Elves Besieged (hard/challenging): the Full-Map Strategy

[oaq]

Several strategies have been suggested over the years on this site for The Heir to the Throne's opening scenario, The Elves Besieged.

[*]http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1965
[*]http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6088
[*]http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30705
[*]http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=32127
[*]http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2881
[*]http://wiki.wesnoth.org/HeirToTheThrone

I have tried most of them. Some work better than others in my experience, but the best strategy I have discovered and refined has never been discussed on this site as far as I know.

I call it the Full-Map Strategy.

(Spoiler alert: the narrative that follows reveals details of The Elves Besieged you might prefer to discover on your own, partially illuminates a secret of the campaign's second scenario, and discusses the campaign's third through sixth scenarios in a general way.)

Spoiler:

Premises: hard/challenging level; no saveloading; no restarting midscenario; no restarting midcampaign after a lost scenario. (Of course, The Elves Besieged happens to be its campaign's first scenario. The premise does let one restart on this basis.)

Nomenclature: "the Clearing" refers to the eleven-hex unwooded area in the middle of the map's northwestern forest, in and near hex (10,10), south of the northwestern (green) orcs' keep.

OVERVIEW

The Full-Map Strategy counterintuitively dispatches Konrad's meager forces to the four corners of the map, north and south, east and west, according to a schedule and a plan. It fights both of the northern orc-tribes and skirmishes even against the southern one.

Why does it do this? How?

THE NEED FOR GOLD AT BLACKWATER PORT

To understand the why, one must look ahead to later scenarios, especially to the next scenario, Blackwater Port. At hard/challenging difficulty only, Blackwater Port offers an elusive but most significant bonus, earned by the improbable feat of slaying Blackwater's orcish leader within nine brief turns -- a feat for which Konrad had better be prepared.

Consider: with how much gold did Konrad start Blackwater Port, last time you reached it? Conventional Elves Besieged strategies can leave Konrad with as little as 140 or 150, probably too little to achieve the Blackwater bonus. Konrad wants to reach Blackwater with about 180 gold -- affording him two extra, much-needed units at Blackwater's start.

The Full-Map Strategy gets Konrad to Blackwater with about 180 gold.

SCOUTING THE SOUTH

The strategy begins with two elvish scouts, at least one of which must be quick. (If neither is quick, you lose. Restart the campaign.) The quick scout is to seize the village at (6,18), the sole village on Chantal's isle, during the afternoon, turn 3, and then to run southward through evening, night and morning, seizing as many southwestern villages as possible, as fast as possible. The other scout is to seize the southeastern villages, reaching the village in the map's far southeastern corner during the second watch of the night, turn 6, maybe thereafter in the morning seizing yet one more village near the orcs' southern keep.

The reason to seize all these villages is twofold. First, if the two scouts together can seize 10 or 11 villages, these are worth as much as 10 or 11 gold per turn, and are villages the orcs are ill-positioned to retrieve. Second, since most of these villages belong to Chantal and Galdrad, seizing the villages gradually chokes off Chantal's and Galdrad's ability to recruit. To choke off poor Galdrad's recruiting matters little in and of itself except as to sentiment: it merely accrues extra gold toward Blackwater. However, to choke off Chantal's recruiting helps for another reason, quite apart from the gold, because Chantal's mischievous late recruits will otherwise steal Konrad's kills. Konrad needs Chantal's help early but does not want her help late. By seizing villages, the southwestern scout chokes off Chantal's recruiting at just the right time.

On the second afternoon, turn 9, since it is then too late to earn gold, the two scouts can attack the southern orc leader for 3 easy XP (experience points) each, if they are in range and have nothing better to do. Also, should an easy kill present itself earlier to the quick scout, whether you divert the scout from seizing a village to take the kill depends on whether you value the advancement of elvish scouts (I value it, but some players understandably do not, and I lack a firm opinion in the matter). At any rate, the main thrust of the scouts' southward mission is to earn not XP but gold.

