Our troops enter the mystic cave and find... a FAQ
Unofficial Fantasy General FAQ v2
Last Updated: Feb, '98
Preface
Preface: This is the second public draft of a FG FAQ. There are likely many
errors still. I'd appreciate constructive input, particularly if I've made an
error, or in the spots that I mention are still unfinished. I'm hoping this
will evolve somewhat from input from the friends of the FGC. Some parts of
this, particularly battle trees, are from other people's input.
JULY 9th 1999: Nevr mind the updates, the FGC is archived. Still, this FAQ
should provide you with good info. Seb.
Introduction
I haven't played it, what's it like? Is it any good?
It's great. The best place for general info if you don't own the game is the
SSI-Online web site.
What is discussed by this FAQ? What is excluded?
In general, I'm trying to explore and clarify the game mechanics. This is NOT
intended as a substitute for the manual, but rather as a supplement to it, and
as errata for errors in it. There is a short section on strategy, but it's
pretty basic, as I feel the best way to learn stuff like that is to play. There
are a few tricks in there, though...
Where did the information from this FAQ come from? Is it accurate?
The information in this FAQ was figured out by observing the game. I haven't
hacked the code, I don't have info from the publisher. It may be wrong,
particularly as this is currently a kind of beta test FAQ. Comments,
suggestions, corrections, and, yes, questions are welcomed. See information at
the end of the FAQ.
Game Mechanics
Tactical information (on the battlefield)
HOW DOES TERRAIN EFFECT MOVEMENT RATES?
It depends on the method of movement (MOD). Also, movement ends when the hex
you move into is in enemy zone of control (ZOC-see manual pg. 54)
Road Clear Rough/Woods Mountain/Volcano River Jungle Swamp/Lava
Ope 2/3* 1 1 All All 2 3
Clo 2/3* 1 2 All All 3 All
Cav 2/3* 1 2 All 3 4 All
Sie 2/3* 1 2 All All All All
Air 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
* The 2/3 value for roads is only applied if travel is between two road hexes.
Clear to road and road to clear movement both cost 1. Non-road to road appears
to always cost 1, not 2/3. It doesn't matter if the graphics show the roads on
the hexes as connecting or not.
Bridges are odd. My guess is that they cost as a road if you approach on road.
It looks like you must move to the road hex adjacent to the bridge before
crossing it. I got some weird results though; it's possible the 'find the best
path' mechanism is broken, or something is very weird....
COMBAT
How do units with more than one type of attack work?
Combat appears to go through Missile, Skirmish, then Melee phases, stopping
when the attacking unit finishes it's primary attack.
So, skirmishers will skip the Melee phase when attacking, Archers will skip
Skirmish and Melee.
However, an infantry with a Crossbow will get both attacks in when it attacks
(it's expected damage is higher than it would be if it got only a melee
strike).
How do ambushes work?
An ambush occurs when a unit attempts to enter a hex occupied by an unspotted
enemy unit. The 'defending' unit then ambushes the unit which is moving,
getting an attack in without any return fire. This, incidentally, is the only
way to get a bombardier to fight another bombardier...
What formulas are used to determine damage?
OK. I've tried to work this out, but it's either non-linear or the damage
estimates are somehow fishy.
Damage is based on (attack strength-armor of defending unit). Amount of damage
is not the same for attack and defense, nor is it the same across the three
types of attack.
In general, defenders do slightly more damage than attackers (try identical
grade 1 HI to see this.. the defender does more damage expected)
For total damage, (kills+wounds): (same attack and armor values)
melee > skirmish > missile
However, for just kills: (same attack and armor values)
missile > skirmish > melee
it follows that for just wounds: (same attack and armor values)
melee > skirmish > missile
15 life melee units never expect less than 1 wound or more than 3 deaths and 10
wounds.
An advantage(attack strength vs. armor) of more than 20 is irrelevant. I've
seen a +45 advantage give the same expected casualties as +20.
The Official Strategy Guide is wrong. (I've leafed through it at the store; I
didn't buy it partly because of this.) If you find the expected damage of a
unit per advantage over the enemy it does not come out as linear, unlike the
formula they describe. Admittedly, they're somewhat close. The other, perhaps
more sinister, possibility is that they're right and expected losses is
screwed. Also, I postulate 6 formulae, one for attack/defense for 3 attack
types, yet they list just one. Which one is it?
