point, the enemy will simply fill both tiles in front, and even if you kill one of them, you can't advance to take the space. Fall back to where it's 2-wide, wait until the enemy has only 1 unit in the next 2-wide bit of the passage, and then you have a chance to blitz them - the enemy at the 1-wide bit you can easily kill with 2 thugs, and then a steelclad takes the space and has a good chance of killing the single enemy in the next 2-wide bit. Then rush in a unit to occupy it, and you've made a lot of ground in 1 turn. Take care to level up any thugs with good traits, as marauders are excellent shock troops vs undead.

Meanwhile, begin phase 2 of the level - there are long passages around from the far end of the SW passage, and from the SE passage, which are worth exploring. The SE passage is mostly flooded, so choose some quick units - the elvish druid, a fast thug or two, maybe Krash, and at least one other tough melee unit - there's an L3 sea monster to fight on the way round. If you want to use the back door to Malifor's study, send at least 2 quick dwarf lords (or possibly QR steelclads); personally, I'm not sure the back door is worth having a dwarf lord out of action for 20-30 turns getting there, and any weaker unit will simply be killed by Malifor in the first combat round. The main thing for this group to do is to get the friendly spectre (send a quick unit round to the left on first entering the water) and the 2 villages here.

For the SW passage, send at least 1 healer, 1 dwarf lord and maybe 2 steelclads (I send Krash this way, but perhaps the SW would be better for him). It's a long way round, but you get some allies and emerge in the back of the Treasury (NW passsage) where you get to fight a lot of revenants. Once this group enters the back door of the treasury, attack up the NW passage from the junction at the same time with some thugs, dwarf steelclads & Camerin. Together the two attacks should secure the main part of the treasury without too much trouble, and Camerin should finish off the various death knights easily enough. Marvel at the insane amount of wealth contained therein.

Before the SW party gets around there, you should have finished off at least one of the E or W RDKs - Camerin is useful to help break through, and to deal with any units on fortified tiles. Most of the villages are in these 2 areas, so grab them. There's also a stash of holy water bottles in the E area, but I found these to be no use, since every unit I recruited was using impact attacks anyway, so the improvement is minimal; not worth diverting units for, IMO.

Once you can spare the units (and are sure you won't need to do any more recruiting), send a group of maybe 7 units (1 healer/curer, 2 cheap thugs (or maybe poachers), Tallin, and a few good L2 units) up the N passage into the Great Chamber. Any units that aren't good against undead should be first choice, since the enemy up here is L3 giant spiders (e.g. I had a thunderguard from the initial recall, who was dead weight vs undead, but handy vs the spiders). Once you enter the chamber, the passage gets sealed behind you - back out of the chamber immediately, put your thugs in the fortified tiles by the 1-wide entrance; use them to lure the spiders one at a time, then pound them with Tallin and your good units. It will take a while. Once you are down to 2-3 spiders left, storm the main chamber, then bottle up the spider's castle to the E, while Tallin goes west to get the all-powerful Rod of Justice.

Once the Treasury (NW passage) and E & W RDKs are beaten, these forces can regroup and attack the NE passage (Malifor's study) - phase 3. Get past the draugs, quickly (Camerin should blast through them fast enough) and occupy the junction at the end of the passage - this divides up the different RDKs, so you can deal with them separately. By this point, you have Camerin and some L3 thugs, who can easily smash their way down even a 1-wide passage against the L1 skeletons, so it shouldn't take long to clean up here. Push though to the entrance to Malifor's study, and then wait until you are in good position - dwarf lords only in the front rank - before throwing open the doors.

Depending on the progress of your various teams, you might have Tallin's team available to come in as well via the N entrance to the study (from behind the spider's keep), and might have your team from the SE passage, if you gave it a high-level dwarf or two so it can survive the attacks of Malifor and his liches. Once you live through the first combat round, it should be easy - rotate L3 thugs into the front to kill the liches in 1 round, reform front line with dwarves inside the room. You need to kill Malifor with a white mage. (You could keep Tallin's group back in the Great Chamber - this seems to be where Malifor goes to if he dies by the sword, - and have another go at killing him with a mage there).

Alternative approaches - forget about the long passages SW and SE? Just send Krash and the druid down to fetch the spectre and run back the way they came, since you only get 1 extra village by going through the water, and it takes so long to get heavy infantry round there to Malifor, it might just be a waste. The back door to the Treasury is useful, but it can equally be beaten by frontal assault with Camerin & heavy infantry, and again saves having troops out of action while they march round (although you do miss out on the free extra units in the back passage). Probably the level is faster if you skip these, and you don't lose out on a lot of XP.

