Scenario 6: The Siege of Elensefar

Feedback for the mainline campaign Heir to the Throne.

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ElvishMystical0
Posts: 33
Joined: September 19th, 2018, 12:15 am

Re: Scenario 6: The Siege of Elensefar

Post by ElvishMystical0 »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Versions 1.12 to 1.16, mainly Easy and Medium. This feedback relates to 1.16 Medium.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
Being honest this was 6-7, see (5).
(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?
This was much better. Loved the dialogue with Reglok and the thieves and found the concept of the Elensefar Thieves Guild amusing.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
I came into this scenario with 245 gold and not many levelled units. But see there's a jump in difficulty levels and while the Undead are pumping out skeletons, with regard to the Orcs it's Business As Usual,

So I had the major issue of fighting with recalled units and levelling up some units with XP or starting out with mainly level 1 raw recruits. I chose the latter. Only Cival the Elvish Captain, Moremiru and an Elvish Druid got recalled and I recruited level 1 Elvish Fighters and Shamen. No Elvish Archers.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
Oh this was certainly a fun scenario and I spent half the scenario firmly held at the southern shore by the bridge first by Orcs and then Undead. I was cycling units at full stretch relying heavily on Moremiru and three villages and both Konrad and Cival the Elvish captain rushing left and right to provide leadership and then rushing south to heal when they got either poisoned, bashed up, or both.

Spent a few turns thinking "I'm not going to make it" after losing a few units, but this helped me go into positive with gold and then I rushed Konrad south to recall some outlaw units, Delurin, a Thug and a Footpad. This changed the game in my favour. Two Elvish Shamen, Fena and Feneal were busy slowing and killing Orcish Grunts, Warriors and even Assassins, and leveled into a Druid and Sorceress respectively and we eventually got onto the island.

Lost half the loyal Thieves on the island but somehow finished the scenario with a few Elvish Heroes, a couple of Druids, a few Sorceresses, and two loyal White Mages, a Red Mage and a Bandit oh and Delurin levelled up to a Fugitive.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Apart from Konrad needing a whole new persona nothing much. I used to hate this scenario but it's actually one of the better scenarios in the campaign.
Orek
Posts: 27
Joined: June 24th, 2020, 1:02 am

Re: Scenario 6: The Siege of Elensefar

Post by Orek »

Content Feedback wrote: (1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
(1) Challenging (=Champion=Hardest) in 1.14.17 on permadeath
(2) 8 (6th most difficult = 18th easiest)
... [Difficult] 2, 16, 14, 4, 9, 6, 5b, 10, 13, 12, 23, 8, 7, 3, 15, 17, 19c, 22, 1, 20b, 11, 24, 18 [Easy]
(3) Very clear
(4) Clear and interesting enough
(5) This scenario was 80% preparation and 20% strategies/tactics on the map. From turn 1 in scenario 1, every decision was made with this scenario in mind. Without the Elvish Scout trick used by oaq, it would have been difficult for me to finish this scenario consistently in time.
(6) 9 (3rd most fun = 21st most boring)
... [Fun] 2, 1, 6, 9, 5b, 4, 16, 15, 23, 3, 12, 14, 10, 24, 13, 8, 7, 19c, 20b, 11, 17, 22, 18 [Boring]
(7) None

YouTube Link: Run 1 Run 2 Run 3
Walkthrough: HttT walkthrough (hardest, permadeath, v1.14.17) + General campaign guides (Replays for all scenarios can be downloaded from here.)
JL42
Posts: 66
Joined: December 9th, 2023, 11:19 am

Re: Scenario 6: The Siege of Elensefar

Post by JL42 »

What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
v. 1.16.10
Lord / Challenging
How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
8 – It's not impossible, but I felt that this scenario was a gigantic, I mean truly massive, difficulty leap compared to everything that has come before in this campaign. Also compared to most of the scenarios that come after. It's probably not any harder than some of the most difficult scenarios in the South Guard and Liberty, but it also has some really frustrating mechanics, as noted below, and it feels incongruous compared to the much easier surrounding scenarios.
How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.
How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Very clear; moderately interesting.
What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
The first problem is just not having enough cash (even after saving up a fair bit from the previous scenario). There are insufficient villages down south to support an army, so after recruiting/recalling you are then bleeding negative funds through most of the scenario while trying to hold off the tons of enemies that it throws at you. The orcs significantly outnumber you, and they have strong level 2 troops, which would already be a tough fight even if you catch them in the water (which is pretty much mandatory). Then, just as you start to win out against the orcs, an entire additional skeleton army shows up. Then, if you manage to make it through that, you have to hike to the undead lair, and just as you think you have it won they receive a giant pile of reinforcements. That last bit is particularly cruel, because the player is not expecting it when evaluating how quickly to push forward. You're assessing the risks that you need to take to reach the enemy leader a few turns before time runs out, and then right when you're about to win, after making it through the entire map – surprise, now you have no chance.
How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5 – For the most part it's really a fun scenario, but the difficulty is a bit excessive and incongruous for the campaign, and the sudden "surprise you lose" at the end is definitely Not Fun.
What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
At the minimum, I would add some kind of dialogue warning about the final challenge – "The undead are likely to come out in renewed numbers when we approach their lair!" It would be a lot easier if you didn't have to kill the undead leader to win, but since you do, some kind of advance notice that it will take a while to assault their lair would be useful, to put it mildly.

I would also recommend just tamping down the overall difficulty here a bit, so that it doesn't feel so extremely incongruous compared to the surrounding scenarios. This is definitely the hardest scenario in the entire campaign; and it's too close too the start for that. It's like we've suddenly gone from zero to a hundred. It should be harder than the previous scenarios, but maybe dialed back just a bit from what it is now. That could mean a few more villages in the south, a bit less gold for the enemy leaders, maybe some trees or hills along parts of the south river bank, fewer reinforcements for the undead, a few more turns on the timer – some combination of those factors.

The thieves are a nifty story addition, but I didn't find that they provided much in the way of practical help.

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About the Overall Campaign:

The maps and storyline here are well-made and polished, though not as completely epic as some of the other campaigns. I like that it is lengthy, giving you time to develop your army, and gradually introduces many different terrains and unit types. This seems like a great beginner campaign since it's fairly easy and the early scenarios are framed as a kind of mentoring environment for the young hero. (However, it's a bit strange that some of the basic dialogue tips, like "hey, loyal units don't require upkeep!" are just now arriving, after I've already played through several previous campaigns without that advice.) There are some glitches that can come up in the Scepter of Fire scenario, and some of the princess-related dialogue around scenarios 17–21 felt a bit confusing and unbelievable (more specific comments in the relevant threads). This campaign is very close to full marks, but due to those few lingering issues and the lack of any real epic blow-you-away maps I'm going to rate it 4 out of 5.
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