When do archers get defensive fire?
Archers get defensive fire if an adjacent unit is attacked by a NON-MISSILE
attack.
(unless they're Broken [ML])
Note: Defensive fire comes BEFORE any other attack.
So, if the archers kill 3 guys out of 15, the the attacking unit will only
attack with 12 guys. When do units retreat? When will they surrender?
The manual says retreating is based only on 'current life and any losses' I
suspect morale is involved. Almost whole units retreat a fair bit. They
surrender if there is no hex for them to move to. They can move into the
attacking unit's hex if it dies in the attack! (weird retreat, huh?)
What is the sky hunter's escort ability? (pg. 56)
It is essentially an interception of an enemy bombardier. If a bombardier
attempts to bomb in a hex adjacent to a sky hunter which has neither defended
nor already escorted that turn, the bombardier will fight the sky hunter in
melee instead of bombing.
It is also the interception of an adjacent enemy sky hunter attacking an
adjacent friendly bombardier.[ML]
MORALE
What determines the base morale of a unit?
Base Morale = 100 +5/level of unit
What effects morale?
Units get +10 if they are adjacent to or if they are a Hero. Morale is modified
by 20 for the Charisma attribute. Combat affects of morale:
-(4-9) per attack or defense[I haven't found a pattern here]
-5 per death the unit suffers
-3 per wound the unit suffers
When you rest, you regain up to base morale, modified by -5/death and -3/wound.
When do units become disordered or broken?
Morale is checked after each attack or defense by a unit. This happens during
each type of combat. (pg. 50) A unit can become disordered or broken even if
that unit suffers no losses (I guess that's a 'combat result'). Affects of
disorder and breaking are described in the manual on page 51.
EXPERIENCE
What determines how much experience a unit gets?
The formula is:
+5 per attack or defense (+3 if a single entity)
+5 additional if there is return fire (for both attacker and defender) (+3 for
single entity)
+1 per wound and per death the unit SUFFERS.
Archer defensive fire gets the archer +5 xp(as return fire)
Extra return fire (from archers) does not increase attacker's xp.
Values for single entities aren't exact. They sometimes get less, for no
apparent reason. My current theory is that 'deaths' a S. E. suffers become
wounds, but don't give xp.
The amount of damage a unit INFLICTS, and how many kills it gets, appears to be
irrelevant. This surprised me...
Also, for spells: (magic items give similar experience)
+1 per successfully cast non-damage, non-area effect spell
+3 per successfully cast single unit damage spell
+1 per unit affected by an area effect spell
There are a few exceptions(Berserk? I can't remember...)
How/when do units lose experience? How much do they lose?
This is described in the manual, but some people find it confusing. When a unit
suffers deaths in combat, when the unit recruits to replace the dead parts of
that unit it will lose experience.* If you don't recruit on the battlefield,
you will automatically recruit after the battle. The formula:
(# still alive)*(present XP) + (# to replace)*(starting XP)
all divided by the maximum life of the unit(usually 15, 10 for spellcasters)
Since Marcas' units start with 100 XP, recruiting costs less xp for all his
units throughout the game. A good advantage.
* If a volunteer with under 100 xp recruits for Marcus, it gains XP!
What's the limit for a unit's experience?
599. No experience is gained above 599.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of the unit types?
Heavy Infantry
I tend to think of them as a sort of default troop.
Strengths: They are the strongest all around units. The most powerful Melee
unit. Negate cavalry is a big plus.
Pikemen, Legionarii and Heavy Spearmen has the negate Cavalry bonus, which is
very useful in the front line. Warlord Mechanus with Amulet of Resistance make
great cannon fodder. Weaknesses: Speed. They're slow. Force March helps, but
you can't spellcast and attack....
Opinion: Either H.I. or cavalry is necessary. A good, almost essential, unit.
Keeping a few Samurai around to fill the role of light infantry can work pretty
well, as they are an open formation unit. (no negate cavalry bonus though!)
Light Infantry
A somewhat faster, weaker version of heavy infantry
Strengths: Well, they do well in rough terrain.
helpfull on 3rd continent, upgrade them after, but do't buy anymore.