===Old Friend===

This is meant to be an easy campaign, 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 & 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's possible to beat the nearer two orcs with relative ease on the easiest difficulty. But not advisable. When you get too close to either of them, Rakshas triggers the appearance of Goblin Knights on all the mountain tiles in the centre of the map. This level is not possible to win by beating the leaders in the time available. But it's well worth sallying forth anyway, because you get a chance to level a lot of troops relatively easily.

===Settling Disputes===

Tactics in this one are pretty straightforward but time is scant; your
biggest issue may be getting to the enemy keep in the southeast with
enough time left to take out defenders before the clock runs out.
There's a ford in the middle of the map, and the enemy will slide
trolls and ogres over it to try to cause trouble in your rear; if you
mean to prevent this, it's best to place some blocking troops right on
the shoreline where they can hit enemies still in the water.

===Elvish Princess===

In this one it's best to go straight at Bitterhold with a small group of hardened veterans -- you need to be in there fast (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.

The Spectre, Krash and one other fast unit 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.

===Introductions===

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 northwest corner.
There is nothing interesting in any of the side passages.

===Stolen Gold===

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. Recall
nine or ten veterans, go there and laager 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 & their forces have moved over to attack in the W, 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 E, 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.)

Alternate strategy: this works well on easy, though I've not tried it on harder levels. 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 Hunstman can be useful. Then move Tallin (who should be Level 4 by this stage) towards the blue leader as well. The Blue leader will take the village to the SE of his camp on turn 1. With Tallin's 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.

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.

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. This changes slightly in v1.5.0, as the WMs resurrect next to each other, rather than the start point. 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 co 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.

===Eastern Fortress===

The mistake to avoid in this scenario is exposing level 1 drakes to
being swarmed by the wolfriders and assassins that head north. Keep
your drakes in line, close the gap between the east end of the drake
line and the west flank of the human troops, and anchor the west flank
of the drake line on a board edge. Recruit lots of drakes so you can
cycle injured ones out of the line before they get killed. Use mages
and the Rod of Justice to blast the defenders off the walls; you'll
need at least six units of heavy infantry to follow through.

[cph] I prefer a totally different approach. 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.

[IoN] I use the same technique as cph 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.

===Get the Gold===

Don't recruit a lot for this one; if you have enough level 2 and 3 units
to fill your starting camp, you can probably take out the orc leader with
those. Krash and friends aren't likely to be able to fly over in time to
do much.

===Showdown===

Pull out all the stops, because this is it. You'll want to draw the
Orc Warlords 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).

[IoN] I had a ridiculous amount of gold at this point (Tallin had well over 5000, Anita over 3000, Krash over 4000), so I decided to try the amusing tactic of swarming with thugs from Tallin's side, Burners from Krash's side, and Heroes from Anita's side; recruiting one castle full every turn until I ran out of gold. While it took a while, it worked like a charm. I also recalled my veterans to defend the keep just in case, but that turned out to be superfluous.

===Epilogue===

This is just a plot wrap-up.

[[Category:Campaigns]]

SonOfThe BlackEye

2008-11-16T08:53:51Z

Loci: /* The Siege of Barag-Gor */

=== The End Of Peace ===

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 the neutral keep near the east edge of the board,

=== The Human Army ===

Avoid this scenario; it is basically impossible to beat. You'll be
given the option at the end of the first scenario.

=== Towards Mountains of Haag ===

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 dogmeat. 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
EP. Again, your archers are your best offensive tool (since the
dwarves have no missile attack) but you need to use Grunts and Wolf
Riders keep the dwarves off them.

=== The Siege of Barag-Gor ===

The key to winning this one is that, even though you get a nice allied
troop surge in Barag-Gor at the beginning of turn 2, you shouldn't
waste your own troops in a futile effort to hold the city. Instead,
run the trapped shamans out as soon as possible; a gap is likely to
open up to the SE around turn 3. Take your troops south to knock out
the elves there, then west, then north.

I did defend the city sucessfully, by recruiting lots of trolls. I had a couple of wolves go get villages and to distract the southern and northeast troops from attacking the city en masse. When I had got enough troops leveled up, I sent a force south first, to take out the southern leader and then go west for the southwestern leader. Then, I sent out a seperate forces to the northeastern leader and northern leader. Pay attention to income. The more you get, the more trolls you can recruit. (vlade)

Note: Defeating all four enemy leaders wins the scenario.