KONRAD'S TIGHT SCHEDULE

The second afternoon, turn 9, and not later, is when Konrad should reach the signpost and finish the scenario.

Several routes to the signpost are possible and I have probably tried them all. In my judgment, Konrad's best route on balance is probably the middle route, the route that lets Konrad seize the village at (13,18) on the river's north bank, off the east cape of Chantal's isle, during the scenario's first afternoon, turn 3. Why? The middle route is about as fast as other routes and nets an early village the orcs probably can never reach. An elf could capture this village, of course, but no sooner than Konrad can, whereas Konrad's capturing it frees the elf for other duty in the north: see below.

The clever, alternate route past Chantal's keep is of course inviting, but I do not think it the best route. This alternate route strains Konrad's already-tight schedule, leaving him too few maneuvering options to reach the signpost in time. The middle route is the more flexible, nets an early village not conveniently taken in any other way, and for these reasons should probably be preferred.

As I said, by whatever route, Konrad must reach the signpost and end the scenario during the second afternoon, turn 9, if he wishes to take 180 gold with him to Blackwater Port, for to take that gold to Blackwater he needs the early-finishing bonus of The Elves Besieged. Regrettably, such a schedule probably means that Konrad arrives at Blackwater with zero XP. Fortunately, so many XP will be available at Blackwater and during the campaign's third, fourth and fifth scenarios, affording Konrad maximum level before the campaign's pivotal sixth scenario, that Konrad's lack of XP during The Elves Besieged is an acceptable price to pay to maximize gold toward Blackwater.

The Elves Besieged represents an excellent opportunity for Konrad's elves to earn XP with Delfador's help. Konrad himself however has hardly any time for XP until Blackwater Port. He'll have lots of time at Blackwater, where he fights a rearguard decoy while Delfador leads the main strike. Konrad can wait for XP until then.

DELFADOR

The Full-Map Strategy handles Delfador in a certain, artificial way to start The Elves Besieged. It begins by walking Delfador fast across the bridge and northward up the path, seizing the village at (20,12), northwest of Galdrad's keep on the path's west edge, at the same time Konrad seizes the village off Chantal's cape, drawing all northern orcs toward Delfador's person. What Delfador does next depends on what elves are doing nearby at the moment, but his default plan is to withdraw west-southwestward from the village to reach the neighborhood south of the Clearing during the second watch of the night, turn 6. However, if Delfador can feed one of Konrad's elves a kill at sunset, then he can stay with the elves (Galdrad's and Konrad's) in the north one extra turn. In fact, Delfador's exact position at sunset is not crucial, so long as he can eventually escape behind the screen of Galdrad's valiants to the west-southwest -- and so long as he stays away from Konrad.

Delfador must not in any case try to escort Konrad to the signpost. At hard/challenging difficulty, Delfador's escort would only draw a swarm of orcs. Delfador's task rather is to draw the swarm elsewhere, feeding Konrad's elves kills in other areas of the map.

As the second day of the battle approaches, Delfador can establish headquarters at the village at hex (11,14), three hexes straight south of the Clearing. He should plan to lead Konrad's four northern elves in that neighborhood during the final day's action.

Konrad's four northern elves? We have not yet spoken of these, but they will be the next section's topic.

FOUR ELVES TO THE NORTH

Konrad's remaining units are four elves. I have no strong opinion as to what kinds of elves these should be -- though my own preference has been for two archers, two shamans and zero fighters, on the ground that fighters are better than other elves on open ground, which this scenario does not have. However, whatever kinds they are, after crossing the bridge the four elves should split into two groups. One elf should run northwestward to seize a village or two in the general region between Chantal's isle and the Clearing, and to prepare the ground for the next day's battle. The other three should run northward to seize all northward villages except the unreachable northernmost at (17,13), and to fight.

Note the point about seizing northward villages. Five villages encircle Galdrad's keep. Because you can get these villages early and keep most of them until late, you want all five. They are worth too much gold to ignore.