Weaknesses: with low xp, or in open terrain, they're weak
Skirmishers
Somewhat fast infantry which has a skirmish attack
Strengths: Skirmish attack which disallows return melee attacks. *Half Damage*
is dealt to them, when they defend, by troops which move _as fast as_ or slower
than they do. (see rulebook errata) They move well in rough terrain.
Invisibility is neat, don't forget to cast it for a free xp.
Weaknesses: Cavalry can kill them quickly, as they do full damage (unless the
skirmisher has a boots of rapid movement!) They're a little slow in open
terrain.
Opinion: I like them a lot. I have a lot of either them or light cav. in every
army. They are beefier than L.I. because of half damage rules, as well as
skirmishing... A group of skirmishers will easily slaughter a group of Heavy
Infantry similar in size and price.
Combined with archers, invis. gives a nice ambush attack- enemy tries to attack
the apparently lone archer and moves into the skirmisher, giving an ambush plus
defensive fire.[DWP]
Archers
Slow infantry which has a missile attack and defensive fire.
Strengths: Missile attack which allows only missile return fire. Defensive
fire, which is great on defense
Weaknesses: SLOW. This can be Very Annoying. They're pretty wimpy when attacked
directly. They do less total damage, but get a fair amount of kills.
Opinion: Lukewarm. They're not necessary, but they're nifty if you can get them
to the frontline. It is unclear to me if upgrading to Royal archers is a good
thing. You don't get the 3 missile and armor, but fire archers move as an open
formation, which can make the difference in getting into battle. defensive fire
comes first which may soften the attack's strength The unlimited defense fire
is very useful in the front line so I like to give them the boot to keep up the
speed. Krindel is second only to Malric and actually more useful in the end
game. The archers would get fire bombed in the 6th continent but that is much
better than weakness on your HI.
Cavalry
Melee unit faster than H.I. but somewhat weaker.
Strengths: Fast. +8 to melee if _attacked hex_ is clear, road, etc. Phoenix
Knights Rule.
Weaknesses: not as strong as H.I., particularly early. Somewhat expensive.
Opinion: Thumbs up. Either Cav or H.I. is necessary in force. Their greater
mobility slightly more than offsets their relative weakness when comparing to
H. I. Raise Dead is the best spell in the game. Phoenix Knights, unless they
die all the way, don't lose xp from deaths. Very Nice. And they're a mortal
unit!
Light Cavalry
Very fast skirmishing cavalry, somewhat weak.
Strengths: Very Fast. Skirmishing. Takes half damage from attacking units
moving _as fast as_ or slower than they.
Weaknesses: They don't do that much damage. Pretty expensive.
Opinion: I like them; I wouldn't go without either them or skirmishers. Half
damage is great, but watch out for Sky Hunters. I almost favor skirmishers, as
L.C. are awfully wimpy, but I usually go for a unified mostly Cav or mostly
Infantry theme. They don't have to fear (slower) Cav as much as skirmishers do.
Since they run fast, they are very useful to lay siege to faraway towns.
However, two units are needed if the defender is a melee unit because of their
tendency to retreat.
Sky Hunters
Aerial Melee units.
Strengths: Flight, Very fast. Escort ability(see combat above)
Weaknesses: expensive, wimpy in comparison to other melee units.
Opinion: Absolutely Essential. I can do without any unit but Sky hunters. They
are critical, and sometimes hard to keep alive. A _minimum_ of 25% of your
forces should be S.H. IMO. Phoenix Hawks are a major reason to play Krell; as I
said earlier, Raise Dead Rules.
Bombardiers
Aerial missile unit.
Strengths: flight, fast. Missile attack.
Weaknesses: expensive, somewhat wimpy.
Opinion: Pretty good. Fast and flexible, useful in starting the attack on tough
units as well as harrassing wounded units. Their weaknesses hurt, though,
making them nice but non-essential to me.
Siege Engines
Ranged attack unit with special siege attack
Strengths: Range of attack, siege attack on castles/towns.
Weaknesses: SLOW. Very wimpy in melee. SLOW. Attack doesn't get good until
several upgrades. Oh, yeah, they're slow.