=== Towards Harbor of Tirigaz ===

The northeastern 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 southwestern enemy. Ignore the holy water as any unit that reaches
it will just drink it.

=== Black Flag ===

If you run Grüü and 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 trioops 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.

=== The Desert of Death ===

Pick troops with lots of mobility because the desert is hard to move
in. Use your shamans' ranged attacks against the giant scorpions.
Head southeast towards the near edge of the big lake; the enemy you'll
need to defeat is there. His troops aren't very effective but beware
of letting isolated units get swarmed.

=== Saving Inarix ===

The main thing to know here is that the elves have a 100-per-turn income;
you can contain them long enough to get Inarix to the river but you can't
beat them. Block the elves with a strong force (they recruit L1s, so this
is a leveling-up opportunity), bloody the dwarves with a slightly weaker one,
and run Inarix up the middle.

=== Clash of Armies ===

You'll only have +4 healing from your saurians, so this is a test of how efficiently you can cycle units from the fortifications back to villages without losing them. Your left flank is more exposed than your right as there will be gryphons and the occasional merman (they become rare after the first surge). Hold the river bastion or bridge if possible; if they get to the shore hey'll be able to widen the front and make better use of their numbers. Orcish Slurbows will be really useful. Grüü will be effective against the Gryphons, so try and keep him in the hills. Lure the mermen onto land and then strike at them with leveled up trolls and Inarix.

=== A Dwarvish Stand ===

Recruit Wolf Riders and other types with lots of mobility, because just mushing
through the snow to get to the enemy units is work. Let your allies get in
front of you and screen your troops; you might even conaider no recruiting for
two turns to let then get ahead,

=== Back Home ===

This is a big, messy brawl. Your allies will show up late but in large numbers.
Concentrate on the human and elvish keeps nearest you, allies (including Gruu,
who you'll play when he arrives) should do an effective job of squashing the
others.

=== Civil War ===

It's difficult to get this one finished in time unless you divide your forces
and get maximum use from the roads. Send two groups at the northwestern and
southeastern keeps, then converge on the southwestern one.

=== The Coward ===

Lots of scenery -- and lots of villages -- in this one. Build two or three
wolf riders just to run around grabbing villages, it will pay off. The AI
will tend to move his units north to grab the coastal villages; encourage this
by sending a handful of veterans in that direction to draw more troops north
even as you run your main body down the road towards the city gate.

=== Human Attack ===

Let your ally-generals soak up the casualties; use them to screen your
flanks and your movements. A static defense on the city wall will work, or
you can recruit a large army early on and punch down the middle; that has the
advantage that you may be able to take out Earl Lanbec'h before a lot of his
reinforcements arrive (they show up at the south-center edge of the board
every morning).

=== Northern Alliance ===

Your first job is to bust Kapou'e out of the ring of grey orcs, then
run Kapou'e north to the main keep where he can recruit. Your ally
generals and Howgarth cannot quite neutralize Earl Lanbec'h by themselves, so
split your troops and send half south and half east after Shan Taum.

=== Epilogue ===

Story only.

[[Category:Campaigns]]

ATaleOfTwoBrothers

2008-11-05T05:04:04Z

Loci: /* Rooting Out a Mage */

This is an easy campaign that is mainly intended to introduce new players to the mechanics of the game.

== Rooting Out a Mage ==

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 mages with spearmen and the bats with archers; 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 the mage 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 ==

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; eleven 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 and take Brena with you. Heavy infantry will be useful in the next scenario.

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. When the enemy wose approaches, you can recall your blade troops or (especially if you don't have enough blade attackers) you can leave the wose behind as you march your troops north. He'll capture a town or two, but you should be able to stay a few steps ahead of him. You can split off a portion of your forces to take out the elvish leader for a few more experience points, just make sure you move enough troops north to take out the undead leader.

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.

== Guarded Castle ==

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. Arne 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 Arne 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 Arne rescues his brother.

== Return to the Village ==

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 archers 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]]

ATaleOfTwoBrothers

2008-11-05T05:02:25Z

Loci: more info on hard

This is an easy campaign that is mainly intended to introduce new players to the mechanics of the game.

== Rooting Out a Mage ==

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 mages with spearmen and the bats with archers; 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 the mage 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).

