How to Play: Drakes v. Knalgans Alliance

[ParadiseCity]

HOW TO PLAY…Drakes vs. Knalgan Alliance
This is a hard match-up for drakes (heck, what isn’t?) to play well. To win, you need to focus on movement, speed, and lawful playing.

This guide is meant for the intermediate player (~1500 elo), who grasps the basics of multiplayer playing. If you are just beginning, feel free to read, but some things may be unclear to you.

Just to introduce myself, I am ParadiseCity (duh) and Wesnoth Player for a little more than a year. I've been playing competetively most of that time, and am currently 20-something on the ladder. I'm pretty sure I've gotten to 16th, and generally float around my current position.

With the whole How to Play Revival thing going on, I decided to contribute my part...about two months ago . I finally got bored enough to make a guide, so enjoy!

General Play:

When playing against knalgans, you should be using mostly drakes.
-This is because both factions in this match-up are slightly chaotic.
-However, knalgans are more chaotic, because dwarves are neutral and can still do well during night.
-Conversely, drakes will have a hard time damaging and dwarves – and even outlaws – at night.

Dwarves:
-Dwarves have good resistances to physical damage types, making it hard to do anything to them at night. Even at day, you can faces some serious retaliation damage if you attack a dwarf with melee.
-The way to kill dwarves is to simply avoid them. If they want to attack you, force the to do it from bad terrain. When this happens, use a burner to do some major damage to it.
~If a dwarf is on a high dodge terrain, you should almost never attack it. It will live, and do damage against whatever you used to attack it.
-In defense, clashers will be able to soak up damage and do some in return. The only thing to look out for is thunderers and poachers. Use ZoC to make sure that you are not ranged to death.

To counter Dwarves, Recruit: Drakes Clashers, Drake Burners, Drake Fighters.

Outlaws

Footpad/Thief
-The second aspect of the knalgans are the outlaws. They are fast, but have bad resistances.
~Drakes also resist both blade and impact, making it hard far outlaws to damage you.
-Your opponent should not be recruiting a lot of these, but when they do, simply catch them during day for an easy kill.
-Thieves can be annoying, but keep in mind that this is only if you let them backstab you.
~Drake resistances will keep them from doing too much damage, but be sure not to overlook them –thieves can still make a major difference.

Poachers
-Poachers are the one outlaw that you need to watch out for.
~During night, they can do some serious damage against clashers and fighters with little retal damage. To make matters worse, lawful drakes will often have trouble killing it in one turn.
~To get rid of poachers, you will need to use a saurian to get some serious damage on it – or just swarm it if it is vulnerable.
~During day, they are very, very easy to kill. Also, they do not get the dwarf movetype, which makes it hard for them to retreat.
-Either kill them during night, or trap them during day for easy exp. Just look out for their ranged.

To counter Outlaws Recruit: Drake Fighter, Saurian Skirmisher, Drake Clasher.

Map Play:

On LARGE or MEDIUM MAPS: (Ex: Sulla’s Ruins, The Freelands)

-Most of the time Drakes will be attacking – Knalgans will be defending.
~You should focus on outmaneuvering the Dwarvish player.
~ALL of your units have a higher base movement and a better movetype than Dwarvish units.
~Use this to your advantage by running far during night and pressing hard during day.
-Even if you don’t attack, be sure to stay as long as you can during day. Because of dwarves’ low movement, you can simply rush back to villages. By doing so, you limit the amount of time they can attack you.
-Movement also allows you to simply go around dwarves on good terrain, thus forcing them to fight you when you have an advantage (a.k.a. flat).
-Augurs can be useful as well.
~During Second Watch, a dwarvish player may retreat if he sees that you could inflict enough damage with augurs. They are also nice for hitting the high defense outlaws. Credit: 5dPZ

Key Units: Drake Fighter, Drake Burner, Drake Glider.

