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HeirToTheThrone

2008-11-20T17:58:13Z

ODDity: /* Northern Winter */

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad. It contains spoilers.

The suggestions herein are based on the "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty levels. It should be possible to win the "Easy" difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

Each scenario has an individual forum thread where you can provide feedback to the authors. See also the forum posts [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough] (sic) for more. [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough To "Heir To The Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations, to the first several scenarios.

Finally, some [http://www.hermann-uwe.de/blog/my-wesnoth-replays-online replays] were posted by Uwe Hermann.

'''Warning spoilers ahead!'''

== The Elves Besieged ==
Scenario objectives: Both Konrad and Delfador must survive, and Konrad must escape to the signpost in the northwest corner of the map.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. If Konrad goes west, consider sending Delfador north to encourage the northern army to split. Otherwise, Konrad's route might be blocked by enemy units. If you take the northern path, veer west just south of the rough terrain.

It is generally accepted that this is not a 'gold-building' scenario but an 'army-building' one. Thus, do not worry about capturing villages and focus solely on leveling units to ease the rest of the campaign. Two notable ones are druids (to increase the healing power of your army) and captains (their leadership will increase the attack power of your army and help your weaker units level up). To this end it is recommended to get mostly fighters and shamans in this level.

Remember to use the ctrl-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move. Be careful with your heroes and constantly think of their safety.

As a general note, computer allies are fickle and cannot be depended upon except to get in the way (thus slowing down the enemy) and try to steal your kills. Your allies will attempt to defend a corridor for Konrad to reach the signpost. Let your allies lead the attack and bear the brunt of the enemy blows before you slip in an elf to deliver the killing blow. Earning experience in this scenario, without having your units killed, is quite difficult, because the orcs are very strong and your elvish allies are just as eager to earn experience as you are! Note that Delfador is already at his maximum level, try to use him only to weaken enemies, without finishing them off (not always so easy).

There is an alternative option to do no recruiting, avoid combat, and move Konrad to the signpost as fast as possible for a nice gold bonus -- but then you will have no units to recall in the second scenario. There are two options on the Preferences dialog that will speed things up: "Skip AI Moves" and "Accelerated Speed".

Early finish bonus: 30 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Blackwater Port ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns (9 on Hard), or kill the enemy leader.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel. He is a loyal Horseman, and costs zero gold each turn compared to those you recruit, so try to keep him alive. Loyal is generally accepted as the best trait in the game.

If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or that have specific traits that you need.

It is your choice whether you treat this scenario as a gold-building or army-building one. If you wish to treat it as gold-building, recruit or recall some fast units (scouts or horsemen) to take the villages to the south and southwest. Do not overspend on Horsemen. Acquire at least 4 to 6 elves, including some shamans. (Even if you don't think they are very useful.)

If you choose to treat it as army-building, recall and recruit til you have no gold (often only one castleful if you did not attain gold from the previous scenario) and focus again on maximizing the experience and levels of your troops. Be very careful with levelled or near-levelled units.

An aggressive strategy is to recruit heavily. Move your elves to the woods east of the enemy's castle and hold a defensive position during the night. When day comes, attack every enemy unit in the hills, then continue onto the enemy castle and destroy the leader. You will probably need to start with at least 250 gold for this to work and it is VERY difficult to accomplish on Hard (but you will attain an EXTRA loyal knight, FAR more than any other benefit you could achieve in this level).

A fiscally conservative strategy is to form up inside the closer woods out of range of the orcs. At dawn, move the horsemen to lure the orcs into the open ground. Be patient and let the enemy come to you. Position your horsemen in the grasslands and your elves in the woods to improve your defence. The knights provided by your ally will cover your northern flank. Mix your units in with your allies and try to get the finishing blow after they have weakened enemy units.

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw the orcs south and make it more likely you will be able to engage them in the woods, where your elves rule. Be careful to not let Haldiel get pinned down and killed.

Feel free to send units to take the villages close to your ally's castle. After all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Isle of Alduin ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and mages.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn, especially saurians, because these pesky units can kill weakened units in the rear. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with mages. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember mages work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to levelling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably mages and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Bay of Pearls ==
Scenario objectives: Kill one or both enemy leaders.

You must fight the sea leader, a sea orc, bats, and nagas with the mermen. It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so try to preserve your mermen for this. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal.

On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on. There is another cage to the northeast, and one far to the north. Your second tactical decision is which of these two objectives will receive the bulk of your mermen.

Even further north is the Storm Trident, which can only be picked up by one of your mermen. This ranged attack will be crucial in defeating the sea leader. If you win the sea battle, you can use the mermen in one of two ways. You can harass or even assassinate the land orc leader, although you should expect heavy losses; Or, you can attempt to lure the land orcs into the water, where they will be easy prey.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and trolls heading south and then west. Your third tactical decision is how far west to engage the enemy. Consider carefully the time of day! You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. You will probably need to advance and retreat your units several times, depending on time of day.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, a shaman, the merman with the trident, and an elven fighter leveled up.

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose. You fight undead either way.

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up your existing units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise shoud take the sea route to the Isle of the Damned: you can't recall your usual units but you can recruit outlaws and perhaps recruit a loyal White Mage for future scenarios.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders, and the ability to choose the next scenario.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Isle of the Damned ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leaders, or survive for 27 turns.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Urlaf, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

Mermen can be used succesfully to harrass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== The Siege of Elensefar ==
Scenario objectives: Kill both enemy leaders.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges.

Konrad will recieve some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Crossroads ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the north-eastern enemy leader.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== The Princess of Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Subdue Li'sar to win

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

== The Valley of Death ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

One strategy is recruit a large army, defeat one of the enemies, and hole up in that enemy's castle. The southern enemy is popular for this strategy. It apparently also works to pack the lake around the starting castle with mermen, and hole up there. Don't underestimate the power of the Walking Corpses (WCs) recruited by the eastern necromancer. They are slow but there are so many that they can overwhelm and kill even your most powerful units if given the chance. On the other hand, do not underestimate the crowd-clearing ability of a Paladin or blessed Champion! A WC will lurch next to your unit. It will attack. It will die, leaving room for another WC to lurch forward.
(Windscion: Unfortunately, this is also a good way to get a high level unit killed: 10 WCs in one turn can be deadly. I prefer a line of archers backed by healers.)

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes -- but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen(or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, the elf from the high elven council, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Gryphon Mountain ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robert, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and three sleeping Gryphons.

If you kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will -- and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

Early finish bonus for killing both the mother gryphon as well as the enemy leader.

== The Ford of Abez ==
Scenario objectives: Move Konrad to the north side of the river

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. If you have lots of gold, if you have a plethora of well-seasoned fighting troops, and you think you're ready for a challenge, you could try and attack the Princess. But do a save first; you'll need it after you are wiped out by her Royal Guards.

Your major decision (after you learn that the Princess's escort is just too tough) is whether to have Konrad recruit for one turn or two. Do not recruit land troops with less than five movement points, as they will have trouble wading across the ford. You're under immense time pressure. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. Except for the hungry ones--who will be focused on killing anything in their path--all the enemies will be focused on killing Konrad. The hungry enemies might assist you somewhat as they will probably hit the orcs and humans before trying to snack on your forces. Also, the orcs and humans will fight if they happen to cross paths.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. Lure the orcs into the water, where your mermen have excellent defence and the orcs are highly vulnerable. If you captured the eggs last scenario, consider using a gryphon to distract the enemy.(Note in the latest version Gryphons are not available until a later scenario)

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

== Northern Winter ==
*Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a random soldier
*Early finish bonus: ?? 
*Other:
**Snow falls on turns 6 and 10, making the tundra patches larger.
<br />
This is a relatively simple scenario. The quickest strategy is to recall a few Knights, Lancers, Paladins, and/or Grand Knights along with fresh Horsemen, kill the northwestern leader, then head east. The eastern leader's wolf riders will attempt to attack you through the center of the map, so be sure to place a few horsemen there. It's a good idea for Kalenz and Delfador to defend the southern mountains, as a few riders may come there as well. This is a good level for getting a large amount of gold.

== The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objectives: Move Konrad to entrance of the Dwarfen Kingdom
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 26
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Blidd, Kalenz, level 1 thug
* Early finish bonus: Find the correct entrance (the eastern one -- or the main one in version 1.3.4)

This scenario offers the usual strategic choice -- run for the exit and an early finish bonus, or slowly and carefully exterminate the enemy forces. If you choose to follow Delfador's advice and flee in terror, recruit one turn's worth of elven riders or gryphons to sacrifice as screening units. If you choose to attack, you'll be in for a struggle. For a real challenge, move to the middle of the map and get attacked from all sides... If you want to kill all three leaders, taking out the south eastern one with your full force and then splitting to take on both the others. Move Konrad near the exit (the eastern one!) so you can abort at any time. -- [v.1.3.4: moving directly to the eastern entrance does not work; it is blocked]

The main door by the lake is barred from the inside. Further, there is the usual tentacular horror hiding in the lake near the ancient subterranean Dwarven Kingdom. This means you will have to go into the entrance on the east.

If you fought on the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about a Bandit who will be willing to ally with you. The initial outlaw is expendable, the other one is loyal, though (no upkeep cost!)

"coward" strategy for version 1.3.4 :
In this version, you get a elvish scout, who says he'll check the entrance to see if it is opened. Send him there, passing on the right of the mountains that are along the "path" to the entrance. This will stop the north western orcs from killing him too soon. Once that is done, move the scout to the north western mountains, to lure the ennemies there.
Recruit one turn worth of elvish scouts as sacrificial units. They'll lure the ennemies away from Konrad. For a higher chance of success, leave Delfador and Kalenz near your keep, in the south. Since Kalenz is weak, he can easily be killed before Konrad makes it to the cave entrance. Once Konrad is near the center of the map (and overwhelmed by orcs), move them North a bit, to attract ennemies to them. All you need to do now is move Konrad to the entrance as fast as possible. The cuttlefish should appear in the lake as you pass by it, which will delay the orcs some more.

Do It Quickly:
On the first turn recruit some units you may want to give experience to (and you're not afraid of losing them too), but choose only those having movement range 6 or greater. Then capture two nearest villages with Konrad and Delfador. Run straight north. The elf scout should be the leader to the doors and the only step off the straight path is to capture the village NE of the lake. This should unleash the octopus which will attract NW troops (not sure, tried only once)
Eastern and western opponents are lazy and more attracted to the villages income than to fight. So they will first go south to capture villages near your keep. Before they do, you'll be at the middle of the map.
If you recruited units with movement 6 and headed N without any stop, you're likely to be engaged at the pillars by some units from NW. Delfador and other leaders should have no problem dealing with them. Next attack may happen at the doors, one turn before Konrad reaches the entrance.
I managed to do it, losing only one 1st level mage.

Version 1.2.5:
I played on medium and found that I had only 20 turns. Killing all the orc leaders didn't end the game. You will still need to reach the door with Konrad. After reloading, I killed all the orc leaders AND managed to get Konrad to the door within 20 turns (20 exactly) but there was no bonus and I ended up with -ve gold because I had to recall all my veterans to kill the leaders. Finally, I adopted the coward's strategy. Created 5 Elvish scouts and 10 thieves and used them as canon fodder for the orcs. There were too many orcs and only 2 of the scouts survived but I ended up with 11 rounds of bonus.

== Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objectives: Find the dwarves
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 19
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Secret pasage in southeastern part of the tunnel
** Pretty dull and boring ;)

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southeast. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty poison-biting, slow-web-throwing level 3 spider. Beware the blood bats, seek out a niche in the wall, and be wary exploring the secret passage!

Tip: For the next three stages you don't have to use too many dwarven companions. All I needed was 2 fighters, 2 riders, 2 guardmen,and 2 thurderer. These fighters I use over and over leading them to all level up to level 3 and having lots and lots of gold by the time I finish the cave levels

== The Lost General ==
* Objectives: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 64(!)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing both enemy leaders

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recruiting, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a griffon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

== Hasty Alliance ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

== The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objectives: Capture the Scepter of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Gold gift from Li'sar: 300 on easy, 200 on medium, 100 on hard
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus
** Randomly generated map

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the scepter is.
Give Li'sar the sceptre as it gives her a ranged attack and Konrad will be able to pick up another artifact later on.

No early finish bonus, so if you have the gold, this is a good place to level up. If you do, poise the character who is going to pick up the Sceptre right next to it, then send everybody else up to attack. Since there is a large time limit, milk every unit you can for maximum experience. And remember, Dwarvish Lords came in very handy later on.

Note: in version 1.2.4 there is an early finish bonus.(for easy mode at least) It is still a good place (and idea) to level up.

Tip: There is an early finish bonus for I had beat this stage within thirty turns and that had gave me a bonus of 37 gold per turn wich multipied to 185.