== The Chase ==

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; eleven 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 and take Brena with you. Heavy infantry will be useful in the next scenario.

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. When the enemy wose approaches, you can recall your blade troops or (especially if you don't have enough blade attackers) you can leave the wose behind as you march your troops north. He'll capture a town or two, but you should be able to stay a few steps ahead of him. You can split off a portion of your forces to take out the elvish leader for a few more experience points, just make sure you move enough troops north to take out the undead leader.

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.

== Guarded Castle ==

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. Arne 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 Arne 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 Arne rescues his brother.

== Return to the Village ==

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 archers 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]]

ATaleOfTwoBrothers

2008-11-04T05:19:42Z

Loci: /* The Chase */

This is an easy campaign that is mainly intended to introduce new players to the mechanics of the game.

== Rooting Out a Mage ==

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 mages with spearmen and the bats with archers; 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 the mage 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).

== The Chase ==

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; eleven 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 and take Brena with you. Heavy infantry will be useful in the next scenario.

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. When the enemy wose approaches, you can recall your blade troops or (especially if you don't have enough blade attackers) you can leave the wose behind as you march your troops north. He'll capture a town or two, but you should be able to stay a few steps ahead of him. You can split off a portion of your forces to take out the elvish leader for a few more experience points, just make sure you move enough troops north to take out the undead.

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.

== Guarded Castle ==

One castleful of recruits should be enough to win. Experiment with heavy infantry, they do well against orcs. 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. Arne 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 Arne 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.

While you're wearing down the defenses at the gate, if you send a footpad or two off to one side inside 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.

== Return to the Village ==

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.

[[Category:Campaigns]]

ATaleOfTwoBrothers

2008-11-04T05:18:38Z

Loci: add notes on hard

This is an easy campaign that is mainly intended to introduce new players to the mechanics of the game.

== Rooting Out a Mage ==

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 mages with spearmen and the bats with archers; 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 the mage 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).

== The Chase ==

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; eleven 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 and take Brena with you. Heavy infantry will be useful in the next scenario.

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. When the enemy wose approaches, you can recall your blade troops or (especially if you don't have enough blade attackers), you can leave the wose behind as you march your troops north. He'll capture a town or two, but you should be able to stay a few steps ahead of him. You can split off a portion of your forces to take out the elvish leader for a few more experience points, just make sure you move enough troops north to take out the undead.

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.

== Guarded Castle ==

One castleful of recruits should be enough to win. Experiment with heavy infantry, they do well against orcs. 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. Arne 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 Arne 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.

While you're wearing down the defenses at the gate, if you send a footpad or two off to one side inside 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.

== Return to the Village ==

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.

[[Category:Campaigns]]

ATaleOfTwoBrothers

2008-11-04T02:33:23Z

Loci: /* Rooting Out a Mage */

DescentIntoDarkness

2008-11-01T07:50:26Z

Loci: /* Descent into Darkness */

=== Saving Parthyn ===
You'll start the battle with three loyal human soldiers. Don't bother leveling them, because they go away at the end of the scenario. Likewise, all you can recruit are zombies, and they won't be worth recalling. If you're going to collect experience for anyone, it should be your main character.

Try to take advantage of terrain and daytime. I stayed away from the water hexes directly close to the other shore since the defenders have a bonus if they attack water standing units when still standing on land. Block the ford. Then rush for the northern shore if you can reach land. Reaching the other shore is much harder by yourself, wait for your allies to help kill things. Capture villages and let your human allies do the hard work.

=== A Peaceful Valley ===
Do not try to solve this level without entering the Swamp. Once you enter the Swamp with either Malin Keshar or Darken Volk you will get Ghouls which make the difference between impossible and reasonable to master this level. Bats are useful to capture faraway villages but have little chance against the guards, unless you move two or three of them together. Use walking corpses as placeholders for captured villages and use them on wounded goblins to add more troops to your arsenal. A combined effort with walking corpses and Darken Volk will kill off the leader and relieve a lot of stress.

Note that the ghouls that rise from the swamp are loyal units.

=== A Haunting in Winter ===
You can recruit Ghosts on this level. At one point there's a special event: one of your ghosts (chosen at random, I believe) will go rebel and attack you. You'll want to keep all of your ghosts close by until one rebels, and then kill the rebel quickly. Afterwards, move a few of your ghosts up north -- you can get easy experience from killing the dwarves as they wade through the swamp. Your two heroes can kill the enemy bosses with their magic attacks.