On SMALL MAPS: (Ex: Hamlets)

-Most of the time, both players will be attacking and defending.
~While movement is still important for drakes, the map makes it so that you have less space to run away in. Because of this you should focus less on movement, and more on surviving.
~What also makes it hard to attack is the lack of maneuvering space. The “just go around them” philosophy doesn’t work if there’s no where to go.
-Another important unit to consider is the Saurian Skirmisher.
~Because of skirmisher, they can trap units during the end of night.
~This will either:
1) Force the fight into day.
2) Make the opponent leave behind the trapped unit, giving you a free kill.
-Saurain Augurs also have limited use on smaller maps, though it is arguably worse here than on large to medium maps.
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Key Units: Drake Clasher, Drake Burner, Saurian Skirmisher.

Unit Ratings:

Rating Key

A - Unit Excels at the Match-up, be sure to have this unit.
B - Unit is Good, depemding on the situation. Will often be needed, but not always.
C - Unit has Some Good qualities, but others that limit it.
D - Unit is Weak in the match-up, with limited use.
F - Unit Fails in this match-up, with no use other than to take up space.

Drake Burner: A key unit in this match-up, burners can do a large amount of damage with limited retaliation. There is no standard dwarf unit that can compete with it during day. The on thing to watch for is ulfserkers, as they can kill burners even during day. Just be sure not to recruit too many.
For great ranged, decent mobility, and the fire damage type : A-

Drake Clasher: Depending on the map, the clasher can range from average to plain outstanding. On large maps, they are too limited by movement to play a role in a drake offensive. Even so, they are needed to hold villages during an attack. They are even more needed on small maps to soak damage.
For outstanding defensive properties and good melee: B+

Drake Fighter: Fighters should be the meat of a drake force during most games. They can attack hard, then just as easily retreat and heal during night. Even then, they can still be used to hold villages with their high hp. Be wary of recruiting too many on small maps however, because they can still be destroyed by pierce.
For good melee, great movement, and high hp: A

Drake Glider: Gliders are needed, but not very much. Apart from an initial recruit, you should not recruit these vs. Knalgans. Fighters already have enough speed to outrun dwarves, and fighters have more power overall. However, you can still use them to threaten villages.
For great movement, but not much else: C

Saurian Augur: Augurs really do not shine in this match up. While they have magical, they can’t do a lot of damage. Then they are also vulnerable to most of the damage that dwarves will have.
For having magical, but low damage and survivability: C

Saurian Skirmisher: Skirmishers are useful in very few ways vs. knalgans. They can trap units, and they can melee poachers. However, they perform these tasks very well, making it nice to have one or two around. Still, do not recruit these in bulk.
For having a chaotic melee attack, skirmisher, but bad resistances and hp: B-

NOTE: Do not complain about small changes to a unit’s rating. Only bother to mention it if it is more than two places away (Ex: a B- to a B+). Even then, once I make a decision, please do not continue to mention it. If you wish, make a new thread about it.

[monochromatic]

Hey, some nice points you got there
As for a suggestion to help reduce people arguing whether it should be a B, B+, or whatever, I'd suggest you use stars (like *****). In addition, it's better because *** doesn't necessarily mean bad, but a C certainly implies bad. Thus, the ratings or more across the board than like 4 B's or something. Dunno, just a thought

[Pentarctagon]

~ALL of your units have a higher base movement and a better movetype than Dwarvish units.

While drake units do have better mp, dwarvish units actually have about the same movement costs as drakes except the clasher, which has a worse movetype than dwarves.

edit: as for the stars vs letters, I actually like the letters better, since they can be made much more specific than the star rating system. The problem with people not liking it is more because of their preconceptions about what the letters mean. That said, I would personally prefer a 0.0 - 10.0 rating system with increments of 0.5, which would allow a greater degree of specificity as well as avoid many of the preconceptions of a letter grading scale.

[5dPZ]

Nice guide with good ranks.

The only thing I would like to point out is that Augur has 2 uses you did not mention that could give them a "C" rank - Healing and 2nd Night turn attack to soft things up for day light drake assault.

The threat of 2 augurs could force the dwarf to retreat 1 turn earlier, which gives great advantage to drake player.

[monochromatic]

@Pent Hmmm....I prefer a more general usefulness rather than a precise rating, because it's not only decided by the unit stats, but also the map, opposing playstyle, and the reader's play style. I don't know...this needs wayyyy more discussion. Hinthint: discuss it here.