Opinion: Dislike. There are some situations where they're good, but it takes
forever to get them forward, and you have to protect them too much.
They do get pretty nasty if you can cluster them near a town, as each one gets
support fire for each attack.[ML]
Chain Guns is the upgrade much need to get to range 4, to compensate for their
slowness.
Spellcasters
Spellcasting skirmishers.
Strengths: Well, spells. Magical skirmish attack.
Weaknesses: Slow. Spells mostly suck. Wimpy. Only 10 life.
Opinion: Dislike. The earlier spells (healer, banshee) are pretty good but the
later ones are poor. The 10 life per unit disadvantage hurts them a lot. As
mentioned on the net, they'd be worth it if they kept all spells up to their
grade, but as is, thumbs down.
Campaign management (outside of battlefields)
RESEARCH
How much cash must I invest to get a certain grade of unit?
Roughly, it costs as much as the unit costs to buy(Not to upgrade) after you
get the previous grade. There are discounts for some characters (Marcas for
infantry, etc.)
How does non-mortal research effect this?
I think it's just additive. (big disadvantage.)
MAGIC ITEMS
What does X do?
The manual and on-line stuff seems to be pretty good. If you're curious, you
can check them out in the arena by clicking on item on the unit screen when
you're building your army.
Can you get multiples of the same item?
Yes. No restrictions, as far as I can tell.
except for skull of krang.
CHOOSING BATTLE SITES
What are the battle trees? Where do I find X? How do I get Y?
(Please send in your paths through the different continents. Make sure to use
the lettering conventions. This data will help with some of the more complex
mapping issues. Try to take different paths than the one(s) listed here.)
[KMW],[GD],[PK]
a)Scarlet Plain b)Fareach Valley
a-->c b-->c
c)Hoaroot Forest
If you are Calis, Malric can be found here
If you are Mordra, Shandel is found here - [PK]
c-->d
d)Cynehelm Valley
If you are Krell, Loric can be found here
If you are Marcas, Borric can be found here
end of 1st continent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Continent (Aelcar)
MAP OF CONTINENT #2 (6/3/96)
NOTE: "X" and "Y" are map decorations (Castle Icons) - there are no battles at
either.
a) The Vale of Sorrow
The Priest of Handola can be found here
if you reach the Temple of Handola in about 10 turns.
If you get there earlier, he'll give you gold or
an amulet
If you get there later, he'll probably be dead.
If you beat this battle in about 13 turns, the
Caerovian Peninsula will be open to you.
a-->b, c, d (by turn 13)
b)Forest of Weeping Wind c)Broken Fang Pass
b-->e, f, g c-->e, f, g
d)Caerovian Peninsula
The MechMaster Ferras can be found here
He will provide you with the MechMaster ability,
allowing you to recruit mechs
d-->b, c
e)Rholmere f)Sundered Plain g)Cape Havoc
e-->h f-->h,e,g g-->e,f,h
If playing Krell or
Marcas then
Dreggo found here
Note: My guess is that if you visit "e", OR "f", OR "g", then
the other two and "h" will be offered. AFTER visiting
"e", OR "f", OR "g", then the other two will only offer
"h". -[GD]
h)Drake Forge Valley
end of 2nd continent
3rd Continent (Ssazikar)
MAP OF CONTINENT #3 (7/15/96)
NOTE: "X" and "Y" are map decorations (Castle Icons),
there are no battles at either.
. . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. Y . . . . . .
. . j . .
. r .
. s k f g .
. .
. q .
. .
. i d .
. e .
. . . . .
. o h . . c .
. . . .
. . . .
. l . . a .
. p . . . . b . .
. . . . . .. .
. . . . . . X .
