Combat

Managing provinces is only half the game; the other half is combat.

Combat is all about conquering shards and provinces. The tiny nuances of dominating the field of battle can take weeks or even months to perfect. But once you do, you can handle the unpredictable nature of warfare and then use it to your advantage.

Turn Based Strategy

On your turn, each of your units has a certain amount of spaces that they can move OR they can attack. As you upgrade units, some of them will be able to attack twice or move more often. But for the most part (and especially at the start of the game), each unit is very limited in it's action.

After you take your turn, then your opponent can move all of his units or attack and then the turn reverts to you.

However, there is a catch. Whenever you attack a unit, if it is not killed straight away, it will counter-attack you. And depending on the units and heroes involved, some counter-attacks can be devastating.

Tip #4: occasionally, because units can counter-attack, it's better to sit back and let the enemy rush you rather than the reverse. When an enemy strikes, you counter attack and damage them to some extent. Then on the next turn, if you're able to kill them outright, there's no counter-attack. This can precipitate a huge swing in momentum.

Unit Stats

Each unit (hero or troop) on the battlefield has three stats:

• hit points dictates the health of the unit; when this level gets to zero, the unit dies and is removed from the field (unless it's brought back as a skeleton by a necromancer
• morale dictates the courage level of the unit; when this level gets low (because he sees comrades in nearby hexes die), he will run away and leave the battlefield
• stamina dictates the energy level of the unit; when this level gets low, the unit becomes fatigued he is forced to skip a turn in order to rest.

Tactics

The goal to winning is to clear the battlefield by any means necessary. The first way is to scare the people from the field by killing their friends and frightening them into abandoning their position. Another way is to slaughter them outright. You can also position your troops behind hills at the start and then allow your enemies to exhaust themselves climbing over hills and trudging through swamps before they get to you.

These tactics apply to units and heroes.

Initiative

Maybe not when you first start, but who goes first will change your strategy. This is determined by comparing the initiative of both the attacking force and the defending force:

• If the attackers have the most initiative, they go first.
• If the defenders have the most initiative, they go first.
• In the event of a tie, the attackers go first.

Initiative is one of the stats held by the heroes and troops. The more troops you have and the more you level up your force will dictate your total initiative.

Armies and Troops

After building the appropriate buildings, you will be able to hire various units to march with your hero as part of his army. So, you can't hire -- say pikemen -- until after you build their first level one building.

The Garrison Screen

The garrison screen is divided in half -- one side dedicated to the units that are available for hire and have been hired and the other dedicated to your currently selected hero and his army. You can then interchange units as you see fit.

Hiring

You are going to lose many, many, many soldiers. Resign yourself to this now. The reason I know this is because no matter which hero you choose, you will never be so powerful at the beginning of the game to protect all your guys.

As a result, you will be quite familiar with the garrison screen as you will constantly be looking for the next batch of mooks to absorb the arrows.

Costs

Whenever you hire troops, not only do you need to spend money immediately to retain their services, but you'll also need to pay them as you go along. Lowly level-zero units cost very little, so you can have many of them. However, as the units upgrade, you'll need more and more gold to afford to keep them. Keep an eye on your troop costs and plan accordingly.

Troops

The troops that you hire will accompany your hero into battle. Your troops cannot travel around the map without a hero. So they must remain in the garrison and the hero must come to pick them up.

While in battle, each unit will gain experience on an individual basis based on what each individual unit does. So if one unit kills three bad guys, he will gain more experience than a unit that kills only one enemy. Just as your hero does, when a unit upgrades, you'll be able to select specific skill boosts (like counter-attack +1).

Tip #2: whenever you are given an opportunity, use your ranged units to get an enemy down to minimum health and then bring in a melee unit to finish the guy off. Doing this will give experience to all of the ranged units AND they guy who finishes the job. However, only do this when you have like two or three enemies left to contend with; while facing eighteen bloodthirsty lizardmen, just kill them as fast as possible.

Each of the units is an individual; units do not stack. So as a result of the layout of the combat arena, you can only have so many units (plus your heroes) on the map in a single assault.

Alignment

Every unit that ever ends up in the army for either side has an alignment. Their alignment is based on their inclination to help the local population, look out for themselves, or stay completely ambivalent to all things political.

• GOOD
  LVL1 - DWARF, HALFLING, HEALER, FAIRY
  LVL2 - DRYAD, MONK, PEGASUS
  LVL3 - KNIGHT, CLERIC
  LVL4 - NONE
• CHAMPION OF LIGHT (GOOD + MAGIC)
  LVL1 - ELF
  LVL2 - NONE
  LVL3 - UNICORN
  LVL4 - TREANT, PALADIN
• EVIL
  LVL1 - THIEF, GOBLIN, ORC, BRIGAND
  LVL2 - ASSASSIN, HARPY, THUG
  LVL3 - OGRE, EXECUTIONER, TROLL
  LVL4 - CYCLOPS
• EVIL INCARNATE (EVIL + MAGIC)
  LVL1 - IMP, SKELETON, ZOMBIE
  LVL2 - HELLHOUND, GHOUL, FIEND
  LVL3 - DEMON, GHOST
  LVL4 - VAMPIRE, DEVIL, WARLOCK
• NEUTRAL
  LVL1 - SPEARMAN, BOWMAN, LIZARDMAN, MILITIAMAN, SLINGER
  LVL2 - BALLISTA, BASILISK, HORSEMAN, CENTAUR, HORSE ARCHER, GIANT SLUG, GARGOYLE, GIANT SPIDER
  LVL3 - CATAPULT, GRYPHON, STONE GOLEM, MANTICORE, MEDUSA, MINOTAUR
  LVL4 - HYDRA, DRAGON, PHOENIX, WAR ELEPHANT
• LAWFUL
  LVL1 - CROSSBOWMAN, SWORDSMAN, PIKEMAN
  LVL2 - GUARDSMAN
  LVL3 - NONE
  LVL4 - NONE
• UNSCRUPULOUS
  LVL1 - BARBARIAN, SHAMAN
  LVL2 - SORCERER
  LVL3 - MAGICIAN
  LVL4 - GIANT

When units of opposing alignments are thrown together into an army, the units take a hit to their morale. This effect is negated for units that have the "tolerance" skill. Ideally, you should have a good army, an evil army, a lawful army, and an unscrupulous army to prevent these problems. It's a pain, but it can be done. Obviously, neutral units are a huge bonus as they can drift between armies.