Scenario 11: Ford of Abez

Feedback for the mainline campaign Heir to the Throne.

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cph
Posts: 129
Joined: May 12th, 2007, 4:29 pm
Location: London, UK

Post by cph »

1) Medium; 1.2.4
2) 5
3) Clear
4) Good
5) First time, I didn't realise getting the storm trident was on a very tight schedule, and lost some mermen to the sea creatures.
6) 7 - good connecting level, and fun to be able to put the mermen to good use. And the moment when you realise the sea creatures are going to attack the loyalists, that brings a smile :)
7) The orcs on the north bank could be a little tougher, or perhaps change the recruitment pattern so they just recruit more weaker units, which would make it harder to get onto the beach. As it is, the mermen can kill everything pretty easily, and you still have Konrad (probably lvl3 by this time, Delfador and the elf lord) who are pretty potent on land even alone.
8 ) start gold ~280
Carnildo
Posts: 6
Joined: November 18th, 2007, 1:29 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by Carnildo »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
1.2.7, easy

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
1

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear enough, although the definition of "across the river" is a bit fuzzy -- I lost a merman because the sand doesn't count as "across".

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Reasonably so.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Defeating the sea monsters -- they clustered up, and even with two storm tridents and Delfdor, I wasn't able to land enough hits to finish them in a single turn.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
10. Those loyalists should know better than to step into a river teeming with merfolk.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

Add a third scenario where the merfolk play a major part. It's kind of disappointing knowing there's no real advantage in leveling them up here. I haven't played "The Swamp of Dread", so I don't know if the merfolk would be useful there.
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Buddy Jimm
Posts: 48
Joined: July 25th, 2006, 11:54 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by Buddy Jimm »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?

Medium, 1.3.17

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

2. It's a huge pool party, and I'm the only kid who can swim. The monsters are a threat, no question, but often they are happy to ignore me for other victims.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

A little fuzzy, but generally clear what needs to happen.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

Absolutely great.

Delfador spells Weldyn as "Weldin" though.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

No real challenges at this point. The variety of mermen have more than made up for the removal of Gryphon Riders.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

6. The pandemonium is pretty cool, if a little easy to get through.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

I'm inclined to agree to the suggestion for a stop post and maybe some more land terrain in the ford. As the objectives are, the orc commander has to play offensively here, and he does. The result is largely a lot of mermen food. A short battle on the north side would make things a little more interesting now that the gryphons are gone. Might be good to make the player discover that mermen can still (to a lesser degree) do battle on land.
After death, the doctor.
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theruler
Posts: 26
Joined: February 29th, 2008, 11:01 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by theruler »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
normal on 1.4.0 win build version

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
8, reach the north shore... (may be it would be useful a red circle like the first scenario of this campaign).

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
clear and interesting

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
none

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
very funny in its context.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
give a second scenario bonus, like something to do in the southern part of the map...
place the trident far more away, or at least treat the trident like a village regarding the movement: it is too easy to pick it and run away in the same turn.
I recalled a lvl2 merman (my lvl 3 triton already have one of tose gadgets ;-P) and 3 low cost elves to stop a bit troups from the south: one of them was alive at the end of the scenario, the marman was not even touched by the monters, and conrad reached the path in 9 turns.
Ergo, 395 gold at the end.. ;-)


(8 ) How much gold did you have at the start of the scenario?
248

(9) About how many higher level units did you have in your recall list? Don't list them out.
8 lvl3, 6 lvl2 and 10 lvl1
Chuck Norris' watch displays only an hour. Yours.
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theruler
Posts: 26
Joined: February 29th, 2008, 11:01 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by theruler »

The thread title should be modified in:

Scenario Review: HttT - Ford of Abez
Chuck Norris' watch displays only an hour. Yours.
SumnerH
Posts: 15
Joined: January 9th, 2008, 6:01 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by SumnerH »

I'm filling these out having done Elves Beseiged-A Choice Must Be Made on "medium" difficulty, and I'm following the advice to rank 10=hardest scenario in the campaign (Seige of Elsenfar), 1 = easiest (Elves Besieged)

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Medium, Wesnoth version 1.4
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10) [1]
6. Not hard to win, but hard-ish to win without losing some merfolk.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very, aside from what constituted reaching the other side (I think sand doesn't count?)
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Quite. Very nice.
(5) What were your major challenges in completing the scenario?
Getting the extra storm trident, not losing lots of troops.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8. Fun indeed. I like that it's a "fleeing" scenario where you _must_ take part in some (limited, if you're moving quickly) combat to get away; that distinguishes it well from Elves Besieged and Dwarven Doors, all of which are fun in their own ways.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
None.
zyx
Posts: 0
Joined: May 2nd, 2008, 9:29 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by zyx »

