Couple of questions from a newbie

[Juli]

So, last week I found out about BfW and downloaded it. It's awesome, and free, so twice as awesome

Yet, I have some questions which I felt should be in this board. If they ought to be somewhere else, sorry. Anyway:

1. Why do Royal Guards have 6 moves, instead of 5 like other loyalist infantry? One would think that some dudes clad in heavy armour, using a longsword and shield would not move faster than, say, a spearman... might be wrong though
2. How many troops does each unit represent? I would suppose each is a batallion, but considering each unit has a name, it gets kinda confusing
3. Some units (for example loyalist Heavy Infantry, Halberdiers, etc) get better defense on woods than on open terrain. However, heavy infantry has always (historically) performed better on open terrain than in rough terrain. So, maybe some units should get their defenses changed

[thespaceinvader]

1: I'm not certain of the logic of this one - the handwave that comes up off the top of my head is that they are the best physical specimens in Wesnoth, and that unlike the Halberiders, not so encumbered by their gear.

2: The scale of Wesnoth is variable and representative, rather like that of chess, not absolute. in some situations, it makes much more sense for each unit to be just one individual, in others it makes much more sense for them to represent many similar individuals. It's down to the player which they prefer to believe. In the latter case, it's the name of the unit's leader.

3: This is mostly for balance reasons. Also, remember that defence is not how effective the unit is, but how hard it is to hit. In forests, they have trees to hide behind. On open ground, they do not.

[ninjalj]

1. I don't know. Maybe thay have better training?

3. View it as on open terrains thay have relatively better defenses than other units, while on woods their defense is not much better than that of everyone else.

[Sangel]

I notice that you appear to be approaching your questions from a standpoint of realism. Realism has never really been a primary focus of Wesnoth's development, which shows up in the forums as the acronym WINR: Wesnoth Is Not Realistic. Generally speaking, there won't be an "official" answer to any realism question; asking that game art or balance be changed to reflect a more "realistic" norm is also unlikely to receive an official response.

[Redeth]

Wesnoth's strategy is abstract, not realistic. Plays more like a board/card game than a wargame/war simulation. Look at it that way to prevent frustration.