The scenario's first fight takes place at sunset, turn 4, against the northeastern (purple) orcs. It should preferably be a one-turn fight, Konrad's elves gleaning whatever kills they can (if any) exactly at sunset, then running away into the western night to await dawn south of the Clearing. Whether Konrad's elves should fight anyone during the dark of night, purple or green, is dictated by the situation on the map, but usually the answer is no. Even an easy kill is seldom worth the risk at night, if the very unit that gains the XP cannot survive the brutal complications of a night battle. However, if an especially inviting night kill should present itself, then of course the elves should take the XP.

Of the four elves, plan to sacrifice one, maybe two, before the scenario ends, and plan to make the enemy pay a maximum price for the sacrifice. You can probably pick the elf to sacrifice. Of the elves you do not sacrifice, plan to push two each to within 10 XP of promotion. Less XP than this probably represents failure, more represents success, though one must weigh among other factors the exact number of XP in light of the specific units that have earned them. You will need at least one unit to level early at Blackwater, to help to lead the final strike against Blackwater's chief orc. (If you fail to get two units each to within 10 XP of promotion, and also fail to earn another, commensurate, compensating advantage, during The Elves Besieged, then you lose. Restart the campaign.)

THE STRATEGY'S SLIGHT WEAKNESS: XP

You will notice that the Full-Map Strategy seems comparatively unambitious regarding XP. The XP are important, of course -- especially since The Elves Besieged is the only early scenario that brings great squads of level-two foes, rich in XP. However, XP hunting in The Elves Besieged is a chancy business, costly in gold. After many attempts and experiments, my view is that it is preferable to try for slightly fewer XP during The Elves Besieged, to earn more gold, and to play for the bonus at Blackwater Port.

Dawn on the second day of The Elves Besieged, turn 7, should find Konrad's elves just beginning to engage the northwestern (green) orcs, not too far out of reach of the approaching northeastern (purple) orcs, on or near the Clearing's southern edge, with Chantal's survivors holding Konrad's elves' left flank. The second day, turns 8 and 9 -- maybe also turn 7, but especially turn 9 -- is the time for Konrad's elves to risk bold tactics with Delfador's support to win as many XP as they can. Most likely, their targets will be the northwestern (green) orcs, but northeastern (purple) orcs may make more inviting targets in some instances. Delfador should try to station himself within reach of as many suitable targets as he can, in the seam between the two orcish armies, without getting himself killed. As for the elves, their superior mobility in woods should let them choose which specific orcs to fight.

THE FINAL-TURN EFFECT

Of course, every experienced player knows and values Wesnoth's final-turn effect. If Konrad moves last of his army on the last turn, the turn on which he reaches the signpost, then he affords his army thereby a free, mad, one-turn assault, against which the otherwise haughty orcs stand helpless to retaliate. Konrad's elves should plan to make maximum use of the final-turn effect.

TACTICS

Tactics naturally are important to Konrad's elves, if they wish to earn the most XP they can under the circumstance. From dawn on the second day, Konrad's elves under Delfador's leadership must judiciously take wooded or village positions -- Delfador being perhaps the best unit to hold a village -- right in the face of the northwestern (green) orcs. If Konrad's elves hang too far back, Chantal's elves will step in front of them and steal their kills. Konrad's elves therefore must trust to the wooded terrain and the daylight, rather than in any safe position to the rear, for protection in the face of the foe.

The need to forestall Chantal's killstealing does not however imply that Konrad's elves are to bunch in a tight knot in the foes' face. On the contrary, it is neither feasible nor desirable to prevent all killstealing, but only to reduce it to a tolerable level. Konrad's four elves will have to extend their front to a moderate length in any event to maintain maneuverability and to diversify their opportunities to kill.

How should they extend their line? Konrad need not save the lives of all four elves. Therefore, when the tactical circumstance calls for it, Konrad should not hesitate to leave a one-hex lateral gap between two of his elves in the immediate face of the foe. A single elf of Chantal's may slip into this gap but, if you have placed the gap well, this single elf alone will probably be unable to steal a kill. Under such circumstances, Chantal's help is welcome. Chantal's help may even set up a kill for Konrad's elves.