[ParadiseCity]

Thanks for the suggestions - I've changed the guide to suit them.

Hey, some nice points you got there
As for a suggestion to help reduce people arguing whether it should be a B, B+, or whatever, I'd suggest you use stars (like *****). In addition, it's better because *** doesn't necessarily mean bad, but a C certainly implies bad. Thus, the ratings or more across the board than like 4 B's or something. Dunno, just a thought

Well, It's just my personal preference. I feel that it's more familiar, more specific, and more readable than stars. However, I have added a key to the beginning of the section to make it more clear.

Nice guide with good ranks.

The only thing I would like to point out is that Augur has 2 uses you did not mention that could give them a "C" rank - Healing and 2nd Night turn attack to soft things up for day light drake assault.

The threat of 2 augurs could force the dwarf to retreat 1 turn earlier, which gives great advantage to drake player.

I see your point, though I still don't like augurs. I mentioned augurs in the "small maps" section (with credit to you ), as well as made the rating less critically voiced. Changed to a "C".

[5dPZ]

Nice guide with good ranks.

The only thing I would like to point out is that Augur has 2 uses you did not mention that could give them a "C" rank - Healing and 2nd Night turn attack to soft things up for day light drake assault.

The threat of 2 augurs could force the dwarf to retreat 1 turn earlier, which gives great advantage to drake player.

I see your point, though I still don't like augurs. I mentioned augurs in the "small maps" section (with credit to you ), as well as made the rating less critically voiced. Changed to a "C".

Thanks for changes =)

However, I think you misunderstood me, I think augurs (or even all saurians) are good on big maps only, where there are a lot of push-and-pulls. On small maps, drake player can safely go all drakes because they can form a zoc line easily and have higher damage per hex (which matters a lot on small maps).

Well, it all depends on how you define "small maps", I interpret it as Isar Cross, Moritori or Underworld.

[pauxlo]

General Play:

When playing against knalgans, you should be using mostly drakes.
-This is because both factions in this match-up are slightly chaotic.

Uh, drake faction as "slightly chaotic" seems to be an unorthodox way to describe them. Slightly less lawful than loyalists, but still more lawful than neutral, I would say.

[Yoyobuae]

General Play:

When playing against knalgans, you should be using mostly drakes.
-This is because both factions in this match-up are slightly chaotic.

Uh, drake faction as "slightly chaotic" seems to be an unorthodox way to describe them. Slightly less lawful than loyalists, but still more lawful than neutral, I would say.

I would say drakes can adapt their chaoticness. Depends on the between drakes and saurians in recruit.

Although drakes probably only use their chaoticness fully against loyalists. It varies between match-ups.

[ParadiseCity]

General Play:

When playing against knalgans, you should be using mostly drakes.
-This is because both factions in this match-up are slightly chaotic.

Uh, drake faction as "slightly chaotic" seems to be an unorthodox way to describe them. Slightly less lawful than loyalists, but still more lawful than neutral, I would say.

The drake faction is slightly chaotic because a slight amount of their units are chaotic. Besides, my whole point was that they are less chaotic than knalgans, which is really what matters in this guide.

However, I think you misunderstood me, I think augurs (or even all saurians) are good on big maps only, where there are a lot of push-and-pulls. On small maps, drake player can safely go all drakes because they can form a zoc line easily and have higher damage per hex (which matters a lot on small maps).

Well it appears that I did, I'll move the comment up to medium/large maps, though still mention augurs in small maps.

[BrTarolg]

Personally i always play 1 augur for healing

I agree that they dont do enough damage anymore, i always over-recruit them

Think in general it is best to avoid 2nd night/dawn softening as the counter attack is really painful with thunderers as they can 2shot fighters which can leave you crippled for daytime

Best to setup the position in dawn and then attack for 2 turns

[Yoyobuae]

Well, if there is any usable terrain, any skirmisher you may have can act as shield/fodder against thunderers. If there is only flat, then even the glider scout might serve as a fodder (since Wesnoth 1.8 he gets %40 defense in flat). It's better than losing fighters or burners which will be needed for daytime.