<i>Addition by Cabbit</i>:
This is a good opportunity to gain experience for your ghosts. While both the Wraith and Shadow units are useful, it is important to have at least 4 shadows by a certain scenario. 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.

=== Beginning of the Revenge ===
Do not move non-flying units onto the ice next to the bridge which separates you from the Orcs' valley, it does not carry much weight. Use this to your advantage and try and lure high level orcs to their demise by placing ghosts in the middle of the ice. Ghosts and Corpses can cross the mountains left of your starting fortress. Unfortunately the fire arrows are quite effective against ghosts. I finished the south Orc first and had an easy time to defeat the north Orc. Ghosts and Bats can capture difficult to reach villages and move on, thus weakening your foes.

[Comment by Mikaka] 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.

=== Orc War ===

Starting with this mission you can recruit skeletons (both axemen and archers) and apprentices.
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 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. But after you kill two orc leaders the third will flee and this will end the scenario. You probably will want to prolong this as long as possible,however, to allow your forces to gain experience.

=== Return to Hal'al ===

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, between this and recalling another wraith or shadow, it should be easy to take out Drogan and discover, oops, the Hal'al townspeople hate you anyway. I found that wraiths and shadows were particularly effective since they can fly across the river quite quickly. After you kill Drogan you need to escape across the river and to the west. So first you need to kill the orcs, which shouldn't be a problem, what might be a problem is that the Hal'al troops will continue to attack you as you flee. Another problem you will have is that if you flee 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.

You don't HAVE to flee immediately. At least on the easiest setting it is possible to stay and completely defeat Dela and the Hal'al townspeople. But you face fairly strong opposition and will probably take enough casualties that it isn't really worth it. Also, you'll have to recruit enough units that you lose gold each turn, since there's no time limit, if you defeat the Hal'el 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====

As far as I can tell there's only one way to win this scenario and the requires having at least 4 shadows (or Nightgaunts). Recall these and send them to assassinate the leader at the enemy keep. (after first capturing as many villages as you feel like). Don't capture any enemy occupied villages, however, this will render your shadows visible. And keep Malin and Valk out of sight as well, or else the human leader will recruit an unbeatable number of reinforcements.

After you takeout the enemy leader, take out the rest of the human troops and capture the rest of the villages at your leisure. Get Malin to the enemy keep to recall forces you will want to use in the next mission. Wraiths and Shadows are particularly useful. Anything else is less useful; if you have a ghost about to level up it might be worth recalling; otherwise don't even bother with level one units.

Addition by cMaster:
It is possible to win this part without any Shadows. I use 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 cntrl-v). Malin and Darken Volk 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 of course, and rush towards the manor with your heros. You should be inside before the battle gets ugly.

====Part Two====

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 swordsman 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. 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 north west with Malin and move on.

====Part Three====

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. You may mop up the remaining enemy forces for experience points, but to the northwest of the room right before the supply through which you exit there is one room you should probably just leave alone; it contains four silver mages and I don't think it's possible to take them out without casualties.

===Alone at Last===

So you've got to fight it out with Darken Volk. You probably don't have much money, which makes this difficult to win in a straightforward manner.

On turn 5 Sir Cadeaus arrives to take revenge for your attack on the city of Tath, he sets up camp in the southeast corner of the map. He will attack both you and Volk if given the opportunity. More usefully, Volk will attack <i> him </i>, so what you probably want to do is send some units to the east to draw Volk's soulless minions south, while sending the best troops you can recall up to the north of Volk. When Sir Cadeaus arrives, Volk's forces will be split on two fronts, so you should be able to take him out. If you're lucky, his forces will also take out Sir Cadeaus.

After you kill Volk, he leaves behind the book, which you want to retrieve and bring to the keep you started the scenario at. Ghosts and bats (and spectres, shadows, wraiths, and nightgaunts) can't carry the book, so you want to have sent at least one unit of this kind with the units you used to kill Volk. In particular, Malin himself is a good choice.

On turn 9 Dela Keshar will show up to the north, set up camp and send forces to attack you as well. This will probably be a turn after you kill Volk, and you can probably take her out with some nightgaunts before she calls any troops. If you can't you'll have to run for it and probably lose some units covering your retreat. If, however, you're lucky enough to take her out before she calls reinforcements, you can probably wipe the map clean before returning to your keep.