The important thing is to press into the foes' face during daylight. Minor lateral gaps in Konrad's line are acceptable, so long as the line maintains its forward press.

The precise placement of Konrad's elves is of course impossible to detail here in any case, since it depends upon the precise placement of the orcs. The general principle however is to earn XP for, and to save the lives of, the specific elves that enjoy the most useful traits. For example, a non-dextrous archer can be sacrified to set up kills for, and to save, a dextrous one, and so on.

Of course, irrespective of other tactical considerations, as in most Wesnoth scenarios, here too any unit that has earned enough XP and has the right traits may be valuable enough to pull out of a fight to save its life.

SCOUTS AND THE RECALL LIST

The two scouts in the south are by this time nearly forgotten, having served their gold-mining role far from the main scene of action. However, the quick scout still matters. In fact, for a nonobvious reason, he remains rather important. He is to be recalled during the second and sixth scenarios to run and capture villages again. His quickness will matter then, when Konrad can ill afford to chance a slower scout as a random recruit.

This thus is yet another advantage of the Full-Map Strategy: it puts a valuable quick scout on the recall list.

PROMOTIONS, GOLD AND THE SURGICAL STRIKE

The Full-Map Strategy promotes its first archer to a marksman rather than a ranger. Also, it promotes its first shaman to an enchantress rather than a druid. It seriously considers promoting its second shaman to an enchantress, as well. These choices run contrary to advice often offered on this site, so let me explain.

The druid is an excellent unit to lend an army stamina during a long battle. The enchantress by contrast is the mistress of the surgical strike. As it happens, if properly played, the earliest scenario that truly needs the druid's stamina is scenario 6. On the other hand, scenarios 2, 3 and 4 (and 6) greatly benefit by the enchantress' power and precision in attack. If you want the bonus at Blackwater, then if possible you want an enchantress to join Delfador in the final raid that sacks Blackwater's orc-captain. This consideration greatly outweighs the undoubted benefits of an early druid. Konrad can develop a druid later.

The ranger is a pretty good unit, but so too is the marksman. Like the enchantress, the marksman also affords a surgical strike, valuable at Blackwater for the same reasons the enchantress' strike is valuable there.

The surgical strike is useful too for more than merely sacking the orc-captain at Blackwater, as important as sacking that orc is. The surgical strike also promotes short, sharp fights generally. Thus, it may promote fast scenarios. Fast scenarios are not always possible, and when possible are not always desirable, but when they are possible they do tend to maximize gold. Maximized gold lets Konrad recruit and recall extra units at selected intervals later, which at the hard/challenging level ultimately means greater opportunity to feed kills and XP to key units.

One must thus think ahead. Both XP and gold are needed, both as soon as possible. However, early gold is even more important than early XP in Heir to the Throne. One would not think so, since the 40-percent gold carryover seems a meager incentive, but the incentive is not always so meager as it seems, if it means two extra recruits toward the next scenario. Two extra units can lend rather a lot of tactical flexibility in Wesnoth. The two extra units may represent the only military reserves Konrad can afford to keep. Reserves are often necessary to save from immediate annihilation front-line units that have just earned valuable XP. Therefore, if gold implies reserves, which ultimately conserve XP, then this is yet another reason to prefer marksmen and enchantresses respectively over rangers and druids during the early campaign.

Of course, between the marksman and the enchantress, the enchantress is the better unit. The marksman however, easier to get, is a reasonable substitute for the enchantress until the arrival of the undead, scenarios 5 and 6. In any case, you may not have a choice: if you can get an enchantress early, take her; if a marksman, take him; and if both, so much the better for you.