== A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objectives: Defeat either of the leaders
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill either leader
* Other:
** Next level depends on killed leader
*** Northern orcish leader will get you to the ''Snow Plains'' and the Flaming Sword
*** Southern undead leader will get you to the ''Swamp Of Dread'' and give you the chance to get lotsa gold
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts
** First real chance to level gryphons

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

You must choose whether to go north or south. A Death Knight and the undead lie to the south, guarding the way to the Swamp of Dread. This path is easier, as the undead are hampered by the swampy terrain even more than you. To the north are the usual orc horde, fighting in the hills, a tougher battle. Your choice will affect which magic artifact you can get in the next level. Northwards are the Snow Plains, where a magic weapon awaits; south is the Undead Swamp, where one of your units can obtain better armor.

Whether you go north or south, recruit a few level 1 units as sacrifices, or use fast-moving gryphons to delay the other force.

Tip: You can use mermans specifically using the strongest ones and the ones that were able to pick up the tridents on bay of pearls and ford of abez that is if you use to go downward to kill the undead leader.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Snow Plains ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 43
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill the leader
* Other:
** Li'sar will tell you she does not like her mother

Konrad will find the Flaming Sword (15-4 melee, fire, magical) hidden under the great tree in the northeast near the enemy keep. It will take Konrad a while to slog through the snow, forest, and hills, so you'll have to think about how many turns he will recall units. Dwarves will do well in the mountains, as will the flying gryphons.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

=== Swamp Of Dread ===
Scenario objectives: Kill all enemy leaders.

There are lots of undead, but also many villages. You can earn lots of gold if you can capture and hold villages. It may be useful recruiting cheap units to defend villages against bats. One of the Death Knights drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (blade, impact and pierce). Since Li'sar is vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

Tip:This is another stage where you can use mermans specifically your strongest merman, merman priestess and ones with the tridents.

== Home of the North Elves ==
* Objectives:
** Reach the forest kingdom of Emetria
** Survive until turns run out
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 21
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

On the other hand, while both the orc and human sides will attack you, you can lure them into attacking each other. The orcs start in the north central part of the map, while the humans begin in the southeast. You must decide whether Konrad will try to sneak along the northern map edge, or try to thread between the two opponents.

In order to win, Konrad must be in the Elvish castle by the end of the last turn. The early finish bonus is rather substantial: 44 gp per turn. However, you only get it if you kill both enemy leaders. Also, if both leaders are dead, it no longer matters whether your hero has reached the elven castle. Therefore, if one's dead already, killing the other makes for a workable 'plan b' if you realise you're 4 turns away from the castle, but only 2 away from the timer running out. (In 1.1, the enemy camps have been reinforced, and it is no longer practical to kill the leaders.)

Version 1.2.5:
In this version, the fastest and best way for me was to just make Konrad run alone. Don't recall any units as the elvish riders that appear can be cannon fodder if necessary. Start by moving near the river side until you see orcs in the distance. Proceed slowly and wait for them to engage the humans. Then a group of elves will rush in to fight both orcs and humans. Time your run carefully between the elven forces in a NE direction and you can avoid meeting any humans or orcs. I think I finished in 13 or 14 turns without a single shot being fired (or flaming sword being slashed).

== The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Return to Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Kill all three enemy leaders.

Three Halbardiers appear when Josephus dies. The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack. Use the forests to your advantage: elven troops are best in forest, while the loyalists and orcs are seriously slowed by the trees.

Early finish bonus for killing all enemy leaders: 27 Gold

== Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Defeat either all four leaders or 25 units in total
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 53
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 55 Gold per turn

You are facing mostly knights and horsemen, so fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. When any of the enemy leaders is killed, it is replaced with one or two knights (two or three in Hard). Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of dwarves or elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a good safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the south-eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the south flank.

Tip: You can use gryphons riders as sacrifice to help you in your aid included with your horseman try to recruit many of them though. May be able to get some of them to level two if you use them smartly, but you may also lose some though using this method but hey you can finish with a pretty nice bonus that is if you go to kill just 25 men.

---edit smenze---
This can be one of the hardest or easiest scenarios depending on your goal. After a lot of trial and error, I found a way to kill the leaders before defeating 25 units. It seems costly, but with the bonus for early finish and killing the clan leaders it was well worth it. So here goes: GRIFFON RIDERS and quite a few of them. I started by getting my healers (for my main army) and then recruited the rest in Griffon Riders. Send this compliment (four of them) North to pick up the villages then onto the deep water of the lake. The next castle was the remainder of my recalls to fill out my main army (just enough to surround my healers in a hedgehog) and 2 more Griffon riders to fill it out. Then march your main army south to take out the Southeast Leader and send the 2 Griffons up to join the rest on the lake.

As soon as the majority of Blue's (the Northwest leader) troops move away from him launch your griffon attack on him. With only 6 it takes some luck, but he dies in 1-2 rounds of attacks assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the Southeast recruit a couple of castles worth of Griffon Riders and send them West to take on the Southwest (black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your griffons cross the river and are attacking the AI usually moves guys back in to defend with, but for the most part you can out run them. You can always highlight the troops to find out its movement area. Converge all the griffons you have left on the middle leader (purple). I won around turn 25 giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

== The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46
Scenario objectives: Defeat Asheviere and, by killing her, reclaim the throne.

Healers are useful for your army, as are high level units to take the large amounts of damage the enemies deal. You don't need to worry about saving them for later, because this is the last scenario. Useful recruits are Dwarvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans to aid the rest of your army. Try to level some of them up. Since the enemies are so high-level and numerous, it is surprisingly easy.

You can make a line with new and higher level dwarves in the front ranks. Put leadership units and healers behind. Behind that, let the wounded units rest. Put the line quite near your castle so your fresh recruits can reach the front line in 1-2 turns. A shorter line will also be easier to manage. Some seem to put heavy emphasis on healing units here, but the battle is so short and intense, that some prefer more fighters, and fewer healers.

After you have killed most of the enemy units, advance your powerful units towards Asheviere for the kill. Your main units, Delfador, Li'sar, and the rest, are good here. Especially Li'sar with skirmisher and the Scepter (if you gave it to her), who can do a quick and deadly assassination once the enemies have reduced in numbers. Knights are probably good here as well. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: you can recruit a castle of them on turn 1, send them south, elude enemy forces sent by the general in the futile attempt to catch you, then approach Asheviere for the kill (she will not have many troops at her own protection). Using this strategy, I won on turn 6 (and without losses). Swarming all four enemies with 6 new knights each turn is a very effective distraction strategy. Asheviere may divert about half of her force to destory the gryphons. If this happens, congratulations. This means you've won. You should have still about 20 living Knights, and you should easily break through her lines.

A good bonus from The Test of the Clans should be enough to win this scenario.

[notes by Louis]
I got to this scenario with around 1,200 gold so i recalled my best men and the rest of the turns, I spent the rest of my money on knights you are able to recruit after the last scenario. i ended with a ton of men left.

== See also ==
* [[MainlineCampaigns]]

[[Category:Campaigns]]

HeirToTheThrone

2008-11-12T06:21:21Z

ODDity: /* Isle of Alduin */

This is a walkthrough of '''Heir to the Throne''', the campaign featuring Konrad. It contains spoilers.

The suggestions herein are based on the "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty levels. It should be possible to win the "Easy" difficulty level without trying very hard if you are an accomplished gamer. If you feel comfortable with turn-based games, especially ones featuring units moving on a hex map, then you can play the Tutorial and then dive right into "Medium" to get a feel for the elements of the game. After you have played a few scenarios and are ready to restart from the beginning (and yes, it is very likely you will have to restart the first time you play Wesnoth), try reading [[AdvancedTactics]]. You should also be familiar with the basics in [[WesnothManual]] -- this is a walkthrough, not an exposition of basic game mechanics.

Each scenario has an individual forum thread where you can provide feedback to the authors. See also the forum posts [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3601 Suggestions for Heir to the Throne walkthrough] and [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4026 Yet another "Heir to the Throne" walktrough] (sic) for more. [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7064 Ye Compleat Walkthrough To "Heir To The Throne"] is a detailed guide, with illustrations, to the first several scenarios.

Finally, some [http://www.hermann-uwe.de/blog/my-wesnoth-replays-online replays] were posted by Uwe Hermann.

'''Warning spoilers ahead!'''

== The Elves Besieged ==
Scenario objectives: Both Konrad and Delfador must survive, and Konrad must escape to the signpost in the northwest corner of the map.

Terrain dictates two routes to the signpost: west to the druid and then north, or north over the bridge and then west. If Konrad goes west, consider sending Delfador north to encourage the northern army to split. Otherwise, Konrad's route might be blocked by enemy units. If you take the northern path, veer west just south of the rough terrain.

It is generally accepted that this is not a 'gold-building' scenario but an 'army-building' one. Thus, do not worry about capturing villages and focus solely on leveling units to ease the rest of the campaign. Two notable ones are druids (to increase the healing power of your army) and captains (their leadership will increase the attack power of your army and help your weaker units level up). To this end it is recommended to get mostly fighters and shamans in this level.

Remember to use the ctrl-v command to see how far all enemy units will be able to move on their next turn. Click on an unoccupied hex and then move the cursor over an enemy unit to see how far that unit will be able to move. Be careful with your heroes and constantly think of their safety.

As a general note, computer allies are fickle and cannot be depended upon except to get in the way (thus slowing down the enemy) and try to steal your kills. Your allies will attempt to defend a corridor for Konrad to reach the signpost. Let your allies lead the attack and bear the brunt of the enemy blows before you slip in an elf to deliver the killing blow. Earning experience in this scenario, without having your units killed, is quite difficult, because the orcs are very strong and your elvish allies are just as eager to earn experience as you are! Note that Delfador is already at his maximum level, try to use him only to weaken enemies, without finishing them off (not always so easy).

There is an alternative option to do no recruiting, avoid combat, and move Konrad to the signpost as fast as possible for a nice gold bonus -- but then you will have no units to recall in the second scenario. There are two options on the Preferences dialog that will speed things up: "Skip AI Moves" and "Accelerated Speed".

Early finish bonus: 30 gold per turn.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2881 forum discussion].

== Blackwater Port ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns (9 on Hard), or kill the enemy leader.

The opening dialog will introduce a new friend, Haldiel. He is a loyal Horseman, and costs zero gold each turn compared to those you recruit, so try to keep him alive. Loyal is generally accepted as the best trait in the game.

If you recall units, choose those that have enough experience to be worth the 2 to 6 gold difference over fresh recruits, or that have specific traits that you need.

It is your choice whether you treat this scenario as a gold-building or army-building one. If you wish to treat it as gold-building, recruit or recall some fast units (scouts or horsemen) to take the villages to the south and southwest. Do not overspend on Horsemen. Acquire at least 4 to 6 elves, including some shamans. (Even if you don't think they are very useful.)

If you choose to treat it as army-building, recall and recruit til you have no gold (often only one castleful if you did not attain gold from the previous scenario) and focus again on maximizing the experience and levels of your troops. Be very careful with levelled or near-levelled units.

An aggressive strategy is to recruit heavily. Move your elves to the woods east of the enemy's castle and hold a defensive position during the night. When day comes, attack every enemy unit in the hills, then continue onto the enemy castle and destroy the leader. You will probably need to start with at least 250 gold for this to work and it is VERY difficult to accomplish on Hard (but you will attain an EXTRA loyal knight, FAR more than any other benefit you could achieve in this level).

A fiscally conservative strategy is to form up inside the closer woods out of range of the orcs. At dawn, move the horsemen to lure the orcs into the open ground. Be patient and let the enemy come to you. Position your horsemen in the grasslands and your elves in the woods to improve your defence. The knights provided by your ally will cover your northern flank. Mix your units in with your allies and try to get the finishing blow after they have weakened enemy units.

You can also send Haldiel west as fast as possible and attempt to take the village due south of the enemy castle. This will draw the orcs south and make it more likely you will be able to engage them in the woods, where your elves rule. Be careful to not let Haldiel get pinned down and killed.

Feel free to send units to take the villages close to your ally's castle. After all, Sir Kaylan would only use the gold to recruit troops that would steal your experience!

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2929 forum discussion].

== Isle of Alduin ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

The key to victory is to control the villages, earning the gold you need to recruit or recall troops. You have the option to send the majority of your army west or south with village grabbers going the opposite direction. If you choose to send your army west (recommended) send a scout and an archer south, grabbing alternating villages. Done intelligently they will each grab 1 village per turn until they are near the opponents keep. Be careful of engaging the enemy on the west flank near the hills at night: this is where they shine. Back off to the forests and wait for a more favorable time of day if necessary.