An alternative strategy is to summon a few good troops and move everyone to the north, delaying the battle with Draken Volk's minions as long as possible. Once Sir Cadeaus arrives, Volk will shift his attention to the south. Meanwhile, you can stake out an empty field north of Volk's stronghold and wait a few turns. After Dela shows up and is directly dispatched, you can recruit a few more troops and head south to finish off Draken Volk, grab the book and head west to escape.

===Descent into Darkness===

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.

--additionally by smenze--I just finished up this scenario and it was as easy as I have ever played. Move to the far side of the make shift altar to attack it at the start then 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.

===Eternal Night===

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]]

DescentIntoDarkness

2008-11-01T07:48:03Z

Loci: /* Alone at Last */

=== Saving Parthyn ===
You'll start the battle with three loyal human soldiers. Don't bother leveling them, because they go away at the end of the scenario. Likewise, all you can recruit are zombies, and they won't be worth recalling. If you're going to collect experience for anyone, it should be your main character.

Try to take advantage of terrain and daytime. I stayed away from the water hexes directly close to the other shore since the defenders have a bonus if they attack water standing units when still standing on land. Block the ford. Then rush for the northern shore if you can reach land. Reaching the other shore is much harder by yourself, wait for your allies to help kill things. Capture villages and let your human allies do the hard work.

=== A Peaceful Valley ===
Do not try to solve this level without entering the Swamp. Once you enter the Swamp with either Malin Keshar or Darken Volk you will get Ghouls which make the difference between impossible and reasonable to master this level. Bats are useful to capture faraway villages but have little chance against the guards, unless you move two or three of them together. Use walking corpses as placeholders for captured villages and use them on wounded goblins to add more troops to your arsenal. A combined effort with walking corpses and Darken Volk will kill off the leader and relieve a lot of stress.

Note that the ghouls that rise from the swamp are loyal units.

=== A Haunting in Winter ===
You can recruit Ghosts on this level. At one point there's a special event: one of your ghosts (chosen at random, I believe) will go rebel and attack you. You'll want to keep all of your ghosts close by until one rebels, and then kill the rebel quickly. Afterwards, move a few of your ghosts up north -- you can get easy experience from killing the dwarves as they wade through the swamp. Your two heroes can kill the enemy bosses with their magic attacks.

<i>Addition by Cabbit</i>:
This is a good opportunity to gain experience for your ghosts. While both the Wraith and Shadow units are useful, it is important to have at least 4 shadows by a certain scenario. 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.

=== Beginning of the Revenge ===
Do not move non-flying units onto the ice next to the bridge which separates you from the Orcs' valley, it does not carry much weight. Use this to your advantage and try and lure high level orcs to their demise by placing ghosts in the middle of the ice. Ghosts and Corpses can cross the mountains left of your starting fortress. Unfortunately the fire arrows are quite effective against ghosts. I finished the south Orc first and had an easy time to defeat the north Orc. Ghosts and Bats can capture difficult to reach villages and move on, thus weakening your foes.

[Comment by Mikaka] 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.

=== Orc War ===

Starting with this mission you can recruit skeletons (both axemen and archers) and apprentices.
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 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. But after you kill two orc leaders the third will flee and this will end the scenario. You probably will want to prolong this as long as possible,however, to allow your forces to gain experience.

=== Return to Hal'al ===

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, between this and recalling another wraith or shadow, it should be easy to take out Drogan and discover, oops, the Hal'al townspeople hate you anyway. I found that wraiths and shadows were particularly effective since they can fly across the river quite quickly. After you kill Drogan you need to escape across the river and to the west. So first you need to kill the orcs, which shouldn't be a problem, what might be a problem is that the Hal'al troops will continue to attack you as you flee. Another problem you will have is that if you flee 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.

You don't HAVE to flee immediately. At least on the easiest setting it is possible to stay and completely defeat Dela and the Hal'al townspeople. But you face fairly strong opposition and will probably take enough casualties that it isn't really worth it. Also, you'll have to recruit enough units that you lose gold each turn, since there's no time limit, if you defeat the Hal'el 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====

As far as I can tell there's only one way to win this scenario and the requires having at least 4 shadows (or Nightgaunts). Recall these and send them to assassinate the leader at the enemy keep. (after first capturing as many villages as you feel like). Don't capture any enemy occupied villages, however, this will render your shadows visible. And keep Malin and Valk out of sight as well, or else the human leader will recruit an unbeatable number of reinforcements.