A MINOR POINT: THE GRAB ON THE FOREST'S EDGE

The Full-Map Strategy leaves it to Chantal to clear a path for Konrad to the signpost. Given a strong decoy by Delfador, Chantal can usually do the job. However, there is a problem that sometimes arises, a problem usually preventable with correct play.

The problem lies in the village at hex (2,11), on the western edge of the northwestern forest, near the western edge of the map, the southwesternmost village the green orcs can reach without thrusting their way through any woods. The problem is that, though this village lies behind Chantal's battle line, it is not fully shielded by woods as are other villages so far south. If undefended, it makes a tempting target for a fast foe to grab and entrench, just before Konrad reaches its neighborhood.

If you say, "Good! A kill for Konrad!" this is the wrong reaction in the Full-Map Strategy, unless Konrad can get the kill and still reach the signpost on time, which he probably cannot do. The right reaction is to dissuade the grab. All it usually takes to dissuade the grab is to occupy the village in question with a single unit just before the grab occurs, whereupon the grabber probably never arrives, but wanders away elsewhere. If you have been following the Full-Map Strategy, then you should have exactly one unit available in range to dissuade the grab.

Dissuasion is often unnecessary because the grab is in many instances never threatened, and when necessary dissuasion usually works without a fight. When it does not work -- that is, when seizing the village in the nick of time fails to dissuade the enemy grabber from the attempt -- it still leaves the enemy grabber at a terrain-tactical disadvantage outside the village, which may let you kill the grabber in time. Konrad himself may even get the kill, though this is not the maneuver's purpose.

If the grab is never threatened, then your one unit may have better things to do than to seize this particular, outlying village, since seizing it tends to leave the unit out of best position to fight the scenario's final battle. Do not feel that you must seize this particular village in every instance, but only to dissuade the grab.

DELFADOR'S OPTION: THE TRIPLE BAIT

If Delfador feels bold, if he would like to try an advanced tactic, and if the situation on the map is right, then he can bait all three orc-tribes on the second day, turns 7, 8 and 9.

Given sufficient time, the three advancing orc-tribes must meet north of the river, across from Konrad's castle, smashing Delfador and the elves between them. However, should Konrad reach the signpost on turn 9 as planned, the three orc-tribes will never quite meet. The collapsing pocket between the three onrushing orcish armies can thus be an ideal spot for Delfador to make his final stand. Delfador can post himself in the middle of the pocket, striking flexibly in any direction -- north, south, east or west -- to set up the best available kill for Konrad's elves.

The northeastern (purple) orc-tribe may especial interesting to Delfador because (a) the purple orcs are further away from Chantal's killstealers than are the green orcs and (b) the purple orcs may include level-three troll warriors, already wounded by Galdrad, worth a fat 24 XP each. Of course, the northwestern (green) orcs are still likely to make the better targets, but much depends on the exact situation on the map at the time, and it may pay Delfador to keep his options open. If so, he should consider taking his stand before dawn a little further eastward than otherwise.

The southern (blue) orc-tribe probably affords the least likely targets, but may still interest Delfador if the one-turn sunset fight in the north, turn 4, has forced him and the elves to retreat southward down the path rather than westward into the forest.

SUMMARY AND REMARKS

This is the Full-Map Strategy of The Elves Besieged: scouts away to the south; Konrad hard to the post; villages seized en masse; a quick, sunset fight to the north; an oblique retreat to the Clearing overnight; a bold struggle for XP in the light of the second day's sun. The strategy yields respectable XP, excellent gold, and -- if all goes well -- a major reward at Blackwater. It is the best strategy I know in The Elves Besieged.

No replay I have follows the Full-Map Strategy exactly without deviation, of course, since every good strategy will bend and flex in the face of random events. Nevertheless, to the extent to which replays interest you, my most recent replay is attached.

[Crow_T]

Wow great write up and replay, I look forward to more- Big D got lucky vs the troll at the end there!