The following strategy works well if you take care of your unit placement. Protect units you cannot afford to lose from multiple attacks at night or when weakened, particularly new horsemen and mages.

First recall or recruit 3 elvish scouts. Send two scouts to the southern villages, and the third to the village to the northwest. Recruit 3 fighters; send one to the south and the other two to the southwest. This works best if one scout is "quick" and the fighter recruited to fill the southeastern hex of your castle is also "quick". If not you may have to modify this strategy. Send Delfador up to the northwest on the first turn to find the mage and send the mage down to the village next to the castle. Konrad should take two nearby villages in the first two turns, because you have no money left anyway.

One of the scouts goes as far south as possible, taking villages and distracting the enemy. This scout is usually destroyed by turn 4. That's OK. The other scout in the south usually has to retreat to survive. You try to take all the villages in the south you can and then reinforce the south slowly and move south. Now your main push is in the west because most villages are there and you need an income of over 20 per turn to recall all of your good troops. I usually use the scout I have sent to the northwest village on the island to take all of the far northwest villages. Delfador can destroy an enemy unit each turn, especially saurians, because these pesky units can kill weakened units in the rear. Horsemen take too long to cross the forest south of your castle but are strong on the western plains during daytime. Send newly-recruited horsemen to the west along with mages. A shaman is useful to the south and later one can be sent to the west.

Approaching turn 10-12, you should have assembled two reasonably powerful forces on each side of the lake. The westerly one usually is based on Delfador and horsemen-mage combos with fighters and archers for ZOC purposes, and the eastern force almost entirely of elves. Remember mages work best against trolls and grunts, and horsemen against archers.

Move south in tight groups, trying not to get too aggressive at night with the west group, until they meet at the far southern end of the island, and assault the castle together.

If you are a new player, you've probably been focusing on game mechanics and how the units and terrain interact. If so, it's time to give serious thought to levelling up some units by allowing them to strike the killing blow. When Konrad or an elven fighter is at level 2, they get the "leadership" skill. When a shaman levels up, they get the "cure" skill.

Hardly any player notices this, but this scenario offers the opportunity for some extra experience at the expense of very little gold. The early finish bonus is 38, but there are 36 villages on the island, so if you control all villages, you only lose 2 gold per turn (or only 1.6 gold, since only 80% can be retained - should be less than 24, since you hardly ever finish more than 15 turns early). So instead of killing the remaining enemies - especially the enemy leader - you might encircle them and reduce their health to a minimum. If you do not attack them in the subsequent turns, they will neither attack nor move, thus regain 2 HP per turn and will eventually be healthy enough to stand an attack of your weaker units. This is a relatively safe way to milk some extra XPs out of them for your weaker units (preferably mages and shamans). While milking level 1 units may not be very rewarding, milking the level 2 leader might easily give 20 extra XPs.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2959 forum discussion].

== Bay of Pearls ==
Scenario objectives: Kill one or both enemy leaders.

You must fight the sea leader, a sea orc, bats, and nagas with the mermen. It will be nigh impossible for your horsemen and elves to wade to the island to fight the sea leader in time, so try to preserve your mermen for this. Mermen and nagas both have high defense in water, so combat can be a bit slow and frustrating. Concentrate three or four mermen on a single enemy unit at a time, rather than spreading your attacks piecemeal.

On the first turn, have Konrad recruit or recall some units. Which units, and in which order, is your first tactical decision. If you recruit/recall in pairs, with one fast (6 movement points or more) and one slow unit, then one will be able to move onto the island the next turn, while the other is still wading through the river.

Then, move Konrad to the cage on the island just to the east. This will free some mermen. (How many depends on whether you are playing on Easy, Medium, or Hard.) One of these can go open the second cage, and so on. There is another cage to the northeast, and one far to the north. Your second tactical decision is which of these two objectives will receive the bulk of your mermen.

Even further north is the Storm Trident, which can only be picked up by one of your mermen. This ranged attack will be crucial in defeating the sea leader. If you win the sea battle, you can use the mermen in one of two ways. You can harass or even assassinate the land orc leader, although you should expect heavy losses; Or, you can attempt to lure the land orcs into the water, where they will be easy prey.

On land, you have to fight off a wave of orcs and trolls heading south and then west. Your third tactical decision is how far west to engage the enemy. Consider carefully the time of day! You are hindered by the limited recruitment you can do each turn, and how long it takes your elves and horsemen to trickle across the river. You will probably need to advance and retreat your units several times, depending on time of day.

Careful management of your killing blows should allow several units to get to Level 2. A charging horseman does so much damage it will be easy for the horsemen to get all the kills, but try to get at least Konrad, a shaman, the merman with the trident, and an elven fighter leveled up.

The outcome of this battle affects the next scenario you play. If you kill the sea leader you wind up on Isle of the Damned. If you kill the land leader you wind up on Muff Malal's Peninsula. If you kill both, you can choose. You fight undead either way.

New players should take the land route to Muff Malal's Peninsula, where you can easily level up your existing units or collect an early finish bonus. Experienced players who are looking for an interesting tactical exercise shoud take the sea route to the Isle of the Damned: you can't recall your usual units but you can recruit outlaws and perhaps recruit a loyal White Mage for future scenarios.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders, and the ability to choose the next scenario.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3022 forum discussion].

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Muff Malal's Peninsula ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

This is an easy scenario, and your aim here should be to build up your gold by controlling most villages, while earning experience against enemy forces. The enemy recruits bats to capture villages, and hordes of Walking Corpses to keep you busy. The occasional Dark Adept can be dangerous on Hard difficulty, but is vulnerable to melee attack, especially from knights.

One approach is to recall a few level 2 units supported by a mage. These units build a defensive position in the central part of the map, using hills and forest for cover, and hold off the first wave of Walking Corpses. Mounted troops capture villages in the north and west, and can charge down the flanks at daytime. A merman or two distract enemy bats and capture sea villages. If you can recall the merman that picked up the trident in Bay of Pearls, it will be able to dispatch bats easily on its own.

During daytime, your main force advances to one of the villages in the south-east, where you wait for more Walking Corpses to attack. A level 2 melee unit (eg. Elvish Captain) can use the village defense bonus to survive attacks, and heal between turns. By the time it is low on hit points, it should be advancing to level 3.

You should now control most villages and have some gold, so recruit or recall additional troops. Launch an offensive with your central force, supported by your horsemen advancing at the sides. Don't forget to use Konrad in the attack.

Try to attack with human units only at day, when the undead are at their weakest, and hold the lines with your elves at night.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178 forum discussion].

=== Isle of the Damned ===
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leaders, or survive for 27 turns.

Konrad is washed overboard during a storm, but is rescued by two mermen. You start out with 100 gold and cannot recall any units. You are joined by Urlaf, a level 2 Outlaw. In addition to Mermen, you can recruit his friends: Thugs, Poachers and Footpads. This is the only time in the campaign that these units can be recruited, but any outlaw units surviving this scenario can be recalled later. Your gold from Bay of Pearls (minus the usual 20% discount) is saved for the next scenario.

Moremirmu is a White Mage with a holy sword which is very effective against undead. He is hiding in one of the three temples, and will join your cause if you find him. Beware: Xakae, a Revenant with a retinue of Walking Corpses, is waiting to ambush you in another temple. Moremirmu and Xakae are randomly placed; the third temple is always empty. Xakae and the Corpses can be a useful source of experience if you have the troops to deal with them.

Mermen can be used succesfully to harrass the undead in their rear. Typically the undead responds by withdrawing forces to deal with your mermen. Occasionally this tactic can be used to isolate and trap an undead leader while their forces are busy with your land troops. Don't expect the mermen to survive, though.

Moremirmu is critical to winning but also quite fragile. He will die quickly if he is attacked by multiple undead.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders. Moremirmu (and his holy sword) will join you in future scenarios only if both are defeated.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3179 forum discussion].

== The Siege of Elensefar ==
Scenario objectives: Kill both enemy leaders.

Konrad arrives at the southern end of a large map. The island city of Elensefar dominates the center, and the cave of the necromancer Muff Jaanal is far to the north. The orcish warlord Agadla has taken the city. You know what to do!

Your first objective is to retake the city. You could choose to charge across the bridges and fight your way onto the island, taking heavy casualties from the level 2 orcish warriors along the way. Or, you can lure the orcs into the water where they are easy to hit. Remember that mermen, especially the one with the Storm Trident, move quickly and defend quite well in water or on the bridges.

Konrad will recieve some help from the Thieves Guild. Apparently, an orcish occupation is bad for business. They will either show you a hidden ford onto the island, or attack the north gate after you take one of the island villages. Whether you choose to storm the city, and which aid to accept, depends in large part on how much of a hurry you are in. Every turn, the undead march southward, and you'll have quite a fight on your hands after they reinforce the orcs in the city proper.

After you defeat the orcs, you must fight your way north. Fighting against the undead requires a different mix of units than fighting the orcs. Your mermen are too slow on land. Horsemen and elvish units do reduced damage to skeletons. Here, you need... mages. Lots and lots of mages. And a paladin, if you've leveled a unit that high enough. Expect to spend many turns fighting through the northernmost six hexes. You are fighting in a cave, which slows your units down. Being underground, it is also treated as night for the time of day penalties.

By now, you should have either Konrad or a level 2 elven fighter with the Leadership ability. A unit adjacent to a leader receives a +25% bonus to damage. Likewise, carefully position shamen or white mages in your lines so they can heal wounded units. Two adjacent healers will heal each other.

Early finish bonus for killing both enemy leaders.

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3224 forum discussion].

== Crossroads ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the north-eastern enemy leader.

There are two strategies: either to "run for it", or "kill them all". Which you choose will probably depend on whether you want to earn lots of gold, or level up lots of units.

If you choose to run, recall two turn's worth of troops. Most should be level 2, but you should recruit one or two units as sacrifical lambs. Having two healers (who will stay adjacent to each other for mutual healing) is almost a necessity. Move the units in formation (probably in two packs) along the road. Do not be tempted to move units into the mountains. The increased defence is not worth the risk of triggering ambushes. Drive your way to the leader in the northwest, kill them, and reap the early finish bonus.

The second strategy is to methodically destroy all enemy units on the map. Recruit two turns worth of units, and then drive south. Overcome the southern leader, and recruit more troops in his castle. Move back north, moving into every town and through the mountains, in order to trigger ambushes. This strategy is trickier to pull off, but careful management of your kills should allow you to level multiple units. (Just be careful not to run out of turns...)

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3281 forum discussion].

== The Princess of Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Subdue Li'sar to win

Konrad's life now takes an interesting turn, as he meets the Princess of Wesnoth, Li'sar. Instead of dying when you "kill" her, she surrenders.

Li'sar is supported by troops from the Loyalist faction. Even your tough level 2 units make tempting targets for her lawful horsemen; they will charge and probably kill them. Use terrain and position sacrificial level 1 screening units while the sun is high. Likewise, you can try for a quick kill by charging Li'sar with your own horsemen or knights.

This otherwise straightforward battle is enlivened by reinforcements that Li'sar summons on turns 5 and 10. Also, a level 2 Duelist will defend the Princess' honor when you approach her, appearing from the south of your position. You can trigger his arrival by exploring the mountain with an entrance. Capture the villages on the eastern side as you cross the river, and position units to cover the north-eastern plain to prevent Li'sar's mounted units from capturing these villages.

By the end of this scenario, you should have learned a painful lesson in how the computer player targets its attacks...

See also the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3401 forum discussion].

== The Valley of Death ==
Scenario objectives: Survive 12 turns.

There are two holy water bottles on the map. The unit which picks them up will have their melee attacks be holy for the duration of this scenario. These are especially useful for powerful melee units like Elvish Heroes or Champions which otherwise do little damage to the undead. Or, you could recruit Horsemen and have them grab the holy water. They should easily level to level 2 Lancers or Knights, and maybe even to a Level 3 Paladin by the end of the scenario. As in previous scenarios, mages will be effective against most of the undead enemies.

One strategy is recruit a large army, defeat one of the enemies, and hole up in that enemy's castle. The southern enemy is popular for this strategy. It apparently also works to pack the lake around the starting castle with mermen, and hole up there. Don't underestimate the power of the Walking Corpses (WCs) recruited by the eastern necromancer. They are slow but there are so many that they can overwhelm and kill even your most powerful units if given the chance. On the other hand, do not underestimate the crowd-clearing ability of a Paladin or blessed Champion! A WC will lurch next to your unit. It will attack. It will die, leaving room for another WC to lurch forward.
(Windscion: Unfortunately, this is also a good way to get a high level unit killed: 10 WCs in one turn can be deadly. I prefer a line of archers backed by healers.)