(1) Medium - 1.4.1
(2) 2
(3) Clear
(4) Clear and interesting
(5) No defeated units.
(6) 5
(7)
Trucidation
Posts: 10
Joined: December 31st, 2008, 7:22 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by Trucidation »

scott wrote:(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
Medium, 1.4.6
scott wrote:(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3, an easy milk run if you keep your head and flee.
scott wrote:(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
I didn't expect the scenario to end until Konrad actually stepped on a ground tile as opposed to merely landing on the beach, so I wasn't surprised as the other posters seemed to be, although this could be clarified. Right now victory condition is "Move Konrad to the north side of the river".
scott wrote:(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Ok. Note how Li'sar is still pretty gung-ho about capturing you, and contrast it to her dialog in later scenarios.
scott wrote:(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
I tried to go after Li'sar. Recalled everybody I could, and camped the forest southeast of her castle. I managed to lure and kill one Royal Guard, but that (or approaching closer) triggered some dialog which led to a whole mass of Royal Guards appearing in and around the castle. I don't think I could've dealt with them unless they could be lured, plus it would take far too much time.

After resigning myself to playing another "flee with tail between legs" scenario, it was pretty easy. Rushed across the river with mermen, and then watched as Li'sar's troops get mauled by the sea monsters. I was still pretty sore over not being able to confront Li'sar so I parked Konrad on the shore and sent my troops to take the orc warlord's castle in the northwest. In the opening dialog the orc said he wanted to slaughter my forces at the river's edge; as retaliation I took all his villages, massacred his troops, and then surrounded him for some exp milking.
scott wrote:(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7. I prefer fighting scenarios, but I guess you need to run sometimes so this was ok. Fighting the sea monsters was more than my mermen could handle on top of taking on the north orcs, so I let Li'sar's troops deal with them. It was fun watching them getting poisoned and whittled down, my mermen had a field day picking off the survivors.
scott wrote:(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I don't quite like the "cheapness" of having untouchable enemies (Li'sar and the teleporting Royal Guard reinforcements), then again I know it's not realistic to fight all the time. I'd prefer to have more sea monsters though, actually. By the time they reached the fording area all my troops were safely across and it was mostly a bloodbath involving Li'sar's orcs.

Maybe make the shores further apart and the river wider. I.e. same map size vertically but wider river. That would really get you sweating bullets in order to outrun the monsters. Or, haha, start the party in the middle, and have monsters come from both sides of the river. You should be forced to engage the monsters at least for a round or two, on top of the north orcs. Li'sar's forces weren't close enough to force combat with Konrad's. You might also want to throw in a couple of stepping stone tiles as the other poster suggested.
ScouSin
Posts: 4
Joined: January 14th, 2009, 7:51 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by ScouSin »

(1) Just the middle choice (normal?)
(2) 4. Li'sar's troops had some oomph and cost me two level 2s, and the orcs cost me four level 1 mermen, but getting Konrad to the other side of the river was just too simple.
(3) The objectives were pretty obvious. I wondered if I needed to just touch the beach or the grass, but it didn't matter a whole lot to me.
(4) The dialogue was okay. Typical to the rest of the campaign (Li'sar seemed to be a cookie cut-out of the first encounter, and the orcs seemed just as intent of stopping the hero just for the sake of stopping him as usual.)
(5) My biggest challenge to meet the objectives themselves was probably to figure out how I should approach it. I had more mermen (including a level 3) I could've recalled, but I figured that the orcs wouldn't have put up much of a fight. Well, I underrated them and lost my mermen for it (overrated their dodging in water). Li'sar's forces were fiercer than ever, and I accidentally took too much ground and so she sent her royal guards after me. Poor judgment on my part. The neutral water creatures were a surprising foe, and finished off what mermen hadn't already been killed by the orcs...and the orcs themselves. Really, if Konrad had just a turn or two more to reach the shore, the water fiends would've surrounded him, and that would've been the end of the hero. So I was really fighting the challenge of using what few units I recalled to help Konrad to delay the enemies from smothering him.
(6) 6. Any scenario where I'm forced to move slow when it just seems intended to prolong the scenario will lose points in my book. But the simple fact that I had to divide my forces (or rather, that's how I chose to approach it), was interesting in that I had to weigh my potential losses, and how much gold I'd use. I didn't realize it until late in the mission, but I had no reason to save my gold, as this mission was an income killer, even with as many loyal units as I had.
(7) Change the river somehow. I was happy to finally use my mermen again, but sticking Konrad at two hexes per turn was just frustrating, and having him do nothing the entire mission but move, and hit one enemy was not fun for me. Also, while the orcs seemed the concern at the start of the mission, throwing a few fodder units to die to them was an all-too easy solution. Now, making the neutral sea-creatures come from the right-end of the screen (in lesser amount mind-you), that would force me to have an actual fighting force escorting Konrad, and that would make me have two fighting groups, instead of a fighting group and a baby-sitting group.
Rapturous
Posts: 19
Joined: January 10th, 2009, 12:05 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by Rapturous »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?

Normal, 1.4.7.

