How to play: Loyalists vs. Knalgan Alliance

[monochromatic]

Same same stuff. Enjoy

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Loyalists versus Knalgan Alliance

Slow and sturdy dwarves, with agile, hard-to-hit outlaws... You're in for a challenge. You'll need to be able to pierce through their inevitably strong defensive line, and utilize the day/night cycle to its fullest.

units you will be using

Mage - A must-have. This units will reliably take down outlaw units and damage dwarves in hills or mountains. As he's fragile and expensive, shield him properly, and use him to dislodge hard-to-hit units. Rating: *****
Cavalryman - This is a fast unit that can help take down outlaw units. It resists every attack expect for pierce, so Thunderers and Poachers are what you need to watch out for. But, this unit is much faster than the pierce units; out-run them. They will do less damage to dwarves, but they can get a few lucky strikes to take down that annoying Footpad. It is also useful to counter Ulfserkers. Rating: ****
Fencer - The four-strike Fencer will be useful in finishing off outlaws. Also, it can navigate terrain with high defensive values; since the Knalgan Alliance doesn't have any magical or marksman attacks, use that to your advantage. He can also compete with the Footpad for villages. Rating: ****
Heavy Infantryman - A good defensive unit. All Knalgan Alliance units except for the Fighter and maybe multiple Footpads will have trouble taking this guy down. Defend critical spots, such as villages with this unit. Don't over-recruit as it is really expensive. Rating: ***
Spearman - A basic unit. Good for shielding units like Mages and picking out outlaws. Plop him on a village and only dwarves will able to take it down. But the Spearman in this match-up has more limited uses. Rating: ***
Merman Fighter - Gryphon Riders can destroy Mermen easily. Recruit only if sea village control is crucial or simply the map has too much water. Rating: ***
Bowman - This units can poke at outlaws and melee-only dwarves, but it has limited usage out of that and defending villages from Poachers/Footpads/Thumderers. Rating: **
Horseman - Avoid recruiting this unit. Yes it can sometimes one-hit-kill some outlaws, but it's more often not. The Knalgan Alliance will also have Guardsmen, which will nullify your charge.Rating: *

units to watch out for

Dwarvish Guardsmen - Walls. Only Mages will be able to take these down. Difficult unit to deal with. Rating: *****
Dwarvish Fighter - They are the staple of the Knalgan Alliance army. They resist your attacks well, and you will have trouble taking these guys off a mountain. Rating: *****
Gryphon Rider - These can pop out of nowhere and kill your weak units. Watch out an always put Cavalrymen or Spearmen around your Mages. Rating: ****
Dwarvish Ulfserker - If he attacks your Mage, not only do you guarantee you have a dead unit, the Ulfserker is cheaper than the Mage. Attacking him with a Cavalryman is probably the best counter. Rating: ***

at the start of the match

At the start of the game, recruit 1-2 Cavalrymen depending on the map, 1-2 Mages, 1 Fencer, 1 Heavy Infantryman, and maybe a Spearman, Merman Fighter, or another Cavalryman. Move quickly to get a good village income. Then recruit Mages, Heavy Infantrymen, Fencers, and Spearmen to break through their defensive lines. Lure dwarves from the mountains and hills, or take them yourself with a Spearman or Fencer. If you got a dwarf on a mountain, range attack with a Mage unless it's a Thunderer. If a Thunderer, use Fencers, Spearmen, and Heavy Infantrymen to take them down.

when attacking/advancing

-Use the Mages to attack units in high defensive areas.
-Then use your Cavalrymen to shield the Mages and attack outlaws/Thunderers/Ulfserkers
-Spearmen and Heavy Infantrymen finish them off.
-Place Heavy Infantrymen in crucial places of ZoC to block off the enemy.

when defending/retreating

-Place your Cavalrymen, Spearmen, and Heavy Infantrymen in the front, wounded/weak/low hp units in the back.
-Give up a village if you have to; losing 2-3 gold is better than losing a 14+ gold unit.
-Watch out for Footpads and other fast units that village-steal. Have Cavalrymen chase after them.

basic flow of the match

You will be mostly trying to break through their defensive line. They will be defending and at night sending outlaws to wreck havoc in your lines. Defend against outlaws sneaking behind you and heavy dwarves coming and giving your units crap.

[Caphriel]

Well, I pretty much disagree with everything, as usual
Except maybe the mage, but I'm of mixed feelings about the mage in this matchup.
Cavalryman is also vulnerable to guardsmen, but is good if the knalgan player is using a lot of outlaws.
Fencers are good for finishing off wounded ulfs under certain circumstances, but other under circumstances are quite ulfable. They're a good counter to footpads, but they're not that great against thieves.
Heavy infantry are a good unit in this matchup; this is arguably the matchup they're most valuable in (I prefer mages against the Undead). They have the speed to compete with dwarves, and they're very hard for dwarves to kill without taking a great deal of retaliation.
Bowmen, similarly, are good for whittling down dwarves without taking retaliation damage.
Bowmen and spearmen can take out guardsmen during the day, especially if the guardsmen is on poor defensive terrain, although mages are certainly more effective at it.
Horsemen are good in this matchup! They can clobber dwarves on flat in addition to doing a ton of damage to outlaws.
It's not true at all that only way to remove a spearman from a village is outlaws. Poachers and backstabbing thieves will take him out pretty easily

What the right units are, though, and the value of those units, depends heavily on what your opponent is using. If they're using a lot of dwarvish fighters, as you suggest ("stape of the Knalgan army"), the utility of bowmen goes up. If they're using a lot of thunderers, the utility of cavalrymen goes down and the utility of the spearman goes up. If they're using a lot of outlaws, the utility of the mage goes up.

There are two ways for the Knalgans to beat the Loyalists. One is to use outlaws' chaoticness to press an attack at night. The other is to use mostly dwarves and try to win on the defensive. What units you use will depend partially on what your opponent is doing. My experience is that the Knalgans in this matchup tend to have a lot of thunderers, so cavalrymen aren't as useful as they could be, and spearmen become important for killing them.

[Huumy]

I have to disagree with the horseman. I think it's great for one hitting outlaws and finishing any dwarfs that are left on 50% or lower defense. Well worth the money.
Oh and if it makes your opponent recruit extra guardsman the better.

[5dPZ]

Some comments:

Units to spam:
SpearmEn - for everything - make double sure you spam this mindlessly (as you do in all loyalist games).
Mage - for killing dwarves in mountain/hills and outlaws

Units to have:
Archer - ok ranged damage and good hp and price
Cavaryman - scout, ulf/outlaw killer
HI - for defensive/offensive purposes, thanks to this match up that this unit is not completely piece of junk (but indefinitely close to), but again, loyalist can easily win without this dude

Units to avoid, unless:
Horseman - punish anything that enemy put on flat at day, having one around is good, more is too many
Fencer - ok ulf hunter at day (but ulf prey at night), but not effective otherwise
Merman - depend on water/swamp content

[monochromatic]

I'm gonna edit this later. Since there are many ways to play the Knalgan side of this, I'll post multiple ways to counter various/possible tactics. I like HODOR style Knalgans, so I commented based on a good usage of outlaws with a few dwarves for support. And all of your points make sense...in a slightly different circumstance. Thus I will write up different possibilities of play.

[gesmehod]

Infantry destroy griffons. Just sayin'.

[Xelthor]

Infantry destroy griffons. Just sayin'.

I agree