If you don't have the money to recruit a large or powerful army, recruit a few Elvish Fighters and send them to the forest north of your castle. Their job is to slow the Revenant for several turns and then die gloriously. Flee with Konrad and the rest of your army to the south-east corner. If you're lucky, the WC horde will be too slow to reach you before the scenario ends. A cowardly tactic, yes -- but you'll survive...

If you played Isle of The Damned without killing both Liches, and Moremirmu survived, then he will reinforce you with three White Mage buddies between turns 7-10. You can't recall them after this scenario, so they are expendable.

Another strategy, which requires to have Moremirmu to help you and allows you to kill the three Liches, is to recruit 2 horsemen(or recall their leveled up units) and as many thieves as you can, send each horsemen to gather the bottles of holy water, and kill with them the northern and eastern Liches; don't send them the horseman to the northern Lich too quick, because if you do his army will focus on it, and it won't reach the Lich. Move Konrad, Delfador, the elf from the high elven council, and your thieves towards the southeast corner. The thieves be used as a barrier to protect your more important units; place them in woods, mountains or villages(never in plains) as soon as they can, so that the northern and eastern Liches concentrate on them and leave Konrad and his group alone. With some luck you'll kill the northern and eastern Liches around the same turn that Moremirmu appears, and Konrad and his group will survive enough time to have one of Moremirmu's white mages kill the Southern Lich during day time.

Early finish bonus if you somehow manage to defeat all enemy leaders. If you do, feel free to boast about your accomplishment at the [http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3402 forum discussion].

== Gryphon Mountain ==
Scenario objectives: Kill the enemy leader.

Konrad starts in the lower left corner of the map. General Robert, commanding Loyalist troops, is in the upper right. In the middle of the map, surrounded by mountains, is the Mother Gryphon and three sleeping Gryphons.

If you kill the Mother Gryphon before the Loyalists do, you will have access to gryphon eggs, allowing you to to recruit Gryphon Riders in future scenarios. Opinions differ as to whether their ability to capture far-flung villages, safely lure enemy troops, and ability to pierce the map shroud are worth their high cost. Even if you decide not to attack the Gryphons, the enemy will -- and then the wild beasts of the air might decide to attack you.

For a quick victory to earn the early finish bonus, head up the right side of the mountains. To earn experience, head towards the Mother Gryphon, and the enemy will come to you.

Early finish bonus for killing both the mother gryphon as well as the enemy leader.

== The Ford of Abez ==
Scenario objectives: Move Konrad to the north side of the river

The wide Abez river cuts across the middle of the map from left to right, with Konrad starting on the lower right side. Princess Li'sar starts on the lower left, and an orc band is on the north side of the river. If you have lots of gold, if you have a plethora of well-seasoned fighting troops, and you think you're ready for a challenge, you could try and attack the Princess. But do a save first; you'll need it after you are wiped out by her Royal Guards.

Your major decision (after you learn that the Princess's escort is just too tough) is whether to have Konrad recruit for one turn or two. Do not recruit land troops with less than five movement points, as they will have trouble wading across the ford. You're under immense time pressure. The chaotic orcs will attack from the north, the Princess's lawful Loyalists will attack from the south, and... a new enemy (alignment: hungry) will be attacking from downstream. Except for the hungry ones--who will be focused on killing anything in their path--all the enemies will be focused on killing Konrad. The hungry enemies might assist you somewhat as they will probably hit the orcs and humans before trying to snack on your forces. Also, the orcs and humans will fight if they happen to cross paths.

Remember those loyal mermen from in the Bay of Pearls? They should comprise your principal fighting force. Be sure to send one downstream to acquire the Storm Trident there. Lure the orcs into the water, where your mermen have excellent defence and the orcs are highly vulnerable. If you captured the eggs last scenario, consider using a gryphon to distract the enemy.(Note in the latest version Gryphons are not available until a later scenario)

Early finish bonus for getting Konrad onto dry land.

== Northern Winter ==
*Objectives: Defeat all enemy leaders (2 of them)
*Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
*Turns: 50
*Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, a random soldier
*Early finish bonus: ?? 
*Other:
**Snow falls on turns 6 and 10, making the tundra patches larger.
<br />
This is a relatively simple scenario. The quickest strategy is to recall a few Knights, Lancers, Paladins, and/or Grand Knights along with fresh Horsemen, kill the northwestern leader, then head east. The eastern leader's wolf riders will attempt to attack you through the center of the map, so be sure to place a few horsemen there. It' a good idea for Kalenz and Delfador to defent the southern mountains, as a few riders may come there as well. This is a good level for getting a large amount of gold.

== The Dwarven Doors ==
* Objectives: Move Konrad to entrance of the Dwarfen Kingdom
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 26
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Blidd, Kalenz, level 1 thug
* Early finish bonus: Find the correct entrance (the eastern one -- or the main one in version 1.3.4)

This scenario offers the usual strategic choice -- run for the exit and an early finish bonus, or slowly and carefully exterminate the enemy forces. If you choose to follow Delfador's advice and flee in terror, recruit one turn's worth of elven riders or gryphons to sacrifice as screening units. If you choose to attack, you'll be in for a struggle. For a real challenge, move to the middle of the map and get attacked from all sides... If you want to kill all three leaders, taking out the south eastern one with your full force and then splitting to take on both the others. Move Konrad near the exit (the eastern one!) so you can abort at any time. -- [v.1.3.4: moving directly to the eastern entrance does not work; it is blocked]

The main door by the lake is barred from the inside. Further, there is the usual tentacular horror hiding in the lake near the ancient subterranean Dwarven Kingdom. This means you will have to go into the entrance on the east.

If you fought on the Isle of the Damned, one of your outlaws will tell you about a Bandit who will be willing to ally with you. The initial outlaw is expendable, the other one is loyal, though (no upkeep cost!)

"coward" strategy for version 1.3.4 :
In this version, you get a elvish scout, who says he'll check the entrance to see if it is opened. Send him there, passing on the right of the mountains that are along the "path" to the entrance. This will stop the north western orcs from killing him too soon. Once that is done, move the scout to the north western mountains, to lure the ennemies there.
Recruit one turn worth of elvish scouts as sacrificial units. They'll lure the ennemies away from Konrad. For a higher chance of success, leave Delfador and Kalenz near your keep, in the south. Since Kalenz is weak, he can easily be killed before Konrad makes it to the cave entrance. Once Konrad is near the center of the map (and overwhelmed by orcs), move them North a bit, to attract ennemies to them. All you need to do now is move Konrad to the entrance as fast as possible. The cuttlefish should appear in the lake as you pass by it, which will delay the orcs some more.

Do It Quickly:
On the first turn recruit some units you may want to give experience to (and you're not afraid of losing them too), but choose only those having movement range 6 or greater. Then capture two nearest villages with Konrad and Delfador. Run straight north. The elf scout should be the leader to the doors and the only step off the straight path is to capture the village NE of the lake. This should unleash the octopus which will attract NW troops (not sure, tried only once)
Eastern and western opponents are lazy and more attracted to the villages income than to fight. So they will first go south to capture villages near your keep. Before they do, you'll be at the middle of the map.
If you recruited units with movement 6 and headed N without any stop, you're likely to be engaged at the pillars by some units from NW. Delfador and other leaders should have no problem dealing with them. Next attack may happen at the doors, one turn before Konrad reaches the entrance.
I managed to do it, losing only one 1st level mage.

Version 1.2.5:
I played on medium and found that I had only 20 turns. Killing all the orc leaders didn't end the game. You will still need to reach the door with Konrad. After reloading, I killed all the orc leaders AND managed to get Konrad to the door within 20 turns (20 exactly) but there was no bonus and I ended up with -ve gold because I had to recall all my veterans to kill the leaders. Finally, I adopted the coward's strategy. Created 5 Elvish scouts and 10 thieves and used them as canon fodder for the orcs. There were too many orcs and only 2 of the scouts survived but I ended up with 11 rounds of bonus.

== Plunging into the Darkness ==
* Objectives: Find the dwarves
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 19
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Secret pasage in southeastern part of the tunnel
** Pretty dull and boring ;)

Since you're reading this walkthrough, you'll also be interested in locating the secret passage leading to a chest of 200 gold pieces in the southeast. However, said chest is guarded by a rather nasty poison-biting, slow-web-throwing level 3 spider. Beware the blood bats, seek out a niche in the wall, and be wary exploring the secret passage!

Tip: For the next three stages you don't have to use too many dwarven companions. All I needed was 2 fighters, 2 riders, 2 guardmen,and 2 thurderer. These fighters I use over and over leading them to all level up to level 3 and having lots and lots of gold by the time I finish the cave levels

== The Lost General ==
* Objectives: Kill all enemy leaders (there are two)
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador or Kalenz die or turns run out
* Turns: 64(!)
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing both enemy leaders

Moving underground is slow, especially for elves. Their fighters and archers are also ineffective against undead. Outriders and slyphs might be worth recruiting, if you can afford them. Likewise, gryphons and horsemen are bogged down. Recruit dwarves for speed, and mages to back them up. (However, a griffon can pass the small pond quickly, and there are four towns on the other side.)

You are fighting Lionel, a former general turned Death Knight, who starts trapped in the south. To the west is the usual orc/troll force. In the north is a dwarven ally, although if you are too slow they will be overwhelmed by the orcs.

Dwarven fighters do well against the undead, while the Thunderers do best against the orcs and trolls. If you choose to go for money, rush troops both south and north, reinforcing the native dwarves and triggering the appearance of the undead. If you choose to go for experience, ignore the undead until you have killed the orcs, then return en masse to destroy the undead. Don't take too long, as Lionel will break forth on turn 20.

There are two ways to get to Lionel: an entrance opens in the pond on turn 19/20; and walls collapse when units move into tiles just south of the sign that says "Guest Quarters", regardless of when this happens.

== Hasty Alliance ==
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz
* Early finish bonus: Killing enemy leader + 200 Gold from Li'sar

Li'sar is about to attack, when you are surrounded by orcs and trolls. She joins forces with you to defeat the troll leader, bringing her Royal Guards and 500 gold worth of allied troops to the struggle.

Your greatest challenge will be to survive the first few turns, as the death of any of Konrad's companions will end the scenario.
Once you have defeated the first wave, it is relatively easy to finish off any remaining trolls and move north to the troll leader. Try and encourage your allies to go first and take the hefty damage from the Level 2 and Level 3 trolls, while your mages and dwarves get the experience for killing blows.

== The Sceptre of Fire ==
* Objectives: Capture the Scepter of Fire with Konrad or Li'sar
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 50
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: n/a
* Other:
** Gold gift from Li'sar: 300 on easy, 200 on medium, 100 on hard
** Milk this level for experience as there is no early finish bonus
** Randomly generated map

The map changes each time, so if you're save-scumming, be sure to checkpoint right after the scenario starts, and replay once you know where the scepter is.
Give Li'sar the sceptre as it gives her a ranged attack and Konrad will be able to pick up another artifact later on.

No early finish bonus, so if you have the gold, this is a good place to level up. If you do, poise the character who is going to pick up the Sceptre right next to it, then send everybody else up to attack. Since there is a large time limit, milk every unit you can for maximum experience. And remember, Dwarvish Lords came in very handy later on.

Note: in version 1.2.4 there is an early finish bonus.(for easy mode at least) It is still a good place (and idea) to level up.

Tip: There is an early finish bonus for I had beat this stage within thirty turns and that had gave me a bonus of 37 gold per turn wich multipied to 185.

== A Choice Must Be Made ==
* Objectives: Defeat either of the leaders
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 33
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill either leader
* Other:
** Next level depends on killed leader
*** Northern orcish leader will get you to the ''Snow Plains'' and the Flaming Sword
*** Southern undead leader will get you to the ''Swamp Of Dread'' and give you the chance to get lotsa gold
** Simply decide for one direction and block the bridge in the other direction unless you want to fight on two large fronts
** First real chance to level gryphons

Scenario objectives: Kill either leader.

You must choose whether to go north or south. A Death Knight and the undead lie to the south, guarding the way to the Swamp of Dread. This path is easier, as the undead are hampered by the swampy terrain even more than you. To the north are the usual orc horde, fighting in the hills, a tougher battle. Your choice will affect which magic artifact you can get in the next level. Northwards are the Snow Plains, where a magic weapon awaits; south is the Undead Swamp, where one of your units can obtain better armor.

Whether you go north or south, recruit a few level 1 units as sacrifices, or use fast-moving gryphons to delay the other force.

Tip: You can use mermans specifically using the strongest ones and the ones that were able to pick up the tridents on bay of pearls and ford of abez that is if you use to go downward to kill the undead leader.

