The Isle of Anduin on Hard

[qweo]

Yesterday i've start playing the Heir to the throne campaign on the Hard difficulty level. First two scenarios is not-so-hard, but The isle of Anduin is a bit harder that on Easy and Normal difficulty. My favorite tactics for this scenario is the fast strike on the enemy castle from south-west direction, that allows to reach castle, and using the protection of the forest at the night time, attack when the day comes and defeat the enemy leader quite-quickly with minimal forces, because most of enemy units is sent to take the villages.

I like this tactics, but seems that it isn't suitable for the Hard difficulty, because the enemy has too much units, and when the one part of orcish army is capturing villages, the other is fighting with mine.

I've think that my mistakes in the attached game are:
1) I should recruit some units to stop first part of orcish army (but that units is raw meat for the orcs)
2) I should take more villages to support my army and recruit new units (but it's quite risky to keep Konrad in the castle)
3) And, first of all, i shouldn't leave Delfador alone.

Can somebody suggest the other ways to improve this tactics without changing it?
Thanks.

[Jami]

Normally I play the Isle of Aduvin very differently. Sending the primary part of my force across the river to fight the wolfriders in the west while two scouts, or a scout and an archer, capture the east villages.

Looking through your replay, I'll point out some things I see.

Turn 1 - You could have captured another village with that mage. Also, I didn't see you recall any L2 units. Although I would recommend recruiting/recalling a lot of L1's, a marshal, Ranger, or Rider are very useful to have on this map.

Turn 4 - You totally ignore the villages across the river... the very same place that the AI is sending all of his first castle. Winning this scenerio REQUIRES that you prevent him from taking villages, and remove some of the income he's acquired. Especially on hard. I also notice that you don't have any L2 units except Konrad... not good on the third scenerio. Normally I'll have 2-4 L2's (Marshall, Rider, Archer, and Konrad ideally. Possibly a druid.). Of whom, I'll normally recall half of to fight.

Turn 6 - The AI crosses the river in the north. Increasing his income back into the positive ranges and allowing him to recruit units after this turn. In the south, your horse kills an archer (with luck). however, you leave him exposed to several units. Konrad is nowhere near your keep, so no fresh recruits will be availible. You've committed to winning this in one fell blow... on hard.

[Jami]

Turn 7 - Your horseman and archer continue their attack on the enemy line. killing another orcish archer. However, they have no support and will be surrounded next turn. The enemy leader now has enough gold to start recruiting. Since he owns all of the north.

Turn 9 - Delfador dies when he rushes forward to save the foolish horseman. Game, set, match.

[Jami]

My comments on the replay:

1. You should have some L2 units by now. Use them! if you don't have any, then the next scenerios are just going to be all that much harder. Leadership units especially are important for getting more high-level units.
2. Don't send units out to kill on thier own. Cover your expensive/valuable units like mages and horsemen with inexpensive ones like elvish fighters.
3. Don't let your opponent capture so many villages. On this map especially the AI ignores the east. Send the bulk of your army west to fight the orc's main force (and get XP) while a few riders capture the eastern front.
4. Don't use Delfador to kill! His attack is powerful, but normally it will leave a grunt/troll/archer with 5-15 HP left... perfect for leveling up units on this stage.
5. Keep Konrad on your keep and focus on income. Expect to lose a few fighters. Once the first wave is over and you're advancing he can join in the fray.

I would highly suggest that you play though the first two scenerio's again so you can get a Marshal or level up Konrad. Leadership is a beastly ability in the right hands. Aside from that, all I can say is good luck!

[qweo]

Thanks for the help. I'll replay first two scenarios and try to level up some units, especialy elvish fighters to get few captains or may be a marshal. Also i will pay more attention to the villages and western part of the orcish army.

P. S.: Is it possible to defeat orcish leader in the blackwater port on hard difficulty level? I think that 8 turns isn't enough for that.

[Jami]

Anything is possible. However, I have never managed it.

[santi]

Isle of Anduin is actually easy, even on hard. The toughest it ever got was when the enemy had saurians. I send my horsemen, along with Delf, a few elves and 1-2 mages west, while a purely elvish force moves south
Note there are MANY villages northwest. Grab them, they will give you lots of gold, which you can use to bring reinforcements.
Also, Shamans are not yet advisable. In HttT, you basically do not need them that much, as mages are available and better in say caves.
The place to level weak units like shamans and mages is scanaria with lots
of troops(like the next level), where they can stay behind a strong front line and jump in to finish off badly wounded enemy units.

[santi]

BTW, yes, it is possible to defeat the orcish leader in Blackwater port on hard and many people have done it many times. I think kalis's replays are around. Others also have replays, but they look corrupted. Fight in the tiny forest close and ultimately after you have cleared some space next to him, jump him with a few (3-4) units, uncluding Delf for the kill.

[Grand Marshal Aditya]

The best way in my opinion is a two-pronged attack, which I pretty much use all the time...I had an Elvish Champion by the Anduin mission and I also had a heros, Knights and A Paladin and a lancer. 1st level ,you should get at least 2 level 2s