Loyalist strategies

[Prince of Desert]

Mmm..
Okay, I've been playing wesnoth for a couples of months and I was wondering what that best strategies for the loyalists.

[Glowing Fish]

I guess the basic strategy I follow with loyalists (and I am sorry if you already knew this), is to get a variety of units. I usually would want one Heavy Infantry, one Fencer, one (or two) Spearmen, and possibly a Bowman. I usually don't get Mages or Horsemen, because of the cost, unless they are specifically called for.

In multiplayer, I usually don't attack the first day. I usually wait over the first night, and then attack during the first full day.

[Prince of Desert]

thanks for posting...
I didn't knew this strategy... I was actually putting alot of horsemen because of their devastating power during the day.

[Prince of Desert]

anyother suggestions

[F8 Binds...]

well, i like to throw in a horseman, regardless, as he is useful against EVERY race in the game. He is primarily used to kill units in a single blow, as to not get large damage back or even die. He is not your basic unit. you may want to use them after getting an idea of a basic loyalist strategy. one calvaryman is also useful as a scouting unit, and is great for attacking anything but spearman, just avoid him (AND the horseman) getting killed for exposure to archer fire. a spearman+bowman combo should be recruited against all races but undead. i like to avoid HI, as they are slow, expensive, and only get 2 strikes compared to the spearman. He is very weak against ranged attacks, as he is easy to hit, even if he does take less damage. recruit only against undead. fencers are a nice unit to get one of as well, and to kill fleeing injuered units.

edit: forgot about mages, they can take out high defense postitions. get one

[Konrad II]

thanks for posting...
I didn't knew this strategy... I was actually putting alot of horsemen because of their devastating power during the day.

Horsemen may be good, but seeing their cost and global resistances etc, they'll just get chopped against anything that resists pierce, and anything that deal damage after they are done charging, and then you'll be down.
I'd go for what F8 Binds said, make only 1 at first, then perhaps another but later on

[Glowing Fish]

well, i like to throw in a horseman, regardless, as he is useful against EVERY race in the game.

Horseman are not very useful against Undead, unless the Undead has hired almost only Dark Adepts. Sending Horsemen to charge Skeletons is bad. Sending them to charge Skeleton Archers is not quite as bad, as they won't die that turn, but will die the next. Two strikes against a ghost isn't enough, because of their high defense. They will probably drain more damage than you can do. You could use Horsemen to chase down walking corpses, but it seems a bit of a waste. There would be a good way to kill ghouls on bad terrain that you can kill with one hit. But are you really going to recruit a unit just for that?

[Higher Game]

Horsemen are great against dark adepts, but they are also really nice against vampire bats. Making 1 is a good idea. Cavalry have good hit points and cold resistance, though, so they are useful in defense. I like to make a horseman kill and then move a cavalryman in. For a scout unit, they're actually very useful in real combat, especially strong cavalry at day.

[F8 Binds...]

well, i like to throw in a horseman, regardless, as he is useful against EVERY race in the game.

Horseman are not very useful against Undead, unless the Undead has hired almost only Dark Adepts. Sending Horsemen to charge Skeletons is bad. Sending them to charge Skeleton Archers is not quite as bad, as they won't die that turn, but will die the next. Two strikes against a ghost isn't enough, because of their high defense. They will probably drain more damage than you can do. You could use Horsemen to chase down walking corpses, but it seems a bit of a waste. There would be a good way to kill ghouls on bad terrain that you can kill with one hit. But are you really going to recruit a unit just for that?

... Adepts can't be absolutely surrounded unless he has 3x the gold you got. They have a 25% chance to kill ghosts in day. (75% if you can kill it in one blow) If he has enough WC's, (he shouldn't have many) that's when you get bowman Do you appreciate how much you impare the opponent by killing an adept? that's 16- 24 possible damage down the drain. And if the opponent has many skeletons, HI do the job quite well. More than one just isn't necessary unless under certain circumstances-

1. He spams a unit with a poor melee attack. (mages/archers)
2. You plan to assassinate the enemy leader because there is no hope. (a last resort)

My opinion is this: if you even manage to get 23 gold (#2) and you have no hope, then you might as well just recruit cheaper units and luck it out.

speech ended.

[player1]

I dont play loyalists that often, but when I do happen to use them their best map is blitz (in my opinion). On blitz as long as the enemy isnt undead, go all pierce in the beginning and recruit other units where needed. You recruit 3 spears or (1 bow and two spears) and 3 mermen in the beginning that will act as a reserve force throughout the rest of the game allowing you to attack enemies from two sides by means of the lake in the middle.

I bet some "better" players may disagree with me, but this strategy works pretty well.

[Prince of Desert]

Okay well that's what i'm doing at the beggining of the game with the loyalists. i'm putting some spearmens and bowmans and some cavalrymen. after some fencers and that If have alot of gold im doing an army of horsemen...

[zookeeper]

Well, there is no "best strategy" for almost anything unless you count "defeat your enemy" as a strategy. It all depends on the map, what your opponent has and recruits and so on.

Personally I don't think the recruits themselves are the most important thing. Sure, they matter, but unless you really screw up and your opponent recruits the perfect counters you can usually manage. The ability to manouver and position your units according to the situation are what matters most IMO, and that's rather hard to explain (easy to explain in a way which doesn't actually help much to learn how to do it).

It's useful to have some basic guidelines like "don't expose your dark adepts to ulfserkers" or "always try to attack from good terrain", but...you can't win much by simply following those if you don't understand the underlying tactics and can't apply them in any other situation just as well. I'm not so good at explaining them in a useful manner though.

[theothercolin]

Ive been using them some recently and Ive found it difficult to use them effectively. Nothing seems to do that much damage...or maybe the lawfulness of them throws me off. I would check the 'How To Play' series but it seems the Loyalists are not on there.

[zaimoni]

You have to micromanage more with Loyalists, on both mobility and defensive terrain. You also need to match your recruiting against what the opponent recruits more.

E.g., the Fencer actually *does* have a use against all factions -- it is the only foot unit with a guaranteed minimum 6 move, so there are some maps which you can only guarantee getting a village on turn 2 by recruiting a Fencer. The difference between guaranteed 5 and guaranteed 6 also often controls how fast you know you can reach a village in forest or mountains.

[krotop]

The difference between guaranteed 5 and guaranteed 6 also often controls how fast you know you can reach a village in forest or mountains.

Plus the ability to be the 1st on strategic spots.

Though, against undeads and drakes, more than 1 is a waste of money I'd say (even 1 could be discussed). And against other factions, it's not a unit to spam with.