== Diverging campaign path ==
=== Snow Plains ===
* Objectives: Defeat the enemy leader
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 43
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: Kill the leader
* Other:
** Li'sar will tell you she does not like her mother

Konrad will find the Flaming Sword (15-4 melee, fire, magical) hidden under the great tree in the northeast near the enemy keep. It will take Konrad a while to slog through the snow, forest, and hills, so you'll have to think about how many turns he will recall units. Dwarves will do well in the mountains, as will the flying gryphons.

Early finish bonus for killing the enemy leader.

=== Swamp Of Dread ===
Scenario objectives: Kill all enemy leaders.

There are lots of undead, but also many villages. You can earn lots of gold if you can capture and hold villages. It may be useful recruiting cheap units to defend villages against bats. One of the Death Knights drops the Void Armor when killed. The unit that picks it up will gain high resistance to physical damage (blade, impact and pierce). Since Li'sar is vulnerable to precisely those types of damage, you should probably give her the armor.

Early finish bonus for killing all 5 enemy leaders.

Tip:This is another stage where you can use mermans specifically your strongest merman, merman priestess and ones with the tridents.

== Home of the North Elves ==
* Objectives:
** Reach the forest kingdom of Emetria
** Survive until turns run out
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 21
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 47 Gold per turn
* Other:
** Your base will be dismantled after the first turn

This is a very large map with some interesting challenges. First, Konrad needs to move all the way across to the right side, and if you're playing on Medium or Hard, you don't have many turns to waste. Second, Fog of War is turned on, so you won't know where the enemy is until you blunder into them.

On the other hand, while both the orc and human sides will attack you, you can lure them into attacking each other. The orcs start in the north central part of the map, while the humans begin in the southeast. You must decide whether Konrad will try to sneak along the northern map edge, or try to thread between the two opponents.

In order to win, Konrad must be in the Elvish castle by the end of the last turn. The early finish bonus is rather substantial: 44 gp per turn. However, you only get it if you kill both enemy leaders. Also, if both leaders are dead, it no longer matters whether your hero has reached the elven castle. Therefore, if one's dead already, killing the other makes for a workable 'plan b' if you realise you're 4 turns away from the castle, but only 2 away from the timer running out. (In 1.1, the enemy camps have been reinforced, and it is no longer practical to kill the leaders.)

Version 1.2.5:
In this version, the fastest and best way for me was to just make Konrad run alone. Don't recall any units as the elvish riders that appear can be cannon fodder if necessary. Start by moving near the river side until you see orcs in the distance. Proceed slowly and wait for them to engage the humans. Then a group of elves will rush in to fight both orcs and humans. Time your run carefully between the elven forces in a NE direction and you can avoid meeting any humans or orcs. I think I finished in 13 or 14 turns without a single shot being fired (or flaming sword being slashed).

== The Elven Council ==
This is a cut-scene furthering the storyline. No combat takes place.

== Return to Wesnoth ==
Scenario objectives: Kill all three enemy leaders.

Three Halbardiers appear when Josephus dies. The bridge across the river is a good place to establish a defensive position, since attackers have to use the beach and water hexes to attack. Use the forests to your advantage: elven troops are best in forest, while the loyalists and orcs are seriously slowed by the trees.

Early finish bonus for killing all enemy leaders: 27 Gold

== Test of the Clans ==
* Objectives: Defeat either all four leaders or 25 units in total
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 53
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar
* Early finish bonus: 55 Gold per turn

You are facing mostly knights and horsemen, so fast and powerful units like Grand Knights, Lancers or Paladins are important. When any of the enemy leaders is killed, it is replaced with one or two knights (two or three in Hard). Reportedly, one way to win is to gang up on Bayar with fast units while attacking the south-eastern leader with the rest of your army.

If you want to have a long field battle, you can put groups of dwarves or elves in the hills. The enemy will tend to attack the hills, thus giving you some advantage. Hills also make a good safe haven for healing your mounted units. Try to kill the south-eastern leader early so you don't have to divert so many of your resources to the south flank.

Tip: You can use gryphons riders as sacrifice to help you in your aid included with your horseman try to recruit many of them though. May be able to get some of them to level two if you use them smartly, but you may also lose some though using this method but hey you can finish with a pretty nice bonus that is if you go to kill just 25 men.

---edit smenze---
This can be one of the hardest or easiest scenarios depending on your goal. After a lot of trial and error, I found a way to kill the leaders before defeating 25 units. It seems costly, but with the bonus for early finish and killing the clan leaders it was well worth it. So here goes: GRIFFON RIDERS and quite a few of them. I started by getting my healers (for my main army) and then recruited the rest in Griffon Riders. Send this compliment (four of them) North to pick up the villages then onto the deep water of the lake. The next castle was the remainder of my recalls to fill out my main army (just enough to surround my healers in a hedgehog) and 2 more Griffon riders to fill it out. Then march your main army south to take out the Southeast Leader and send the 2 Griffons up to join the rest on the lake.

As soon as the majority of Blue's (the Northwest leader) troops move away from him launch your griffon attack on him. With only 6 it takes some luck, but he dies in 1-2 rounds of attacks assuming you don't lose too many of your troops. In the Southeast recruit a couple of castles worth of Griffon Riders and send them West to take on the Southwest (black) leader, all the while keeping your main force just out of range of attackers if at all possible. As your griffons cross the river and are attacking the AI usually moves guys back in to defend with, but for the most part you can out run them. You can always highlight the troops to find out its movement area. Converge all the griffons you have left on the middle leader (purple). I won around turn 25 giving me around 1600 gold to start the last scenario.

== The Battle for Wesnoth ==
* Objectives: Defeat Asheviere
* Lose if: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz or Li'sar die or turns run out
* Turns: 60
* Starting units: Konrad, Delfador, Kalenz, Li'sar, as many Grand Knights as you defeated in the last map
* Early finish bonus: 46
Scenario objectives: Defeat Asheviere and, by killing her, reclaim the throne.

Healers are useful for your army, as are high level units to take the large amounts of damage the enemies deal. You don't need to worry about saving them for later, because this is the last scenario. Useful recruits are Dwarvish Fighters and Elvish Shamans to aid the rest of your army. Try to level some of them up. Since the enemies are so high-level and numerous, it is surprisingly easy.

You can make a line with new and higher level dwarves in the front ranks. Put leadership units and healers behind. Behind that, let the wounded units rest. Put the line quite near your castle so your fresh recruits can reach the front line in 1-2 turns. A shorter line will also be easier to manage. Some seem to put heavy emphasis on healing units here, but the battle is so short and intense, that some prefer more fighters, and fewer healers.

After you have killed most of the enemy units, advance your powerful units towards Asheviere for the kill. Your main units, Delfador, Li'sar, and the rest, are good here. Especially Li'sar with skirmisher and the Scepter (if you gave it to her), who can do a quick and deadly assassination once the enemies have reduced in numbers. Knights are probably good here as well. Asheviere has exactly 48 HP, so three hits of a 16-damage weapon, like the Scepter, or four 12-damage hits, is enough for the kill.

A quick assassination can even be performed by Master Gryphons or even sometimes Gryphon Riders: you can recruit a castle of them on turn 1, send them south, elude enemy forces sent by the general in the futile attempt to catch you, then approach Asheviere for the kill (she will not have many troops at her own protection). Using this strategy, I won on turn 6 (and without losses). Swarming all four enemies with 6 new knights each turn is a very effective distraction strategy. Asheviere may divert about half of her force to destory the gryphons. If this happens, congratulations. This means you've won. You should have still about 20 living Knights, and you should easily break through her lines.

A good bonus from The Test of the Clans should be enough to win this scenario.

[notes by Louis]
I got to this scenario with around 1,200 gold so i recalled my best men and the rest of the turns, I spent the rest of my money on knights you are able to recruit after the last scenario. i ended with a ton of men left.

== See also ==
* [[MainlineCampaigns]]

[[Category:Campaigns]]

How to play Rebels

2008-11-11T06:21:13Z

ODDity: /* Rebels vs Undead */

==General Rebel Strategies:==

On the first turn when you have a random opponent it is good to get a mixture of units. A Scout, Merman, Archer, 2 Fighters, and a Mage would be an example of such a recruit. When you discover what faction your opponent is, go to the appropriate section below for more advice.

[[Rebels]] have good to great defense in forest. Try to keep them there whenever possible, as obvious as that is. Even the easily hit '''Wose''' has his best defense (still hit more often than missed) in forest.

Elves are Neutral in alignment, so attack when your opponent is at their weakest. The '''Mage''', '''Wose''', and '''Merman''' are Lawful however, so take this into consideration if you recruit these units. You will be strongest in the day, but if your opponent is also strongest in the day it is usually best to fight at night.

One of the Rebels' greatest strengths is their abundance of ranged attacks in harmony with the Dextrous trait. This characteristic gives Rebels frequent chances to attack without taking retaliation damage. It also guarantees any opponent attacking you will take some damage in return.

Rebels also have good mobility, their Scout having the highest level 1 movement in the game (9 moves). The deadly '''Archer''' is also gifted with 6 - both are also graced with the speedy woodland movetype. Use this mobility to your advantage early by taking a village advantage and later by [[Wesnoth_Acronyms_and_Slang|ZOC]]ing your opponents weakened units.

If you happen to use '''Elvish Captain''' as a leader (or to level up a '''Fighter'''), take the advantage of his Leadership. He's one of the fastest leaders, so on small maps can get to fighting line in 2 turns. Not that amazing himself, his Leadership gives nearby units +25% bonus. That's an advantage you use day-night cycle for, that's the difference between retreat and attack. When properly positioned, he can boost 3 or even 4 units a turn. Of course, this works best combined with other advantages like time of day or good unit unit matchup. Mages and Woses under his banner tear Undead in halfs.

There's always need for a trick. '''Shamans''' do three good things:
* +4 healing is never bad (though they rarely level up to give you +8);
* slow enemy units, which halves their movement and damage for a turn. The more powerful or quick your enemy is, the more useful the ability becomes;
* they have 70% defense in Forests, so, when in bad need, can stop non-magical enemies with own ZoC.

==Rebels vs Undead==
Your lot of Piercing damage is useless against their units dealing most damage - Skeletons. So no point in fighting Skeletons with Elves.
Your weapon are Woses and Mages. Opponent has no hard counter, but their "weak" units still do good: Skeletons for your Mages, Dark Adepts and Ghouls for Woses. Remember that Ghoul's poison stops Wose from regenerating for a turn. That's 8 damage in addition to its 3.

On larger maps, you need a couple of Scouts to capture villages. Don't get them into fight: if one lures two opponent's units from your main force, it's fine.

Shaman is always good for her healing and slowing, and does Impact damage.

Keep your Woses high on HP. Wose is slow - 4 base movement - so it takes ages to deliver him to fighting lines, more than delivering a Mage. Count as if you get a Wose 2 turns later. Still, it's your main strike force again most of Undead.

Another Undead's option is Walking Corpses. They do good damage for the money, have no upkeep and sometimes can 'recruit' your people. There's no clear counter except Archers, but archers are weak in this matchup. Just watch for your unit hit points and retreat timely.

So start with 2 Woses, 0-2 Scouts, Mage, Shaman and someone of your choice: Mage, Fighter or Merman.

==Rebels vs Knalgans==

One of the tricks with the rebels vs. knalgans is to '''really''' use the shamans to their full potential. It comes in two forms; first, shamans in forest are surprisingly durable; they have the defense and hitpoints of a thief, but lack the weakness to physical weapons. That, '''and''' they have retaliatory slowing on ranged (and can slow some of the worse melee attackers). Especially shamans in pairs, or even better - shamans backed up by a druid, can nearly stop a small group of melee dwarves from progressing into forest.

Shamans allow you to do one game-changing thing, which is that you can slow a dangerous melee unit, and then attack said melee unit with your fighters. Normally, attacking a dwarven fighter on grass, with your elven fighter, would be a "fair fight", and thus would be very stupid for you to engage in - the general trick to winning a game like wesnoth is to engage your units in combat only when you can arrange a fight that '''isn't''' fair. Usually it's terrain, or being outnumbered that does this, but shamans allow you to, for the space of one turn, make a normally fair fight suddenly very unfair in your favor. It allows you to do this where other factions cannot manage this, such as on open ground.

With shamans, you want to slow as many units as you can; but chiefly you'll want to find whichever "dangerous unit" is the most accessible for you to assign units to attack, and so long as you can keep most of the enemy from retaliating (say, if you slow their three hardest melee hitters), slow him, and then break rank with whatever you can attack the thing with. You'll end the turn with a few lightly scratched fighters (missing maybe 4-8 hp each), and your enemy will either have a nearly or completely dead fighter/gryphon. And conveniently, if those fighters ended their combat next to shamans, you will quickly recoup said "scratches". Woses are also very useful for these kinds of tactics - you can slow their victim, and whatever damage they receive will likely be 8hp or below. A corollary to this is that if you ever have the chance, slow an ulf, and immediately eliminate him with a fighter/wose - it's nearly a free kill.

