Strategic planning

[Federalist marshal]

So, do you draw out a battle plan before playing, or do you just move randomly and react according to circumstance? Or do you do something else?

[Doc Paterson]

do you just move randomly and react according to circumstance?

I send all of my units in a random direction and hope that my opponent sent only his leader there.

[Clonkinator]

I scout with my leader before I do anything else, then I move around my units randomly, hoping that the enemy doesn't kill them.

[thespaceinvader]

...you're the AI?

[BIG_LIZARD_PWNZ]

I scout with my leader before I do anything else, then I move around my units randomly, hoping that the enemy doesn't kill them.

lol3rz d00d u 5h0uld pay m3 f1fty d0llar5 3v3ry t1m3 u 5t3al 0n3 0f my 5trat3g135.

[Kollle]

I send all of my units in a random direction and hope that my opponent sent only his leader there.

Thus proving decisively that Wesnoth is all about luck.

[Federalist marshal]

Luck is a factor, but Wesnoth is far from a gambling game; a lot of strategy is also involved.
Luck affects just about everything in life, and I will acknowledge that, with a random number generator, Wesnoth is a bit more dependent on luck than Chess or Stratego. But that doesn't mean that Wesnoth centers around luck completely. In my opinion, the random number generator simply increases the risk of each move that is made.
Now, does ANYONE move their units and know what they're doing?

[Doc Paterson]

Luck is a factor, but Wesnoth is far from a gambling game; a lot of strategy is also involved.
Luck affects just about everything in life, and I will acknowledge that, with a random number generator, Wesnoth is a bit more dependent on luck than Chess or Stratego. But that doesn't mean that Wesnoth centers around luck completely. In my opinion, the random number generator simply increases the risk of each move that is made.
Now, does ANYONE move their units and know what they're doing?

Yes, but only when I'm following certain established attack formulas.

You may have heard of the notorious Guardsman Rush strategy, where a Knalgan player will recruit only Guardsmen, send them all down the center, and assassinate the enemy leader.

I personally like that one, and feel very confident moving my units, when employing it.

[anakayub]

You look at the map, and act accordingly, taking into account what you think your opponent will be playing. How you act will have to depend as well on the faction you play, taking into account that you'd like to capture as many villages as possible, and planning your offensive accordingly. It sounds vague, but when playing Blitz and Cynsaun Battlefield, having the same plan with the same faction doesn't sound right. In Blitz, planning your offensive is a much higher priority than in Cynsaun, where you won't even know your opponent until a few more turns.

[Thrawn]

Luck is a factor, but Wesnoth is far from a gambling game; a lot of strategy is also involved.
Luck affects just about everything in life, and I will acknowledge that, with a random number generator, Wesnoth is a bit more dependent on luck than Chess or Stratego. But that doesn't mean that Wesnoth centers around luck completely. In my opinion, the random number generator simply increases the risk of each move that is made.
Now, does ANYONE move their units and know what they're doing?

Yes, but only when I'm following certain established attack formulas.

You may have heard of the notorious Guardsman Rush strategy, where a Knalgan player will recruit only Guardsmen, send them all down the center, and assassinate the enemy leader.

I personally like that one, and feel very confident moving my units, when employing it.

OMG no wunder ur so good...I shud uuz that taktik...ROFL

srly

[CarpeGuitarrem]

...you're the AI?

ROFL! You get a gold shiny star for that one!

You may have heard of the notorious Guardsman Rush strategy, where a Knalgan player will recruit only Guardsmen, send them all down the center, and assassinate the enemy leader.

So it's the Knalgan equivalent of the Zerg Rush?

[thespaceinvader]

Goblin Rush?

FM: don't take people so seriously. Neither of the options you provided are remotely useful ways of playing - no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, so making a rigid plan and sticking to it without deviation come hell or high water is a good way to lose. But similarly, just moving randomly is a terrible idea as well.

I don't think i'd be wrong in saying that most players will have a general strategy in mind before they start based on the map, opponent, and whether the factions being played if they know them. They will allow this strategy to change and develop depending on what the opponent does during the game.

[Samantha]

It's kind of a strategy versus tactics thing. Strategy is large scale where tactics are small scale.

I tell my friends to think strategically but move tactically. In other words have a general strategy to win but react according to circumstances.

Let's take an example. Say you are playing undead. As a general strategy for the match you might want to "strike as hard as possible at night." At the beginning of each turn you think to yourself "what strategy could I employ that would best serve my grand plan? Engage fully? Skirmish from good terrain only? Assume a defensive position? Fall back as quickly as possible?" Then, once you have a strategy for the turn you make your moves to support your strategy. If, for example, your strategy was "it's dawn, therefore I should fall back as far as I can maintain good defensive terrain in order to minimize the number of enemy troops that can engage me during the morning" I should not attack with any units.

Other than that I run around like a headless chicken (scouts are best for this so make sure to have at least five).

[bert1]

I find the use of a six-sided die very useful to randomy determine the direction I should move each unit in at the beginning of each turn. Very often, I find that I can grab all my villages by turn 23 using this method.

[ulissesroc]

Hi to everyone, this is my first post in this forum.

I agree with Samantha: if I do not read the walkthrough, i.e. I don't know what is expecting me, playing one time isn't enough. I just begin with wesnoth (damned afloat) and I find it quite challenging at medium difficulty.

Basically I am not so good in levelling units.

I think that, if I would differently specify what Samantha said, your strategy is having in mind the strategy rules in the advanced topic.

And then to use the common sense, situation per situation.

For example, if my army is split, and one of the two parts is facing undead by night (let's say I have loyalist) and would clearly win w/o being killed, and having the time for healing, I would attack by night, and then help the secondo part of the army.

Said that, I basically try to explore the map and to keep some fixed points that I find useful. And then common sense.

Everything imho.