Winds of Fate

[Traumflug]

Scenario 9: Ancestor

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

Version 1.18.4, Biased RNG (experimental), difficulty Ancestor (Nightmare)

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

8

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

Very clear.

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

TBH, too much text in this campaign. Didn't follow the story.

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

OMG, Saurians move only one field per turn on Snow and Ice, and one can't leave them behind!

Also, with difficulty Nightmare one gets once more only 60 Starting Gold, so forget about the walkthrough recommendation to recall 9 units. One level 2 and one level 1 is the maximum. All units were needed to protect Saurians on their slow way, so the point was to avoid enemies as much as possible. Almost no opportunity for XP farming, only one level-up.

After two or three scenario restarts I found out that going along the southern edge of the map, then along the eastern edge, was the path with the least enemy contact and had the most snow-free areas.

Once Gorlack reaches the beacon at the northern volcano, a lot of Wyrms appear, which kill Monsters faster than one can follow.

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

7

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

Within the limits of this whole campaign it's fine as it is.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

Three scenario restarts to find the best movement direction, then a lot of turn restarts to avoid unit losses. Slightly different positioning sometimes matters.

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[Traumflug]

Scenario 10: Fire Meets Steel

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

Version 1.18.4, Biased RNG (experimental), difficulty Ancestor (Nightmare)

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

6

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

Very clear.

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

TBH, too much text in this campaign. Didn't follow the story.

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

Actually, no major challenges, this is a very nice scenario. One of the few in this campaign where I didn't have to start over again and again.

After playing the scenario the way I did I'm no longer sure that closing these tunnel exits makes sense. Because dwarvish Gold not spent there gets spent for Gryphons in the keep, so one ends up with a whole lot of fast and more dangerous Gryphons. Anyways, it worked out.

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

9

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

Within the limits of this whole campaign it's fine as it is.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

None beyond the occasional turn restart, because my first plan of movements didn't work out.

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[Traumflug]

Scenario 11: Crosswind

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

Version 1.18.4, Biased RNG (experimental), difficulty Ancestor (Nightmare)

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

10

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

Very clear.

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

TBH, too much text in this campaign. Didn't follow the story.

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

Above in this forum thread, some have questioned whether this scenario can be won at all with difficulty Nightmare. Well, it can, but it's really hard. Maybe, maybe perhaps even without loss of recalled units.

The walkthrough gives a number of good hints.

More Tricks to Win:

• Healers play an important role in this scenario. Not only for healing, Saurian Seers also do 17x3 magic damage at night, more than most Drakes.

• Visit the village at 30,24 before turn 5. It liberates a number of allied Monsters. Move them to the village at 38,22, which has even more allied Monsters and two Saurians. All these manage to hold back and kill most of that flight of Fighters appearing nearby on turn 5.

• Keeping many villages is crucial. In this scenario, you get 2 and your enemy even 4 Gold per turn and village. Main clash of forces happens not before turn 10, enough time to collect and invest additional 250-300 Gold.

• Also visit the village at 5,11 before too long, more allies inside. I recalled a fast Sky Drake dedicated to that task. These allies lure quite a number of enemies away from the map center, reducing the initial wave of the main enemy force.

• The own keep is hard to defend, no appropriate place for healers. Try to stop enemies in the river to the east already, especially these Fire Drakes appearing in turn 9.

• The bridge at 20,20 is probably the best place to meet the initial wave of enemies. Position your units along the northern shore of that river. This way enemy Drakes fight in the water, which gives them only 20% defense and you a whopping 80% hit chance. Resist the temptation to step into this water to kill an enemy a bit earlier. I think doing this right is the key to win this scenario.

• The moment you step on that bridge, your unit can be attacked from three sides, which it likely doesn't survive. Don't do that before the enemy is exhausted.

Once the main wave of Karron's forces is dealt with, the scenario is basically won.

What doesn't work, at least not with difficulty Nightmare:

• Holding back Karron from moving south. On turn 1, Resha is the only unit which can step into her way (after other units killed that Hurricane Drake at 23,12), Resha doesn't survive the counterattack.

• Sending Resha to Karron's keep to occupy it before Karron does. While it's easy to get there in time, doing so causes Karron to call in 6 Fire Drakes nearby immediately, which surround her in the same turn and unavoidably kill her in the next turn.

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

7

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

Without reading the walkthrough there's zero hint on allies within these three villages. There should be hints, e.g. one of these stone plates nearby each, reading something like "a good village for allies". These allies are indispensable for mastering this scenario.

Within the limits of this whole campaign everything else is fine as it is.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

At least 5 scenario restarts with attempts to hold back Karron from moving South. A dozen more for testing strategies. Essentially it was starting over again and again, each time solving one problem which came up late in the previous attempt. There is no room for mistakes in this scenario, every detail has to be executed exactly right.

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