As usual, if at all possible, get a druid, and get a captain. These level-2 abilities really enhance the elves' capability; the captain, for example, generally negates the effect of the dwarves' armor. The druid's a bit mean when applied to units with 60-70% defense (it's like turning all forest tiles into villages). These kinds of level-2 abilities are something the dwarves don't have access to, so use them to your advantage whenever possible. After you get one captain and one druid, you'll generally want to make any other level-ups into heroes and sorceresses, to give you a bit more firepower (and in the case of the former, something that can actually tank decently for the elves).

==Rebels vs Drakes==
You'll have hard time because:
* Drakes are fast (can grab villages quickly) and have high HP;
* You don't have Cold attack which Drakes are vulnerable to;

To exploit Drakes' lesser weakness, to Pierce, have more '''Archers''' than '''Fighters'''. Though, Fighters are cheap, do a good backfire, and one can level up to '''Captain'''.

Have '''Shamans''' to slow '''Clashers''' and '''Fighters'''. Sometimes, don't be afraid to slow even a Burner, to take him down then with an Archer.

If '''Saurians''' annoy you, recruit a '''Mage''' or two. They pick Saurians out of swamps very well, especially backed up with a Captain. Just shield them.

==See also==
[[How_to_play...]] series.

[[How to play Mages]]

[[Category:How to Play]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T06:13:26Z

ODDity: /* Day-night cycle retreat */

{|align="right"
|-
|__TOC__
|}
This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker than you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your levelled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a units only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions have the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for and will try to arrange). If so, you've only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy's got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T06:11:08Z

ODDity: /* Day-night cycle retreat */

{|align="right"
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This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker than you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your levelled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a units only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions have the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for and will try to arrange). If so, you've only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T06:09:24Z

ODDity: /* Day-night cycle retreat */

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This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker than you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your levelled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a units only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions have the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T05:40:54Z

ODDity: /* Hit Point Conservation */

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This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker than you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your levelled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a units only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions are having the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T05:39:49Z

ODDity: /* Small and strong */

{|align="right"
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|__TOC__
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This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker than you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your levelled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions are having the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T05:38:09Z

ODDity: /* Bounding (or leap frog) */

{|align="right"
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|__TOC__
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This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker than you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your leveled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions are having the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T05:36:44Z

ODDity: /* Bounding (or leap frog) */

{|align="right"
|-
|__TOC__
|}
This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in levelling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favourable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker then you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your leveled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions are having the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T05:33:53Z

ODDity: /* Fight unfair */

{|align="right"
|-
|__TOC__
|}
This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at manoeuvring his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the centre, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favourable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in leveling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favorable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker then you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your leveled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions are having the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

AdvancedTactics

2008-11-11T05:32:28Z

ODDity: /* Broad Opening Strategy Categories */

{|align="right"
|-
|__TOC__
|}
This page assumes that the reader has read [[GettingStarted]] and is familiar with the [[WesnothManual]].
It assumes you have played enough games to be familiar with the system,
and know how to push units around, and are now looking for insight in how to
outthink the AI or a human opponent.
Some tactics are only useful in specific circumstances and would be foolish at other times.
Pick and choose those that fit your particular style.
Do you overwhelm your opponent with sheer numbers, or a few well-chosen
high-level units? Do you prefer to "roleplay" one race?
Do you want to play many scenarios, or replay one over and over until you achieve the perfect game?

=== Strategy ===

==== Strategy Before Tactics ====
Tactics relate to move-by-move decisions relating to the units on the map. When tactics are not related to a sound strategy, they may be sometimes overcome by a weaker or less tactically advanced force which is better able to craft such a strategy.

In general, before you begin a scenario or battle, you should survey the map. The following considerations are important:

* Areas where your forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your forces have defensive advantages
* Areas where your opponents' forces can/cannot move quickly
* Areas where your opponent has a defensive advantage.
* Size of the map (larger maps stress scouting and mobility while smaller maps stress close fighting more.

Often maps will have areas where opposing forces will have to cross slow terrain (such as a river) and be vulnerable except for small channels (such as a bridge or a ford), Because it is difficult to mount an attack across these choke points, they can be controlled with fewer units while the rest of the army is elsewhere. Once you have a full flow plan relating to where you want to hold the enemy and where you want to overrun, you can proceed to the next step.

==== Broad Opening Strategy Categories ====

Depending on the size of the map, the distance between you and your nearest opponent, amd mobility considerations you may want to decide to open make your initial opening stress a specific competency of your force. In general these can be divided into the following categories:

* Scouting Game. In this case, one recruits a large number of scouts in order to control as many villages as possible as soon as possible. This works best in large maps where the distance to the nearest opponent is quite large. Scout games tend to end up being large army games where all sides amass substantial numbers of units.
* Formation Game. In this case one recruits slower moving heavier fighters followed by more mobile forces. The goal here is to have a line which can withstand an initial attack solidly and then have other, swifter forces enter the battle to overrun the enemy. For example, a line of spearmen could have horsemen behind them, so that the horsemen get to attack enemy troops which have already been wounded in the fight with the front-line. This is a specialized form of leap-frogging (see below) where the relief troops actually expect to break through the opponent's line. This is most effective on small maps or where the distance to the nearest opponent is small.
* Vanguard Game. This strategy is somewhere between the above strategies. In this case, heavy, fast moving troops are recruited first (for example a combination of knights and horsemen or dragoons and cavalry). These forces advance rapidly and then hold an area long enough for heavier infantry to arrive. The original vanguard can then retreat to heal if necessary. This is most effective on mid size maps.

=== Tactics ===

==== Fight unfair ====
From Sun Tsu to "Shock and Awe", military writers have stressed that
one must not enter into a conflict unless substantially stronger
than your enemy. In Wesnoth, this means
* more units
* better (stronger, higher level) units, and
* superior healing ability in your second line.

In general, a good rule to follow is 3-1. If you can fight with three times the power, you can overrun your opponent quickly. A smaller numerical advantage can allow you to create focused points where that ratio exists.

Napoleon was especially skilled at maneuvering his forces so as to gain an
advantage even when outnumbered. By attacking his enemy in the center, he broke
their lines and divided the enemy forces in two. Then, a small detachment
fortified their position and held off one flank, while Napoleon's main
force attacked the now outnumbered other half. After reducing the
first half, the main force would rejoin the flank-holders and destroy the
remaining half. (This strategy is known as "defeat in detail".)

To implement this in Wesnoth, leave a few units with many hit points
in favorable terrain on one flank, while the majority of your force
attacks on a different front.
For example, two red and one white mage, or three paladins.
By combining healers and the healing effect of villages,
a small force can hold off superior numbers for a very long time.

==== Feints ====
You can misdirect the AI (and a surprising number of human opponents)
by sending a few units towards an objective like an enemy leader, village,
or bridge. They will overreact and position their units badly.
Similarly, you can send fast units behind the enemy lines to capture villages.
Do not attempt to hold them; instead move onto the next while the enemy diverts
front line troops or reinforcements.
Flying units are particularly adept at this since they ignore terrain.
Sometimes a feint can turn into your main offensive as well,
if the enemy calls a bluff and ignores your feinting units.

Against human opponents, remember to guard against this kind of tactic. If you see an enemy mounting an attack that doesn't seem to make sense, then it's likely to be a diversion. This doesn't mean that you should ignore it, however - instead, try to counter and contain the attacking force until your opponent's plan becomes clearer, but do not use your entire army - you might wipe out several enemy units, but that won't help you if another detachment corners your leader without support.

==== Bounding (or leap frog) ====
Every strategist throughout history warns to "keep a reserve".
In Wesnoth, this means that you must not attack with all your units.
Instead, hold back units to exploit holes caused by your initial attacks.
Or, you might need to move a fresh unit with many hit points to the
front line so they can 'take a beating' and hold your lines.

In modern times, the "reserve" concept has been expanded as follows.
Divide your main force into two groups, and attack with the first
while holding the second back. When the first group is chewed up,
withdraw it to healers or villages, while you attack with the second group.
This approach allows you to distribute experience more evenly among your units,
particularly useful in a longer campaign.
However, if you need the higher-level units, selecting which units deliver a fatal blow levels units faster.
This way, you are less likely to lose units with higher exp,
resulting in more units succeeding in leveling up.

Do not use high level units, and definitely not your commander,
to guard the healers or villages, as the enemy might focus on them instead,
and attack the wounded seeking aid.

Sometimes, if it is a favorable time of day, you can quickly achieve victory
with an all-out assault. If the enemy is clearly weaker then you, or the conditions are right, this can be an effective
strategy. Most of the time, however, commanders are advised to use other, more elegant strategies.

==== Small and strong ====
Develop a small core group of high level units. Recall a strike force
for one or two turns, then move off in a tight pack.
Most should be level 2, with a few level 3 units to hold the flanks or
commit in the 2-3 most decisive rounds.
With this strategy, you'll need fewer villages to provide income,
and thus be less distracted with acquiring them.

Remember to recruit level 1 units to absorb the enemy's first attacks,
as well as for feints and holding unimportant villages.
Allow those that survive to finish off dying enemy units to replace
any of your core group that make the final sacrifice.
In other words, since some of your leveled units are expected to die,
you need to level up new units to replace them.

==== Advanceable vs Non-advanceable Units ====
In general you want as much experience to go to advanceable units as possible. However, units which are no longer capable of advancing further can be of great help in specific circumstances including:

* Holding strategic terrain while the bulk of the army is elsewhere.
* Softening up opponents before they can be taken out by other, advanceable forces.
* Skirmisher units, advancible or not, are extremely useful for attacking choke points because they can help break up an opposing army quickly.
* Rescuing vulnerable but important troops (shamans, white mages, etc) from overwhelming opposition.

==== Hit Point Conservation ====
Hit points are a unit's only non-renewable resource.
Choose the attack which causes your unit the least damage,
not deals out the most to the enemy.
For example, assume you are attacking a unit that does 6-3 close combat,
and has no range attack.
Your unit has a 4-4 close combat and a 3-3 range attack.
Consider the tactical situation carefully.
Do you need to kill the unit this turn?
Is it on a village or next to a healer?
Do not automatically accept the computer's recommendation
(it is simply the attack likely to do the most
damage, regardless of how much you take!).

Remember, when a unit levels up, it regenerates its full HP allowance and heals.

Finally, attacking an enemy leader, especially in a castle,
is an expensive proposition, even if you use magical attacks.
Expect to lose units while wearing down its hit points.

==== Using the Level-Up ====
When mopping up at the end of a scenario, try to balance the experience so that several units are close to their next level. It is better to start the next scenario with lower-level units that are about to level than with those same units at a higher level. This way, you save 1 gold for every turn between recalling a unit and when it levels up. You can also use these units (along with some level-1 fodder) as the first assault with the promise that they will regenerate full hit points and become stronger attackers when they do level-up. Using the power of the level-up to it's full potential can significantly improve your odds of finishing scenarios quickly and without having any units die.

All units, even those at their max level, heal now when they reach their full experience. However, an At Max Level Advancement (AMLA) usually only provides +3 hitpoints and a heal; not nearly as useful as a regular level up. This is why it is usually better to give experience to your lower-level units.

==== The Spearhead Principle - a dangerous gamble ====
A blunt stick is unlikely to penetrate any defense whatsoever - its power is spread across too wide an area. But a sharpened spear can break through defences far more easily, because its energy is all focused onto a single point. This also applies on a strategic level - in most, though not all, circumstances, it is more useful to inflict massive damage on a small part of the enemy line, rather than spreading your forces thinly to attack every point at once.

This can take much more planning than is immediately obvious - study the battlefield and the enemy's deployment well before attempting a 'spearhead' maneuver. Then, when the light is about to become favourable for you (or bad for your enemy, if your troops are neutral), attack fast, moving as many hard-hitting troops as possible into the smallest possible area (this is a variation on Napoleon's 'defeat in detail' strategy, outlined above). Look carefully at the terrain, and decide on an area to focus on.

If you have the manpower, you should try to surround this entire area with light, fast, expendable troops - they don't need to fight, but you should try to have a complete Zone-of-Control net around your chosen theater of battle. Your objective is then very simple - you are attempting to wipe out every enemy unit in that area, before the light changes. Do not let any enemy escape, they will heal in a village and come back into the fight. When the light starts to change, or earlier if you have already broken the enemy, move your entire force together (except for the scouts), along the enemy line to destroy one flank of their army. Use your scouts to harass and contain units on the other flank, try to keep them in one place until your main force can reach them and overwhelm them.