After you takeout the enemy leader, take out the rest of the human troops and capture the rest of the villages at your leisure. Get Malin to the enemy keep to recall forces you will want to use in the next mission. Wraiths and Shadows are particularly useful. Anything else is less useful; if you have a ghost about to level up it might be worth recalling; otherwise don't even bother with level one units.

Addition by cMaster:
It is possible to win this part without any Shadows. I use 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 cntrl-v). Malin and Darken Volk 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 of course, and rush towards the manor with your heros. You should be inside before the battle gets ugly.

====Part Two====

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 swordsman 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. 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 north west with Malin and move on.

====Part Three====

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. You may mop up the remaining enemy forces for experience points, but to the northwest of the room right before the supply through which you exit there is one room you should probably just leave alone; it contains four silver mages and I don't think it's possible to take them out without casualties.

===Alone at Last===

So you've got to fight it out with Darken Volk. You probably don't have much money, which makes this difficult to win in a straightforward manner.

On turn 5 Sir Cadeaus arrives to take revenge for your attack on the city of Tath, he sets up camp in the southeast corner of the map. He will attack both you and Volk if given the opportunity. More usefully, Volk will attack <i> him </i>, so what you probably want to do is send some units to the east to draw Volk's soulless minions south, while sending the best troops you can recall up to the north of Volk. When Sir Cadeaus arrives, Volk's forces will be split on two fronts, so you should be able to take him out. If you're lucky, his forces will also take out Sir Cadeaus.

After you kill Volk, he leaves behind the book, which you want to retrieve and bring to the keep you started the scenario at. Ghosts and bats (and spectres, shadows, wraiths, and nightgaunts) can't carry the book, so you want to have sent at least one unit of this kind with the units you used to kill Volk. In particular, Malin himself is a good choice.

On turn 9 Dela Keshar will show up to the north, set up camp and send forces to attack you as well. This will probably be a turn after you kill Volk, and you can probably take her out with some nightgaunts before she calls any troops. If you can't you'll have to run for it and probably lose some units covering your retreat. If, however, you're lucky enough to take her out before she calls reinforcements, you can probably wipe the map clean before returning to your keep.

An alternative strategy is to summon a few good troops and move everyone to the north, delaying the battle with Draken Volk's minions as long as possible. Once Sir Cadeaus arrives, Volk will shift his attention to the south. Meanwhile, you can stake out an empty field north of Volk's stronghold and wait a few turns. After Dela shows up and is directly dispatched, you can recruit a few more troops and head south to finish off Draken Volk, grab the book and head west to escape.

===Descent into Darkness===

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 many 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.

--additionally by smenze--I just finished up this scenario and it was as easy as I have ever played. Move to the far side of the make shift altar to attack it at the start then 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.

===Eternal Night===

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]]

DescentIntoDarkness

2008-11-01T07:34:43Z

Loci: /* Alone at Last */

=== Saving Parthyn ===
You'll start the battle with three loyal human soldiers. Don't bother leveling them, because they go away at the end of the scenario. Likewise, all you can recruit are zombies, and they won't be worth recalling. If you're going to collect experience for anyone, it should be your main character.

Try to take advantage of terrain and daytime. I stayed away from the water hexes directly close to the other shore since the defenders have a bonus if they attack water standing units when still standing on land. Block the ford. Then rush for the northern shore if you can reach land. Reaching the other shore is much harder by yourself, wait for your allies to help kill things. Capture villages and let your human allies do the hard work.

=== A Peaceful Valley ===
Do not try to solve this level without entering the Swamp. Once you enter the Swamp with either Malin Keshar or Darken Volk you will get Ghouls which make the difference between impossible and reasonable to master this level. Bats are useful to capture faraway villages but have little chance against the guards, unless you move two or three of them together. Use walking corpses as placeholders for captured villages and use them on wounded goblins to add more troops to your arsenal. A combined effort with walking corpses and Darken Volk will kill off the leader and relieve a lot of stress.

Note that the ghouls that rise from the swamp are loyal units.

=== A Haunting in Winter ===
You can recruit Ghosts on this level. At one point there's a special event: one of your ghosts (chosen at random, I believe) will go rebel and attack you. You'll want to keep all of your ghosts close by until one rebels, and then kill the rebel quickly. Afterwards, move a few of your ghosts up north -- you can get easy experience from killing the dwarves as they wade through the swamp. Your two heroes can kill the enemy bosses with their magic attacks.

<i>Addition by Cabbit</i>:
This is a good opportunity to gain experience for your ghosts. While both the Wraith and Shadow units are useful, it is important to have at least 4 shadows by a certain scenario. 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.