[Anonymissimus]

I never aimed for gold there; still managed to get the loyal knight: http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php ... 36#p444936

mattsc recently told me about an interesting behavior of the wesnoth standard ai; during its move-to-targets phase it moves into the direction of enemy leaders in particular, not just into the direction of enemies. This is hardly noticable normally. It could be used to lure most of the orcs towards the allied leader with Konrad, while the player's other units can assassinate the orc leader without the need to fight through (kill) the orcish army. I have yet to check it out.

[Captain_Wrathbow]

Wow! Very impressive and thorough job you've done there. My first thought is that perhaps you've got a bit too much time on your hands, ( ) but I certainly appreciate the work you've obviously put into this. I didn't know that anyone took Wesnoth this seriously, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone dissect a single scenario that in-depth before.

Thumbs up!

P.S. If you have done (or intend to do) similar strategy-essays on other scenarios, I would be fascinated to read more!

[Elfarion]

I watched the replay. Two enchantresses on the first scenario is quite impressive. Just as your detailed explanations are. I will try this strategy one day, since I started to play HttT on hard and I'm stuck at Elensefar.

[oaq]

If you have done (or intend to do) similar strategy-essays on other scenarios, I would be fascinated to read more!

Thank you. I have written about The Elves Besieged because I had something to write I thought you might find interesting. Regrettably, I may not have much that is interesting to add about the several scenarios the follow The Elves Besieged, except maybe The Siege of Elensefar, about which I did write a little in 2011: http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php ... 85#p509585

I watched the replay. Two enchantresses on the first scenario is quite impressive.

Big D got lucky vs the troll at the end there!

You are both right! The two enchantresses in the replay are no typical result, but the result of one recent attempt. Zero enchantresses and, indeed, zero units promoted are rather more likely than two. One unit promoted, maybe a marksman, is also more likely than two.

Spoiler:

Fortunately, zero units promoted represents an acceptable result at the The Elves Besieged if (a) two units draw close to promotion and (b) Konrad earns enough gold. To promote one unit is better than to promote none, of course; but what really matters is that (i) either a marksman or an enchantress be available to help Delfador toward the end of the second scenario, while (ii) Konrad have enough units -- thus have sufficient tactical flexibility -- to draw and/or block most of the second scenario's orcish army away from Delfador when Delfador executes his scenario-ending mission.

As you may have observed during your own second-scenario play, having too few units can cause Konrad a lot of trouble when Delfador tries for the bonus. Too few units just cannot cover the required front while maintaining the necessary reserve. Given too few units, Konrad and Delfador are left to rely on improbable luck. After all, even with sufficient units, that bonus is never easy to get; whereas sufficient units want sufficient gold, for which Konrad needs to have planned. Such is my experience, at any rate.

Though as you have seen, the Full-Map Strategy can and often does achieve respectable XP, still, it is more a gold-maximizer than an XP-maximizer, the replay notwithstanding.

As a second sample, for those whom it interests, attached is another, only marginally successful replay of the Full-Map Strategy, a replay in which no unit levels.

[Elfarion]

I tried your Full-Map-Strategy with a - for me- satisfying result. From the two archers and two shamans one of each was intelligent, so I decided to level them. It did not work completely, but the archer was 1 point from levelling up and Konrad was at the signpost on turn 10. With only one Level-2-Unit in Blackwater Port, I was forced to play aggressively and somewhat suicidal, but I killed the enemy leader on turn 6 or 7. Now I'm in BoP with two loyal Knights, a Marksman, an Enchantress and a Red Mage on my recall list. Awesome!

[taptap]

So basically you play a permadeath campaign, but restart when your first two recruits don't get the traits you need?

And the poor elves, they are willing to sacrifice themselves for you, who isn't even the right heir, but you steal all their villages not even giving them a chance to succeed. (I love how in AtS in Tirigaz there is a dialogue "you are supposed to protect these villages not to steal them".)

The knight in Blackwater Port is a nice bonus, but why do you feel he is necessary? (Disclaimer: I never got it. Never missed it.)