. . . . . n . . m . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
.
a)Blackmoon Fens b)Asphead Mountains
Valira can be found here Krindel may be found here (% chance)
b-->c, d b-->c, d
c)Shrike River Valley d)Stranglevine Jungle
c-->d,e,f If you beat this battle in about
10 turns, the Sunken Coast will
be available
d-->e, f, g (by turn 10, maybe more)
e)Ravenscraw Downs f)Bearded Mts. g)Sunken Coast
e-->h,i,j f-->e,g,h Niels the Engineer can
be found here. He will
allow mech units to be repaired
by resting.
g-->e, k
h)Felbourne Bogs
If you beat this battle in about 13 turns, Giant's Throw
Island will be available
h-->i,j,l,m (by turn 13, maybe more)
(KMW only got l,m here and
I also got i,j, perhaps because
I went through "f"? [GD])
i)Claw River Basin j)Devouring Swamp k)Thunder Plains
i-->q, r j-->l,o,r k-->h,i,j
(Army max increase
by 2 units after
completion [GD])
l)Shattered Mts. m)Giant's Throw Island
l-->i, n, o m-->i,j,l
| Saegar the Ranger can be found here.
| Units will receive +1 to search range and
| move through woods at 1 mp/hex cost
(KMW got "i" here
and I got "r",
wonder why?-[GD])
n)Shadow Cliff Peninsula o)Venomroot Jungle
n-->q, r o-->p, q
p)Misty Plain q)Cloven Foot Pass r)Toadskin Fells
p-->q q-->s r-->q
s)Serpent's Cauldron
end of 3rd continent
4th Continent (Maloch)
MAP OF CONTINENT #4 (6/3/96)
NOTE: "Y" is a map decoration (the castle Icon)
and there is no battle here.
. . . . . . . . . . .
. Y aa . . . . . . . . M .
. .
. z w u t L k .
. y .
. .
. g .
. x .
. s o j .
. .
. p .
. v .
. i f . .
. . . r e .
. m .
. q .
. d c .
. . . .
. l h . .
. . . b a .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
a)Ice Fields of Noiraneskap
Sir Kalador can be found here, but if you take too
long, he will be dead when you reach the shrine he is held at
a-->b,c
b)Crystalwood Vale c)Glacier Fall Mts.
b-->d,e c-->d,e
d)Wyrm Gullet Gorge e)Verikan Tundra
d-->h,i,j,k e-->d,f,g
f)Deadwood Marches g)Blue Fang Ice Shelf
f-->h, i, j, k g-->h,i,j,k
h)Mist Valley i)Shadows Peak j)Grey Hills k)Pharenian Steppes
h-->l,m,o,L i-->h,m,o,L,M j-->o k-->h,i,o,L,M
L) Drakehorn Gap M) Ravenwoods
L-->l,m,p M--> l, m, o, L
(eliminates path to "o")
l)Ice Cauldron Mts.
Xyphon can be found here, but if you take too long,
he'll be dead when you get to where he is being held
l-->m
m)Harbinger Valley
m-->o,p ("o" not available if "L" visited)
o)Shard Plains of Srael p)Burel's Wall
o-->p p-->q,r,s,t
("o" not available if "L" visited)
q)Rimecape Mts. r)Boreal Vale s)Mirrored Plains t)Gravewind Mts.
q-->u,r,s r-->u,v s-->r,u t-->u, r, s
u)Wolfshead Valley v)Forest of Silent Winds
u-->w,v v-->x,w
(may have to go (may have to go through
through "s" to get "v") through "s" to get "w")
NOTE: [KMW] doesn't show being able to access v from u and w
from v, but I could. Perhaps this is because I went
through "s" which he didn't try. -[GD]
w)Gaothaire Heights x)Skyreach Mts.
w-->y,z x-->y,z
y)Scar Valley z)Whip River Valley
y-->aa z-->aa
aa)Mandragora Steppes
Krindel or valira can be found here
end of 4th continent
a)Bleeding Mts.
a-->b, c
b)Labyrinth Valley c)Sundry Shadow Coast
b-->d,e c-->d,e
d)Sharktooth Island e)Deadlands Island
d-->f,g e-->f, g
f)Hunters Isle g)Southbender Island
f-->h, i g-->h,i
h)Marasil Island i)Tindal Cove Island
h-->j, k i-->j,k
j)Argraksa Island k)Isle of Watchers
j-->l k-->l
l)Crimson Sands
end of 5th continent
NOTE: "X" (Bloodworth Castle) and "Y" (Vale of the Shadowlord)
are map decorations (the castle icon) and there are no
battles here.
.. . . . .
. . . . . .Y .
. E . . . . . . . . . . . t .
. F . . . .
. D . . . q s .
. . .