With sound tactics and moderate luck, you should now have destroyed most of the enemy force, with few losses of your own. Several units are likely to advance while doing this - these troops, and any that are close to advancing, should then be used to hunt down and kill the enemy leader and whatever forces he or she has left.

Be aware, however, that this is a risky strategy - if you are unlucky, poorly-prepared, or your enemy mounts a strong counterattack, it is likely that your troops will be bogged down and slowly wiped out - or, even worse, confined by scouts, while your enemy's main force simply marches around them to kill your leader. This kind of tactic can win you a game in a few turns - but it can lose it just as easily, if not executed well.

=== Weapon specialties ===
==== Backstab ====
{{Quote|
|quote="Thieves are deft of foot, and elusive, making them difficult to hit. Being skilled at backstabbing, thieves do double damage when attacking an enemy that has an ally of the thief on its opposite side. Being of chaotic disposition, thieves fight better at night than during the day."
|source=Thief description
|}}

Assassins, Nightgaunts, Rogues, Shadows and Thieves can backstab.
A Thief costs 13 gold and has base attack of 4-3. But with a backstab,
it does an impressive 8-3, the equivalent of most Level 2 units.
Backstabbing at night with a Strong Thief does 12-3.
After 24 Experience Points, they level up to a Rogue doing 6-3 base...

You don't have to ''attack'' with another unit to get the backstab
bonus -- there just needs to be a unit on the opposite side of the enemy.
The ally can even move after the backstab, if it didn't use up its moves
by moving into the enemy's Zone of Control this turn.
Thieves work well in pairs against weak or unsupported units.
They can surround a unit and attack it turn after turn.

It's often effective to use units with backstab in pairs, so that each
provides the bonus to the other. This is especially effective with
Shadows, due to their good movement rate. Keep one or two such pairs
around your flanks to ambush lone scouts and village-stealers.

==== Slow ====
Shamans, being slow, weak, and of limited firepower, need to be
used carefully, but don't dismiss their offensive ability.
Their Slow attack can cripple strong enemy units by effectively halving their damage.

Of course this tactic is even more useful for your higher-level units:
Druids, Shydes, the Sorceress line, and Goblin Pillagers, because they can more reliably slow the enemy unit and are more likely to survive a counterattack (especially from additional unslowed units).

You can also keep a unit that slows the enemy in your attack force, to slow down
a wounded enemy unit that wishes to escape, or to cripple their attacks at the
beginning of your attack, then proceed to use fighters that will take less damage
from the halved attacks.

==== Healing and Curing ====
Move your healers in pairs so that you retain the
freedom to use them in combat when appropriate without having to retire
to a village afterward.
Remember the difference between healing and curing, put your better healers
where they will be more needed.

Don't forget that with a Curing unit nearby, you needn't fear poison.
An assassin's darts are only a serious threat if they can poison an unsupported unit.
Your Druid or White Mage will cure the poison before it has time to work,
(However, they cannot remove damage from a unit on the same turn they cure
poison from that unit). and they can cure poison from ''every'' adjacent unit -
irrespective of damage they have to heal.

==== Poison ====

When using poisonous units (Ghouls, Orcish Assassins, Assassins), your goal should be to distribute their poison attack among as many units as possible, rather than concentrating on a single enemy. Units that are already poisoned should be a low priority for your other units' attacks as well, unless they can score a kill.

Don't underestimate the usage of poison against regenerating units, or units in a village or next to a curer. While the healing will remove the poison, it does so in lieu of healing hit points. Repeated poisonings can prevent these (often tough or hard-to-hit) units from recovering while your other units whittle them down.

Against units with high defense or high evasion, poison can help a lot to weaken them, since you just have to hit them once, then they will take damage(until healed) every turn, no matter how many times you hit them or how much damage they take from your attacks. After they are weak, just a lucky hit could kill them.

It also helps if lawful units are poisoned at the end of an attack during the night by chaotic units. It is risky to chase chaotic units with poisoned lawful units during the day, which could force them to retire and lose their chance to attack during their most favorable time of the day.

==== Swarm ====

When a unit's attack is listed as "swarm", the number of attacks per round is based on its current fraction of maximum health. That is to say, if a unit with swarm is at 3/4 health, it will only do 3/4 of its maximum attacks. This does not affect the damage of each attack.

If you are the owner of such a unit then keeping it in good health should be your top priority. If you are facing a swarmer, the best idea is to poison it and then avoid it as they are usually high level monsters. As of 1.1.1 using "slow" on these units is very effective as it halves their movement speed, making avoiding them while the poison works easier. Once they are at low health, move in for the kill.

(From the manual - Henkutsu_tama)

=== Recruiting ===

Remember that your commander may recruit units when standing on ''any'' Keep tile,
not only the one you start on. If you have two enemies, where one is some
distance beyond the other (like in 'The Siege of Elensefar'), you recruit enough
units to take out the first enemy Commander (and possibly hold off the second
enemy's front troops), then you move onto the slain Commander's Keep, and
recruit the units you need to take out the remaining opposition.
This saves you money in the long run, and keeps your Commander closer
to the action so he may level up sooner.

If there are several enemies with significant difference in their strength
of arms, first concentrate on the weakest, or else the one with the
highest income potential.
Move your Commander along with your troops, and after you have wiped
this enemy out, use their Castle as your new base.
This has the added benefit of protecting your Commander, often a target
of enemy troops, so you don't need to recruit units only for protecting him,
while your main force is engaged somewhere else.
In the end, this will save you lots of gold.
Such tactics are essential on maps with many opponents,
for example against the AI on multiplayer map 'Dwarven Doors'.

==== Plan placement of units ====
Place recruited and recalled units manually.
Choose the best castle tile for a unit to be placed by clicking on the
tile before recruiting or recalling.
This way you can often capture villages a turn earlier,
or move units to critical map squares before your opponent.

For maps with narrow passages leading out of the castle
(like Bay of Pearls or some of the random underground maps in
Heir to the Throne), recruit or recall pairs of slow and fast units.
Both units in such a pair will then be able to use their maximum
movement without impeding each other. So recruit an Elvish Fighter
together with a Horseman, or even an Elvish Fighter with an Elvish Archer.

==== Unit Choice ====
* Some units, such as Orcish Grunts or Horseman, have no ranged attack. Take advantage of this by using units that are skilled in both melee and ranged, such as Elvish Rangers, so that your opponent will be helpless when you are attacking, and you will not be at a disadvantage when you defend. The same goes for units with no melee attack, such as Dark Adepts.
* When a battle is raging, use fast-moving units (your scouts) to distract the enemy by sneaking past enemy troops and conquering enemy villages, cutting off their gold supply or sometimes forcing them to split up their armies.
* If a battle occurs at a river or some other narrow pass, it can be beneficial to use skirmishing units such as Duelists to easily cross the river and surround your opponent or use airborne units like Gryphons to use the river squares without being at a great disadvantage.
* If you need to cross a large body of shallow water, mountains, cave floor, or other difficult terrain, use units whose moves are divisible by their movement on such terrain so moves don't go to waste. For example, if a unit takes three moves to get through one water tile, make sure it has three, six, or nine movement. Recalling 'quick' units can help ensure you've chosen the right ones. If you recall a unit with five movement points, they will only be able to move one hex per turn in terrain that requires three movement points, while a similar unit with six movement points can move two hexes per turn.
* Units such as Elvish Fighters that are cheap to produce in mass and that have both decent melee and ranged attacks can often be good for holding your front lines, since they will cause harm to their opponents no matter what they are. A front line of horsemen, on the other hand, is not good for holding a position, for they are costly, fall quickly to enemy archers, and probably will never be able to strike back.

=== Know the Battlefield ===

==== Reconnaissance - Know the Map ====
While attack is influenced by the time of day, defense is affected
by terrain. First find all the castles and note the different kinds
of terrain immediately surrounding them. If you're playing under
Shroud, send out two or three scouts to locate the castles.
This is also often worth it on Fog of War, because you learn
what faction your enemy is (if you don't know already) and
how defended their castle is. Expect to recruit more when they die.
The knowledge they provide is worth more than their cost.

==== Survey - Know the Terrain ====
Take an overall look at the size of each terrain type and note which
are the most important.
This affects what units to select and their overall effectiveness.
Then examine whether the main terrain is evenly
distributed, scattered, or in a few large areas.
Note what terrain you want to avoid and why.
Mountains and deep water are bad for all but a few unit types.
These act as walls which the opponents can use to trap you:
of course, you can do likewise to your opponents. If you have
saved some of your starting gold, you can also decide which units will
be better for reinforcements based off a more common terrain.

==== Transport - Know the Pathways ====
Try to link advantageous terrain areas together in your mind
from where your units are (your castle at start of play)
to opposing ''and'' friendly castles. Use villages scattered between
you and the target to influence the route to take, especially if you
can't recruit any healing units.
Decide which terrain is most favourable for your units and
less favourable for the enemy.
If your goal is to reach an object or hex, then do the same for that.

If one route proves difficult, switch to another. Get to know
which routes work best for different units and locate meeting
places to regroup units.
Try to keep the opponents guessing what you're going to do next.
By using several adjacent routes to a target, the opponents
will have a tougher time stopping your advance.
In some cases it is easier to send a main group directly towards
the target and use fast units to circle around behind.

==== Features - Know the Traps ====
Note carefully where favourable terrain on either side of
unfavourable reach their closest point. These are defense positions
for you to ambush approaching opponents (with or without a thief) and
provide protection for friendly units. Sometimes the terrain forms
passages for units to pass through quickly. Check whether it takes
fewer turns to move around slow terrain than through it.
In slow terrain, it is tougher to encircle units and immobilise them,
so drive them toward better suited terrain (using ZoC, see elsewhere)
and encircle there.

==== Distance - Watch the Time ====
Use caution when setting up your front line and advancing immediately, as often the time of day will be exactly in its least advantageous point right when you meet your enemies. If you wait a few turns just passing the time by capturing nearby villages and meet the enemy at First Watch/Dawn, respectively, you can cut down the majority of the enemy's army before they can do anything about it. Also, if you find yourself in a evenly matched or losing position during your worst part of the day it can be ideal to fall back to villages or simply hold tight without attacking the enemy, as you want the battle to progress as slowly as possible during this part of the day. (Note: If you have units that can attack at no risk [mages to trolls, for example] don't waste their actions, keep on fighting no matter what.)

==== Intelligence (part one) - Know your Enemy====
Remember to check the hit points, movement and attacks of all enemies, before rushing into combat. It's also a good idea to check the description of each new type of enemy unit, before attacking. Some units have unusual resistances, defense values or movement costs - do not assume that every unit is exactly what it looks like. This is particularly important if you are facing enemies of several different races, the classic example being Drakes and Saurians - Drakes are very tough, but have poor defense and are vulnerable to cold and piercing weapons, so you might reasonably recruit an army of archers and cold-using magicians, with a few high-powered attacks. But Saurians are much faster and very fragile, with excellent defense in almost any terrain - so you might find yourself wishing for fast cavalry to pursue them, and units with a high number of attacks to guarantee at least a few hits. The same applies to any other enemy - make sure you know exactly what you're dealing with, before entering battle.

==== Intelligence (part two) - Know Yourself====
Always be aware of what forces are available to you. Whenever you gain the ability to recruit a new unit, read the description and look carefully at its stats. If you find yourself using only two or three types of units (a perfectly good strategy, if it works), it is easy to forget that there are others available to you. When you meet an enemy which your existing troops are poorly-equipped to fight, you should (almost) always have something that will be effective - the key is to know what, and to use it at the right time and in the right way. An extension of this, is to become familiar with the individual units that you have recruited (especially in a campaign) - the system of traits means that there can be a lot of variation, even between units of the same type and these different units should be assigned different roles. Strong, resilient units are good for front-line fighting or defending strongpoints, while quick units are better used as scouts or to outflank the enemy (especially quick mounted troops, since most units will not be able to force them into a fight). Intelligent units should be sent wherever they are needed, but it is often best to keep them away from heavy fighting (firstly, because they need less experience to advance, which means they do not need to kill as many enemies, and second, because they give you a better chance of getting a higher level unit - but only if they survive.)

=== Zone of Control (ZoC) ===

The Zone Of Control allows you to build artificial barriers at will.
With it, you can reduce the likelyhood that a weaker, injured unit will
be killed, by reducing the number or kind of enemies that can reach it.
It is hard to measure who has Movement Control because it depends
on where the units are positioned more than how many there are.
Although this is a tactical device, it is more strategically
significant than tactical because Zone of Control applies before
and after encounters, rather than during. Establishing and maintaining
good Zones of Control gives you better mobility and control over most other
aspects of the game, even against stronger units less well positioned.