[Elfarion]

@taptap:
Regarding roleplay it's not exactly a nice thing to do. Regarding only strategy it works well. Apart from that the Elves have still enough gold to keep all their leaders alive an shield Konrad from the Orcs.
The additional Knight is not crucial for beating the campaign, agreed. But yet it's kinda cool to have a loyal Level 2 unit by the end of the second scenario and the prospect of levelling Haldiel in the next. Additionally I found it very satisfying to beat a scenario with such a tight turn limit on time.

[oaq]

At hard/challenging difficulty, the Heir to the Throne campaign is not easy to complete, especially if one refrains from reloading between scenarios, especially if one restarts the campaign (not just the scenario) after each lost scenario. Taptap calls such discipline permadeath, which seems as good a name as any.

I should like someday to complete Heir to the Throne at hard/challenging difficulty under permadeath discipline. I have yet to do so. One suspects that others have done it, though I have never read of the feat in these forums.

Since I have yet to surmount the permadeath challenge and wish to do do, I prefer to take risks early in the campaign rather than late, and to resign and restart rather than to play out a marginal campaign. To me at least, permadeath is hard enough without the stipulation of additional terms.

This is why I restart immediately when my initial units in the first scenario have poor traits. The permadeath challenge wants every advantage it can glean, whereas an immediate campaign restart costs the player less than thirty seconds. In light of the goal, it seems a prudent trade.

This is also why I play for the bonus at Blackwater Port.

(Incidentally, I believe that the permadeath discipline makes one a better player generally, not only because permadeath is hard, but also because it varies one's recall list during later scenarios. That is, for example, should you happen to have two elvish sorceresses available when you reach Elensefar, and if you replay Elensefar repeatedly with the same two elvish sorceresses, then what you will learn is not so much how to beat Elensefar as how to beat Elensefar with two elvish sorceresses! Under permadeath discipline by contrast, the next time you play Elensefar, you cannot but play it with a slightly different mix of units. I believe that one develops sounder strategy that way.)

[oaq]

A year after my initial post above, I am finding even better success with a moderated version of the full-map strategy. In the moderated version of the strategy, Konrad recruits only one scout rather than two. This one scout runs southeast. No scout runs directly southwest, but the southeastern scout, after sweeping the southeast, still likely has time at the end to capture one or two southwestern villages nevertheless.

The one scout is to be quick, for Konrad will need a quick scout on his recall list during later scenarios.

Konrad's six turn-1 recruits:

• one scout (as just discussed);
• two shamans;
• two archers;
• one fighter.

The original full-map strategy deprecated fighters because the scenario's terrain favors shamans and archers. The moderated strategy still deprecates fighters; but, being moderate, recruits one fighter nevertheless, just to have a fighter available, since tactical circumstances can arise in which a fighter is useful.

The moderated strategy brings at least two disadvantages:

1. Because it emphasizes combined-arms tactics (specifically, in this case, tactics that keep a variety of different kinds of units available in close reserve to exploit such local opportunities as might arise), the moderated strategy cannot spread the elves' line as broadly as the original strategy did. This means that, when a level-2 orc, wounded with 1 HP remaining, unexpectedly appears on the flank, none of Konrad's elves may stand near enough to take advantage. Combined-arms tactics are most effective on the attack or counterattack, but they do come at a price.
2. Obviously, inasmuch as the moderated strategy forgoes the second scout, it earns less gold toward Blackwater Port.

These disadvantages are slight. Advantages would seem to outweigh them. Regarding gold, the moderated strategy earns much gold, only not quite as much as the original earned. Given improved tactics at Blackwater Port (http://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?t=40733), the gold the moderated strategy earns suffices.

The chief advantage of the moderated strategy is that it is simply more flexible. Five elves in the north can sometimes achieve what four elves cannot. Also, given Blackwater's somewhat reduced demand for gold (as referenced in the last paragraph), the option of extending the scenario through turn 10 to earn extra XP grows more attractive, depending on how many HP Delfador and Konrad's elves have at the end of Konrad's turn 9.