. f i o .
. m Q .
. .
. c j .
. r .
. d k n .
. .
. g .
. a .
. h p .
. e l .
. b . . .
. X . . . . . . . R .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .
. .
a)Burning Heights b)Glowing Sands
a-->c,d,e b-->c, d, e
c)Searwood Forest d)Duskill Fells e)Ashfall Forest
c-->D, E, f, g, h d-->D,E,f,g,h e-->D, E, f, g, h
D)Pinion Plains
D-->E, f, g, h
E)Cracked Spine Mts. f)Valley of Flaming Tongues
E-->F, g, h, j f-->F,j,k,l
F) The Scarred Coast
F-->i,j,k,l
g)Bloodrock Furnace
g->F, j, k, l
An interesting place -- if you choose not to fight
this battle, it remains selectable until the end of
the stage
If "f" is chosen, then "g" is no
longer available, but "F" becomes
available. -[GD]
h)Desolation Gorge
h-->i,j,k,l
you can get the skull of Krang here.
i)Stoneflow Valley j)Slag River Valley k)Cinder Flats
i-->I, m, n, l j-->i,k,l,m k-->l, m, n
I) Falcon's Beak Peninsula
Dwarven Scroll can be found here
I--> m, n, p
l)Painscape Cauldron m)Accursed Woods n)Pumice Wastes
l-->o,n,p m-->o,n,p n-->o,p
An interesting place
- if you choose not
to fight at "n", then
it remains available
until end of game.
o)Seething Moors p)Widowsthorn Thicket
o-->q, r p-->n,q,r,R
q)Fehrdusk Forest r)Stonewrath Flats
q-->s r-->n,q,Q
R) The Scalding Quagmore
R-->q, Q
Q) Roiling Wastes
Q-->n,s
s)Daemonforge Gap
s-->t,n
t)Vale of the Shadowlord
end of 6th continent
From: Hong Ooi
Subject: For the FAQ: Dwarven ability on continent 6
This may have been brought up already, but you can get the Dwarven ability
on the last continent. The battle is at Falcon's Beak Peninsula, which is
not on the map in the FAQ. I got there by taking the path
Slag River Valley -> Stoneflow Valley -> Falcon's Beak Pen
After finishing Stoneflow Valley, I received word that an enemy leader in
the north had a strange ability to "move through the earth" or words like
that. The only site to the north of Stoneflow was Falcon's Beak, so I
decided to investigate. During the battle, I parked one of my siege engines
behind a mountain range, safely out of reach of the enemy -- or so I
thought. Then a LC unit moved THROUGH the mountain and hit my SE! Okay, so
maybe I should have expected that from the intro... Sure enough, after that
battle, I too was able to move through mountains.
Note: I haven't checked if this is the full Dwarven ability, ie the bonuses
to armour and siege. Maybe it's only the move-through-mountains bit, but
even that's very handy.
some of the battle scenarios have random maps and some have fixed maps,
It certainly makes a big difference when you play those maps -
the arrangement of rivers, roads and tough terrain, the number of towns,
shrines, etc., all of that can vary, along with, to some extent, the placement
of the enemy forces.
Basically, any map on which towns, shrines, temples and caves don't
have names is a random map.
Here's some data:
1st Continent:
a, c and d are all fixed maps. Don't know about b.
2nd Continent:
a, c, d, f and h are fixed. I think g and e are random.
3rd Continent:
a, b, c, f are fixed. d ,e, g and k are random.
Errata to Rulebook
The rulebook is actually quite good, but it is occasionally inaccurate:
Skirmishers/ Light Cavalry in defense: (pg. 55, 56)
They take 1/2 damage to attacking units _as fast as_ or slower. If there's a
morale penalty, it's very small. Much less than the morale loss they'd get if
they actually took the damage, for example. Also, a clarification: apparently
the probability of damage is halved, not the final damage. (This changes the
probability distribution considerably; a 15 life unit will sometimes do 8 or 9
points, for example, though the mean can't go above about 6)
Spotting- 'The Spotting Trick' (see pg. 53/54)
If a unit moves into an enemy ZOC but not into an enemy unit, you get a free
spot. You lose your ability to abort move but see enemy units within your
unit's spotting range.