=== Beginning of the Revenge ===
Do not move non-flying units onto the ice next to the bridge which separates you from the Orcs' valley, it does not carry much weight. Use this to your advantage and try and lure high level orcs to their demise by placing ghosts in the middle of the ice. Ghosts and Corpses can cross the mountains left of your starting fortress. Unfortunately the fire arrows are quite effective against ghosts. I finished the south Orc first and had an easy time to defeat the north Orc. Ghosts and Bats can capture difficult to reach villages and move on, thus weakening your foes.

[Comment by Mikaka] 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.

=== Orc War ===

Starting with this mission you can recruit skeletons (both axemen and archers) and apprentices.
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 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. But after you kill two orc leaders the third will flee and this will end the scenario. You probably will want to prolong this as long as possible,however, to allow your forces to gain experience.

=== Return to Hal'al ===

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, between this and recalling another wraith or shadow, it should be easy to take out Drogan and discover, oops, the Hal'al townspeople hate you anyway. I found that wraiths and shadows were particularly effective since they can fly across the river quite quickly. After you kill Drogan you need to escape across the river and to the west. So first you need to kill the orcs, which shouldn't be a problem, what might be a problem is that the Hal'al troops will continue to attack you as you flee. Another problem you will have is that if you flee 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.

You don't HAVE to flee immediately. At least on the easiest setting it is possible to stay and completely defeat Dela and the Hal'al townspeople. But you face fairly strong opposition and will probably take enough casualties that it isn't really worth it. Also, you'll have to recruit enough units that you lose gold each turn, since there's no time limit, if you defeat the Hal'el 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====

As far as I can tell there's only one way to win this scenario and the requires having at least 4 shadows (or Nightgaunts). Recall these and send them to assassinate the leader at the enemy keep. (after first capturing as many villages as you feel like). Don't capture any enemy occupied villages, however, this will render your shadows visible. And keep Malin and Valk out of sight as well, or else the human leader will recruit an unbeatable number of reinforcements.

After you takeout the enemy leader, take out the rest of the human troops and capture the rest of the villages at your leisure. Get Malin to the enemy keep to recall forces you will want to use in the next mission. Wraiths and Shadows are particularly useful. Anything else is less useful; if you have a ghost about to level up it might be worth recalling; otherwise don't even bother with level one units.

Addition by cMaster:
It is possible to win this part without any Shadows. I use 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 cntrl-v). Malin and Darken Volk 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 of course, and rush towards the manor with your heros. You should be inside before the battle gets ugly.

====Part Two====

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 swordsman 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. 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 north west with Malin and move on.

====Part Three====

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. You may mop up the remaining enemy forces for experience points, but to the northwest of the room right before the supply through which you exit there is one room you should probably just leave alone; it contains four silver mages and I don't think it's possible to take them out without casualties.

===Alone at Last===

So you've got to fight it out with Darken Volk. You probably don't have much money, which makes this difficult to win in a straightforward manor.

On turn 5 Sir Cadeaus arrives to take revenge for your attack on the city of Tath, he sets up camp in the southeast corner of the map. He will attack both you and Volk if given the opportunity. More usefully, Volk will attack <i> him </i>, so what you probably want to do is send some units to the east to draw Volk's soulless minions south, while sending the best troops you can recall up to the north of Volk. When Sir Cadeaus arrives, Volk's forces will be split on two fronts, so you should be able to take him out. If you're lucky, his forces will also take out Sir Cadeaus.

After you kill Volk, he leaves behind the book, which you want to retrieve and bring to the keep you started the scenario at. Ghosts and bats (and spectres, shadows, wraiths, and nightgaunts) can't carry the book, so you want to have sent at least one unit of this kind with the units you used to kill Volk. In particular, Malin himself is a good choice.

On turn 9 Dela Keshar will show up to the north, set up camp and send forces to attack you as well. This will probably be a turn after you kill Volk, and you can probably take her out with some nightgaunts before she calls any troops. If you can't you'll have to run for it and probably lose some units covering your retreat. If, however, you're lucky enough to take her out before she calls reinforcements, you can probably wipe the map clean before returning to your keep.

===Descent into Darkness===

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 many 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.

--additionally by smenze--I just finished up this scenario and it was as easy as I have ever played. Move to the far side of the make shift altar to attack it at the start then 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.

===Eternal Night===

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]]