Your units influence space beyond the hex they're standing on.
The total area of influence includes the hexes adjacent to the units
and ''this'' is the Zone Of Control. When strong opposing units
approach your weaker ones, pay particular attention to the ZoC
and terrain types. Combine the ZoC of your units to form a solid barrier.
Your goal is to rearrange your units such that the opponent's attack
occurs where your units are well positioned defensively and at the worst
time of day for opposing units.
Check that none of your units can be attacked by more than two enemy units
''and'' that no enemy unit can pass between them.
In this case, you spread your units out, extending your ZoC and forcing
the enemy to select one or more targets.

In most cases, the opponent will target one unit. You should
ensure that each of your units is within the ZoC of at least two others.
So when the enemy hits one unit, you can close in (encircle, encircle...)
until reinforcements arrive. It is often as important to hold a ZoC
as it is a village or passage.

While ZoC isn't very important against slow moving units, it is
very effective against fast ones, such as horsemen, bats, ghosts,
and wolf riders. The approach to handling these is assign two or
three of your fastest units, target one long range opposing unit
and spread yours out defensively between its target (usually villages)
and itself in a semi-circle or line. Move these units toward the enemy
so that it has increasingly less space to move. When it is within your ZoC,
encircle and kill. Move on to the next long range unit and repeat.

After the first round (when everyone has recruited), all the units are
grouped, so try to create a ZoC against all of the long range units
as quickly as you can. In this way you can prevent them from
spreading out, while you systematically encircle and kill each one.
Since the opponent won't have occupied enough villages, there is a
good chance all you'll have left are short range units to deal with.

Under FoW and Shroud, it is impossible to know what the opponent has
recruited, but it is good practice to check your ZoC around your villages
so you are not surprised by a sudden invasion. Early on, long range
units are used to occupy villages, so the sooner you engage them,
the less villages they can possess. Creating a ZoC quickly around
unoccupied villages allows you to possess them at your leisure and keep them.

Another use in ZoC is deciding when and where battles will be fought.
If the opponent moves into your ZoC, but positioned near unfavourable
attack terrain, you have several choices. Either attack anyway,
which is mostly bad, wait for the opponent to attack on its next turn,
which gives it the choice of target, or move your units out of its ZoC
to favourable terrain. You can check how far forward the units can move
and place guard units to maintain your ZoC and centralise the others
behind and protecting the guards. This forces the opponent to commit
and gives you time to prepare a tactical counter-attack. Keep your
guards guarding! If the ZoC crumbles your units will be overwhelmed.

The ZoC is effective when wounded units need to pass through hostile areas.
Rather than closing in, form a large circle around the wounded presenting
a much wider perimeter.
This makes it harder for opposing units to attack all yours and allows you
to keep healthy units within the ZoC and leap-frog when needed.

On approaching an opponent's castle, ZoC can be critical to your success.
In some scenarios events are triggered when you occupy hexes directly next
to a castle hex. Make sure the approaching units keep their distance from the
castle, but within their ZoC. When assembled, move directly on to the castle.

For skirmishing units who ignore ZoC, you have little choice but to build a solid
wall of units. Alternatively, you may make a ZoC to block the typical units and
prepare a welcoming party for the skirmishers.

In a campaign scenario, where the objective is to move a unit to a certain point
on the map (often specified by a signpost) you can use more unimportant units
and ZoC by placing them a space or two away from your leader and a space apart
from each other, since in battle units can quite suddenly die, and you don't want
that one to be your leader.

==== Encirclement ====
The encircling tactic by two units is very powerful, particularly against long range units. By placing two units on either side, you limit the opposing unit to 1 hex move in any direction. When the unit sidesteps in the following turn, you can re-encircle.
This means you can hold the unit until reinforcements arrive and then adopt a
leap-frog approach against very strong units.

=== Retreating ===

Sometimes the battle doesn't go your way. Either you battle to the last unit, or
retreat. The purpose of retreating is to regroup your units more effectively and
give them time to heal. Retreating can be organised with a reverse leap-frog
approach, where you give ground, encouraging the opponent to push forward.
Now your healers are in front and moving toward better terrain
where you can make a final stand.

Being prepared for, and knowing when to retreat, is also important.
Too often a player tries to retreat, but has no reinforcements to halt the retreat.
Try to leave a "safe zone" on a flank, protected by ZoC, where you can pull back.

The real problem with retreating is putting distance between your units and the
opponents. If they can move faster than yours, you may have to setup a ZoC to
last long enough for you to get your slow units to safety. Invisibility units
are the best because they cannot be seen and will take the opponent valuable
turns to find them. Once the group is safe, they can slip away unnoticed.
Sometimes sending out a unit or two as a kamikaze works to slow them down -
if the exp they gain matters less to them than saving more of your units does to you.

====Day-night cycle retreat====

Usually on a 1vs1 map there is some space between your villages and your opponents villages. Depending on the map and speed of your units, the distance is 1-2 turns.

The idea of retreating starts with your own attack. You are stronger during your preferred time of day, so you march forward and your opponent retreats (lets take aside the matchups where both factions are having the same preferences).

As drakes, you normally start marching at dawn. You move into the free area, your enemies retreat. First day is the critical turn. Ideally you should be able to attack the enemy's villages now. Maybe your party is not complete because of some slower units and you are therefore not strong enough yet (that is what your opponent hopes for, will try to arrange). If so, you only got one turn for your attack, else it is two turns. At dusk you pull back your units.

Starting from the enemies villages, he will need at least one turn (dusk) to cross the free area, maybe two until he can start his attack. Nevertheless you might have to decide if you keep the village or let him take it for one or two turns. It usually depends on how sure you can be that the unit holding the village will survive. If the enemy got magic, chances are normally low. In that case you should leave the village open, otherwise your unit will die without having an advantage of that.

However, if you play this a little smart, it will only be one village in question and only for one or at most two turns. Remember, that 1 turn costs you a net loss of 4 gold per lost village (2 less for you and 2 more for your enemy). But 4 gold is a lot less than a lost unit.

When dawn comes, you get the village back. If the enemy is stupid enough to stay you will crush him into pieces during the day cycles.

Even if you don't want to attack it is essential to occupy the space between villages in order to delay the enemy when his preferred time comes.

<noinclude>=== See Also ===

* [[GettingStarted]]
* [[WesnothManual]]
* [[PlayingOrcs]]
* [[How to play Undead]]
* [[BestForumStrategies]]
* [[CampaignStrategies]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (Russian)]]
* [[Advanced Tactics (French)]]
</noinclude>

[[Category:Playing Wesnoth]]

Liberty

2008-11-11T04:31:03Z

ODDity: /* Glory */

=General Strategy=

Footpads are the core unit for this campaign. High defence, mixed attacks, and cheap makes them handy in all events. You get Harper in all scenarios, plus two loyal footpads; level these up, plus any others you recruit with good traits.

The main problem in this campaign is finding units to deal damage; footpads are great for swarming and pinning enemies, but even swarming an enemy from all sides they might take less than half its HP off in one turn. In daylight, or even at dawn/dusk against enemies with resistances, none of your L1 units cause much damage. It's important to level up a couple each of thugs and poachers; you then use these as first strike against an enemy unit, followed by the footpad swarm to finish them off or at least pin them so you can finish them next turn. In particular, you want a huntsman by scenario 7 so you have decent marksman damage for busting enemy commanders.

=Scenarios=

=== The Raid ===

You have enough troops to beat the goblins in a straight-up fight;
your problem is luring the leader to attack you rather than running
straight up the board and into the village (if this happens you
lose!). This means you need to dangle some units in his engagement
range. Spend your loyal footpads, you won't get to keep more than two
of them after you leave the village.

Running Harper and one other footpad north works well; provided the other draws the goblin leader off of his run north, Harper can then either join in fighting him, or complete the run north (where you get a couple of thugs for free) and return with them, depending on how far north you get before he breaks his run.

=== Civil Disobedience ===

Bunch up all your fighters and use them to swarm single or paired cavalry units. Use houses for cover. Remember to keep recruiting in those early turns, even if you have to forgo attacking enemies from good cover to make the space for the recruit to stand.

Poachers are useful for getting damage into the enemy cavalry and have decent defence when in your castle or in villages, and then use footpads to take positions in the open (they have good defence in the open) to wrap around enemy units. Ideally you want the enemy to wrap cavalry around units in your keep, and you then wrap around the ones behind your keep with poachers and footpads. The enemy commander is a tough fight, since he often meets you in daylight and has good melee and ranged attacks; ideally get him next to your keep so you can have your commander and two poachers hitting him from relative safety, and then put a footpad or thug on the other side to pin him there.

=== A Strategy of Hope ===

The orcs don't make a lot of archers, so swarm them with footpads and
outlaws firing slingstones. Detach one or two footpads to go on an
extended village-stealing run in the north of the board while you're
doing this. Your allies are a little better than evenly matched
against the saurians, so by the time you finish the orcs you should be
able to run northwest and take the leader without too much trouble.

=== Unlawful Orders ===

Detach two footpads to grab villages, one in the town (Lord Maddock isn't going to use them all
anyway) and one to the north. Move your commander onto Lord Maddock's keep at the first chance you get, so you can recruit more & closer to the action.

Lord Maddock's throws his troops away early. Your force should be a few thugs, a couple of footpads and perhaps 2 poachers to hold the south bank of the island; let the enemy come to you here and fight from in the water. Then send an outlaw and footpad strike force out the east gate and down, which will swarm enemy stragglers and late recruits and then hit the enemy commander.

=== Hide and Seek ===

The moment you get within visual range of an enemy it will attack, and in 1.4 all the other enemies wake up also. What saves you is that Harper can see farther than they can. Don't run ahead with him, you need Baldras to the exit point; Harper scouts the way, he follows.

The safe route is south-east, using Harper to eye a way between the soldiers. Head between some others through some mountains and head all the way across to the east edge of the map. Then head south through a lake and then SE until above the exit and down. Also avoid the temptation to grab a village. This will trigger an attack even when not in range of a soldier.

=== The Gray Woods ===

This is a fairly easy search-and destroy, with lots of relatively weak
undead so lots of leveling-up opportunities. Grab Helicrom's
villages, he starts with a ton of gold anyway. The bad guys are at the SE,
SW, and NW corners. There's a holy ankh in the south center of the
board that will give the unit that finds it an arcane attack.

You could almost ignore the SE village, Helicrom's troops will take care of it; just send say an outlaw and a footpad to maybe sneak some XP, and to scout and grab villages below the SE enemy. Your main force, footpads plus a few thugs/marauders should head SWish across the bridge and have a quick fight with the green lich's forces that have made it out. Continue on to kill him, and then head south to the other lich. It is an excellent place to level up some footpads to L2 or even L3. While I am not over judicious with my use of the "fodder" units, I still came out with about 8 or 9 L2+ units.

At the end, choose to have Helicrom join you in battle. It makes the last scenario (while frustrating because your allies get in your way) pretty easy.

=== The Hunters ===

The trick in this one is that your outlaws fight better in mountains than
heavy infantry do. So bean them with missile weapons from the mountains at
the north edge of the road, then clump your guys and go west towards the
keep. Swarm the cavalry units as they hit you; they probably won't
concentrate enough to be more than a nuisance to L2 and L3 characters.

=== Glory ===

The only genuinely difficult puzzle in Liberty, because the Wesnoth army
is tough to beat if you have to try to take them inside their fortress
(and they get reinforcements every afternoon). You have to lure as many
as possible out of the fortress -- dangle bait just within their
engagement range. It's the final scenario, so don't worry about money, just recall all your L2 and L3 recalls and recruit until you are out of gold.

If you chose to have Helicrom join you in battle, he appears in a camp to your right at the start. While his troops get in the way a lot, they do kill some units and help if only by diverting some of the opposing forces.

March them straight N and hang out around the first village there. It will be a nice pitched battle for a few turns, but eventually your numbers will overwhelm them. Then you can split your forces a bit to the West and South entrances. Remember that your Outlaws and above fight a lot better in the mountains than your opponents (offsetting the garrison bonus).

[Comments by cph] At hard, I played it a bit differently. Helicrom's units throw themselves at the south gate and clog it for a day or so; the riders attack the west gate and tie up the enemy there. So I marched my entire force into the woods SW of the fortress; once both gates were clogged by the allies, I moved my forces closer to both gates, and then lunged into the fortress with all the footpads, outlaws and fugitives I could fit in. Fugitives on good defensive tiles are great for holding the flanks of the thrust, and footpads are expendable. Bash away throughout the night on all the enemies you can, moving as much as you can into the fortress; seize the central fort with outlaws, and rush footpads to the 4 towers as soon as you get an opening. The orcs went down the east side of the level, so they ran straight into the reinforcements, and I didn't have to fight either.

=== Epilogue ===

Storyline only, no combat.

[[Category:Campaigns]]