This has several implications:
You can never be ambushed if you move one hex at a time, cancel move, and then
re-move to the next forward hex.
You can always find fleeing units(usually sky hunters for me) by trying a
direction and, if you don't move next to the fleeing unit, aborting and trying
another direction.
Is this Cheating?
It is my opinion that any game option other than reloading the game is part of
the game, so is not cheating, although I'll admit this is getting iffy.
David [DWP] also thinks it's somewhat iffy, but thinks it is closer to cheating
than not.
Make up your own mind. You might want to agree on this prior to PBEM games.
Retreating Pg.48
The manual claims retreating is based on "...current life and any losses..."
yet I have seen a 15 life unit retreat. Something else is going on.
Unit pictures
Unit pictures examples are, well, way wrong.
Archers' defensive fire (pg. 46, 48, 56)
Archers don't get defensive fire against enemy missile attacks on units
adjacent to the archer. This is not clear in the manual, IMHO.
Appendix 1 errors:
Valira has 17 armor, not 170.
Krindel's spell should be P, not PM.
Malkin's spell says VOD. (It's really Whirlwind -[PK])
Problems with the game:
Does the A. I. cheat?
(By cheat I mean does it do things with units a human cannot)
Yes. The AI will cast a spell(e.g. death wounds) early in the turn, I saw this
in an all deaths unit(due to death wounds spell). I repeated to verify the unit
always did only deaths. AFTER the unit which had had death wounds cast on it
had moved and attacked the Conjurer moved. This is impossible for a player to
do.
The Balanced Army check
Allegedly to force the players to have a balanced army, the A. I. goes nuts if
you 'over-specialize' your army and research. I've seen 7 4-shield max grade
units pop from a town when I had an unbalanced army on hard. I hate this. I
don't know what the designers were thinking. If you want to force this, write
scenarios needing varied unit types.
There is no good rationale why the Shadowlord should get cosmic recruits if you
have a specialized army. This really pissed me off the first(well, as yet,
only) time I played on hard. Do useless research and have a few token varied
units if you want a specialized army, I guess.
Tactical Hints (basic)
Ideal matchups for attacking
Generally,
skirmish vs. melee
missile vs. skirmish
melee vs. missile
maximizes advantages. Also, Cavalry vs. Skirmishers(the unit type, not L.C.) is
optimum. Most of the time you won't actually do this though. Like attacking
like is usually the _worst_ matchup(!), although frequently necessary.
When casualties are acceptable
the less xp a unit has, the less it loses when it suffers a death. I'm less
concerned about inexperienced units' casualties for this reason. Recruit to
full strength ASAP, however, else you get effectively diminished xp for the
rest of the combat...
Raise dead units make deaths close to irrelevant, however.
When should I cast force march?
Force March is a spell castable by Heavy Infantry. The simplest way to use it
is to cast it before you move, which gives you two extra movement points. You
may cast it before or after your normal move.
Sometimes it's best to cast it before you move, for example:
You start on a road, and want to move through two more roads, across two clear
hexes, and through two more road hexes. The cost is: 2/3 * 2 + 3 * (1)(road to
clear, clear to clear, clear to road all cost 1) + 2/3 =5
You can move there for five movement points, but if you split the move in half
(one 3 move and one 2 move) you won't make it, as you won't keep the fraction
of a movement point between the two moves.
More often, however, taking two separate moves is to your advantage. You can
cross rivers in a single turn, or move through two squares of mountains.
Toying with the enemy: maximize your xp
Especially early, don't be in too much of a hurry to finish off your opponent.
You can get lots more xp if you let units retreat and rest. (this can get very
boring, however.)
What should I research?
Everything. Otherwise the computer will screw you over for having an unbalanced
army. (grrrrrr.)
Of course, first get the stuff you use upgraded, but don't let your useless
research lag too far behind.
The spotting trick
See errata. Questionably fair.
Which character is best?
All IMHO:
Early in the campaign: Marcas, Calis, Krell, Mordra
Late in the campaign: Krell, Marcas, Calis, Mordra
Krell is great late in the campaign because of Phoenix Hawks. Beginners should
have an easier time with Marcas and Krell. Experienced players will have fun
with the other characters. All of the above is arguable.