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

4. I died the first time because I let Konrad stay an extra turn at the encampment, which wasn't good for my strategy. I also didn't recruit proper units for water travel, which left some stragglers behind that I didn't need. Essentially, my strategy was to just rush across the river without fighting any Li'sar's units, while also getting the trident for my water folk. This worked extremely well the second play through, even though I lost TWO LEVEL 3 ASSASSINS to the orcs up top, before Konrad could reach the grass. Fortunately, Assassins are easy to get.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

Typically, the objectives are absolutely clear, but not so in this one. Sure, I had to get across the river, but when I hit the sand, I thought that was the goal. I didn't realize you needed to hit the grass to complete the scenario. Maybe that could be made clearer.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

I liked the fact that Li'sar was chasing after Konrad. Recurring characters are fun. However, I didn't find the dialogue particularly interesting in this one. Seemed more like filler than anything else.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

Dealing with low dodge rate in the water. My strategy is focused on abusing the high dodge rate in a unit's preferred terrain. So, this scenario took me out of my element. That's not bad, I like the variety, but it was definitely the biggest challenge for me in this scenario.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

By BfW standards, I'd say it was a 4. I mean, it was novel, which is great, but it was just a "rush rush, go go" scenario to me. I just got Konrad across the river ASAP while racing the opposing units. Not much gameplay here. However, I do really appreciate the multiple styles of gameplay that these scenarios have been offering.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

Maybe make the river wider. Also, define what getting across the river means. Maybe put a "(Touch the grass.)" at the end of the objective. I also wouldn't make Li'sar virtually impossible to kill, seeing as how her guards make her too intimidating to even consider fighting. Maybe cut it in half, so she seems POSSIBLE to beat. As a bonus, perhaps? I dunno if you really meant for her to not be an option or what, but I think it should be possible.
turret544
Posts: 13
Joined: May 5th, 2007, 12:31 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by turret544 »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Medium, 1.6

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
[9]: if going after Li'sar
[4]: if just fleeing across the river

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear except for where Konrad had to step to end the scenario.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Pretty interesting I guess...it sure was fun when the extra four royal guards appeared by Li'sar.

(5) What were your major challenges in completing the scenario?
Killing Li'sar then trying to rush back across the river in time

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
[9] if you go for Li'sar :)

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Bonus for killing Li'sar?

So I decided it would be fun to try killing Li'sar...
I recalled my level 4 mage, 7 level 3's and about 8 level 2's and headed west, easily eating up the level 2 units she sent my way. As I approached her castle, she aggresively exposed herself along with her Royal Guards; my knight easily charged her down, thus causing an extra 4 royal guards to appear. Casualties were high, but I cleared the rest of her troops with about 4 level 3's remaining.

I rushed back to the river, blasting the orcs (which just got out of the river) into smitherings. I rushed onto the island and the rest of the units fought with the sea monsters while Konrad went solo across the river (or else he wouldn't have made it). Konrad touched grass on the last turn.

Now obviously I'm going to restart to not get everyone owned. :)
Adellion
Posts: 11
Joined: May 9th, 2009, 2:06 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by Adellion »

1. easy
difficulty (1-10)
1 obviously man
2 if your fighting li'sar

3. i dont see any misunderstanding in the objectives

4. pretty fun scenario and for the first time you play you curse under your breath when you see all the royal guards :


5. Trying to kill konrad ;P

6. 10 it was pretty cool to defy the scenario objectives and fight instead of run :)

7. more royal guards needed a few ambushes and more sea monster and make the orcs summon lvl3 :D
AThousandYoung
Posts: 87
Joined: February 3rd, 2007, 2:54 am

Re:

Post by AThousandYoung »

scott wrote:
EnigmaNova wrote:Why is Li'sar killable in this level if she's meant to stay alive later?
Do me a favor and open a bug report. It might be that setting her to passive may do the trick. I can only kill her if she exposes herself. Has anyone defeated her without getting her to leave the keep?
You kill her...umm..."defeat her"...when you first meet her. Apparently "killing" is not always killing.
dELFador
Posts: 32
Joined: May 20th, 2009, 4:40 am

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by dELFador »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
medium. 1.7
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
4.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
It didn't specify how far north Konrad had to go. the edge? the shore? a village?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
very interesting.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
have a merfolk get the trident. (and get back.)
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
10.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
none.

my strategy was to have some new elves hold off the loyalists for a while, have Konrad, a shyde, delfador, Kalenz, 1 mer triton (with a trident) 1 mer warrior (getting a trident), and 3 merfolk cross the river. the “creatures of the deep” attacking loyalists and orcs helped a lot.
BigCheese
Posts: 27
Joined: August 20th, 2009, 7:05 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Ford of Abez

Post by BigCheese »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
medium 1.7.2

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
4; no big fighting going on when directly going for the north shore

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
clear

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
ok

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
getting the monsters to attack the AI troops instead of my own.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8; loyalists attacked by giant squids

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
the terrain looks plain, especially in comparison to the former and next level; adding some eye candy would be nice
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